"Costa Verde - The Green Coast" Llanes by debtravers

This part of the northern coast of Spain is stunningly beautiful and is certainly deserving of its title 'Costa Verde' - so be prepared for rain, at any time of the year! There is 145 km of coastline in Asturias to explore. We spent a long weekend here at the end of September - avoiding the main tourist season luckily as I'd imagine it gets very busy here. Beautiful empty beaches are easy to find here, and if beach-hopping isn't your thing, then the 'Picos de Europa' are only about 20 km from the coast so you can easily sunbathe in the morning and go mountain-hiking in the afternoon.

Llanes is a great base for exploring this region of Spain, the road links are terrific here and minimal traffic when we visited. We explored so many beautiful, deserted coves and gorgeous beaches; end of Sept seemed a perfect time to visit as the weather was glorious still. In the evenings we wandered around the old part of town, drank the local cider (poured at shoulder height, with great ceremony into your glass by the barman) - pretty strong stuff, reminded me of local Devonian rough cider. You have to try it! Was a good cider pub with outdoor benches right by this harbour but I can't remember its name...

Naranjo de Bulnes, Picos de Europa (Spain)

are a range of mountains about 20km inland from the north coast and form part of the Cantabrian Mountains. The rocks are almost all of limestone and contain many of Spain's deepest caves including Torca del Cerro. Bears and wolves still live in the remotest areas. The photo shows the best-known climbing site. We stayed around Potes mostly, enjoying the scenery.

• Pros:Beats the other Costas hands down!!
• Cons:Unpredictable rainy days - just like home!
• In a nutshell:Don't come during the height of summer!