Camping in León: Picos de Europa, Las Médulas and the Way of St James
León is, by a wide margin, the province with the most campsites in Castile and León, and this abundance reflects a landscape and cultural richness that makes it one of the best camping destinations on the Peninsula. The north of the province reaches into the Picos de Europa, the most rugged mountain range in northern Spain, with the Cares Gorge, considered one of the most spectacular trails in Europe, the Valdeón and Sajambre valleys, and the national park of the same name shared with Asturias and Cantabria. Riaño, rebuilt after the reservoir that flooded the original village, is today a comfortable mountain base with a very photogenic lake landscape.
The west of León is El Bierzo, a district with a personality of its own, enclosed between mountains that give it a milder and damper climate than the rest of the province. Las Médulas, the great Roman gold mine that imperial engineers hollowed out using the ruina montium technique, is today a landscape of reddish pinnacles, tunnels and chestnut groves that UNESCO recognised as a World Heritage Site. The Templar castle of Ponferrada, the Mozarabic church of Santiago de Peñalba and the little village of Las Médulas itself deserve at least a full day. The Way of St James enters El Bierzo through the O Cebreiro pass and descends towards Villafranca del Bierzo, one of the most charming villages on the route.
The central and western districts of the León mountains, Babia, Omaña and Laciana, are a still well-kept secret. Valleys of green pastures, villages of stone and slate, trout rivers and a silence that is increasingly hard to find elsewhere. Babia was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO for the conservation of its ecosystems and its traditional way of life tied to transhumance. The Sierra de los Ancares, in the far north-west, holds pallozas, the circular straw-and-stone buildings of pre-Roman origin that are still preserved in some villages.
The capital, León, is a city that justifies a visit on its own. León Cathedral, with more than 1,800 square metres of medieval stained glass, is the most luminous in Spain and possibly in Europe. The Collegiate Church of San Isidoro, with its royal pantheon and its twelfth-century Romanesque paintings considered the Sistine Chapel of Romanesque art, is another unmissable landmark. The Barrio Húmedo, an entire block of bars where a glass of beer always comes with a free tapa, makes the night in León especially generous. Cecina de León, botillo from El Bierzo, roasted peppers and the wines of the Bierzo Designation of Origin are the products that best represent the cuisine of a province that has a great deal to give.
