Oviedo (Asturias) Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Oviedo [1] is a cathedral city, capital of Principality of Asturias, in northern Spain, that has monuments listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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Get in
By plane, you will arrive to the Airport of Asturias (AST), wich is arround 40km away from Oviedo. Oviedo airport is located on the outskirts of the town of Aviles.
There are taxis, car rentals, and buses. The bus is by far the cheapest way to get to Oviedo (arround 5 euros), and will leave you in the Bus station, very close to the center, with urban buses, taxis and the train station next to it.
By Bus, you will probably ride an ALSA, and again, reach the Bus Station. The journey is between 40-50 minutes. The Oviedo Bus Station is located close to the Oviedo train station, about 5 minutes walk.
Oviedo train station is on the west side of la Calle Uria (the center of the city). Almost all urban bus lines go through la Calle Uria, and again, there are taxis.
By Car, there is an exterior highway, that surounds the city, and allows to get in by the more close point to our destination. Be carefull not to go into A6, because after Lugones there is no way to turn arround before Gijon or Aviles.
Get around
The best way to get arround is walking.
Most of the centre of the city can only be visited that way, as no motor traffic is allowed. Where traffic is allowed, be prepared for jams and narrow passes, as sometimes parking is allowed on both sides of the road.
The pedestrianised areas are full of shops, restaurants, cafes. The main shopping mall in central Oviedo is "Salesas", which houses Spain's main department store El Corte Ingles, a huge supermarket Hipercor, as well as various fashion outlets.
The urban Buses work quite fine, and on every bus stop there is a screen with the time till next bus.
See
The old part of Oviedo is called the "Casco Antiquo". Here you can see Oviedo's splendid Cathedral, and wander along cobbled streets admiring the architecture of sympathetically-restored buildings. There is an open-air market in the main square on most days, which is worth a look. During the summer months you will find buskers here. The atmosphere at the marketplace is akin to London's Covent Garden.
Do
Buy
The best place for shopping in Oviedo is the mega mall El Parque Principado, which is located just outside Oviedo. The L1 long "bendy" bus goes from Calle Uria in central Oviedo and takes about 20 minutes to get to El Parque Principado, with stops along the way. The charge is a uniform 85 centimos each way. Children under 4 go free. Once at El Parque Principado, you have about 110 shops, with the flagship hypermarket Eroski flanking one end, and an eclectic range of restaurants, 11-screen cinema, bowling alley, children's amusements on the other end.
El Parque Principado is situated in a sprawling industrial estate, which also boasts megastores such as MediaMarkt, which sells a wide range of electrical goods. Other megastores are PC World, AKI (a DIY superstore), Conforama for furniture, and further along are several car showrooms, bathroom fittings shops etc. Within walking distance of the other end of El Parque Principado is the Swedish furniture store IKEA.
There is another shopping mall called "Los Prados" which can be reached by bus no. 2,4,7 and 11. These buses can be caught from central Oviedo. This mall has Asturias' only IMAX theatre offering movies in 3D, as well as a traditional 14-screen cinema. The range of shops is not as impressive as that of El Parque Principado, however.
Contrary to tradition, the shopping malls offer uninterrupted shopping hours, from 10am to about 9pm. Generally, businesses in Spain shut down from 2-5pm, for the traditional siesta.
Eat
THE FOLLOWING IS ONLY IN RELATION TO EL PARQUE PRINCIPADO, OVIEDO:
The Chinese restaurant "Principado" offers an excellent "eat all you want" buffet every day. Choose from a range of traditional Chinese dishes. The price includes dessert but drinks are additional. Be aware that on weekends, the price is about 2 Euros more than on weekdays. The weekday price (2006) is 6.95 Euros for adults and about 3.95 Euros for children. Lunch is from about noon until 4pm, dinner from 8pm onwards. Try to arrive early, as the restaurant does get very crowded due to its popularity with the more adventurous Spaniards.
There are several traditional Spanish tapas bars offering value for money with a la carte menus, or Menu del Dia (Meal of the Day) of starter, first dish and dessert at under 10 Euros. There is a Mexican restaurant called "La Cantina", which offers fajitas and burritos etc. There is an American Hollywood-movie themed restaurant.
There is also a McDonald's, a Burger King and a kebab place if you want fast food.
Drink
The Cider (sidra) is something that can't be missed. The area with the highest Cider-Bars (Sidrerias) concentration is La Calle Gascona, and its got many people enjoying cider on the street, specially on evenings (after 18:00 till 24:00).
Cider-drinking etiquette in Asturias: The cider of Asturias is natural cider. It is poured from on high and the pouring is a ritual in itself. The reason for this style of pouring is to incorporate air into the cider as it falls from the bottle to the glass below, so that when you get your glass of cider it will be naturally fizzy. You are meant to drink in one gulp what the waiter offers you, leaving a little in the base of the glass. You then pour what's left out of the glass and hand the glass back to the waiter, who will then pour another glass for someone else. Don't worry, though, he only ever pours about 2 mouthfuls at a time! Be aware that cider pouring is a messy business and the floor surface will get very, very wet and sticky.
In many other bars and restaurants there is cider available. Look out for signs saying "Sidreria" or "Chigre". The best place to find a number of Sidrerias is La Calle Gascona.
There is also plenty of wine bars close tho Gascona street.
Sleep
Get out
In the past pubs used to close very late, but now there is a time schedule:
Sun-Thu Pubs close at 3:00 Discos close at 5:00 Fri-Sat Pubs close at 5:30 Discos close at 7:00 (times are actually the next day)
There are mainly 3 areas:
El Cristo It is most bars and pubs, and some after hour. Mostly middle age people. (30's, 40's...)
El Rosal
It is where most of minors go on fridays, saturdays, and sundays evenings (15:00 to 22:00); some of the kids drink too much, and then become agressive and it is a wise idea to avoid the area at those times.
Once most of the minors have left, young people on their early 20's will take their place.
La calle Mon It is where most of people end their night, after being on El Rosal. People is usually from 20's to 30's, and there are pubs more oriented to young people, and some others to young.
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