Juan de la Cosa by Air QQQQ

Santoña - 2km from hotel, free bus, 15 minute walk or taxi for approx £8 each way

You have the beach and a good selection of scenic walking trails on your doorstep, and there’s a surf school nearby.

Mount Buciero (or the Mount of Santoña) is an interesting place to visit even if you’re not martially-minded. It’s actually a peninsula, joined to the continent by a narrow strip of sand at Berria beach; around 600 hectares in size and almost circular in shape. The park has five well-marked walking trails; choose from lighthouses and cliffs, the forest ecosystem, the Fort of Napoleon…or just a walk through the marvellous countryside.

The town also has two routes that form part of St James’s Way: the famous Northern route of Laredo- Santoña-Güemes to Santiago de Compostela. Birdwatchers will greatly enjoy a visit to the Nature Reserve of the Marshes of Santoña, Victoria and Joyel, (locally known as Bengoa). It occupies more than 4,000 hectares and is of great ecological importance, with over 20,000 birds from 120 different species as well as small mammals and unique flora.

If you’re visiting Santoña during the first part of September, you may catch the festivities in honour of Our Lady of the Port. It’s a week of regattas, live music, sport competitions, fireworks and processions featuring humorous floats, the most important being the Sea Procession. Be sure to try the delicious ‘marmitada’ (stew) which is served everywhere during the festival.

Cabárceno Nature Park (27 miles)

75 hectares in size, situated in an old Roman iron mine, this is the biggest wildlife park in Europe, where more than 118 species roam in semi-freedom. That freedom means sightings of a particular animal can’t be guaranteed, but you may see hippo, giraffes, antelopes, several endangered primates, big cats, including lions and jaguars or European bison. The network of asphalted paths makes it ideal to explore by car, but there are separate trails for those who prefer to explore on foot, or by bicycle.

Santander (27 miles)

Start your visit to Santander by enjoying a stroll along the Pereda gardens from Plaza Alfonso X111. It’s a lovely route by the sea, and you’ll see many of Santander’s most famous buildings along the way, including the Palace of ‘la Compaña Transatlantic Española’. In the City Centre you’ll find the Cathedral of Santander ‘Neustra Señora de la Asunción’. It was faithfully rebuilt after Santander’s Great Fire of 1941, which destroyed much of the building: of particular note are its cloister, the crypt of ‘el Cristo’ under the main chapel, and the tomb of Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo.

The Museo Maritimo is a combined museum and aquarium. If you’re visiting, try to arrive around noon, when a diver feeds the fish and the sharks in the big tank. There’s an impressive whale skeleton, some beautiful model ships, and a roof-top café.

Slightly further afield, the famous gardens of Magdalena and its palace are located in the Bay of Santander on a peninsula also known as ‘La Magdalena’; easily reachable by local bus. Get off at the La Magdalena stop, then it’s five minutes’ walk to the park and about another 10 minutes’ walk to the Palace once inside. It’s only open on weekends, but the park is lovely and well worth a visit anyway. There’s a small tourist tram to take you around if you wish, and even a mini-zoo with seals, sea lions and penguins. Take your swimming costume and a picnic and make a day of it; there is a lovely beach nearby.

Santander, like most Spanish towns and cities, loves its festivals.  July 25th is Santiago’s day, which kicks off the Big Week of Festivals (Semana Grande). Expect non-stop concerts, parades, performing arts shows, fireworks, food stalls, a funfair and popular competitions. On August 30th it’s the turn of La Semanuca (the Small Week); celebrating the day of the patron saints of the city, Holy Martyrs San Emeterio and San Celedonio. Legend has it that after these two Roman soldiers were martyred at Calahorra for refusing to give up their Christian faith, their heads reached the coast of Santander in a stone boat. Since then, the city has honoured them by taking their name (San Emeter), and holding this celebration in their memory, with fireworks, music and markets. And throughout August, the Festival Internacional de Santander offers a dazzling programme of opera, ballet and theatre.

In general, it’s easy and inexpensive to do your exploring by the very efficient local busses.

Exploring Santander

By bus: Use your free bus tickets to get into Santoña, 2 kilometres from the hotel. The frequent busses from there to Santander take about an hour.

Hire car: If you’re going to Santander by hire car, we would recommend leaving it in one of the ten or so underground car parks. On-street parking can be a hassle.

Foot/local buses: Santander is compact enough to explore either totally on foot or combined with the cheap local buses. There are also hop-on hop-off bus tours that take around an hour to complete the circuit and offer commentaries in many languages, including English (8 euros).

By bike: For the energetic, the city runs a bike-borrow scheme. You’ll need to use a credit or debit card, because although it only costs one euro to hire a bike for the day, there’s a 150-euro deposit which is refunded to your card when the bike is returned in perfect condition to one of the 15 stations throughout the city.

Festival Internacional de Santander: http://festivalsantander.com/en/