Top Santander Full-day Tours

An excellent break at Hopton, Friday to Monday. Meals were brilliant, plenty of variety, and we were looked after by a lovely waitress, we have 3 meals each day, but could have had supper if we wanted. The bungalow was lovely and clean and we could see the sea from our door. The entertainment was first class, London standard. All the staff looked after us so well, nothing was too much trouble. We'll be back - getting to be regulars now.

A constellation of stars for this fantastic tour that should be a foundational experience for anyone who loves art, history, civilization and/or is interested in climate change: compare and contrast Jeff Koons’ flower Puppy with 12,000 year-old drawings of extinct bison, the abstract expressionists with 40,000 year-old red dots, black lines and reverse hand prints, and Gehry’s Guggenheim with a cave from before time, then walk out into the warm air and look out over the verdant landscape and wonder – there were reindeer here? I took this tour on a hope and a hunch because I couldn’t find any good reviews or write-ups, and I found the tour so profound, I wanted to describe what it is like for others, because it’s a great tour and someone should (my second review ever). This tour should be part of The Bilbao 1-2: the Guggenheim for the newest art in the most modern setting one day, the oldest art in an ancient cave the next. That said, while many will find this tour spectacular, there is also a modest quality to the actual cave art, the site visits are short relative to the time travelled, and there’s no rebuttal to a philistine’s dismissal that Alta Mira is a reproduction and the actual caves just show a bunch of stick figures – to each their own. But if it’s for you, then note everything is strictly limited to a designated number of small groups and precisely timed – BOOK EARLY. Museum of Alta Mira / Neocave: The Alta Mira neocave is a precise, exact reproduction of the Alta Mira cave (now effectively closed to the public for preservation) and it is amazing: a paleolithic Sistine Chapel of ocher and charcoal-drawn and etched bison and other animals. As Picasso is reported to have said when he saw it, “we have learned nothing in 12,000 years.” The precision, the perspective, the sheer artistic ability is just stunning. (I thought we had enough time there.) Interpretation Centre of Cave Art of Puente Viesgo: The museum has a tremendous exhibit of prehistoric artifacts very well presented and I could have spent an afternoon there, and will if I go back. I would have liked to have had more time but the cave tours are not run in the afternoon in order to keep the heat out, so we had to keep moving. Castillo Cave and Monedas Cave: calibrate your expectations. You will not see polychromatic bison similar to Alta Mira – and the ceiling couldn’t be illuminated in a similar fashion nowadays anyway. What you will see are basic ocher and charcoal drawings and etchings of fauna from 12,000 years ago that show the same degree of precision and perspective and artistic brilliance as Alta Mira (there are some similar polychrome drawings at Castillo but they are currently closed off) as well as 40,000 year-old markings and reverse hand prints. The drawings are illuminated by the guide’s flashlight (torch) only and frequently you will need to look closely. Guide: the cave guide is mandated to give the tours in Spanish, and Gabriela provided a quiet, simultaneous translation. Our cave guide was extremely informative, and Gabriela provided excellent commentary as well. Tour: Gabriela is an excellent, very knowledgeable guide and her tour is well organised and precise: it has to be because of the rigid time sequencing for cave preservation. Gabriela’s husband, Rafa, who picked us up at our hotel in Bilbao (additional fee), is as charming as he is knowledgeable about Cantabria, its people, history and culture – I learned a lot from him (a big mucho gracias). Difficulty: the stairs and steps are hewn into the rock and can be uneven and wet with the footing at times difficult; in addition, you’re not supposed to touch the walls and there was some ducking (not crouching), but I’m 68 and my wife is 66, we’re in good shape, and we thought it was fine and well worth it. You are given a half-torch stick to light the floor, but they can’t be used to see the art on the walls. Claustrophobia: my wife and another woman from the Spanish tour both had worried about claustrophobia (my wife was expecting possibly to bail) but they both said they had no problem whatsoever - just awe. The caves: I’m no spelunker so I’m not sure what to compare these caves to, but the caves themselves are gorgeous with white calcium carbonate stalactites and stalagmites. The geology itself made for a marvelous experience. Context: Gabriela and the museum can help put the drawings and etchings into various perspectives – I found Patrick Wyman’s recent book Lost Worlds to be a great primer on the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene and Paleolithic life and evolution (a good read and he’s also a podcaster). We did not go for lunch – it was just the two of us, so we went to Santander to dine and explore, then took the bus back to Bilbao (get your tickets ahead of time). I hope this helps: I’ve been a lot of places, seen a lot of things and took a lot of tours, and this one is truly exceptional.

beautiful and original. Worth visiting

We had a Spanish guide for this trip as our English speaking guide couldn't make this day, however, and even though we don't speak Spanish, we had the most wonderful time, beautiful locations, from the Monestry to the Picos de Europa, absolutely beautiful, Potes was great but very busy and touristy so leave that with you to decide, great excursion though, lots of driving Ng but really good 👍

Fun informative tour to picos de Europa and potes, Spain …………………………,……..,,,..,,,………..,…..,,,,,,,……..

Well worth the strenuous hike to see the beautiful lakes. There will be cows, everywhere. Very early departure because there are additional stops to pick up others.

This is a must for anyone who loves prehistoric art. Limited to 7 people only for Monedes and Castillo caves, you get close up introduction to arts dating back over 40,000 years ago. You end being wow'ed at Altimira. You really appreciate this UNESCO sites. Our guide Pepe was wonderful in showing the highlights at Altimira.

We stayed in Soto de Cangas, we had it handy, it was just a matter of going up, there were 2 options, either bus or car, but seeing that road and seeing how those buses went down and up, I moved to only one option, going up by car, until you are there you spend a little while scared, my particular case, then upon arriving at the top that is difficult to explain, something wonderful, unique, you see nature in the full expression of the word nature, cows with their calves in the middle of the road, native horses, they force you to stop and continue the journey when they want, it was our first trip to the north and to this day they remain our best vacation and mind you we have little left to see of the coasts, Galicia, Basque Country, San Sebastian and little else, gastronomy, education, kindness, advice, that is what we took from there.

Good food. Good service and the owner is a delight

Amazing experience with a great tour guide and delicious food. We saw beautiful areas of the national park and small towns. Lunch was one of our best meals in Spain. Highly recommend

We spent a wonderful day with Santiago, a cultured and polite guide who told us the story of each place we visited in very interesting details. I highly recommend this walk!

The trip was nice and varied . The guide was very nice and did a great job handling speaking English and Spanish between his customers . My only complaint is lunch was advertised as included and it wasn’t .

This private all-day tour with Juan was one of the most memorable experiences of our two week cruise of Spain, Portugal, and Bordeaux France. We love to get out into the countryside and get a real flavor for the area and the people. This tour fulfilled all of that and more. Juan could not have been a better host, and the Picos de Europa was absolutely beautiful! To top all of that, Juan treated us to the most wonderful lunch at the restaurant at Hotel del Oso. The Cocido Lebaniego was delicious, so good that we had Juan send us the recipe! We recommend Juan and his tour as a “must do” for anyone traveling in the Bilbao/Santander area.

Small group tour of the Picos de Europa from Fuente De with an option to ride the funicular. Pepe, our driver and guide is knowledgeable and a safe driver. Pick up and drop off at hotels was a benefit.

We loved everything, Gabriela handled all the arrangements for us happily over the phone, the guide Carlos contacted us and picked us up near our hotel as they had agreed. The whole way the guide was explaining to us where we were passing through, he has incredible knowledge, culture, and education. Everything was as it had been organized, the arrival at the cable car on time and without waiting in lines, them buying the tickets is essential, in Potes he gave us the perfect amount of time to eat and do some shopping, going in a small group of eight people also makes a difference. Totally recommended

Our tour guide was Jairo. He was extremely knowledgeable about all things locally in addition to the caves. He handeled everthing expertly. Yes, the personal tour was expensive, but in my book it was absolutely worth it! I give him/them my highest recommendation!!!