The essential things to see in Cantabria in 3 days. What to visit

If you want to get to know Cantabria in 3 days, we will tell you that it is practically impossible, that you need many more days. But we are also going to tell you that it is possible to know the most important things to see in Cantabria in 3 days by optimizing the trips and paying attention to the advice that we give you here.

Of course, you will have to get up early and not spend too much time in each place, but you will be able to get an idea of ​​the best things to visit in Cantabria.

To make this 3-day trip through Cantabria, we recommend staying in a central area of ​​the region, such as Santander or Santillana del Mar, to be close to the most important things.

What to see in Cantabria in three days

First day in Cantabria

As we have said, you will have to get up early to make the most of your trip. We are going to dedicate this first day to its capital, Santander, although the route should be quite fast.

The city of Santander is divided into two very different areas, the historic center and the beach area. We can first visit the area of ​​the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and start towards the Cathedral of Santander, located a few meters away and an essential visit.

Nearby are also the Jardines de Pereda, surrounded by impressive buildings and other very interesting squares such as Plaza del Pombo and Plaza Porticada. In this area are the most historic streets of the city.

From there we can move to the Magdalena Peninsula, where the Royal Palace is located, current headquarters of the Menéndez Pelayo University. And next to this beautiful area, the beaches, among which we must highlight the Playa del Sardinero, the most famous.

The end of the tour of Santander is located in the Parque del Piquio and the Casino building, one of the most beautiful in the city.

After this lightning visit to Santander we would move to Santillana del Mar, another of the most beautiful Cantabrian towns that we can visit in 3 days.

The historic center of Santillana del Mar is one of the best things you can see in Cantabria in three days, thanks to its Plaza Mayor, the streets that start from it and especially the Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana, the main monument to visit in Santillana del Mar. Sea.

In this town there is also the Altamira Museum, but most likely you will not have time to visit it and you will have to leave it for another occasion, since we only have 3 days to get to know Cantabria.

What to see in Cantabria on the second day

We are going to dedicate the second day in Cantabria to the main western fishing villages of the region. Each of them with its charm and we have little time to enjoy them. The first one where we will stop after starting the tour will be Comillas, where we will also spend most of the time, as it is one of the towns with the most points of interest and, moreover, spectacular.

The walk through Comillas should start in the Plaza de la Constitución and its surroundings before walking towards the area where the impressive modernist monuments that Comillas has are located. We are talking about the Palacio de Sobrellano, the Panteón de los Sobrellano Chapel and the Capricho de Gaudí.

Essential visits next to the University of Comillas or even the cemetery, also a modernist jewel. Walking through Comillas and enjoying the town is the best thing you can do.

From there, we’ll take the car and head to San Vicente de la Barquera through impressive landscapes such as those offered by the Oyambre Natural Park, before arriving at another of the essential towns in Cantabria.

San Vicente de la Barquera offers us incredible buildings and monuments, such as the Puente de la Maza, the Church of Santa María de los Ángeles or the Castillo del Rey, places that you will only know if you walk through its beautiful streets enjoying the atmosphere and the smell of seafood that is breathed in this town.

We have left another very interesting town in western Cantabria like Suances for last. It would be retracing our steps but we prefer to visit it if we have time left over in the other two places.

Suances is a good place to end the day and enjoy a beautiful sunset over the Cantabrian Sea.

What to visit on the third day in Cantabria

The last of the 3 days we have in Cantabria is here and we still have a lot to see. And when the day is over there will still be more because this autonomous community is infinite and many more days are needed.

But as our vacation time is indeed finite, we are going to dedicate this last day to the eastern villas, those located to the east of Santander. As the most beautiful of all is Castro Urdiales, we are going to go to her to start the tour even if it is the farthest.

If you are going or returning to Cantabria from the Basque Country, we also recommend you visit Castro Urdiales on your outward or return trip to waste less time. The main point of interest in this town is the group formed by the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, the Castle of Santa Ana and the Old Bridge, a beautiful sight.

After touring the historic center of Castro Urdiales, which will not take you long either because it is small and everything is close by, we will go to two other towns, Laredo and Santoña, each one with its own charm, very different from each other and one located in front of the other.

If after visiting these 3 villas you still have time, you can go to Playa de Langre, possibly the most beautiful in Cantabria and end the day at Playa de Somo, from where you have beautiful views of the city of Santander and from where we can delight us with another spectacular sunset.

This is how our 3 days in Cantabria end. It hasn’t given us time to see the whole region, but it has given us some of the most interesting places it has to offer.

You can find more information on the official Cantabria tourism page.