Cruise Port Guide · 23 cruises visit Santander →
The bucket-list things to do — and who runs each one.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, who runs it, and how to book it direct — so you can weigh it against your ship’s excursion and pick what suits you.
Descend into the Neolithic wonder of Altamira — the 'Sistine Chapel of prehistory' — then wander the cobbled perfection of Santillana del Mar, Spain's most beautiful medieval village. A private half-day that spans 15,000 years of human story.
Step inside one of Europe's most breathtaking contemporary art museums — Renzo Piano's disc-shaped Centro Botín — on a private guided visit that unlocks the collection, the architecture and the panoramic bay terrace most visitors never find. A pure luxury cultural moment steps from the port.
The Peninsula de La Magdalena is Santander's crown jewel — a dramatic headland of clifftop gardens, royal architecture and sweeping Atlantic views. A private expert-led tour reveals the intimate story of the Spanish royal family's summer retreat that shaped modern Santander.
Santander sits just 90 minutes from Frank Gehry's titanium masterpiece in Bilbao — one of the world's most iconic buildings and home to a world-class modern art collection. A private chauffeured day allows you to experience the Guggenheim and Bilbao's celebrated pintxos scene in full luxury.
Santander's Mercado de la Esperanza is one of northern Spain's great food markets — a cast-iron 1904 cathedral of anchovies, aged cheeses, wild mushrooms and fresh seafood. A private chef-led market tour and hands-on cooking session transforms it into an unforgettable culinary experience.
Follow Santander's grandest coastal promenade from the peninsula to the twin crescents of El Sardinero — the Belle Époque resort beach that once rivalled Biarritz — finishing in the clifftop Jardines de Piquío for panoramic Atlantic views. Best experienced with a private local guide who tells the glamorous story behind the architecture.
You know what to do on the day. Here is the trip it belongs to — each one opens as a whole plan, not a list: where to fly in, every port, what it runs.
Not sure when yet? Tell us the days you can get away and we will only show what fits.
⚓ Your bucket-list concierge
Tell us your sailing and we'll send the bucket list for every port — the most extraordinary thing to do at each, and the operator who runs it.
We send the plan to your account’s own address — never to one typed into a box. Free, and Google works.