Santander
Tours

Our most recommended things to do in Santander

Santander: 1-Hour City Cruise Around the Bay

Santander: 1-Hour City Cruise Around the Bay

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.

Obregón: Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno Entry Ticket

Obregón: Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno Entry Ticket

Discover why the Cabárceno Nature Park near Santander is the perfect family day out with this admission ticket. Discover the beauty of nature and it's creatures, with environments that recreate the natural habitats of the animals inside. Inside the park you will be able to see more than 100 species of animals in semi-freedom. Animals roam freely and their natural instincts are uninhibited. If you want to feel like you're in the wild, come and see Cabárceno Nature Park. Travel through the various enclosures, past beautiful gorges, tranquil lakes, and striking rock formations on more than 20 kilometres of roads that criss-cross the park. The Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno has been created for educational, cultural, scientific, and recreational purposes; you might even learn a thing or two along the way. Make use of the numerous parking areas and trails all over the park that will allow you to appreciate the beauty of nature. Discover the mysteries of flora, fauna, and minerals through a range of activities for all ages.

Santander: Picos, Santo Toribio Monastery and Potes Day Tour

Santander: Picos, Santo Toribio Monastery and Potes Day Tour

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.

From Bilbao: La Rioja Wineries Day Trip with Wine Tastings

From Bilbao: La Rioja Wineries Day Trip with Wine Tastings

Direct departure to La Rioja to reach Haro, the capital of Rioja wine, where we will visit CVNE, a centenary and emblematic winery in the area where we will take a guided tour including wine tasting. We will then go on a guided walking tour of the historical centre of Haro, walking through Plaza de la Paz. We continue on to the beautiful medieval town of Laguardia, where will start a walk through its picturesque narrow streets and then a guided visit to a small traditional winery where we will be able to learn about the wine making process from a more familiar perspective. After the visit, we will have free time for lunch. Before returning to Bilbao, we will pass through Elciego to discover the building of Marqués de Riscal, an outstanding example of modern architecture and a symbol of La Rioja region.

Santander: City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

Santander: City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

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 - Paseo Pereda / Centro Botin Stop 2 - Puerto Chico Stop 3 - Museo Maritimo / Playas Bahia Stop 4 - Palacio de Festivales / Planetario Stop 5 - Palacio de la Magdalena Stop 6 - Playa del Sardinero / Casino Stop 7 - Parque de Mataleñas/ Faro de Cabo Mayor Stop 8 - Parque de las Llamas Stop 9 - Estación Marítima Stop 10 - Cathedral

Santander: Surf Lessons on Playa de Somo

Santander: Surf Lessons on Playa de Somo

Learn to surf with experienced instructors from one of Europe's most prestigious surfing schools. Ride the waves off on the shores of Playa de Somo, located just outside the city of Santander. Choose from 3 lesson options: Beginner: Learn to surf in a way that is quick, safe, and fun with experienced and qualified teachers. Within a small group, learn the basics of surfing in a relaxed way. Intermediate: Improve your surfing skills with intermediate lessons. Correct your failures, hone your technique, and develop your own surfing style. Advanced: Expand your range of maneuvers, and improve your style with advanced tutoring. Get prepared for competitive surfing and master the advanced elements of the sport.

From Santander: Western Coast of Cantabria Villages Day Trip

From Santander: Western Coast of Cantabria Villages Day Trip

On this full day excursion you will get to know the main villages of the western coast of Cantabria. Our first stop will be in San Vicente de la Barquera, a fishing and fishing village, whose port was and still is the heart of the activity of the municipality. During the tour we will also admire the privileged environment that surrounds this town located in the heart of the Oyambre Natural Park, a park that we will also visit by minibus along its coastal path; you will love its estuaries, beaches, dunes and cliffs, a real natural treasure. Our next stop will be to visit Comillas, the only town with a modernist influence in Cantabria. You will fall in love with its heritage complex formed by Gaudí's Capricho, the Palace and Chapel of Sobrellano and the Pontifical University. Here you will have some free time for shopping or to visit El Capricho de Gaudí (optional visit), probably the most eye-catching building in Cantabria due to the colours and shapes it intermingles. You may wonder why Gaudí chose this place to place his work in a different location from his beloved Barcelona, we will find out during our visit! We will stop in Santillana del Mar for lunch (lunch not included). Santillana is the medieval town of Cantabria par excellence, famous for its historic centre made up of medieval buildings, cobbled streets and its collegiate church of Santa Juliana, a jewel of Romanesque architecture in Cantabria. Here we will also take a walking tour to discover its medieval old town of mansions, towers and palaces that make Santillana one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. To round off the day, we will go to the Altamira Museum to visit the Neocave, a reconstruction of the prehistoric paintings of the original Altamira cave, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 and which will take us back to the primeval age of mankind. In short, it will be a very complete day, full of history, landscapes and walks to get to know one of the most touristic areas of Cantabria. The tour ends back at the pick-up points.

From Santander: Santillana del Mar & Altamira Museum Tour

From Santander: Santillana del Mar & Altamira Museum Tour

After picking you up from your hotel, we will head towards Santillana del Mar. On our way to Santillana we will travel several kilometers along the Camino del Norte, one of the pilgrimage routes that lead to Santiago de Compostela. It will be along a quiet secondary road that will cross several villages until reaching Santillana. The tour of the village will be done on foot since the historic center is a pedestrian zone. While you walk through its cobbled streets, you can admire the medieval houses, towers and palaces that make it up and that will make you feel that you have traveled to another time. Here you can visit the Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana, built in the 12th century and a jewel of the Romanesque in Cantabria. After our walk through the center, you can enjoy some free time to shop or have a drink. Our next stop will be to visit the Altamira Museum and Research Center, where the famous Altamira cave is located. This cave, also known as the “Sistine Chapel of Rock Art”, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. The cave was discovered in 1879 by the Cantabrian lawyer Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola. Because visits to the original cave are limited to the general public, we will visit the neo-cave. The visit is very comfortable, a reliable copy of the original and basic to better understand the Paleolithic art that our ancestors left us.

Cantabria: El Castillo Caves & Paleolithic Art

Cantabria: El Castillo Caves & Paleolithic Art

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.

From Santander: Potes, Santillana and Altamira Day Tour

From Santander: Potes, Santillana and Altamira Day Tour

We pick you up in Santander with our latest low-emission bus, show you the most picturesque corners of Cantabria and then take you back to the start. On the bus, don't fall asleep, the guide's explanations start as soon as you set foot in the vehicle. Can there be a more comfortable journey? Potes Back in 1983, Potes was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest and until relatively recently, in 2020, it was chosen as the most beautiful inland town in Spain by Lonely Planet magazine. Let's discover together why! Let yourself be captivated by its scenic beauty as it is located in the centre of the Liébana region, at the confluence of four valleys and the mouth of the river Deva and its tributary, the river Quiviesa. With so much river, it is only natural that its bridges are so characteristic. In fact, did you know that...? Potes means "Bridge" in Roman. Its old buildings with traditional architecture, wooden balconies, steep streets and the mountains that surround it will make you fall in love at first sight with its medieval air. And be careful with its cobbled streets! Wear comfortable shoes because we are going to get lost in its streets. A comfortable, complete excursion, with history and culture and with free time to enjoy whatever suits you best at that moment. Don't think about it, book now! Santillana del Mar We don't want to tell you too much, just a hint! The town of the three lies has something to do with the fact that it has no cathedral, it is not exactly flat and it has no sea. We'll open a debate and we'll clear it up for you during the tour! The walk along Juan Infante street will start to put you in the right mood. Get ready for a journey back several centuries - welcome to the Middle Ages! The stone houses with wrought iron and wooden balconies full of flowers and family coats of arms and shields carved on their facades will make you feel like you are in a gladiator movie. Here we also have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the Altamira caves. The entrance fee is included in the tour. We enter the reproduction of the Altamira Cave, which uses state-of-the-art technology to create an experience as close as possible to the original, while preserving the real cave from damage caused by the influx of visitors. Quite an exhibition of Palaeolithic cave art.

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What people are saying about Santander

Overall rating

4.6
(190 reviews)

We had a great trip to Cabarceno natural park! Our guide Gabriela led us through all the park using the most picturesque route. She told us interesting stories about the Park and it's inhabitants. We would like to have other excursions in Cantabria with Gabriela.

Pepe was an excellent tour guide. We had a small private tour & enjoyed every minute. Communication with Gabriela, the owner of the tour company was excellent. We will definitely be using this company again & next time will bring more people. Highly recommended.

Pepe shared a lot of great information! Wish we had more time for Altamira museum.

It was fun, beautiful places and enough information

Very informative and interesting. Great tour guide.