If the best bits of Spain, France, Switzerland and Ireland were smushed together to make a super region, it’d be a bit like Asturias.

“Mar 🌊 montaña ⛰ y manzana 🍏”.

Yup, Asturias boasts wild beaches, snow-capped peaks and world-famous cider, but that’s just scraping the surface.

Most people fly into Gijon - the region’s biggest city. But the magic happens in the smaller capital, Oviedo.

Woody Allen tried to put it on the map with his film ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ but it remains 100% unspoilt. The town’s a unique Celtic culture hub stuffed with cheese and fresh seafood. Try both at the Old Quarter’s Fartuquín.

Or just get lost in the mountains. The Picos de Europa are possibly the most stop-in-your-tracks-there-is-a-God place on the planet.

You'll roam wild and free with bears, wolves and asturcóns (endangered mountain ponies) and stop for breaks in red-roofed mountain villages.

‘But what’s on their feet?’

Locals walk around in madreñas (Asturian clogs worn over slippers), they keep feet toasty in the damp mountain weather.

You can pick up your own pair in the little village of Pendones. The resident madreñero (shoe-maker) crafts them using a sharpened umbrella spoke.

After a long day of hiking (and cider drinking) it's time for a hidden beach.

Try to find Playa de Gulpiyuri (a beach in the middle of a meadow!!) You’re a long way from the Costa Del Sol…

Asturias is one of those mystical places that seems far away and unreachable… But it’s actually less than a 2 hour flight from London. 😱

Go now while the weather’s dreamy but the homestays haven’t filled up with gout-suffering Frenchmen yet.