Things to do in Cantabria

Make your visit to the city an unforgettable experience by embarking on this 1-hour cultural highlights tour of Santander Bay, considered to be one of the most beautiful bays in the world. Beginning and ending at the pier in Santander, you'll pass along the coast, towards the interior of the bay, through Puertochico. Observe, among other points of interest, Magdanela Palace, the Sardinero, Loredo, Somo, and El Puntal Beaches, until you reach the Botín Center, an internationally renowned art center and meeting place in Santander. Listen to your live guide, who will provide information about the history and the local culture, in English and/or Spanish. Move between the sheltered part of the boat to the uncovered section where you'll have amazing panoramic views of the bay from the top of the boat.

Depart from Santander and head toward Liébana. You will love this region of Cantabria where the landscape is dominated by mountains, forests, and rivers. On the way, prepare to be impressed when crossing the Hermida Gorge, one of the longest gorges in Spain. The first stop will be to visit the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana, a holy place for Christianity that houses the Lignum Crucis, the largest preserved piece of wood from the cross of Jesus. After this very special stop, continue the trip towards Fuente Dé, where there is the cable car station to go up to Picos de Europa. Enjoy at least 1 hour and 30 minutes of free time there to enjoy the place, take the cable car, or embark on a horseback riding experience around the area (optional). If you take the cable car, the trip will only last 4 minutes and will take you to a height of 1,823 m above sea level. The views from there are just breathtaking. Finally, arrive in Potes, the capital of Liébana and considered one of the most beautiful towns in Spain, with its cobbled streets, bridges, and medieval tower, Torre del Infantado. Take a short walking tour of the town and you enjoy free time for lunch and for shopping in one of its many souvenir shops.

Rolling hills, towering cliffs, diverse beaches...Santander has now evolved into one of Spain's most popular resorts for wealthy or noble Madrilenos (people from Madrid). Damaged by a fire in 1941, parts of the city have been re-built retaining the original architectural style. The reconstructed area houses Santander's most popular Gothic Cathedral. To make a visit more complete, guests should walk from the immense Palace grounds and then take a route along the Pla de Camel and the Playa Primera de El Sardinero to end at the Jardines de Piquio. Upgrade your experience to include a guided tour of the Magdalena Palace, the former home of the Spanish Royal Family. The upgraded option also includes a round-trip train ticket to the palace. Your itinerary stops: Stop 1 - Cathedral Stop 2 - Pasea Pereda Stop 3 - Peurto Chico Stop 4 - Museo Maritimo/ Playas Bahia Stop 5 - Palacio Festivales y Planetario Stop 6 - Palacio de la Magdalena Stop 7 - Playa del Sardinero/ Casino Stop 8 - Parque de Mataleñas/ Faro Cabo Mayor Stop 9 - Parque de las Llamas Stop 10 - Estación Marítima

Visit Cabarceno Natural Park with a guide to understand and see what makes this park so unique. Once an open-cast iron mining operation, the park was reclaimed and turned into a conservation and also provides environmental education. The park is home to almost 150 species of animals from the five continents that live in a semi-freedom and are distributed in large enclosures. Explore the park by minivan and also have the opportunity to see it from the air as you take a short trip on a cable car. During your visit, see a large variety of animals including, but not limited to gorillas, tigers, bears, and elephants. Depending on the season and weather conditions have the chance to see flight demonstrations of raptors, as well as a demonstration of sea lions.

Visit one of only three buildings designed by Gaudí outside of Barcelona, the stunning El Capricho. Choose a ticket-only option to explore on your own, or select a guided tour to dive deeper into Gaudí’s life and work. Discover this colorful mansion surrounded by sunflowers, where every detail has meaning. Enjoy access to all the exterior and interior spaces, as well as audiovisual materials and exhibitions to explain this great work of art. With the guided tour option you’ll learn more about the secrets and history of El Capricho. The tour starts outside and takes you through the mansion’s main floor. Afterwards, you’re free to explore the rest of the site on your own.

Asturias is the region that has it all. Find out why they say that paradise is in Asturias on a full-day trip that takes you past its blue lakes, green hillsides, and stunning coastline. Marvel at the mountains of Covadonga and learn the secrets that they hold. The tour starts from Santander and takes you past many Asturian and Cantabrian treasures. Learn about the history of this region as you drive into Covadonga Mountain National Park and up to Mirador de Entrelagos – the viewpoint between 2 lakes – where you'll take in Ercina and the Enol below. After visiting the Lakes of Covadonga, venture down to the Royal Site of Covadonga, home to the Virgen of Covadonga. Popularly known as La Santina, this site has a majestic Basilica built from stones from the surrounding mountains. The next stop is Cangas de Onís. Once the capital of the Kingdom of Asturias, this small town is home to a charming bridge with an incredible history. Learn all about this town from your guide and snap a picture of the famous victory cross.

Depart from Santander at 9:30 AM and head to Santillana del Mar, a beautiful village of the Middle Ages. This village with is one of the best-known cultural and tourist centers of Cantabria. You will enjoy a walking tour along its cobbled streets until you reach its Plaza Mayor where you will see the Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana. There you will visit the museum of the local sculptor Jesús Otero. Afterward, you will have some free time to visit the Collegiate if you wish and do some shopping around. Afterward, you will head to the Altamira Museum. This museum houses a scale replica of the 'room of paintings', the so-called Neocave. This cave was declared World Heritage by Unesco in 1985. To protect its preservation, it currently allows only 5 people to visit it per week and this is the reason they created this replica from the cave. The cave is a natural cavity in the rock, with paintings dated from 35,600 years ago and it stands as one of the most important pictorial and artistic cycles of prehistoric paintings int he world.

Start with pickup in Santander or Torrelavega and travel to El Soplao Cave in the Cantabrian mountains. Admire the scenery of valleys, forests, and mountain peaks throughout the journey. Upon arrival, take a one-hour guided tour of the different chambers, or "galleries", of the cave. First, learn more about its discovery in the early 20th century. Be amazed by a natural geological wonder of spectacular stalactites, stalagmites, washes, columns, cave pearls, and other interesting features. After visiting the cave, continue the trip towards the beautiful viewpoint of Tina Menor located outside the town of Pechón. Enjoy the wonderful views of the Cantabrian Sea and the beaches below.

Discover the gems of the Eastern Asturias coast on this day trip from Oviedo. Travel by air-conditioned bus to the cities of Ribadesella, Llanes, and Santillana del Mar. Enjoy a guided walking tour in each town and have some free time in Llanes.  Meet your guide at a conveniently-located point in Oviedo and hop aboard a comfortable and spacious bus. Take in the scenery on the drive to Ribadesella while relaxing in a climate-controlled setting. Arrive in Ribadesella and immerse yourself in the history and tradition of this town a guided tour of the historic center and the Portiellu neighborhood. Stroll down picturesque streets to admire sights like the Hermitage of the Guide, where the patron saint of sailors rests.  Take in a jewel of the Asturian Renaissance at the Palace of Pietro Cutre, the Casa Ardines, and the Palacio de la Atalaya. Soak up some stunning views of Ribadesella and the Bay of Biscay. Continue to Llanes, one of the most popular summer destinations in Asturias. Follow your guide on a tour past its Casino and 13th-century tower. Go by the Palace of the Dukes of Estrada and the Gates of Llanes. See the Parres Sobrino square, which was a shooting location for the film “El Orfanato.” Have some free time to continue exploring your own before heading to Santillana del Mar, one of the places that you cannot miss if you are in Cantabria. Walk through its alleys on a guided tour. Get advice on where to get lunch and shop from your guide.  Immerse yourself Santillana del Mar as you see its quaint the Town Hall, the Palace, the House of the Marquis of Santillana, and the Archduchess Margarita of Austria. Return to your meeting point in Oviedo at the end of your tour. 

In this half-day tour, you will learn about history, caves, and paleolithic art. In fact, this is an awesome opportunity to visit an authentic cave with paintings from the Paleolithic era. After picking you up at your hotel, we will drive towards Puente Viesgo to explore the famous Caves of El Castillo and Las Monedas, both World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 2008 for their cave paintings. It will only take us 40 minutes to arrive at El Castillo Mount where these famous caves are located. The visit to the caves is done on foot and by a local guide of the caves (the visit is in Spanish, so should you don't understand Spanish, your tour leader will join you during this visit to translate it into English for you). Each cave visit will take about 50 minutes, you will be surprised by the art legacy our ancestors left us thousands of years ago. Next, we will visit the recently inaugurated Paleolithic Art interpretation center in Puente Viesgo to learn more about cave art. We will also enjoy a nice walk along the village of Puente Viesgo, you will love the views over the Pas River and the Pasiego Valleys.