The hike La Ruta de las Xanas is called the “mini Ruta del Cares” because it includes a walk between high rocky mountain but it is a lot shorter and easier than Cares (check the full information about the Ruta del Cares here).
Many people do this route as “back and forth” but you can actually go back from a different route that is a lot greener and that way you see a whole different walk back.
At the end of the way there is a small town where you can have a drink or eat lunch but make sure you have enough time in case the wait for a table is long.
How to Get There
Public transportation: from Oviedo, there is a bus line called Oviedo-Teverga that does this route three times a day, so make sure you calculate your time correctly and take into account the hour to get back to Oviedo. The bus ride is less than an hour and you will need to get off in Villanueva but if you look out the window you will see the signs indicating “Ruta de las Xanas.”
From Gijon and Aviles the fastest way is to take a bus to Oviedo and then take the bus I talked about from there. There are buses connecting Oviedo, Aviles, and Gijon every 30 minutes.
Car: from Oviedo it is about a 20 minutes ride, look for directions to “Parking Ruta de las Xanas.”
The Details
* for more route details click on the route picture above
The route in Wikiloc actually starts about 5 minutes walk from the parking lot. You will see a steep hill and information about the route, this is where you start!
Difficulty: very easy, but some people with a fear of heights may not enjoy
Length: about 9 KM
Time: about 4 hours
The Hike
The first half of the route is completely between rocky mountains and the view is stunning. The combination of the gray color of the mountains with the green trees is so beautiful.
It was a bit difficult to capture in the pictures how amazing is the walk between the mountains but I hope this convinced you to do this hike 🙂
At some point the view completely changed and you end up walking in a misty forest. Between the trees you can spot a beautiful river that passes by. You can get off the marked route and have a snack by the river!
The route arrives to a small town called Pedroveya where you can have a break for a coffee, beer, or a full lunch. As I mentioned early, plan your time well since the place can get really busy! It will make getting a table for lunch a bit difficult. You can actually see the village of Pedroveya in the following picture!
The previous picture and the next one were taken past Pedroveya, part of the route I recommend that you take back. The whole way back is very green and looks completely different from the previous places in the route.
I think a hike in the ruta de las xanas is the perfect quick and easy way to pass a few hours in nature 🙂
For more hikes ideas browse through them all here.
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