Colombres to Llanes
Bufones and cliffs
- Distance
- 22.9 km
- Climb
- 380 m up, 435 m down
- Ground
- 0 to 120 m
- Time
- 5 to 7 hours
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Underfoot
- coastal, forest, paved, dirt
Where this day sits on the Camino del Norte
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 34 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
The Asturian cliff coast is the most dramatic coastal section of the whole Camino del Norte. Between Pendueles and Vidiago you pass the bufones — blowholes where, at the right tide and sea state, the Atlantic erupts vertically out of limestone cracks in the meadow, sometimes 20 metres high. The sound is a low growl building to a boom. Llanes, at the end of the day, is a walled medieval port with a modern art installation — the Cubos de la Memoria by Agustín Ibarrola, concrete blocks painted with colours and symbols that have become the town's identity.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Standing at the bufones waiting for the sea to erupt
- The old meadow walk between Pendueles and Pría, sea on the left, cows on the right
- The Cubos de la Memoria at Llanes harbour
- Cider houses (sidrerías) for the first time — the Asturian evening ritual
A blowhole is a place where what is hidden comes out with force. What have you been carrying that the Camino has not yet let loose?
The ground
Drops from Colombres along the coast through Buelna, Pendueles, and Vidiago, passing the dramatic 'bufones' (blowholes where the Atlantic erupts through sea caves) at Pría. Llanes is a medieval Asturian port with a walled old town.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Colombres depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, Bufones and cliffs, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.