Costa San Juan

Costa San Juan is in a prime location for visits to many of Cantabria's top tourist spots such as the Cabárceno Natural Park, the historic town of Santillana del Mar, the Cave of El Soplao and the huge and fably futuristic Centro Botín art gallery.

A birdwatchers' and wildlife spotters' paradise, the Liencres Dunes Nature Reserve is also a short drive away: on the left bank of the Pas river estuary in a peninsula area bordered by the Mogro estuary and several adjacent beaches, this reserve is filled to the gills with feathered friends ranging from ringed and grey plover to whimbrel, dunlin and other migratory birds.

The splendid seaside town of Somo, within 20 kilometres of Costa San Juan, is an absolute must see if you're visiting this part of Spain; its two-kilometre stretch of golden sands and spectacular surf conditions have won it its crown as one of the world's top surfing spots, and you can reach it very easily via ferry direct from Santander.

An utterly spectacular city packed with sights and attractions galore, Santander is well worth spending a few days with; visit the UNESCO-listed Altamira Cave, the Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria, and the Museo Maritime Museum of Cantabria, where a 700,000-litre aquarium displays the skeleton of a 24-metre shark as well as a huge variety of Cantabrian marine life, galleons and transatlantic liners.