This 377.36 km2 park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Wooded areas cover over 40% of the park, with species such as brown bears, dear, chamois and wolves roaming free. Rare flora and fauna can be admired on one of the 3 walking routes: Ruta del Alaba (4 hours) - Easy Starting at the hamlet of Soto de Agues 5 kms from Rio Seco, this walk runs parallel to the River Alba. Desfiladero de los Arrudos (5 ½ hours) This walk starts from Caleao, following the gorge. Bezanes to Brañagallones (+/- 5 ½ hours) This walk climbs up a track from the village of Bezanes to the meadows of Brañagallones in the site of an old glacial lake.

This magnificent 19th-century building opened in 1892 and is regarded as an emblematic of the city. Teatro Campoamor is also the venue for the annual Prince of Asturias prize ceremony and for the city’s annual opera season and the Zarzuela music festival. The theatre’s elegant interior was influenced by the Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid and is opulently decorated in scarlet, gold and red. On the first floor you can find the statue of Ramón de Campoamor, the Asturian poet after whom the theatre is named.

Yoff village has a strongly religious community, where drinking and smoking are forbidden, and visitors are expected to dress appropriately. The white mausoleum is dedicated to Saidi Limamou Laye, the founder of the Layene Muslim brotherhood, and its location on the beach and the sand floor make for an interesting visit.

Take a trip to the mountains to discover an alternate view of the island. Rising to almost 2,000 metres above sea level, the Troodos peaks provide panoramic views of all corners of the island, a cool retreat from the heat of the coast and a popular destination for taking in the healthy mountain air and enjoying nature in all its majesty. Charming villages, some with cobbled streets and preserved folk architecture, nestle on terraced slopes among pines or amid vineyards and orchards. Wander through the village roads in the Solea Valley, known as the “apple valley” and Marathasa, known as “valley with cherry trees”. Those areas are renowned for their traditional architecture and their Byzantine churches and monasteries. Explore the traditional character of the villages of the picturesque Pitsilia, the interesting churches and the hospitality of their inhabitants and also the Wine Villages (Krasochoria), renowned for their vineyards and wine. A number of small wineries welcome visitors on wine tasting tours. Burbling mountain streams and nightingale’s songs are often the only sounds to fill in the air in a region that poets have waxed lyrical over. The Troodos mountains are where the painted churches of Cyprus can be found, superb examples of Byzantine art, ten of which have been listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage wonders. There’s much you can do, from mountain biking to playing tennis, angling in one of the dams, or even skiing in winter. A series of walking trails will take you through areas of exceptional beauty among scented pines, running streams and the occasional waterfall, stopping at a shady picnic site. Some of these form part of the European path E4, an international network of long-distance walking routes crossing the whole of Europe. The specific climatic conditions created by the high altitudes and the peculiar geological substratum may have contributed to the unique flora found in Troodos with nearly 800 different plant species, 12 of which found nowhere else in the world. Occasionally, if lucky, one may spot a Cyprus mouflon, a kind of wild sheep which roams free in the extensive forests. Birdwatchers may spot the rare and protected eagles or the colourful hoopoe with a pink body, a black and white crest and a call which can be heard from miles around.