Oviedo (Spain)

Oviedo or Uviéu (in Asturian language) is a cathedral city, capital of Principality of Asturias, in Northern Spain. It has an interesting old town with various monuments listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Get in

Oviedo cathedral

By plane

Airport of Asturias (OVD  ^IATA) is approximately 40km away from Oviedo. The airport is located on the outskirts of the town of Avilés. Asturias airport has flights to and from London (Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick), Lisbon, Munchen and Venice.

The bus is by far the cheapest way to get to Oviedo from the airport (8 euros). An ALSA coach will leave you in the Bus station, very close to the centre, with connections to local buses, taxis and the train station next to Buses are on the right as you exit the terminal and leave every hour from 6.00am to midnight. The journey takes from 40 to 50 minutes.

A taxi will cost around € 46 and take 20 to 25 minutes

By Coach

The Oviedo Coach Station (calle Pepe Cosmen, tel. [phone]) is located in the centre of town, next to the Oviedo train station. There are coach routes to most towns in Asturias and the North of Spain, as well as Madrid and some other Spanish large cities, like Sevilla and Barcelona. International coach routes link Oviedo daily with Paris, Brussels and Genève There is a Tourist Information Office at the bus station (tel. + 34 985117050).

By train

Oviedo train station (calle Pepe Cosmen) is on the north side of la Calle Uría (the center of the city), where there are many connecting local bus routes. There is also a taxi stand just outside the station. It is next to the coach station.

By car

There is a convenient ring-road,with various exits into Oviedo. There are places to charge, but they are not near, check directions before getting into A6. Lugones will be your easy option to return. To Oviedo, freeway will take by car in less than 20min to Gijón or Avilés.

Distances to/from Oviedo: Madrid 450 km, Bilbao 305 km, A Coruna 325 km, Gijon 30 km

Get around

The best way to get around is by walking.

Most of the center of the city can only be visited that way, because little motor traffic is allowed. Where traffic is possible, be prepared for jams and narrow passes, as sometimes parking is permitted on both sides of the road.

The local Buses (Autobuses Urbanos de Oviedo, tel. [phone]) are fairly reliable, and on every bus stop there is a screen with the time for arrival of the next bus. Almost all local buses go down Calle Uria. The single fare is €1.20 (children under 4 free).

There are plenty of taxis, although they are not cheap. Minimum charge at non-peak hours is 4€. Although they can be found on taxi ranks and on the streets, you can contact one of two companies directly: Radio Taxi Ciudad de Oviedo (tel. [phone]) or Radio Taxi Principado (tel. [phone]); if you need to go from Oviedo to the airport. and from the airport to Oviedo, and you prefer taxi drivers who speak English; you can reserve it by email: [e-mail], or by phone [phone]). Final prices, taxes included in 2016 are 40€. If you prefer other companies, prices are from 53€

See

Town hall at night

• The old part of Oviedo is called the "Casco Antiguo". Wander along cobbled streets admiring its beautifully restored buildings and squares. Some of the most outstanding are the Velarde Palace (which hosts part of the Art Museum), the Town Hall, the plaza del Fontán, the Palace of Toreno and the Palace of Camposagrado.
• The old town also hosts Oviedo's splendid Cathedral of San Salvador. Although predominantly Gothic, some IXth century pre-Romanesque sections can still be seen.
• The churches of San Miguel de Lillo and Santa Maria del Naranco are two quaint little pre-Romanesque churches, both on a hill just outside Oviedo, a short distance one from another. A regular local bus line will take you to both of them.
• Museum of Fine Arts, ☎ [phone]. Santa Ana, 1 and Rúa, 8 (open Tue-Sun, only mornings on Sun and holidays, free entrance. 
• Museum of the Church, ☎ [phone]. Corrada del Obispo (open Mo-Sat, free on Thursday afternoons. 

The Tourist Information office is just next to plaza de la Constitución, just the other side of the archway under the Town Hall on the right (calle Cimadevilla, 4, open Mo-Sat, 10am-7pm, tel. [phone], e-mail [e-mail]).

Do

Local festivals

There are plenty of local festivities, in which local food, folk groups and local costumes are the main attraction:

• Fair of La Ascensión (variable date in May). It is a fair devoted to the countryside with an arts and crafts market, local produce and folk groups playing in the streets.
• La Balesquida or Countryside Tuesday (first Tuesday of Whitsun). The main event is a procession that takes place in the square in front of the Cathedral, followed by the handing-out of bollu preñau (pronounced boyo preniau), or chorizo-filled bun.
• La Hoguera de San Juan. The night of the 23rd of June (St. John), bonfires are lit all over the city and in the square of the Cathedral. There is also a fountain-decorating contest.
• Fiestas de San Mateo are mostly a cultural affair with plays and concerts scheduled for the week leading up to St-Mathew's Day. America Day in Asturias takes place on the 19th of September in honour of the Asturian emigrants. A procession takes place through the main streets. On St. Mathew's day itself (21st of september) there is a hand-out of bollu preñau and wine, and at the end of the day fireworks in Parque de Invierno.

Buy

The old-town is full of small traditional shops. There is an open-air market in the main square on most days, which is worth a look. The traditional covered maket is close to the Plaza de la Constitución. Close to the covered market there are various shops that sell traditional foodstuff and cider. There are also various large shopping malls in Oviedo. The shopping malls offer uninterrupted shopping hours, from 10am to about 9PM. Other shops and businesses in Spain tend to close from 2pm-5pm:

• Intu Asturias (people knows it as Parque Principado), which is located just outside Oviedo. The D1 and H1 bus goes from El Cristo and Serrano St, respectively, and takes about 30 minutes to get there, with stops along the way. Once there, you have about 110 shops, with the flagship hypermarket Familia flanking one end, and an eclectic range of restaurants, 11-screen cinema, bowling alley, casino, children's amusements on the other end. Parque Principado is situated in a sprawling industrial estate, which also boasts stores such as MediaMarkt, AKI (a DIY superstore), Conforama for furniture and an IKEA.
• There is another shopping mall called Los Prados which can be reached by bus no. 2,4,7 and 11. These buses can be caught from central Oviedo. This mall has Asturias' only IMAX theatre offering movies in 3D, as well as a traditional 14-screen cinema. The range of shops is not as impressive as that of El Parque Principado, however.
• The main shopping malls in central Oviedo are Salesas and Modoo. Salesas hosts Spain's main department store El Corte Inglés, a huge supermarket Hipercor, as well as various fashion stores and a Burger King. Modoo (people knows it as Calatrava) features many stores like El Corte Inglés, Game, La Casa del Libro, Real Oviedo store... (For Real Oviedo see below)
• There is a Corte Inglés situated in Uría St. This one is the biggest and the best of Oviedo.

Eat

There are many places to eat in the old-town, both indoors and in small secluded squares such as El Fontán or Gascona, to name just two. Down calle Gascona you will be able to get a huge set menu for around €10. The set menu (menú del día) may not be on the menu you are given, so you may have to ask.

Typical dishes of Oviedo are those common to all of Asturias. The Fabada Asturiana is a bean stew with a reputation all over Spain that is worth trying (maybe not in the evening!). A really well known Asturian dish is the Cachopo, this one is meat with ham and cheese all breaded. The Cachopo deserves a try. Fish and shellfish are of great quality. A local cheese, cabrales, also has an excellent reputation, especially if you like strong flavours. Less known are the gamoneu and afuega'l pitu cheeses. Asturias also has a tradition for rice pudding (arroz con leche).

There are many popular places to eat, the more known are: Tierra Astur (in Gascona there are two down the street there is a grill with local products and up the street there is the restaurant with every product said above. Also in the Fontán there are two: Casa Ramón with fish from the shores and Casa Amparo. Near the Cathedral there are many places to drink and eat tapas, like Plaza del Riego with restaurants of ham and El Reloj de Porlier with its great asturian and international food.

Drink

Cider (sidra) is something that should not be missed. The cider you will find in Asturias is natural cider and has a reputation all over Spain. Drinking cider in Asturias is a ritual in itself: it is poured from on high in order to incorporate air into the cider as it falls from the bottle to the glass. When you get your glass of cider it will be naturally fizzy. You are meant to drink in one gulp what the waiter offers you, leaving a little in the base of the glass. You then pour what's left out of the glass and leave the glass on the table until the waiter offers you more. Be aware that cider pouring is a messy business and the floor will get very, very wet and sticky (which is why the floors of sidrerías are covered in sawdust).

In many other bars and restaurants there is cider available. Look out for signs saying "Sidrería" or "Chigre". The best place to find a number of Sidrerías by far is La Calle Gascona {100 mts from the Cathedral}. There are also plenty of wine bars close to Gascona street, on Calle Jovellanos. Do not miss El Patio de los Naranjos with friendly staff, good wine and tapas.

In the past bars used to close very late, but now there is a time schedule: Su-Th - bars close at 3:00am, discos close at 5:00am. Fri-Sat - bars close at 5:30am, discos close at 7:00am.

There are mainly 3 areas:

• El Cristo. In this area you can find mostly bars and pubs, and some after hour. Mostly middle age people in their 30s and 40s.
• El Rosal. It is where large numbers of youth go on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons and evenings (7pm to 3am). Once the teens have left, youngsters in their early 20s will take their place.
• La calle Mon. The vast majority of people end their night in this narrow and noisy street. People here are usually in their 20s and 30s. Erasmus students can be regularly found in "El Escondite" and on Tuesdays in the "Asturiano", for the Erasmus quiz.

Sleep

There are plenty of hotels of all categories in and near the old-town. If you are traveling by car, you might want to consider staying in a dwelling in a smaller village nearby (casas de aldea). There are two hostels in Oviedo:

• Oviedo Youth Hostel “Ramón Menéndez Pidal”. C/ Julián de Clavería, 14, tel. [phone]
• Ibis Hotel (Cheap hotel with modern rooms) Calle Ernesto Winter Blanco, 6. [phone]. From 20 €
• Eurostars Reconquista (Best known hotel where famous people stay. The Kings of Spain, Shigeru Miyamoto, Francis Ford Coppola...), C/Gil de Jaz 16, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. From 80 €. (updated Nov 2016)
• Ayre Hotel Oviedo (City centre hotel in Oviedo with modern rooms), C/Policarpo Herrero nn (In Modoo at the back of the main entrance), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. A hotel with modern rooms, a Congress room and many other facilities. From 60 €. (updated Nov 2016)
• NH Principado. San Francisco, 6, +34.98.5217792. Located in the historical centre of the city, a few meters from the Cathedral, the Campoamor Theatre, the entrance scene of the prizes of the Princess of Asturias and in front of the Historical Building of the University of Oviedo. (updated Nov 2016)

Real Oviedo

The local team is really supported in the city. On matches the Carlos Tartiere Stadium can get really full with fifteen thousand people on normal days. In 2012 the team was nearly in the bankrupt but with help of a lot of nationalities like China, Great Britain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LrPgYX3-iE), USA, France and the local fans of Asturias of course. The Real Oviedo matches are really exciting. The tickets costs about 15€ and it is a very good experience. Once you are there feel free to sit in the sit you want and get up to have a hot dog and a Coke.

This is the ambiance of the matches

Views

For enjoying good views the best place is the Cristo. To go there you can go walking, following many routes and stopping at fountains and the Santa María del Naranco and Miguel de Lillo churches.

You can go by car/taxi that will be faster but you will lose the churches.

Go next

Asturias is full of coastal and mountain villages all worth visiting and spending some time in (Luanco, Cudillero, Villaviciosa...). The other major towns in the area are Gijón, a lively coastal town, with a beach worth visiting, and Avilés The Picos de Europa National Park, on the other hand, is a great place for hiking and climbing.