The best thermometer for a city isn't its monuments: it's its neighbourhood shops. In Gijón, a short walk from each other, sit a bakery that bakes sourdough bread in a wood-fired oven and a chocolate shop devoted to one hundred percent handmade Belgian chocolate. Panadería Perales, on Calle Dindurra, and Valentino Chocolatier, on Calle Cabrales, don't make the big guidebooks, and that's exactly why we're telling you about them: they're the Gijón that shops well and eats better, the one built on slow trades that survive because they never lowered the bar.
Perales: the bread that ferments without hurrying
At Calle Dindurra 22, right in the centre, Panadería Perales does things the old way: sourdough loaves with natural fermentation, baked in a wood-fired oven. The list alone is a temptation — wholemeal, rye, spelt, seeded, ciabatta — and the local star is the pan de escanda, made with escanda, a native Asturian grain with a flavour all its own, a crisp crust and a dense crumb that has fed the region for centuries.
Alongside the escanda come the specialities that make the place feel local: empanadas and bollos preñados, that glorious Asturian invention of a bun with the chorizo baked right inside. Our tip as hosts: buy a loaf of escanda bread, add an Asturian cheese — a Cabrales if you're feeling brave — and you have the perfect snack for an afternoon at the beach or in the valley. The traditional breads here are enjoyed on their own or with the local cheeses; it's a pairing that stays with you.
Valentino: Belgium on Calle Cabrales
A few streets over, at Calle Cabrales 68, Valentino Chocolatier plays in a different sensory league: one hundred percent handmade Belgian chocolate, with a wide range of quality pralines and the option of ordering custom ones. Asturias has a deep tradition of fine confectionery, and shops like this one represent a curious graft: the Belgian school of chocolate-making — the most demanding in the world — grown into Asturian confectionery culture.
It's the place for the gift that really impresses, with gift wrapping and personal attention. And also for treating yourself with no excuse needed: a holiday without a box of chocolates is only half a holiday.
A sweet-toothed route through century-old Gijón
These two shops fit into a bigger route we love recommending: the Gijón of shops with a history. On Calle San Antonio, Casa Múgica sold flowers from 1894 to 2020; Federico Verdú's turrones have been sweetening the city since 1882; La Quesería has spent more than thirteen years picking out the best of Asturian cheese. Add Perales' bread and Valentino's chocolates and you have a whole morning of shops where someone who actually knows their trade still serves you.
It's a different way of doing tourism: no queues, no tickets, talking to people and filling your bag with good things. And when you get home and open up the bread, the cheese, the turrón or the chocolates, the trip will keep going a little longer. From our accommodation, in Gijón as much as in the Valle del Nalón, it's the perfect plan for a car-free morning.