Free walking tours in Vega de Pas and what to see

Must-sees

Vega de Pas is one of the Three Pasiego Towns, at the head of the Pas river valley in Cantabria. It's a mountain village surrounded by hillside meadows, where the most striking sight is the Pasiego huts: stone buildings with slab roofs that families used during the muda, when they moved with their livestock from one pasture to another. In the centre are the church of Nuestra Señora de la Vega and the Plaza del Doctor Madrazo, with balconied mansions.

In the 18th-century hermitage of San Antonio is the Museum of the Three Pasiego Towns, an ethnographic museum on traditional life in the valley. You can also go and see the ruins of the sanatorium founded by the surgeon Enrique Diego Madrazo. Waymarked routes take in huts, passes and woods, and some are part of a long-distance trail.

Free tours and guided visits

There are no free walking tours in Vega de Pas. The organised activity you'll find is canyoning, descending the gorges of local rivers and streams with guides. The village and its museum are visited on your own. To learn more about Pasiego culture, the practical approach is to combine the visit with other villages in the Pasiego Valleys on an excursion from Santander.

How long to spend

Two or three hours are enough for the village, the church and the museum. If you want to walk among the huts or go canyoning, set aside the whole day. With two days you can drive the mountain passes road, which offers some of the valley's most beautiful views, and pop over to Selaya to try the sobaos.

Where to stay

Ideally, stay in Vega de Pas itself or in the Pasiego huts converted into rural houses across the hillsides. Sleeping in one is part of the experience, although some are reached by narrow tracks worth checking beforehand. Accommodation is limited, so book ahead. As an alternative, Selaya and Villacarriedo are close and have more places to stay.