Cheap flights from Seattle to Santander from £219

There are several caves not far from Santander, bearing signs of human habitation tens of thousands of years old. The Cueva del Castillo, one of the most well-known of them, has around 300 pictures. Among them is a big red stippled disk, which is considered to be more than 40,000 years old! The list of similar archeological sites in the area includes the Moro Chufín cave, Hornos de la Peña cave, El Pendo cave, Covalanas cave, and la Cullalvera cave.

Spaniards are used to dining late. Most restaurants in Santander won’t serve you before 20:00. On weekends locals don’t fill them up until 21:00. Finishing dinner around 23:00 or even 00:00 is not something unusual. Get used to the local schedule to feel the ebbs and flows of life in Santander!

Antoni Gaudi was a famous architect, who designed the Sagrada Família in Barcelona. El Capricho villa is one of his few works outside the Catalonia region. It was built in 1883-85 as a summer resort for a wealthy client. The building is a great example of Modernism in architecture. Like other Gaudi’s buildings, the villa looks otherworldly, reminiscent of a Lego creation. It may well be worth a 60km trip from Santander!