Welcome to Spain’s geographically blessed, yet architecturally bereft underdog, Santander. The capital city of Cantabria on Spain’s northern coast hasn’t had the best of luck over the years, and as a result probably isn’t the first destination that you think of when planning a city break in Spain. But why? Well, the old town burnt down in a huge city fire in 1941. The subsequent rebuild and the need to re-home thousands of people quickly and cheaply coincided with what was a truly terrible era for architecture (1950s – 70s), resulting in a pretty drab and functional city center, mostly devoid of the character and old world charm you find in most other Spanish cities (I know, I’m really selling this so far, eh?). Another point of difference, is that Santander is located on Spain’s green coast, i.e the ‘Costa Verde’. It’s green because the city faces the north Atlantic and so it rains a lot. On the surface then, visiting Santander doesn’t seem like the most obvious choice for a Spanish city break, especially considering what it has to compete with in the rest of the country. Yet, the city is massively popular as a tourist destination among the Spaniards themselves, so I went there to dig a little deeper. and to give my take on the what, where, how, when and why when attempting to answer the question: ‘is Santander worth visiting?’
Visiting Santander
Santander airport is really close to the city center. It’s a 15 minute bus ride, costing just 2.20 EUR each way. Look for the bright orange bus right outside the terminal door – you can’t miss it. They leave approx every 45 minutes to the center. If the bus isn’t already waiting there, then join whatever queue has formed. I thought I’d be smart and just get on at the last minute, but the bus got full, they didn’t send another, and I was left to split a taxi into town with some other too-cool-for-school fools. Not a big deal though, as the taxi only costs around 20 euro between us.
I imagine that many a ferry passenger has pondered, at least for a few seconds, whether or not Santander is worth visiting for a couple of days, before driving straight off the ferry on their merry way to other destinations across Spain.
At the time of writing, Brittany Ferries sail from Portsmouth to Santander twice a week on Monday and Friday nights at 21:30. The journey only takes 33.5 hours 😉 The two return crossings on Sundays and Wednesdays take around 28 hrs 30 mins. Full & updated schedule is here…
Plymouth to Santander on the other hand takes a mere 21 hours, departing in the afternoons on Sunday & Wednesday and returning on Monday and Thursday. Full and current schedule, direct from the horse’s mouth here…
Unfortunately, train travel to Santander along the northern coast of Spain is pretty slow/non-existent in parts, so it’s probably best to take a much quicker bus, which takes around an hour and a half. Check out Omio for full and up-to-date schedules and tickets, and also my guide on which is the best bus booking site for Europe (if you can be bothered).
Food in Santander
The architecture might be a bit of a let down, but the food in Santander does its best to make up for it. Loads of seafood and great tapas (known locally as pintxos), all set within a province (Cantabria) known for producing some of the best cheeses in the whole of Spain. Throw in a few glasses of wine from the nearby wine regions of Albariño and Rioja, then those 1960’s utilitarian monstrosities really start to soften on the eye. I laboriously visited several of the city’s highest rated locales to bring you our recommendations of where to eat some of the best food in Santander, including my favourite restaurant and my suggestions for a tapas crawl through the city…
Santander Restaurants
Querida Margarita: down to earth fine dining
If just one of the many Santander restaurants reflected the city’s approach to building exteriors, then Querida Margarita is it. In any other city, this would be a restaurant massively undermined by its laughably awful facade. But do not let this fool you, as the food here is fantastic, and extremely good value too. A wonderfully earthy pork jowel risotto to start, served with the obligatory Rioja Riserva, was closely followed by what you see pictured, which included a SPECTACULAR cheesecake for dessert. A 3 course lunch on a Saturday afternoon, with a glass of wine, cost just 25 EUR per person. If you’re a bit of a tight arse, or you just ‘appreciate great value’, Querida Margarita is a must visit restaurant in Santander, especially if you have aspirations for Michelin level dining, while neither possessing the means nor the will to shell out for it.
It was a refreshing alternative to be somewhere that so clearly values what is real (i.e the food), rather than an image, expectation or exterior. The old adage is not to judge every book by its cover, and while QM may be pushing that a little bit, its team are on the verge of something great here, perhaps still working out a few minor kinks in service and depth of flavour, but I expect them to be hitting the big time soon, perhaps even getting their star. You can find them already in the Michelin guide.
Things to do in Santander Spain: eating & drinking
Food in Santander is really very good, so if you’re looking for things to do then what better than eating and drinking your way through the city’s best tapas bars. Here’s my guide on where to go…
Santander city break tapas crawl...
1. Tasca Bonifaz: a Tabla de Quesos
Tasca Bonifaz is a family run tapas joint about a minute’s walk from the other two establishments on this list (La Mar and Bodega Fuente De). You can expect to find traditional mountain fare here, i.e lots of cured meats as well as several weird and wonderful Cantabrian cheeses, so vegans can get f@%ked (disclaimer: this is an unverified claim and almost certainly does not represent the views of Tasca Bonifaz). The lady who runs it was extremely welcoming and friendly and she guided us with her personal recommendations for meats and cheeses from the region. What she brought out was really quite special. Must orders are the ‘sudao’ cheese, and the ‘chicharrones de Cadiz’ (sliced pork belly). Look to pair with either a Rueda (white) or a Rioja Riserva (red) wine for the complete Bonifaz experience.
Santander city break tapas crawl...
2. Something fishy going on: La Mar Oyster Bar
Going to Spain and not getting stuck into some tapas, or pintxos (pronounced pin-cho) as they are called in the north, would have been a crime. As is coming to Santander and not prioritising seafood. I went deep on this, by the way, also sampling some pretty shady local specialities so that you don’t have to (evidence of which in the Santander Polariods below). Anyway, on one of Santander’s most lively night time streets you’ll find La Mar Oyster Bar. Oysters from all over Europe are freshly shucked right in front of you (by one of the world’s fastest shuckers no less – shucking hell!). They have a wide selection of French, Irish, Portuguese and Dutch oysters to really get your libido flowing. Having taken advice from the owner, I opted for the French and Irish varieties (well, it was St Paddy’s day after all), and I ordered mine with a glass of Albariño white wine, which is produced mostly in Galicia, a little further along Spain’s northern coast. The oysters were fresh, salty, and paired incredibly well with the wine, so I would urge you do the same. A plate of four oysters and two glasses of wine also cost just 10 EUR!
Santander city break tapas crawl...
3. Traditional tapas: Bodega Fuente De
A couple of shops down from La Mar, you’ll find Bodega Fuente De, a very popular joint bursting at the seams with beer and vermouth drinking locals. Besides the must have tapas staples of jamón ibérico, and tortilla, it was the potato croquettes that drew me in. I’m not sure why, although I am a Napoleon Dynamite fan, but after having read so much about them in Bodega’s trip advisor reviews they infiltrated my subconscious and became a must try. I went for the ham and cheese variety. I was served eight of these freshly fried potato balls and very nice they were too – the perfect accompaniment to my beer. I don’t think they merited all the Trip Advisor adulation, but they sat well enough in my ample stomach. When you picture a typical Spanish tapas place, this is it. Big portions, good quality freshly made national classics, fast service, and right in the heart of the action in a lively atmosphere full of locals of all ages. What more do you want? A beer, a vermouth, the croquetas, and some bread came to just 10.60 EUR!
The Santander polaroids...
santander hotels
When considering your options for hotels in Santander, keep in mind that the city has three main areas to base yourself in: 1) the city center; 2) the areas close to its main beach El Sardinero; and 3) and the surf beaches around El Somo/Loredo. The first two can be reached easily from each other with a 20 minute walk, so if you like to discover a city on foot, all of our suggestions below would suit you. Personally, I preferred the general vibe of the city around the El Sardinero beach area and would choose to stay there on my next Santander city break. The surf beaches around El Somo/Loredo cater mostly to younger travellers interested in surfing, so I’m giving some hostel options only for this area.
Hotels in Santander city center
Soho Boutique Palacio de Pombo Hotel
The Soho Boutique Palacio de Pombo hotel probably has one of the greatest names in hotel history. Besides that, its classic visuals speak of a Wes Anderson movie set, while its central location just around the corner for Centro Botin is ideal for city lovers. Its sustainability credentials are impressive, and it’s also dog friendly! Around €130 for a double room.
Hotel Bahia
Hotel Bahia was erected as a beacon of hope in the aftermath of the great fire of 1941. In 1992, during extensive renovation works, it partially collapsed, killing several people, before being rebuilt to what it is today. No other hotel embodies the spirit of Santander, and its recent run of shitty luck, quite like Hotel Bahia. It’s right next to the ferry port and Centro Botín cultural center, and you’ll also be close to all the tapas bars and restaurants mentioned above. Around €135 for a double room.
Apartment Sweet Surrender
Sweet Surrender is a two bedroom apartment located on the eastern side of Santander city center. Within easy walking distance to the beache Playa los Peligros and El Sardinero beaches, this tastefully decorated apartment offer guests a home from home while staying in the city. Accommodating groups of up to four people, I suggest booking early as Sweet Surrender has fantastic reviews and is very popular.
Hotels around El Sardinero Beach
Hotel Santemar
Hotel Santemar is set back just 150 meters from El Sardinero beach and Santander casino. Many of its rooms are tastefully decorated with a maritime theme, there is easy customer parking available on site, and customers are able to relax in its thoughfully manicured Japanese garden. It’s also within easy walking distance of Palacio de la Magdelena. Around €88 for a double room.
Le Petit Boutique Hotel
Situated just behind Santander’s main beach ‘El Sardinero’, Le Petite Boutique Hotel is a 10 minute drive from the ferry terminal. An adults only hotel, it has several themed rooms inspired by international cities including New York, Siena, and Tokyo. Cosy, locally run, breakfast served daily, and located in the most beautiful part of the city. If you’re traveling without kids and you value quick access to the beach, then this hotel could be for you. Around €120 for a double room.
Gran Hotel Sardinero
The elegant and modern Gran Hotel Sardinero is located just 20 metres from El Sardinero beach. Expect lovely sea views, which also overlook the main promenade, modern white washed decor inside the rooms, great breakfasts, and very welcoming staff. If you don’t fancy walking into town, regular local buses pass by just outside the hotel to transport you there in minutes. Around €150 for a double room.
Eurostars Hotel Real
Eurostars Hotel Real is almost halfway between El Sardinero beach and the city center, so both spot scould easily be walked if you stay here. Set in an historic old building, the hotel offers sea views over Santander bay, balconies, large gardens, a well equipped gym, and the award winning El Puntal restaurant. Also ideally located for access to the more sheltered Playa los Peligros. Prices around €250 per night for a double room.
Santander Hostels
Hostels in Santander remain a popular choice for many of its visitors, due, in part, to the nearby northern coast of Spain, which is popular with surfers from all over the world. While it does have some centrally located hostels, many of Santander’s best hostels are located close to the surf spots around Playa de Somo.
1. City center hostel: Santander Central Hostel
Located two minutes walk from the ferry port, and with the bus to the airport and the train station right on its doorstep, the Santander Central Hostel is perhaps this best located place to stay in the entire city. Colourful, vibrant, international and with great reviews – this is a great budget friendly option.
2. Surf beach hostel: Plea Beach House
The highly rated Plea Beach House offers surf classes, equipment rental, yoga, loads of live music, skateboarding and other outdoor activities further afield. Ideal for anyone travelling alone or for those of you who prefer to be closer to the waves and to feel the vibrations of good old mother earth.
3. Surf beach hostel: Somo Surfskate Hostel
Somo Surfskate Hostel is located a little outside of town, in the Loredo/Somo surf area, to the east of the center. They offer surf classes as well as a mini half-pipe for traveling skateboarders, a slackline, and a huge garden to chill out in. Other option for surfers are also discussed below.
More Santander polaroids...
Things to do in Santander...
- TAKE A SURF LESSON
- BOAT CRUISE OF SANTANDER BAY
- RENT A BIKE & EXPLORE
- GO TO THE BEACH
When researching things to do in Santander in preparation for my trip, I was pretty underwhelmed. If you look for a tour or activity on Get Your Guide or Viator then most of what’s on offer seem to be day tours which take you out of the city to a local cave or sardine factory. But this is crazy, because Santander bay is just beautiful, and there are so many potentially brilliant outdoor itineraries to create in this area. Personally, I’d be offering sea kayaking expeditions and tours of the bay, similar to my kayaking tour in Vienna. But, anyway…
I did eventually find a city walking tour called ‘Santander in flames’, but it was only offered in Spanish. Although the guy leading the tour was enthusiastic, passionate about his city, and clearly good at what he does, I found it to be too long (almost three hours), when I strongly suspect that it could have been around half that without affecting its quality or content too much. I’m also not a big fan of standing up (largely motionless) in front of monuments for so long, although it is also important to note here that I may just be a lazy b@stard. For me at least, history, art, and architecture come alive when combined with a bit of activity. Santander still has so much potential for outdoor activities in particular, so until someone starts offering kayak tours of the bay, here’s what I suggest you do…
Things to do in Santander Spain: Take a surfing class
Santander makes for a great urban surfing spot, whether you’re trying to stand up for the first time in the white water, or working on your technique as an intermediate. There are two main surf spots in Santander. The less reliable option is the city’s main beach ‘el Sardinero’, which has a surf school and equipment rental. However, the swell here is pretty light and it gets crowded with other water users, especially in summer. Playa de Somo is generally regarded the better and more reliable surfing spot, for both beginners and improvers alike. Situated on the eastern side of the bay, it is a little outside of the center, which gives the area a more peaceful feel that appeals to many, including the international surf crowd who often stay nearby in one of the local surf hostels.
There are loads of good surf schools who teach at Playa de Somo, so if your trip to Santander is all about surfing, then consider staying at the two places I mentioned above, as both offer surf classes, as well as loads of other active things to do in Santander and Somo, including live music. If you’ve never surfed before and you’d like to give it a go, then you can book a 2 hour surfing lesson and do your very best newborn deer impression.
Things to do in Santander Spain: Private boat cruise around the bay
The bay of Santander is truly beautiful, and it’s what will bring me back to Santander city one day again soon. For a major city to be as geographically blessed as Santander is, really doesn’t happen very often, just ask Birmingham, Reading, or even Southampton. Arguably the finest way to explore the bay of Santander is to take a private boat tour with an English speaking captain to guide you around all of the main highlights. This makes it really easy to reach and visit all of Santander’s hidden beaches and coves, and also to spot some local marine life from the comfort of your private boat. Boats typically depart late morning at 11am, and you can rent it for up to five people for either half a day or a full-day. Mucho recommendado, amigos.
Things to do in Santander Spain: Rent a bike & explore the coast
Renting a bike in Santander is what really opened up the city and its wonderful coastal paths to us. Without them, unless you hire a car or you’re a prodigious walker, you’d be left with the false impression that Santander is merely its bog standard city centre alone, and that would be a great shame.
There are loads of bike rental stations scattered around – I found one along the bay close to Centro Botin. These use credit cards for immediate payments and release of each bike, so you don’t have to hand over any personal details or download any annoying apps. While not the lightest bikes, the ones we rented did the job, and were well maintained. Getting a bike was by far the best decision we made when visiting Santander, as the freedom it gave us just to explore the city’s coastal paths and beaches at our own pace was unparalleled.
The cycling route to Parque de Mataleñas
From Centro Botín in the center of town, grab a bike from one of the many on-street rental stations, and then head east along the bay’s edge up past Playa los Peligros, towards the Magdalena peninsular. The bike path will then take you parallel with the promenade of El Sardinero beach. Follow it til the mini roundabout, then turn left, and then right at the next roundabout soon after. It gets pretty hilly now, but don’t fear, because the good folk in Santander presumably faced the same daunting challenge, and thought “f@ck this, let’s build a network of outdoor escalators to make this ride easier instead’. So, as you veer right after the second roundabout, you’ll soon see this mountain of metal and will easily be able to reach the top with your bikes. Once there turn right and after a minute or so you’ll be at the entrance to the lovely Parque de Mataleñas. Ditch the bikes somewhere here (by ditch, I mean lock them up responsibly and leave them somewhere safe) and then join the coastal walking path at the beautiful but tiny Playa de los Molinucos. Follow this to the Mirador de Cabo Manor, and then around the promontory to Playa de Mataleñas – my favourite beach in Santander. When you’re finished chilling out on the beach, head back the way you came into town.
If you get peckish or thirsty, then the nearby Golf Club Mataleñas serves food, as well as a bloody lovely San Miguel Radler, with just 2% alcohol, so perfect for light drink-riding days. I am rarely so immediately impressed with anything, but this beer was incredibly smooth, creamy, refreshing and delicious. Having watched them serve it very carefully before glass number two, I noticed they put huge emphasis on giving the beer an extremely large head. While this appears to be rather wasteful, they clearly know what they’re doing as it made for a damn fine beverage.
Things to do in Santander spain: Go to the beach!
Blessed to have so many gorgeous natural beaches, I totally get why Santander is so popular among Spaniards for their own summer holidays. The weather up here must be a welcome relief from the stinking Andalucian and inland Madrileño temperatures, and the beaches round these here parts are of the more rugged, natural kind compared with many others found along Spain’s more famous mediteranean costas.
My two favourite beaches in Santander were Playa de los Peligros facing south east in the bay and Playa de Mataleñas. Playa de Mataleñas is situated in a little cove between two rocky outcrops, facing north and exposed to the vast Atlantic ocean. I can imagine that, due to its relatively small size, this beach might get a little busy in the summer time, but in March it was almost empty. The fact that it requires a little effort to get to would probably keep away a large portion of the riff raff though. I certainly look forward to coming back here in summer and being part of the problem. Note: from here you can easily walk from the beach up to the golf club for a couple of those amazing San Miguel Radlers I talked about.
Playa Peligros on the other hand is sheltered, with calmer water and a really interesting view out to sea that includes mountains on the other side of the bay. At first, I found this to be really quite discombobulating, as I have always come to expect sea compressed under a blank horizon. I was therefore a little mesmerized (it seems weird to use ‘a little’ and ‘mesmerized’ together) by the unique and really quite beautiful views that the entire bay provided in fact. That most of Santander city center faces south, yet has sea & mountain views still triggers my inner GPS.
So, is Santander worth visiting?
So, there you have it. My thoughts on how to make the most from your own Santander city break. There’s a lot to like about this place, especially if you treasure natural beauty and rugged coastlines and bays. Don’t expect to be blown away by anything man-made here though (apart from the food), because you just won’t be. Given its natural beauty and easy access to such beautiful coastline, beaches and sea, I think that Santander still has so much untapped potential when it comes to outdoor activities and other things to do. What is rather apparent, though, is that the city itself doesn’t give a damn about what you or I think of it, as it gets so much domestic love anyway. So, here’s to Spain’s often ignored, rough around the edges, northern gateway. The Eco-friendly ferry port that deserves more love, and needs more organised outdoor activities to reach its full potential. Hit me up if you have any questions comments or want to reach out in any way. If you like the idea of jumping on a ferry instead of a plane, but you’re not convinced about Santander, then do also check out my guide to ferry routes to France from the UK. Hasta la proxima, amigos!
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