What to see in Santander in 3 days. A visit to the city and surroundings

One of the most beautiful cities in the north is in Cantabria and 3 days are enough to get to know it in depth and even to make an excursion to the surroundings. There is a lot to see in Santander in 3 days and here we are going to tell you how to do it.

One of the best things you can do in Cantabria is walk around Santander, a beautiful city thanks to its buildings, its streets and its relationship with the Cantabrian Sea, a city that you can visit on foot.

Here you have a tour with the best things to visit in Santander in three days.

What to see in Santander in 3 days

First day in Santander

We are going to start the first of the 3 days that we have in Santander in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where the city hall is located. It is a very busy triangular square with a lot of atmosphere. Next to it is the Mercado de la Esperanza, the main market in Santander.

One of the best things to see in Santander in three days is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, located a few meters away and which was rebuilt after the 1941 fire that destroyed much of the city. Santander Cathedral is made up of two superimposed temples: the crypt, in Romanesque style from the year 1200, and the upper one, built between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Nearby are the main gardens to visit in Santander, the Pereda Gardens, around which are some of the most impressive buildings to see in the city, such as the Botín Center, a cultural landmark in Cantabria, or the Santander Bank, one one of the few buildings that were saved from the fire of 1941.

Entering the oldest part of Santander we will arrive at Plaza Porticada, rebuilt after the fire in classic Herrerian style and one of the most beautiful places in Santander and where the Banesto Building is located, as well as the neighboring Plaza del Pombo, where we can admire the Church of Santa Lucía or the building of the Real Club de Regatas, essential things to see in Santander in 3 days.

Retracing our steps we will go to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Santander, the MAS, the main art center in Cantabria where we can find a great diversity of works from different centuries from the XV to the XX, highlighting some of Francisco de Goya as the Portrait of Ferdinand VII.

Next to it is the Menéndez Pelayo House-Museum, which also includes his personal Library, where you can admire one of the best bibliographic collections in Spain. Also, the building is worth it. It dates from 1876.

To end the day we can head towards the funicular and climb thanks to it to the Mirador Río de la Pila, from which you have great views of the oldest area of ​​Santander as well as the Cantabrian Sea. A very special place to enjoy the sunset.

After this tour we can end our first day in Santander.

What to see in Santander on the second day

The second day in the capital of Cantabria can begin in the Jardines de Pereda to start walking along the Bay of Santander towards the Magdalena Peninsula.

Along the way we can admire the Raqueros Monument, one of the most famous in the city, and the Cantabrian Maritime Museum, a very interesting museum. We will leave Playa de los Peligros aside and finally arrive at another of the essential places to see in Santander in 3 days.

The Magdalena Peninsula has different points of interest that you should not miss, such as the Royal Palace, which dates from 1912 and was the residence of King Alfonso XIII until 1930. Today it houses the prestigious Menéndez Pelayo University. On the peninsula we can also admire the Royal Stables, which today is a student residence, or the Monument to Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, in addition to having beautiful views of the Bay of Biscay and the Sardinero Beaches.

And then we will go to the Sardinero Beaches, but not before admiring the Gran Casino Sardinero, one of the symbols of the city. It dates from the year 1916 and we must highlight its balcony, its domes and its towers as well as the white color of its façade that enhances the beauty of this unique corner of Santander.

A little further on we find the Jardines del Piquio, which separate the two beaches and are one of the best places in Santander to relax, before continuing along the second beach and arriving at the Parque de Mataleñas, where we can meet the coquettish and peculiar Playa de los Molinucos and peek at the Mirador del Cabo Menor, another place to admire the Cantabrian Sea.

Thus ends our second day in Santander.

What to do on the third day in Santander

During the previous two days that we have visited Santander we will have known the essentials of the city in a walk without stress and without hurry but without leaving anything important to visit in Santander. On this third day we can go somewhere in the surroundings.

There are many excursions that we can do. Go to see the eastern and western fishing villages, delve into the interior of Cantabria or go to a natural park. Either option is highly recommended.

The first option is to go west visiting the wonderful Suances, Comillas and San Vicente de la Barquera. In Comillas you have a large number of modernist monuments that will surprise you, such as Gaudí’s Caprice, the Pontifical University or the Palacio de Sobrellano. Don’t miss the Oyambre Natural Park either.

If you decide to go east you have other beautiful towns such as Castro Urdiales, Laredo or Santoña and spectacular beaches such as Playa de Langre or Playa de Somo. From the latter one also has beautiful views of Santander.

If, on the other hand, you want to enter the interior, our proposal is to go to the Picos de Europa and the Liébana region, visiting Fuente De, Potes or the Santo Toribio de Liébana Monastery. Santillana del Mar and its collegiate church is another essential place.

All these routes can be found in our articles on routes through Cantabria for three or four days.

You can find more information about what to see in Santander on its official tourism page.