Santander is one of the few ferry ports where you dock in the middle of the city rather than on an industrial estate outside it. You sail in past the beaches, and the terminal at Muelle de Maliaño is about ten minutes from the centre. That makes it worth stopping for, even if your plan is to drive on.
Here is what to do in the city itself, and where to go in Cantabria if you have a day and a car. Most of the city list works just as well with children, which is the other reason Santander suits a ferry arrival: nobody has to get back in the car straight away.
In the city
1. La Magdalena Palace and peninsula
The palace was built as a royal summer residence in the early twentieth century and sits on its own peninsula with sea on three sides. The building is worth seeing, but the park around it is the real draw: a small free zoo with sea lions and penguins, a replica fishing boat, and coastal paths.
Walkable from the centre, or take the local bus or the tourist train.
2. Playa del Sardinero
Santander’s main beach: wide, clean, and lifeguarded through the summer. Shallow water, sand that holds a castle, and seafront terraces along the back of it. A short drive or bus ride from the centre.
3. The tourist train
It runs past the seafront promenade, La Magdalena and the old town, picking up from several stops in the centre. Touristy, obviously, but it solves the problem of tired legs on the first day off the boat.
4. Museo Marítimo del Cantábrico
The maritime museum has whale skeletons, aquariums of local sea life and hands-on exhibits about fishing and life at sea. It is right by the water, a short walk or bus from the centre, and it is the obvious answer to a wet afternoon on the north coast.
5. Jardines de Pereda and the Centro Botín
The best green space in the centre, running along the waterfront next to the Renzo Piano-designed Centro Botín arts centre. Playground at one end, shade and benches throughout. A good spot to eat something you have carried off the ship.
6. A boat trip to Isla de Mouro
Small sightseeing boats leave regularly from the harbour, running along the coast or out to the lighthouse island of Isla de Mouro. Buy tickets at the waterfront. After twenty hours at sea this is either exactly what you want or exactly what you don’t.
7. Ice cream at Regma
Santander’s best-known ice cream parlour, with branches in the old town and along the Sardinero promenade. Generous scoops, and the local answer to what to do at six in the evening.
Out of the city: a day trip into Cantabria
Cantabria sits between the Picos de Europa and the Atlantic, and it is far less visited than Andalusia or Catalonia. If you brought your own car off the ferry, three places make one easy day and they are all within about an hour.
Santillana del Mar, 19 miles, 30 to 35 minutes
Regularly called one of the prettiest villages in Spain, and it earns it: cobbled streets, medieval stone houses, flowers over the balconies. The Colegiata de Santa Juliana, a Romanesque church and cloister, is the thing to see.
Museo de Altamira, a mile further
Just outside Santillana, holding an exact replica of the Altamira cave paintings, among the oldest known anywhere. Bison, horses and symbolic patterns painted tens of thousands of years ago. The original cave is closed to protect it, which is why the replica exists, and it is a genuinely good one.
Book ahead in summer. Entry is timed and it sells out.
Comillas, 31 miles, 45 minutes
A coastal town with sandy beaches and seafront cafés, and one unexpected thing: El Capricho, a brightly tiled summer villa by Antoni Gaudí. Most people associate Gaudí entirely with Barcelona, so finding one of his buildings on the Cantabrian coast is a surprise.
The roads here are quiet and well kept and the distances are short, so all three fit comfortably into one day. They also work as the first leg of a longer run west along the coast towards Asturias.
Getting there by ferry
Two direct crossings arrive at Santander, both with Brittany Ferries:
- Plymouth to Santander, 20 hours 30 minutes on the Pont-Aven, one night at sea, late March to early November
- Portsmouth to Santander, around 33 hours on the Salamanca, two nights at sea, running year round
Parking, transfers and terminal facilities are in our Santander ferry port guide, and our cheapest crossing guide covers what actually moves the price.
