Recommendations for Northern Spain??

betterbargains4u

Hi all.

I have won a ferry crossing with car for up to ten nights to Santander in Spain.
Would like some recommendations of where to go/stay/do while we are there.
Will probably be going in October.
Thanks for any help or advice.

betterbargains4u

Has anyone got any recommendations?

treliac

betterbargains4u wrote: »

Has anyone got any recommendations?

I went last August, stayed at the Gran Hotel Victoria in Santander area which was lovely. Offered a good cooked breakfast too

The hotel is very close to a good beach. It's in a fairly quiet area and is relaxing to wander around in the day and the evenings, when you can find places to eat that are good and reasonably priced.

It's a mile or so outside Santander, which is a large commerce orientated town. There's not much English spoken around there though, so go armed with a good phrase book.

If you drive along the coast in a westerly direction, the scenery is beautiful and there are lots of towns and villages to explore and a national park.

The only downside is that the weather is not so good on this coast and we had a fair bit of rain during our short break, although this was exceptional, like the August we had over here. The general weather pattern explains the green and lush countryside of the area.

It depends what you are looking for. It is nothing like the touristy image of southern Spain, but I would thoroughly recommend it as a beautiful part of Spain to visit, largely uncommercialised and certainly off the beaten track as far as tourism is concerned.

If you don't want a hotel, this might be of interest http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/World/r1.htm. We have used them a couple of times, but not in Spain although we did look at a property they offer while we were over there, as a future possibility.

sodamnfunky

We went to Santander in April, had lovely weather both there and back on the Pont Aven, but even with the lovely weather, my wife didnt like the bay of biscay too much on the return.

Santander is an ok place, but wouldnt want to stay there, I always think it looks like Beirut, and could do with a good pressure wash.

Having said that, if you walk to the beach it gets better, and the countryside outside of it is very nice.