Descend from Fuente Dé into the valley and drive the short distance to Potes — the main town of the Liébana and your base for the night.

Potes is medieval in the way that Santillana del Mar is medieval, but without the coach park infrastructure. The old quarter is a genuine working town — stone buildings, a central tower, a river running through the lower streets, bars and restaurants that serve the valley rather than performing it for visitors. It is smaller and quieter than Cangas de Onís and the atmosphere in the evening, when the day visitors have left and the valley settles into its own rhythm, is one of the better overnight experiences on this itinerary.

The valley itself is worth driving slowly. The Liébana is enclosed enough to have its own microclimate — significantly warmer and drier than the Asturian side of the range, sheltered from the Atlantic by the massif walls. It produces its own wine — Vino de Liébana, a denominación de origen that covers reds, whites, and a local liqueur called orujo de hierbas, a herb-infused spirit that the valley has been producing since the monastery above Potes began making it in the medieval period.