Going down the Pozo Sotón mine, 386 metres underground

At Pozo Sotón you do not visit a museum with mock galleries: you go down a HUNOSA coal mine, in the miners' cage, and walk through its levels hundreds of metres beneath the mountain. It is in San Martín del Rey Aurelio, about 31 minutes from Oviedo. It is a whole morning, demanding and unforgettable.

The route

You change, receive a safety talk, the lamp and the self-rescuer, and go down in the cage 386 metres to the eighth level. Through the La Jota chimney you descend to the ninth, where they explain the communications with the outside, the emergency equipment and the ventilation. Then you walk about two kilometres of galleries to the north to the areas where coal was extracted: a vertical working with shearer, the advance of a gallery at La Lozana and a sublevel working, down which you go by an inclined plane to the tenth level, with a loading hopper and a plane flooded with water. In all, about 5 km inside the mine and between four and five hours. For those who cannot manage the chimney there is a simpler alternative route.

Price and conditions

It costs €48 per person, with a 10% discount for groups of ten or more. You must report at the pit at 8:20: anyone who arrives late loses the visit with no refund. The minimum age is 16; under-18s, with signed authorisation. The mine is not adapted for people with reduced mobility, and people with claustrophobia, arrhythmias or heart problems, asthma or other respiratory diseases, vertigo, epilepsy, pregnancy and other conditions the website lists may not go down. You cannot enter with a mobile phone, battery watch or food. The short two-and-a-half-hour visit appears in November 2026 as out of service.

What to bring

Two changes of underwear, because what you wear inside will not come back in good condition; if you forget, they give you mine clothes, men's only. HUNOSA provides the towels; bring flip-flops and your wash bag for the shower. Better without contact lenses, because of the dust.