This tour brings you to the Arnao mine, Europe’s first submarine mine. Submerge yourself in the original mine shaft and visit the nearby village of Arnao with us. And enjoy a delicious fresh seafood lunch!
Arnao Mine Museum
The Arnao mine is Spain’s first coal mine. Its exploitation goes all the way back to 1591. The galleries are excavated under the sea, making it Europe’s first submarine mine. The innovative techniques to extract coal invented in Arnao were an example for many other mines in Asturias. You start your guided tour with a visit to the Arnao Mine Museum where you learn everything about these innovations.
Visit Arnao Mine
Then, you descent 20 meters into Asturias’ oldest vertical mine shaft to visit the mining galleries. A local guide tells you everything you want to know about Arnao mine. We translate this for you. At the end of your visit you know many facts and anecdotes about how it was to work in the mine. For example, about the involvement of 12-years-old boys and the use of “Eleonore”, Spain’s first steam locomotive. And about the use of mules that went blind from being in the mine day and night as well as the presence of goblins that made the miners work harder…
Arnao Village
After a surprising exit of the mine, you take a stroll on Arnao’s beach with its many fossils. Then, you visit Arnao village. This village was especially built for the mine workers and therefore an exemplary ‘workers village’ for the rest of Spain. See the typical worker houses, the abandoned house of the director and the interesting school yard with us! You end the tour with a delicious sea food lunch in a local restaurant.
This is a proposed itinerary using your own transportation to visit Arnao Mine. All our tours can be customized according to your wishes. Please get in touch with us at info@intoasturias.com for more information about our customized tours.
We’ll start this tour from your accommodation in Oviedo, Gijon or Aviles (other locations are possible in consultation). From there we’ll drive to Arnao via Aviles. You stop in “Salinas”, Aviles’ beachfront, where you can discover the first signs of the mine with an old rail tunnel and locomotive. Here you can also enjoy the views on one of Asturias’ top surf destinations. You also get to know the open-air “Anchor-museum”. If you want, we can also include a visit to the center of Aviles and/or a visit to the Niemeyer center. In Arnao, we’ll guide you through the Mining Museum and accompany you during a guided visit in the mines’ submarine galleries. A local Spanish guide leads the visit which we translate for you. Then, you take a stroll through Arnao village with us. We show you the former worker houses, the director’s house overseeing the village and the school where all the children from the miners went to. You also get to see the current industrial activities in this area. The tour ends with a fresh seafood lunch (of course, there are other options as well) in a local restaurant in Arnao or Piedras Blancas. On the way back, we have the option to visit the oldest church of the area “San Martin de Laspra”. It is located on a hilltop with great views over the area. Finally, you are brought back to your accommodation with lots of new knowledge and memories!
