Nueva - Ribadesella (along the coast)

If you love the Asturian coast as much as I do, this one is for you. It connects the trainstations of Nueva and Ribadesella, so it's easy to come back or get to the start of the trail. Take water and food with you, because you will have to cater for yourself. There are many nice picknick spots along the way. And options to dive into the ocean!

Ribadesella and Nueva are connected by the little Feve train. Note: there are only 3/4 trains a day. I prefer to park at the trainstation of Ribadesella and start with the train ride, so you don't have to walk on a scedule. There is a morning service at 10.41, which will take you to Nueva at 10.55 (2019).

Start walking along the railway track in the same direction as the train you just got off. You'll soon walk underneath the A8 highway and pass through the villages of Ovio and Picones. After Picones you'll walk on a dirt track (E9) with nice views. This track ends at the pretty beach of Cuevas del Mar. There is a water fountain, but when I was there it didn't work.

From Cuevas beach you'll continue on the asphalt road and walk underneath a little rock tunnel. Take the first road to the right. At the end you'll see the sign of the E9 again, directing you to a little track along a meadow. Follow this dirt path, which will get wider. You will finally walk on a gravel track directing you to the coast again. There is an option to have a look (or a swim) at the little beach of Villanueva. Keep on following the E9.

At some point later on you'll see a grassy dirt track on you right hand. As you can see I almost missed it. Take it and you will follow beautiful little tracks close to the cliffs all the way to the Bufones del Pría. Bufones are holes in the rocks from where you can hear the sea or get wet from a good spray of sea water when the weather is rough. Walk on to the secluded beach of Guadamía.

Here you have a couple of options. With low tide you can cross the beach and take a path on the other side that will bring you to the area recreativa (UPDATE sep 2020: there are wooden stairs now on the other side, see photo). I walked a loop around the beach instead, to prevent wading through water. If you follow me, you will end up at a little river beach where you still might have to tip toe through the water to reach the other side (that is what I did). Your third option is to keep your feet dry at the river beach and follow the path on your left along the river. This path will bring you into the village of Cuerres from where you can continue to Ribadesella on the Camino de Santiago (about 7k).

If you cross the river (like I did) you'll follow a little track uphill that will bring you to the road that leads to the area recreativa. There might be a water tap there, but I didn't check it. From the area recreativa you will follow little tracks along the cliffs. Just keep the ocean to your right and nothing can go wrong.

You will end up at the Area Recreativa del Infierno (the recreational area from hell...). From here I tried to continue on the coast following another wikiloc track. Not recommended. The path was overgrown by gorge. I gave up and walked back to the area recreativa.

Follow the asphalt road instead and you will end up at the Camino de Santiago, which you can follow until you'll reach the trainstation of Ribadesella. I tried a second time to get back to the coast (same wikiloc track), but in this case there wasn't even a path. So I would suggest that you stay where you are and just walk on to Ribadesella on the Camino de Santiago. Which isn't bad at all, taking into account that you have already had a couple of hours of spectacular coastal views.