Llanes to Ribadesella
The inland beach
- Distance
- 30 km
- Climb
- 490 m up, 490 m down
- Ground
- 0 to 150 m
- Time
- 7 to 9 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- 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 Playa de Gulpiyuri is 100 metres from the Atlantic but separated from it by a limestone wall. The tide enters through an underground tunnel. It is a perfect crescent of sand with waves, sitting in a meadow. You walk past it without expecting it and then you stop. Ribadesella at the end of the stage is the Sella river mouth — the Sella is the river of the Descenso del Sella, a famous international kayak race in August, and Ribadesella is where it finishes. The Tito Bustillo cave with its Paleolithic paintings (UNESCO inscribed separately) is on the far side of the bridge.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Stopping at Gulpiyuri beach in disbelief
- First sight of the Sella river mouth from the cliff approach
- The bridge into Ribadesella old town in afternoon light
- Cider and fabada at a Ribadesella sidrería — the Asturian national dish
A beach inside a meadow. A cave with 15,000-year-old art. What does it mean to be surprised every day for three weeks?
The ground
Long coastal stage through Cuerres, Nueva de Llanes, and the Playa de Gulpiyuri (an inland beach — a natural sink where the tide flows in through an underground tunnel). The Sella river at Ribadesella is crossed by a bridge into the old town.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Llanes 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, The inland beach, 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.