Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar is a picturesque town of 4200 people (2018) in Cantabria, Spain, renowned for its medieval architecture. The village is a bit of a tourist trap, and is so swamped with new developments around the outskirts, that on arrival you might be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. However, the original kernel of the medieval village survives in the centre, although the beauty of the winding streets and yellow sandstone buildings is rather marred by the abundance of shops selling tourist nick-nacks that have proliferated into almost every doorway. For the more adventurous, there are some lovely walks in the small hills around the town that afford stunning views of the Picos de Europa, the mountain ranges, and the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The area around Santillana del Mar has been populated for thousands of years and there are traces of some of the earliest inhabitants at the Altamira Caves about 2 km from the town. There is a very modern and helpful tourist office in the town that provides lots of useful information.

© wikipedia

Santillana del Mar is it’s a stopover point on The Camino del Norte. You can reach Santiago de Compostela in 23 days.