Oviedo wears its history lightly, and it is a surprisingly relaxed city, a green, rain-washed place of nearly a quarter of a million people at the foot of the Cantabrian mountains. Its Gothic cathedral, San Salvador, rises over the old town, but the real treasure is hidden inside: the Cámara Santa, the Holy Chamber, a small pre-Romanesque chapel built in the ninth century when King Alfonso II the Chaste made Oviedo the capital of the little Christian kingdom of Asturias. It holds the great relics of the Asturian monarchy, including two gold-and-jewel crosses, the Cross of the Angels and the Cross of Victory, which has become the symbol of the region, and a chest of relics that pilgrims came from across Europe to see.
That pilgrim tradition is worth remembering. The Camino Primitivo, the original route to Santiago de Compostela, begins here, following the path of Alfonso II himself when he went to see the newly found tomb of the apostle. Medieval proverbs said that whoever goes to Santiago and not to Oviedo visits the servant and neglects the Lord, a bit of local promotion that still raises a smile.
Asturias is also cider country, and Oviedo has a whole street, the Calle Gascona, lined with sidrerías where the cider is poured from a great height into the glass, to aerate it, a skill that takes years to master. Try the cider, a plate of fabada, the local bean stew, and a slice of cheese, and you will understand what the city does best. Pre-Romanesque churches stand on the hills above the town, including Santa María del Naranco, and they are well worth a detour.
Riding in the city is not hard, though the rain can make the cobbles slick and the old town streets awkward. Parking a motorbike is easy at the edge of the pedestrian centre. Fuel is no problem in a city of this size, and Lugones, to the north-west, has plenty of stations and shops. The mountains to the south, with their long, flowing roads, make a wonderful playground if the weather behaves.