Lakes of Covadonga — Attraction in Cangas de Onís

For those coming by bus from Gijón. There’s one bus daily at 10am, though it didn’t leave until 10.15. The last bus back to Gijon is at 6pm (from the basilica parking). Arrived at Covadonga around 12.30 and not at 11.45 as scheduled. It parks up by the basilica from where you need to go back down the road where you came from to the ticket office to buy your tickets for the lakes. The buses to the lakes come from Cangas de Onis every 5 mins or so, but you can only get on one if there’re seats. So it might be better if you travel to Cangas and then to the lakes from there, but then you won’t see the magnificent basilica. Bus drivers have a pretty well-organised system of waiting for each other on the narrow winding roads. Once you’ve started your hike around the lakes, allow about 2hrs provided you don’t sit and rest. I walk faster than most people and did it for about 1hr 40mins, only stopping for photos. I then queued for 40 mins to get on a bus back to Covadonga. Plenty of buses leave every 5 mins and it’s all well organised, people queue. The journey back took 30 mins. So all in all, it’s pretty rushed as between 10am and 6pm, with all the waiting and queuing times, you don’t get much of an opportunity to sit down, have lunch and take in the views unless you bring your own lunch as the queues for the restaurants here are enormous. This was on a sunny weekday in summer, it might be different in other seasons. Make sure you use the toilet down at the basilica as there’s an hour’s queue up at the lakes. Great views from the bus too so have your...

A beautiful place, very well worth visiting. However it gets very busy in high season - that’s not going to affect you if you plan to take one of the longer trails, but (depending on how you feel about viewing nature as part of a crowd!) could well detract from a more limited visit. Check carefully regarding access when you want to visit … from late Spring to the end of September the access road is closed at Covadonga, and you can only access the lakes by bus or approved taxi - in part a mechanism to limit access. Plan in advance, as tickets do sell out, and check the weather - there are places to shelter if it turns dreadful (including the excellent Visitors’ Centre), but they’re fairly well-spaced and if the weather restricts your activities you might be left with a long wait for your booked return bus or taxi, and your chances of getting on an earlier return journey might be poor.

All that said, the park facilities are generally good - a lot of well-surfaced paths with well-made steps around the visitors’ centre, the old mine workings (well worth seeing), and the “tops” of the lakes, with unsurfaced tracks/paths further out; generally fairly well signposted. Overall, we reckoned the park struck a good compromise between dealing with very high visitor numbers and not intruding on the wonderful surroundings.

Also, note that the €9 return bus fare to/from the lakes is the same regardless of whether you travel to/from Cangas, Covadonga, or one of the...

We were hesitant until the last moment about whether to visit the Lagos de Covadonga, mainly because of concerns about the road. However, we decided to go, even with two small children, and I’m writing this review to help other families make the same decision. Many people had warned us that the road was dangerous, but in reality, it’s perfectly manageable if you drive with caution. It’s not narrow,two vehicles can easily pass in opposite directions. We’ve encountered far more challenging roads in other places. For families considering the trip, we highly recommend it! The views are absolutely breathtaking, making the drive more than worth it. Once you reach the first lake, you can continue a bit further,either a short 3-minute drive or a 15-minute walk to see the second lake.

We visited in the low season and were lucky to have a spectacular sunny day, which made parking very easy. However, even in busier times, there are public parking areas just a short walk from the lakes. The paths are accessible with a stroller, but we personally preferred using a baby carrier.

All in all, visiting the Lagos de Covadonga is an unforgettable experience, and we definitely recommend it...