Sotres: Mountain Trails, Culture and Cheese in the Picos de Europa
Accommodation in Sotres
Nature and Mountain Landscapes
Sotres is located in the Picos de Europa National Park and is a gateway to the Andara Massif. The Picos de Europa National Park is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Near Sotres, the Mirador de los Jorcaos viewpoint is also located within the Picos de Europa National Park; it has been set up for public use. For planning purposes, the village, massif, national park and viewpoint can be considered as different geographical reference points. A viewpoint, a massif and a national park each designate their own spatial level; this distinction can help structure your planning.
File:Sotres, Picos de Europa, Asturias, Spain.jpg
Photo: Petr Meissner via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Hiking Trails
The PR-PNPE-21 Vega de Urriellu route connects Sotres with the Urriellu refuge via the Collado de Pandébano; it opened in 1986. The first stage of the GR-202 Gran Ruta de la Reconquista connects Sotres with Poncebos, runs at the foot of Picu Urriellu (Naranjo) and through the village of Bulnes, and is 11.9 km long; it takes approximately 4 hours and 15 minutes.
The PR-PNPE-20 Monte Camba route connects the cheese-making villages of Tielve and Sotres and runs along Monte Camba. Its complete circular route is 14.1 km long and takes approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes.
The route lengths and approximate times provide a common basis for comparison, while the connections and intermediate destinations each establish their own geographical references. For your daily planning, you can therefore consider the duration and route separately. Longer and shorter trails can also be compared side by side in this way.
Culture
The Church of San Pedro de Sotres is a place of worship of medieval origin, featuring simple rural mountain architecture. The Sotres Cultural Fest included exhibitions, concerts, workshops, theatre and film screenings. For different cultural interests, an individual place of worship and a festival with several types of events can be classified separately.
Cheese
Quesería Maín offers a guided tour of the cheese dairy, showing the various stages of cheese production, drying and labelling. Afterwards, a walk leads to a natural cave where the cheeses mature. The visit ends with an individual tasting of cheeses at different stages of maturity, accompanied by tomato jam, apple dessert, water and cider.
The sequence of the tour, walk and tasting can be taken into account when planning your day as a progression through different stops. The information about culture and cheese therefore stands as separate areas of focus alongside the hiking trails and the geographical aspects of the village.
When choosing a holiday apartment in Sotres, you can compare travel dates, room categories and cancellation policies on the respective offer pages. In addition, you can place the information about longer and shorter trails, as well as culture and cheese, side by side as separate areas of focus in your own planning.
Other Places
Borines, La Pesa, Naves, Coya, Cuerres, El Tejedal, Priede, Triongo
For the broader travel overview: Oriente De Asturias.
