Santander walking tour & city guide

The centre and the bay

Paseo de Pereda is the city's grand seafront avenue, lined with handsome buildings and gardens facing the bay. At its end, the Centro Botín, an art centre designed by Renzo Piano, juts out over the water, with a free terrace and views across to the mountains. Behind the promenade, the cathedral stands on a small hill, built on Roman foundations, with a Gothic crypt church below it.

Around Plaza Porticada and the covered Mercado del Este, the streets are full of shops and tapas bars, and the square of Cañadío is the place for an evening drink.

A classic walk: Centro Botín to El Sardinero

Start at the Centro Botín and walk east along the waterfront and Paseo de Pereda, then continue on the seafront path towards Puerto Chico and the Maritime Museum. Follow the coast onto the Magdalena Peninsula, a wooded park with the English-style Magdalena Palace, built as a summer home for the Spanish royal family, and small beaches below the cliffs.

From the peninsula, walk on to El Sardinero, Santander's main beach, backed by gardens and the grand old casino. The walk is about five kilometres, flat and by the sea most of the way; city buses run back to the centre.

Good to know

June to September brings the warmest weather and the best beach days; the north coast is mild but rainy outside summer. Santander has an airport and a ferry port with sailings to the UK, and it makes a good base for exploring Cantabria, from the medieval village of Santillana del Mar to the Picos de Europa mountains.