43.15° N · 4.62° W
Potes, the Fuente Dé cable car, the monastery of Santo Toribio and the La Hermida hot springs. An hour and three quarters from Santander through the gorge.
Part of Picos de EuropaCantabrian Coast
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Cable car · 4-minute ride · 753 m climb up to 1,823 m · From €20 return · Closed for works from 16 November 2026
Walk · 14.5 km downhill · 4 hrs 15 · Easy, on a track · From El Cable to Fuente Dé after going up by cable car · Cable car closed for works from 16 November…
Visit · 1 hr · 3 km from Potes · Church, cloister and Lignum Crucis chapel · Free admission · Pilgrim's Mass at 12:00
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From May to October, with the valley green and the cable car on long hours. September and October are quiet and mild. In November 2026 the cable car closes for works for a few weeks.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Liébana is explored by car: Potes, Santo Toribio and Fuente Dé are all on a single road, and the La Hermida spa is on the road in. You enter through the gorge from the coast, or over the San Glorio or Piedrasluengas passes from Castile.
The cable car drops you at 1,823 metres without tiring your legs: from there start routes such as the descent via Áliva or the climb towards Horcados Rojos. Federated mountaineers have their own fare, with booking 72 hours ahead.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Liébana works for families because the most spectacular thing takes little effort: four minutes in a cabin and you are in the high mountains. The rest of the day fits in the valley.
For teenagers, Liébana has a mountain guide who tests them on a rock face or in a river, and a long route that goes downhill.
With small children, the perfect day in Liébana is a short one: cable car in the morning, lunch in Potes and a thermal bath in the afternoon.
Liébana puts the Picos de Europa within reach of a group without needing to be a mountaineer: the La Hermida gorge brings together a beginner's canyon, a via ferrata and a spa to end the day, and Potes offers cocido and chargrilled meat for everyone to sit down together. The plan comes together easily: a day of canyoning or via ferrata at La Hermida, the spa in the afternoon and, the next day, Potes for a stroll and a meal. In winter the canyon is swapped for guided snowshoeing over the mountain passes. Guided activities are booked ahead, and some set the price by group size, so settle the numbers before calling.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
© ParadoresHotelWhy we like it: Modern mountain refuge at the foot of the cable car, inside the Picos de Europa, with spacious rooms, a restaurant and pets admitted. Closed in the depths of winter.
Why we like it: Family hotel with 50 rooms in Cosgaya, in two stone-and-timber manor houses, with an outdoor pool, tennis, children's games and cocido in its dining room. Double from €87.
Why we like it: Stone manor house with 13 rooms in San Pelayo, 5 km from Potes on the way to Fuente Dé, with a 2,000 m² garden crossed by a stream and a pool. Double from €90.
Why we like it: Four-star spa hotel with 57 rooms in the La Hermida Gorge, with thermal circuit included for guests, an outdoor thermal cave and the Río Deva restaurant.
Services for this trip
Areas, for any way of travelling
| Area | Who it's for | Average night |
|---|---|---|
| Potes | Base with everything to hand, restaurants | |
| Camaleño valley | Stately houses and hotels on the way to Fuente Dé | |
| La Hermida | Spa and gorge |
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the cocido lebaniego, and if there are several of you, the roast suckling lamb; for something quick, portions at the bar
What to order: cocido lebaniego to start and charcoal-grilled red meat; for dessert, the cheesecake
© ParadoresWhat to order: the cocido lebaniego or the sirloin with Tresviso cheese, and the cheese board
What to order: the cocido lebaniego (€14) or the montañés; for a main, the mushroom-stuffed trotters, and for dessert the rice pudding or the Liébana fresh-cheese tart
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
If it is foggy at the top, you see nothing and they don't refund your ticket.
The morning queue is the shortest, and the light the cleanest.
With tired legs, the 38 °C pools are even more welcome.
The relic's chapel is open Monday to Saturday; on Sunday you see only the church and the cloister.
A Sunday in August in a hurry. Between the cable car queue and the traffic in the gorge, half the day goes on waiting.
Liébana is a district enclosed by mountains: the Picos de Europa to the north, the mountain range to the south and west. You can only enter through a canyon or a pass. Inside there is a mild valley, with vineyards, holm oaks and market gardens, and a capital, Potes, where the rivers Deva and Quiviesa meet. In a day you see the essentials: the Fuente Dé cable car, the monastery of Santo Toribio and the old town of Potes. With a night, you can add a route over the Áliva passes or an afternoon in the thermal pools of La Hermida.
Take the A-8 towards Asturias as far as Unquera and then the N-621 towards Panes and Potes, which follows the river Deva up through the La Hermida gorge. It is about 110 km to Potes and 135 to Fuente Dé; allow an hour and three quarters to Potes without stops, because the last 45 minutes are bends. From Oviedo you reach it by the same A-8 as far as Panes, in a little over two hours. From León and Palencia you enter from the south, over the San Glorio and Piedrasluengas passes, mountain roads that may need chains in winter.
Without a car it is complicated: Fuente Dé, Santo Toribio and La Hermida are a long way from each other. This guide assumes you are travelling by car.
In Potes, in the car parks at the entrance to the town: the old town is narrow and in summer you cannot drive through it. At Fuente Dé there is parking next to the cable car, at the end of the road. Santo Toribio has space at the top, beside the monastery. At the La Hermida spa you park by the roadside.
A day is enough for the cable car in the morning, lunch in Potes, Santo Toribio in the afternoon and the return through the gorge. It is a long day from Santander, of about ten hours. With a night you can do it without hurrying: go up on the first cable car, walk down through Áliva, which takes about four hours, and leave the second afternoon for the spa. With two nights there is room for a via ferrata or a guided canyon descent.
From May to October the cable car opens for longer hours and the routes at the top are free of snow. June has the meadows in flower and September and October bring the colours of the forest and fewer people. In August Potes and Fuente Dé fill up, and the cable car queue can be hours long: buy online a day ahead. In winter the valley is quiet, it snows at the top and there are guided snowshoe outings, but the Parador de Fuente Dé closes from the end of December to the end of February.
Notice for November 2026: the Fuente Dé cable car closes for works from 16 November, for a few weeks. Cantur will announce the reopening on its website. It also closes on any day of strong wind.
The Fuente Dé cable car climbs 753 metres in under four minutes, €20 to €30 return. At the top begins the descent through the Áliva pastures, 14.5 km along a track between meadows and woodland. The monastery of Santo Toribio, 3 km from Potes, houses the Lignum Crucis and is the end of the Camino Lebaniego. Potes can be walked in an hour, among stone bridges.
In the La Hermida gorge are the spa's thermal cave, open-air pools at 38 °C from €30, and, with a guide from Potes, the via ferrata and the Navedo canyon.
Liébana's signature dish is cocido lebaniego: small chickpeas, cabbage, meats and stuffing, with the soup served first. In Potes it is served at Casa Cayo and the Asador Llorente, and on the way to Fuente Dé, at the Hotel del Oso and the parador. The district also makes cheeses, such as the picón de Tresviso, and orujo.
Questions
About 110 km and an hour and three quarters by the A-8 and the La Hermida gorge.
In 2026, €20 return for an adult in low season and €30 in high season. Children aged 4 to 12, €8 or €15.
It closes for works from 16 November 2026, for a few weeks.
Yes. On the cable car, in a closed carrier and with a supplement; in the National Park, always on a lead. The Parador de Fuente Dé accepts pets.
Yes. The thermal cave costs from €30 and the circuit from €39, with booking.
Yes, but it is a long day from Santander. With a night you enjoy it much more.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/cantabria/liebana-and-potes
