# Cabrales

What to do in Cabrales: the cheese cave at Arenas, the Bulnes funicular, cheese dairies with caves at Sotres, the route to Urriellu and where to sleep by the Cares.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/asturias/cabrales · Revisado: 2026-11-13

Cabrales is the council area of the central massif of the Picos de Europa, east of Cangas de Onís. It has three names known outside Asturias: the blue cheese that ripens in its caves, the Cares trail, which starts at Poncebos, and the Picu Urriellu, or Naranjo de Bulnes, which looms over its valleys. Arenas de Cabrales is the town where you sleep, eat and catch the bus into the mountains.

## How do I get there and where do I leave the car?

By car. From Oviedo it is 1 h 40, along the A-8 to Arriondas and then via Cangas de Onís and the AS-114; from Santander, 1 h 20, via Panes and the same AS-114. From Arenas the road to Poncebos runs about 6 km through the Cares gorge, and from Poncebos the narrow mountain road to Sotres.

On the busiest dates, in 2026 from 1 June to 12 October, Easter and the weekends in May, the practical thing is to leave the car at Arenas and go up on the seasonal bus: roughly every hour, €1.55 to Poncebos and €2.60 to Sotres. The Ovar car park, with about 146 spaces 1.2 km from Poncebos, fills up early, and next to the funicular only locals and buses may park.

## What do I do if I'm not doing the Cares?

There is much more than the gorge. The Bulnes funicular climbs from Poncebos to a village that no road reaches, with departures every half hour all year, for €22.16 return. In Arenas, the cheese cave exhibition tells the story of Cabrales in 45 minutes inside a natural cave, and two cheese dairies open their doors: Vega de Tordín, in Arenas, with its livestock farm, and Maín, in Sotres, with a walk to the cave where its cheeses ripen (visit to a cheese dairy). To see the Naranjo without walking, the Pozo de la Oración and Asiegu viewpoints, beside the road.

## And if I want real mountains?

The classic route is Sotres to the Vega de Urriellu, at the foot of the Naranjo: 24 km there and back and 1,070 metres of climb, about seven and a half hours according to the National Park. The Cares trail, from Poncebos to Caín, is the other great day. In both cases, set out early, bring water and a jacket, and check the weather: mist comes in fast even in summer.

## Where do I sleep and eat?

In Arenas, the Hotel Torrecerredo has 19 rooms, a garden and home-cooked dinner, and the Camping Naranjo de Bulnes offers pitches by the river and bungalows. To start the Cares without hunting for parking, the Hotel Arcea Mirador de Cabrales is in Poncebos itself and accepts pets. In Sotres, Casa Cipriano is a hotel, a restaurant serving fabada and kid goat, and a guides' house since 1969.

## How much time do I need?

A day covers the Bulnes funicular and the cheese cave. With two nights you add the Cares or the climb to Urriellu without rushing, and a morning in Sotres at the cheese dairy. Cangas de Onís is about 30 km away, 35 minutes along the AS-114: they combine well in a weekend.

## Dónde está
- Zonas: Picos de Europa, Unusual places to stay in Spain, Cantabrian Coast, Camino del Norte
- Cerca: Llanes (a 14.1 km), Liébana and Potes (a 22.7 km), Cangas de Onís and Covadonga (a 25.9 km), Ribadesella (a 26.6 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Cabrales Cheese Cave Exhibition, in Arenas** (45 min · All ages · Desde 6 € per adult): On the way out of Arenas towards Poncebos, in the Cares district, the Fundación Cabrales has set up an exhibition inside a natural cave to tell the story of the council's cheese: the high pastures, the flocks, the shepherds and the ripening in the rock, which is what gives it the blue. It is the quickest way to understand why a raw-milk mountain cheese costs what it costs, and it works as well with children as with someone who just wants to taste it.
What the visit is like
It is always guided and lasts about 45 minutes, in two parts of about 20. The first goes inside the cave: the guide explains the making, the surroundings and the life of the shepherds in the Picos de Europa. The second is an audiovisual on how it is made today in a dairy, and at the end there is a tasting. Inside the cave it is between 10 and 15 degrees all year: bring a jacket even if it is hot outside.
Hours, price and booking
From Monday to Friday there is a slot every hour, from 10:15 to 13:15 and from 16:15 to 19:15; Saturdays and Sundays, every half hour, from 10:15 to 13:45 and from 16:15 to 19:45. It is open every day of the year except the afternoons of 24 and 31 December, 25 December and 1 and 6 January. Admission costs €6 for adults and €4 for children; groups of 15 or more, by reservation, €4.50. Capacity is 20 people per slot, so in summer and on long weekends it is wise to call first on 985 84 67 02 (from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00). You must be there ten minutes before the time.
Who it is for and what to combine it with
For any age and any weather: it is the rainy-afternoon plan in Arenas. If afterwards you want to see a working dairy and a cave where cheese really ripens, see the visit to a Cabrales dairy. From here, Poncebos and the start of the Cares trail are about 6 km away.
- **Funicular from Poncebos to Bulnes** (3 h · All ages · Desde 22.16 € return, adult): Bulnes is a stone village in the Picos de Europa that no road reaches. For centuries it could be reached only on foot, along the Canal del Texu, a goat track; today a funicular leaves from Poncebos, beside the start of the Cares trail, and drops you in the lower district of the village in a few minutes.
Hours and price
It runs all year. There is a departure at 8:30 and, from 10:00 to 20:00, one every half hour. In high season (in 2026, from 28 March to 6 April, 1, 2 and 3 May, from 1 June to 12 October and from 5 to 8 December) extra departures are added at 20:30, 21:00, 21:30 and 22:00. The single ticket costs €17.61 and the return €22.16; children aged 4 to 12 pay €4.32 single and €6.71 return.
Getting to Poncebos
On the dates of the Principality's transport plan (in 2026, Easter, the May bank holiday, May weekends and 1 June to 12 October) the most convenient thing is to leave the car in Arenas and take the bus to Poncebos: it leaves roughly every hour from 8:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00, takes 15 minutes and costs €1.55 each way. It stops at the Ovar car park, about 146 spaces 1.2 km from Poncebos, which does not guarantee a space. Next to the funicular only Bulnes residents and buses park.
What to do at the top
The funicular leaves you at La Villa, the lower district, with its church, the bridge over the river and terraces where you can have a culín (a glass of cider). Then go up to Bulnes de Arriba, El Castillo, with views over the valley and the Canal del Texu, and walk to the Urriellu viewpoint, a quarter of an hour from La Villa, to see the Naranjo de Bulnes from a side you cannot see from the road. Allow half a day at an easy pace.
If you have the legs, a good combination is to go up by funicular and walk down the Canal del Texu, the villagers' old path, steep and with loose stone: hiking boots and fit knees.
- **Visit to a Cabrales dairy and its cave, in Sotres or Arenas** (2 h · Families; the Sotres cave, from age 6 · Desde 8 € per adult): The cave exhibition in Arenas tells the story of the cheese; here you see it being made. Two dairies in the council open their doors with guided visits, and they are two different experiences: one high up, with a walk to the cave where the pieces ripen, and another in the valley, with the livestock and the milking.
In Sotres: the real cave
Quesería Maín is a house in Sotres, the highest village in Cabrales, which ripens its cheese in four caves in the mountain. The visit lasts about two hours: it starts in the workshop, continues with a quarter-hour walk through the village, with steep slopes, to one of the caves, between 6 and 10 degrees, and comes back to end with a tasting of its three raw-milk cheeses with natural cider. It costs €12.50 and under-4s do not pay. You book only on their website, in Spanish, and the amount is not refunded, although you can change the day once with 24 hours' notice. They do not recommend it for under-6s or for anyone who has trouble walking uphill. In November 2026 it warns that it is closed for holidays until December.
In Arenas: the livestock and the milking
Vega de Tordín, at the entrance to Arenas, shows the whole journey of the milk: the cows and robotic milking, the curdling, moulding and drying before going to the cave. Children play farmers for a while, with tools their size. It is about 45 minutes with a tasting of Cabrales and its cheese cream, for €8 for adults and €5 for children. At Easter and in summer there are visits from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00; the rest of the year, call first.
Which to choose
With small children or little time, Vega de Tordín: it is in Arenas and short. If you want to see a ripening cave with the pieces covered in mould, go up to Sotres and combine it with the walk to the Vega de Urriellu or with lunch at Casa Cipriano.
- **Naranjo de Bulnes viewpoints: Pozo de la Oración and Asiegu** (30 min · All ages · Desde 0 € ): The Naranjo de Bulnes, the Picu Urriellu, is Cabrales's mountain, but from the valley floor you almost never see it: the slopes hide it. To see it without walking there are two roadside viewpoints, with parking and panels naming each peak of the central massif. They are the ten-minute stop that justifies leaving Arenas on a clear morning.
The Pozo de la Oración
It is near Poo de Cabrales, beside the road, and is the classic viewpoint: on a clear day, the Urriellu appears at the end of the valley with its orange limestone wall, surrounded by other peaks of the Urrieles. The panels at the car park help you name them. It is the photo that illustrates half the guides to Asturias, and it costs nothing.
Asiegu and the Pedro Udaondo viewpoint
From Carreña, the capital of the council, the road climbs to Asiegu, named Pueblo Ejemplar de Asturias (Exemplary Village of Asturias) in 2019. In the village is the Pedro Udaondo viewpoint, also with panels, with another view of the Urriellu and its surroundings. The climb itself already has views over Carreña. If you want to go on, the Tebrandi summer pasture, on the slopes of the Sierra del Cuera, a few kilometres away, gives another panorama of the Picos.
When to go
Early in the morning or as evening falls, with a clear sky: fog and low cloud hide the peak on many days, in summer too. Look at the summit from Arenas before you set out; if you cannot see it, leave the viewpoints for another day. Inside the National Park there are two other faces of the Urriellu, from Camarmeña, above Poncebos, and from the Bulnes viewpoint, reached by the funicular.
- **Walk from Sotres to the Vega de Urriellu, at the foot of the Naranjo de Bulnes** (7 h 30 · 24 km · Fit mountain walkers; medium difficulty, high in winter · Desde 0 € ): It is the route for seeing the Naranjo de Bulnes from its base, without climbing: a full mountain day from Sotres, the highest village in the council, to the Vega de Urriellu, the meadow where the refuge stands, at the foot of the peak's wall. The National Park signposts it as PR-PNPE 21.
The numbers
According to the National Park, it is 12 km from Sotres to Urriellu and 24 km round trip, with 1,070 metres of ascent. Allow four hours to go up and seven and a half in all. The difficulty is medium because of the length and ascent, and high in winter, when there is snow: then it is terrain for equipped mountaineers.
Getting there and where to leave the car
You drive up to Sotres from Poncebos along a road of about 11 km. On the dates of the Principality's transport plan (in 2026, 1 June to 12 October, Easter and May weekends) there is a bus from Arenas to Sotres, for €2.60 each way; the last one returns from Sotres at 20:00. Higher up, along the Pandébano pass road, there are small parking areas of four spaces, 72 in total: if you find a space, you save about 5 km each way. At Pandébano you cannot camp or sleep in your car or van.
What to bring and how to stay safe
The Park reminds you that in the Picos the weather changes quickly and the fog, the encainada, appears in summer too: if it traps you, wait for it to lift. Bring boots, a waterproof, a light coat, cap, sun cream, head torch and food: water is scarce once you enter the high mountain. Do not go alone or leave word of your route. Dogs always on a lead.
For the night before or after, in Sotres you have a bed and mountain cooking at Casa Cipriano, which also has guides and a 4x4 taxi.

## Dónde comer
- **Casa Cipriano Restaurant, in Sotres** (Restaurant, Sotres, €€). Qué pedir: the fabada or the stewed suckling kid, and the blackberry tart for dessert

## By car: By car to Arenas, by bus to Poncebos
You reach Cabrales by car on the AS-114, from Cangas de Onís in the west or from Panes in the east, and Arenas is the base: from there leave the road to Poncebos and, from Poncebos, the one to Sotres. In summer the car stays in Arenas and you go up on the Principality bus, because in Poncebos there is nowhere to park.
Presupuesto orientativo: 60–120 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Hotel Torrecerredo** (Small hotel, desde 87 € / night): Pilar and Jim, guides as well as hoteliers
The Torrecerredo is run by its owners, Pilar and Jim, who speak Spanish and English and are mountain guides: they advise you on the route according to the weather and your legs. The house is also listed with Turismo Asturias as an active-tourism company dedicated to mountain sports, with hiking, crossings, climbing, canyoning, caving and mountain biking. It is a hotel designed for those who come to the Picos to be on the move and come back tired.
It is in the Vega district, about three minutes' walk from the centre of Arenas de Cabrales, with a garden, a terrace and mountain views. Turismo Asturias records it as a one-star hotel, with 19 rooms and 38 places.
Rooms, lounge and yoga
The 19 rooms have private bathroom, central heating, wifi and television with Netflix in several languages. There are doubles, triples and quadruples. The guests' lounge has sofas, large windows over the garden and a library, and once a week there is a yoga session. Turismo Asturias lists parking, a closed bike store with washing area and workshop, and a laundry.
What you pay
The website still publishes the 2025 rates, by number of people. With breakfast, one person pays €61 in low season and €71 in high; two people, €87 and €97; three, €110 and €120; four, €139 and €149. With half board, two people pay €137 in low season and €147 in high. High season is August and Easter. These are list prices and can drop with offers; ask for the one for your dates. In high season you book with no cancellation charges.
From the morning buffet to the picnic bag
Breakfast is a buffet: cereals, pastries, jam, ham, cheese, juice, coffee or tea and eggs made to order. In the evening there is a home-cooked menu that changes, with trout in cider, cachopo or Cabrales cheese, and from the dining room you see the mountain. For the day they prepare picnic bags: with one in your rucksack you can do the Cares or the Vega de Urriellu without relying on bars.
Arenas on foot
From the hotel you walk to the Cabrales cheese cave and the village bars, and the bus stop is less than 500 metres away. It is the accommodation for the two-night getaway with the Cares and Bulnes. It closes from 6 January to 26 March, according to Turismo Asturias.
- **Hotel Arcea Mirador de Cabrales** (Hotel): The first gate to the Cares
The Mirador de Cabrales is at Puente Poncebos, the place where the Cares trail to Caín begins and where the Bulnes funicular leaves. Arenas de Cabrales is about ten minutes by car; Camarmeña, the village above, 1.6 km; Cangas de Onís 37 km and Covadonga 38. It is the hotel the Asturian chain Arcea has in Cabrales, with two stars.
What justifies sleeping here is the start time. In summer Poncebos fills up early, the car park runs out soon and the buses arrive; from the hotel you start walking when you like and return without thinking about the car, which you leave in its outdoor car park.
Three room types, all with a bath
Turismo Asturias counts 24 rooms and 44 places. The website distinguishes the single, with one bed; the double, with two beds; and the double with extra bed, with three beds for three people. The rooms have a desk, television, heating, tiled floor, wake-up service, toiletries and a bathroom with bath and shower and bidet.
The website does not publish fixed rates: the price comes up when you enter dates in its search engine, with no booking fees. It offers late check-out. Turismo Asturias records rates with breakfast and room only; confirm what yours includes when you book.
The cider house and the rest of the house
The hotel has its own cider house, with Asturian cooking, and a café bar. There is a small reading and games room with press, books and board games, a laundry, a safe, tourist information and rooms for celebrations. Reception is open 24 hours, useful if you come down late from Bulnes or the Cares. Turismo Asturias also lists a closed bike store and a bike-washing area.
Pets are welcome, according to the website; it publishes no supplement or limits, so ask when you book.
When it is open
It opens in the Cares season. According to Turismo Asturias, it closes from 13 October to 22 March, so between November and March look for a bed in Sotres, at Casa Cipriano, which closes only on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day; in Arenas, the Hotel Torrecerredo is open until 6 January. For Easter and summer, book early: it is the accommodation closest to the start of the trail.
- **Hotel Rural Casa Cipriano** (Small hotel): At the end of the road, between two massifs
Sotres is the highest village in Cabrales and lies on the divide between the central and eastern massifs of the Picos de Europa, at the end of a mountain road that climbs from Poncebos. Casa Cipriano has been in the village since 1969: it began as a bar with a few beds and an eatery, and the same family has turned it into a second-category country hotel, with a restaurant and a guiding company.
Sleeping here makes sense if you come to walk. You leave the door for the Vega de Urriellu, beneath the Naranjo de Bulnes, and on your return you do not have to drive at night along the Poncebos road.
Sixteen rooms facing the central massif
There are fourteen doubles, one triple and one single, all with private bathroom, telephone and television, with views of the central massif. The website does not publish prices or photos of each type: the rate is requested by phone, by email or with the website form. Nor does it say whether pets are allowed or detail the breakfast, beyond saying that the house's pastries are served at breakfast and lunch: ask when you book.
Turismo Asturias records the establishment's closure only on 31 December and 1 January, so it is open in winter too, when the house organises ski-touring outings.
The house guides and taxi
Casa Cipriano's guide company is made up of high-mountain sports technicians and was a pioneer in Sotres. They offer hiking, crossings, climbing, ascents of the Picos peaks, caving and canyoning, and in winter ski touring. They do not publish prices: ask at reception.
The 4x4 taxi solves what the road does not: it takes you to the start of a route, picks you up at the end, takes you to other villages or drops you at a connection with other transport. Book at the hotel or on 630 916 032.
Eating, parking and leaving the bike
On the ground floor is the house restaurant, serving home-style Asturian cooking, with suckling kid and the fabada made with farm fabes as the main dishes, and options for coeliacs. The bar is rustic, with a fireplace and a terrace, and free wifi in the common areas. They have private free parking beside the hotel. Turismo Asturias lists a closed bike store and a workshop area with tools, useful if you come by bicycle.
From Sotres you can also walk to Bulnes via Pandébano, and going down to Poncebos you have the Bulnes funicular and the start of the Cares.
- **Camping Naranjo de Bulnes** (Campsite, desde 53 € / night): Riverside pitches and mountain pitches
The campsite is at kilometre 32.5 of the Arenas to Panes road, on the way out of Arenas de Cabrales, with direct access to the River Cares. It is large: Turismo Asturias counts 196 pitches and room for 677 people, in the second category. The pitches are divided into two areas, the river one and the mountain one, with 61 m² and up to four people each, among trees and grass and with an electricity hook-up. The public transport stop is less than 500 metres away.
Bungalows with porches and bunk cabins
The bungalows go from two to six places: the two-person one has one bedroom and 34 m²; the four-person, two bedrooms and 61 m²; the six-person, two bedrooms and 75 m². There is also a hórreo-shaped bungalow for five. All have a porch.
The cabins are something else: for two to four people, with four bunk beds, a socket, heating, a wardrobe, a covered porch with garden furniture and their own parking. They have no bathroom, you use the campsite's toilets, and they do not include bedding or towels: bring them or sleep in a sleeping bag.
Published prices for 2026
The cabin costs €53 a night for two in low season and €62 in high; for four, €72 and €80. The two-person bungalow, €92 and €112; the six-person, €152 and €175. For camping you pay per item: adult €8 (€9.50 in high season), child €5.50 (€7), car €5.50 (€6.50), small tent €7 (€8), family tent €8.50 (€9.50), motorhome €10.50 (€12) and electricity €6. Two adults with a car and a small tent come to €28.50 a night in low season, without electricity. In 2026 high season was Easter and 11 July to 27 August.
Showers, bar and shared kitchen
The bar restaurant opens at 8:00, has a large terrace and cooks dishes from the area. There is a social lounge with a fireplace, a children's playground, hot showers 24 hours a day, an adapted bathroom, a baby toilet, a laundry, an emptying and filling point for caravans and motorhomes, and a shared area with fridges, freezer, microwave and tables, for ten people at most.
Dates, hours and dogs
It is closed now: the website announces it opens at the start of the next season, and Turismo Asturias gives the closure as 3 November to 15 March. Pitches are taken from 8:30 to 22:00 and bungalows and cabins from 15:30 to 22:00; if you arrive outside those hours, let reception know. On departure day you must leave everything before 12:00.
Dogs are allowed on pitches, with vaccinations up to date and always under control, both inside and outside the pitch. They are not allowed in bungalows and cabins, nor are potentially dangerous breeds.
Walking without taking the car
The website proposes several outings from the campsite itself: a circular of about two hours that climbs through the woods towards Nava and returns by track, and the Pozo de la Oración viewpoint, an easy hour towards Poo de Cabrales with a view of the Naranjo de Bulnes. In Arenas you have the Cabrales cheese cave, and the Cares trail starts at Poncebos.

## As a family: Cheese, funicular and a peak in view

Cabrales with children is more about cheese and the funicular than big walks. The visits are short, almost everything is less than half an hour from Arenas and the Naranjo de Bulnes is shown from a viewpoint next to the car.

### What works best
The cheese cave exhibition, 45 minutes, €4 for children

The funicular to Bulnes, ages 4 to 12 €6.71 return

Vega de Tordín, with a spell as farmers for the little ones

The Pozo de la Oración viewpoint, at the roadside

### Where to sleep
Hotel Torrecerredo, with triple and quadruple rooms

Camping Naranjo de Bulnes, with bungalows of up to six places

### Where to eat
Hotel picnic for Bulnes; up there are terraces in La Villa

Casa Cipriano, in Sotres, if you go up to the Maín dairy

### Bear in mind
In the cave it is between 10 and 15 degrees: bring a sweatshirt

The Sotres cave is not recommended for under-6s

The Cares trail is advised from age 12

### Qué hacer as a family
- Cabrales Cheese Cave Exhibition, in Arenas
- Funicular from Poncebos to Bulnes
- Visit to a Cabrales dairy and its cave, in Sotres or Arenas
- Naranjo de Bulnes viewpoints: Pozo de la Oración and Asiegu

## Consejos

### Leave the car in Arenas in summer
There is no room at Poncebos and Ovar fills up first thing.

### Bring a jacket to the cave
Inside the exhibition cave it is between 10 and 15 degrees all year.

### Book the Sotres cheese dairy on its website
Maín takes online bookings only, non-refundable, and in November 2026 it closes for holidays until December.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How much does the Bulnes funicular cost?
€17.61 single and €22.16 return; ages 4 to 12, €4.32 and €6.71.

### Can you visit a cave where Cabrales cheese ripens?
Yes: the one at Quesería Maín, in Sotres, with a guided visit and tasting. In Arenas, the Fundación Cabrales exhibition cave explains the process.

### How do you get to Poncebos in season?
On the bus that leaves Arenas, roughly every hour, for €1.55 each way.

### Can you go with a dog?
On the routes, on a lead: in the National Park it is forbidden to let them run loose. They are not allowed in the cheese cave or the cheese dairies.

### What do I do on a rainy day?
The cheese cave exhibition and a cheese dairy in Arenas; the funicular runs regardless.