Things to do in Santander
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Santander
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Sweet spot opens, warming sea, long evenings and pre peak prices.
Locals favourite, warmest sea, surf improves, prices fall and golden light.
Peak beach and festivals, peak prices and Cabarceno queues in August.
Autumn surf, mushroom and cocido season, November among the wettest months.
Worst for beach led trips, mild but wet and windy, lowest hotel prices.
Spring green and bright between showers, good excursion season before summer crowds.
What's on
- Semana Grande week around Santiago, 25 July
Main festival with concerts, street food, fireworks over the bay and a funfair.
- Baños de Ola Mid-July
Historic bathing festival on Primera with period costume and vintage bathing huts.
- Festival Internacional de Santander through August
Classical music festival at Palacio de Festivales and churches across Cantabria.
- La Virgen del Mar around early June / Pentecost Monday
Patronal pilgrimage to the island hermitage west of the city.
- San Juan 23 June
Bonfires on beaches for San Juan night.
- Carnival February
Lively carnival weekend in winter.
Best things to do in Santander
Península de la Magdalena
Wooded headland park with palace, bay views and calm beaches on the sheltered south side.
El Sardinero
Two long golden city beaches divided by Piquio gardens, backed by a Belle Epoque promenade.
Centro Botín
Renzo Piano building over the bay where the architecture and free terraces are the reliable win.
Mercado de la Esperanza
Working food market behind the town hall, best for Cantabrian fish, cheese and picnic supplies.
Mercado del Este
Smaller historic market building now mostly bars and cafes, better for vermouth and a pincho.
Faro de Cabo Mayor
Lighthouse on Atlantic cliffs with coastal paths, Mataleñas park and a quiet cove beach.
Jardines de Pereda
Free flat bayfront walk through Pereda gardens, Puertochico and the Raqueros statues.
Museo de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Cantabria
Compact museum for Altamira era material and Roman Cantabria, ideal before a cave trip.
Where to stay in Santander
Centro / Paseo de Pereda / Puertochico
first trip, all-round base
Flat rebuilt centre with widest hotel spread, markets and tapas on the doorstep and the bayfront walk.
El Sardinero
summer beach trip, families
Resort quarter on Primera beach with grand hotels and sea views, 2.5 km from the centre.
Ensanche / Calle Burgos-San Fernando
value, longer stays
Grid where Santander lives and shops, with lower rates and a 10 minute walk to Pereda.
Puertochico hillside (Castelar / Reina Victoria)
sea views, connoisseurs
Slope between centre and La Magdalena with sea view hotels, centre one way and park the other.
Somo
surf trips only
Beach town across the bay with surf schools and hostels, 25 minutes by ferry from Santander.
Think twice about
- Castilla-Hermida / station fringe
Charmless streets by the stations with traffic, thin evening life and a duller walk to sights.
- Barrio Pesquero
Great for lunch but almost no visitor lodging and an industrial port setting far from beaches.
- Peñacastillo, El Alisal and the S-10 corridor
Outlying retail and motorway zones sold as Santander, with nothing to walk to as a city base.
- El Sardinero in deep winter
Much of the quarter is shuttered and quiet out of season, the same room can feel marooned in February.
Best restaurants in Santander
El Serbal
Starred flagship over Sardinero beach, with daily auction fish and Tudanca beef.
Cenador de Amós
Destination multi starred dining room in an 18th century palace village outside the city.
Cadelo
Small chef led great-value restaurant cooking modern Cantabrian food, lunch is the value play.
Cañadío Santander
Santander institution famous for its tortilla, with pinchos, raciones and a dining room.
Agua Salada
Great-value modern kitchen blending traditional and contemporary Cantabrian cooking.
Umma
Great-value modern menu, a good second night dinner when Cadelo is full.
La Bombi
Classic fish house since the 1930s, formal version with whole fish, shellfish and rice.
Marucho
Small family fish room of 60 plus years, no reservations, fish chosen each morning.
Outdoor things to do in Santander
Escuela Cántabra de Surf
Spain's first surf school on Somo's 7 km beach break, good for complete beginners.
Teleférico de Fuente Dé
Cable car lifting over 750 m to a high alpine plateau, best on a clear forecast day.
Santillana del Mar
Preserved medieval town of cobbled lanes and stone palaces, lovely before 11 or after 17.
Museo de Altamira
Full scale Neocueva replica of the painted bison ceiling, with an excellent museum.
El Capricho de Gaudí
One of Gaudi's earliest works, a sunflower tiled villa visitable inside in Comillas.
Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno
Vast former mine turned safari style park where animals roam in huge open enclosures.
Real Golf de Pedreña
Seve Ballesteros home club from 1928, an 18 hole parkland classic with bay views.
Campo Municipal de Golf Mataleñas
City 9 hole course by the lighthouse park, short, hilly and municipal in price.
Best hotels in Santander
Eurostars Hotel Real
1917 palace style five star on a hill with gardens, thalasso spa and the best bay terrace view.
Gran Hotel Sardinero
Landmark four star on Plaza de Italia directly over Primera beach, next to the casino.
Hotel Bahía
Large well run four star facing Pereda gardens and the ferry pier, making the centre walkable.
Hotel Chiqui
Three star at the north end of Segunda beach with infinity pool and direct beach access.
Hostal Rocamar
Long standing family run hostal example of the clean, good value pension tier near Sardinero.
Somo Surf House
Surf house in Somo selling lesson inclusive packages for a surf focused base across the bay.
Is Santander expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €150 a person |
| Splurge | €320 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Los Reginas: a few days ahead
- Escuela Cántabra de Surf: a few days ahead
- Teleférico de Fuente Dé: weeks ahead
- Museo de Altamira: weeks ahead
- Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno: a few days ahead
- Real Golf de Pedreña: weeks ahead
- Campo Municipal de Golf Mataleñas: a few days ahead
- Golf Abra del Pas: a few days ahead
- El Serbal and Cenador de Amos weeks ahead in summer. Cadelo and Canadio dining room days ahead.
- Altamira Museum, Cabarceno in summer, Magdalena palace tours and Picos day tours need advance booking.
- Surf lessons at Somo a day ahead in high season.
Is Santander safe?
- Safe city overall, standard crowd care for pickpockets in Semana Grande and around the station.
- Swim at flagged lifeguarded beaches, rip currents at Sardinero, Langre and Liencres.
- Obey closures in winter storms at Sardinero promenade and Cabo Mayor paths.
Santander travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Hop on hop off bus and Magdalena tourist train are poor value in a walkable city.
- Front line Sardinero seafood prices the view, same fish is better value in Tetuan and Barrio Pesquero.
- Cathedral alone disappoints, and Centro Botin exhibitions vary by show.
Getting around Santander: public transport and more
- Walk the centre to Sardinero spine, about 4 km of promenade. Use TUS buses for the rest.
- The Rio de la Pila funicular is free. Taxis are plentiful and cheap by capital standards.
- Use the Los Reginas ferry as public transport for Somo. Avoid driving in the centre.
Who Santander suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Santander your trip
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