Gijón is a coastal historic city in northern Spain. You may also come across the Asturian name Xixón (and it reads cutely as “cheechón”). I was expecting a city crammed with monuments, but there are churches in town and one showpiece church at the end of the coast that stands out nicely when looking across the beach. There are nice streets, squares, parks, and the city is nice, but not a huge amount of sights. And of course good Spanish food. And I liked that. You get to the beach, check out the church and you’re done and can just enjoy the city itself.
Tip: Book tickets in advance for sights and tours in Gijón.
I really liked the atmosphere here. The main beach is wide and long and directly adjacent to the city centre. There is a long and wide promenade that would convince one to go jogging every day. It’s quite windy from the coast, so one wave after another breaks here and one could watch it all day. As well as a few surfers trying to ride those waves.
Where to stay in Gijón
Gijón is a coastal city that is easily walkable. Your best bet is to stay in the centre around the Cimadevilla district, an old fishing tip on a peninsula just above the sea, or near Playa de San Lorenzo beach. Both are within a few minutes’ walk of each other, and you’ll find everything you need nearby: restaurants serving fresh fish, sidrerías pouring Asturian cider from above, and a seafront that’s lovely to walk along.
The area around Plaza Mayor and the streets around Paseo de Begoña are also great. It’s lively, full of tapas bars and the centre of the action is just a few steps away. Gijón isn’t big, so if you live anywhere in the center, you’re good.
Tips for accommodation in Gijón
- Hotel Hernán Cortés – An affordable hotel right in the centre, a few minutes from San Lorenzo Beach. Clean, simple and in a perfect location.
- La Casona de Jovellanos – Stone-built boutique hotel in Cimadevilla with sea views. A historic house with soul and a location you’d pay triple for elsewhere.
- Parador de Gijón – Beautiful Parador in Isabel la Católica Park, surrounded by greenery and a short walk from the beach. An old mill converted into an elegant hotel with an Asturian atmosphere.
Tours and day trips in Gijón
Some tours have limited capacity, especially in the summer season. If you know when you’ll arrive, book your spot in advance.
- Walking tour of the historic centre – a guide takes you through the old town. Groups tend to be smaller and spots fill up fast.
- Gijón and La Laboral – tour from Oviedo – a full-day trip including the monumental Laboral City of Culture. Handy if you’re based in Oviedo and don’t want to deal with transport.
Things to see in Gijón
The centre is bordered by San Lorenzo Beach, with Paseo Muro de San Lorenzo above.
Church of San Pedro
The beach is almost 2 kilometres long and ends on the left at a promontory with the Iglesia de San Pedro, which dominates the view from every point of the beach.
A coastal path leads around the headland to the Cerro de Santa Catalina Park. The whole promontory is part of the town of Cimavilla, which is the historic district.
Palacio de la Revillagigedo
An 18th century palace with an impressive facade, beautifully lit in the evening. It looks like a fortress with a big gable in the middle.
Elogio del Horizonte
Translated as “praise of the horizon”. It’s a really weird sculpture that made me wonder just “why”. However, it’s one of the main symbols of Gijón and the strange shape is not just for fun, it creates sound effects together with the incoming wind. As the name suggests, this place offers a panoramic view of Gijón and the Cantabrian Sea. And, of course, there’s a spectacular sunset to be seen.
Batería alta de Santa Catalina
A defensive fortress built in the Parque del Cerro hill, its purpose was to protect the port of Gijón, which is hidden behind the hill. It’s actually nothing to see, it’s quite small, a short walk around the walls. What I found slightly fascinating about it was that it was built “inside”, no massive walls, but a fortress hollowed out in the hill.
Plaza Mayor
The pretty main square, Plaza Mayor, is also worth mentioning, surrounded by historic buildings. It is at the very edge of the historic part of Cimavilla (towards the inner city). This is the place where important social events, events and markets take place. The dominant feature is the town hall (Ayuntamiento).
Things to do in Gijón
For me, definitely the perfect place for hanging out on the beach (I don’t even mean sunbathing, more like looking around) and walking along the coast.
Journey along the coast
To the east of the beach (the other side from San Pedro Church), you cross the Puente del Piles bridge at the end of the beach and from there a long path leads along the coast. About as long as you want it to be, I don’t know, I didn’t get to the end. It’s sort of in the opposite direction of the Camino Santiago.
Along the way, you’ll come across the Monumento a la Madre del Emigrante or La Lloca (the mad woman), a statue of a woman with her arms outstretched expressing her longing for her children who have emigrated to America, which has historically been the fate of many Asturians. Further afield are small beaches like Playa de Peñarrubia and views of the cliffs.
Aquarium in Gijón
In Gijón, you can also visit an aquarium with more than 400 freshwater and marine animals, from small fish to sharks. You can explore different ecosystems in different aquariums, from the cold Cantabrian Sea to the Caribbean.
Where to go on a trip from Gijón
The area around Gijón offers plenty of opportunities for day trips, the coastline alone is worth a drive, but the inland area is nice too.
- the seaside villages of Luarca, Cudillero and Avilés,
- National Park and Covadonga Glacial Lakes.
What to taste in Gijón
The local specialty is supposed to be cider (Spanish for sidra). The cidrerias are everywhere. My original idea was to enjoy a different cider every day at a different establishment and discover all the best local cidrerias, but my first order of cider proved me wrong.
It wasn’t the best cider I’ve ever had, in fact it wasn’t even close. It was also the ugliest cider I’ve ever had. The local cider is natural and doesn’t have as many bubbles. Sorry, connoisseurs, but it tastes like rotten apple juice. I’m told it takes some getting used to, but I haven’t tried.
I consider it a must to have at least one cider here, if not for the sake of tasting it, then because of the almost ceremonial way of pouring it. In order for the cider to mix well with the air and create a lot of bubbles, they pour it by putting the bottle as high as possible and the glass as low as possible. So the cider flows down from above in a thin trickle, sometimes some of it ends up outside the glass.
It is also the origin of fabada asturiana, which I guess you could say is a bean stew. There’s some sausage and meat in a bowl of big white beans. This dish is sold all over Spain in supermarkets in a can, but freshly cooked in a restaurant it’s in a different league, I liked it a lot.
And then there’s cachopo. When I was looking for where the good restaurants are here, the pictures of most of them caught my eye with the big schnitzel. I’m thinking great, they have schnitzel here, after almost 3 months in Spain, schnitzel is a delight. Cachopo is a schnitzel, but with iberico ham and cheese. And it’s a giant schnitzel. I had it over my entire plate, I barely ate half of it and had the rest packed to go. All over Asturias and beyond, they go big on size, so you’ll find cachopo XL, cachopo XXL, and so on.
Where to eat in Gijón
There are lots of nice looking pastry shops and bakeries. My favourite is Punto Caramelo, where they have a lot of cakes and empanadas and you can even sit down, and Fermento Casa de Panaderos. A classic breakfast cafe with good coffee is Catlove. And they had a great fabada and a giant cachopo at Casa Carmen Manso, the place doesn’t look like much, but there are lines. I recommend ordering the smallest portions you can because everything is huge.
Where is Gijón
Gijón is located in the north of Spain in the Asturias region, right on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The city is situated on a relatively flat coastal strip surrounded by the green hills typical of North Atlantic Spain. The whole area is known for its rugged beauty, where rocky cliffs alternate with sandy beaches.
Gijón is the largest city in Asturias and lies about 30 km northeast of Oviedo (the regional capital) and 170 km west of Santander. It is about 100 km west of A Coruña in Galicia and 190 km east of Bilbao in the Basque Country. Gijón is approximately 400 km from the Spanish-French border.
How to get to Gijón
Gijón isn’t exactly a typical tourist destination. I reckon people come here more when they happen to be nearby. Maybe on a roadtrip through northern Spain. The whole coastline from the Portuguese border to France is all spectacular sea views crashing against the cliffs. If you want a not-quite-beach type of holiday, I’d recommend a roadtrip along the coast from San Sebastian to Porto (or beyond). Gijón sits somewhere before the halfway point.
Gijón is also on the northern route of the Camino de Santiago, the Camino del Norte. It runs from the town of Irún near the French border to Santiago de Compostela. So you can walk here too.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many train connections in this part of Spain. Travel is quite slow, mostly by bus. The nearest airport is in the Asturian capital Oviedo, about half an hour away. Santander also has an airport, more for domestic flights, and from there it’s about 3 and a half hours by bus. From Madrid it’s around 5 hours by train.
