With its unpredictable weather, quiet nightlife and mountainous surroundings, Santander is refreshingly different to the Spain many of us are used to, writes BRIAN BLAKE
PERHAPS IT was the barman who insisted on organising a lift for us into town when we missed our train and then flatly refused to take any money.
Or maybe it was the lorry driver who told us to follow him as he sped along a dirt track when we lost our way, leaning out the window to point out what we were looking for.
Then again, it could be the family who sent their English-speaking daughter over to us in a restaurant to translate the menu when we struggled to place an order.
And all of this taking place through the medium of sign language and the copious use of our tiny Spanish dictionary after we discovered early on that very little English is spoken in the region.
These are just some of the experiences that will be our abiding memories of our family holiday in northern Spain when we look back on the summer the country won the World Cup.
We encountered the same friendliness of the go-out-of-the-way-to-help variety when we arrived in Santander on the last leg of our visit at the end of an eventful two weeks.
We decided that a three-night break in the Cantabrian capital would be just what we needed after 10 days of driving along the coast, clocking up more than 1,000km in the process.
And it proved to be the case as we settled into our hotel room in the heart of the city, within walking distance of everything and with impressive views over the ferryport to the mountains beyond.
Many visitors make the mistake of bypassing Santander altogether, arriving by plane or on the ferry and quickly heading off to the more popular tourist locations such as San Sebastian or Pamplona.
Instead, they would be well advised to set aside a few days, either on arrival or departure, and spend some time there discovering what the city has to offer.
What they would find is that Santander is an ideal location to combine a citybreak with a beach holiday, thanks to the golden-sanded beaches that stretch from one end of the metropolis to the other.
And with direct flights from Dublin, you can be there in less than two hours – as good a reason as any to pay a visit in these days of increasingly fraught airport experiences and ever-lengthening travel times.
The language barrier quickly became a recurring theme of the holiday, particularly in restaurants where extremely patient waiters did their utmost to explain what was on the menu.
For the most part they succeeded, apart from the time we thought we had ordered garlic prawns and ended up with scrambled eggs. You can’t win them all, I suppose, but at least the eggs were tasty.
In one restaurant, the ultra-helpful waiter provided one of the few English language menus we had seen and proceeded to translate our order back into Spanish so the chef would understand.
It was, of course, quiet presumptuous of us to think that English would be spoken. After all, how many of us can converse with Spanish tourists in their language when we meet them in Ireland?
NORTHERN SPAINis markedly different from the rest of the country, in terms of culture and climate, given its deep-rooted separatist tradition and its exposure to the Atlantic weather.
Indeed, some of the locals were less than enthusiastic about their country’s rampant progress in the World Cup, with a handful of bars quieter than you would expect during the games.
And if you’re looking for wall-to-wall sunshine, Santander may not be the place for you as the weather there can be mixed, giving it more of a north European vibe than a Mediterranean one.
If you’ve arrived by car, driving can be a bit of a nightmare in the city where a pay-and-display system operates alongside a series of underground car parks. The best approach is to park and walk.
Alternatively, if you’re feeling a little more energetic and fancy going the extra mile, you can avail of the TucBic free bike system, which has docking stations all along the seafront.
For a relatively small city, Santander is blessed with an abundance of parks, from Península de la Magdalena, featuring a mini-marine park and concert venue, to the Jardins de Pereda in the city centre.
Probably the most impressive of the city’s museums is the 3,000sq m Museo Marítimo del Cantábrico (museosdecantabria.com), featuring huge whale skeletons, intricate model ships and an aquarium.
Like most other Spanish cities, nightlife doesn’t kick off until late evening and takes place in tapas bars and restaurants in and around Calle de Hernán Cortés, which stay open till the wee hours.
But there’s a distinctly laid-back atmosphere to the revelry, another example perhaps of the difference between northern Spain and the more excitable resorts at the southern end of the country.
On the seafront, queues form outside ice cream parlours as the locals and tourists alike indulge in that most traditional summer activity. The language barrier quickly disappeared as our kids and their friends joined the fray each night.
OUTSIDE SANTANDER, there are a number of attractions worth visiting; chief among these is the Picos de Europa National Park, where tiny rural villages nestle amid towering mountain peaks.
There you can hop on the funicular railway at Poncebos, which takes you high up into the mountains to the quaint hamlet of Bulnes where you can stop off for a refreshing coffee or a cool beer.
Alternatively, if you are made of sterner stuff, a 900m cable car ride awaits at Feunte De, affording spectacular views of the countryside below, so green it will remind you of home.
Closer to Santander is Santillana del Mar, a medieval town of cobbled streets and spacious plazas described by Jean-Paul Sarte as “the most beautiful village in Spain”, which despite having “Mar” in its name is, in fact, 3km inland.
But be warned that its reputation as a “must see” means it can become quite crowded at the height of the tourist season, and the disconcerting presence of souvenir shops, hotels and restaurants detract somewhat from its authenticity.
Some 2km from Santillana are the Caves of Altamira, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring paintings of bison, deer and horses dating from 16,000BC.
Booking in advance at museodealtamira.es is recommended, particularly during July and August.
For regular visitors to other parts of Spain, Santander offers a refreshingly different experience. As Star Trek’s Mr Spock might have said, it’s Spain Jim, but not as we know it.
- santander.es
Go there Where to stay, where to eat and where to go
5 places to stay
- Hotel Real. Paseo de Pérez Galdós 28, 00-34-942-272550, hotelreal.es. Imposing five-star hotel in a quiet residential area with great views of Santander Bay. Doubles from €194.
- Hotel Bahia. Avda de Alfonso XIII 6, 00-34-942-205000, gruposardinero.com. Four-star hotel on the seafront opposite the ferry terminal, with views across the bay to the mountains beyond. Doubles from €160.
- Hotel Hoyuela. Avda de los Hoteles 7, 00-34-942-282628. Sister hotel to the Bahia, near the beach and within a stone's throw of the Gran Casino if you fancy a flutter. Doubles from €190.
- Abba Santander Hotel. Calderón de la Barca 3, 00-34-942-212450, abbasantanderhotel.com. Three-star hotel in historic building near ferryport, bus and train stations. Doubles from €122.
- Hotel Central. Calle del General Mola 5, 00-34-942-222400, elcentral.com. Three-star hotel in central location with spacious accommodation. Ask for a room with a view. Doubles from €75.
5 places to eat
- Mesón Rampalay. Daoiz y Velarde 9, 00-34-942-313367. Busy restaurant, with wide ranging menu offering Spanish and European dishes. Try the cod in tomato and garlic.
- Restaurant Los Arcos. Calle de Hernán Cortés 3, 00-34-942-222092. Traditional Spanish fare featuring most of what you'd expect. Keep an eye out for the daily specials.
- La Casa del Indiano. Mercado del Este, 00-34-942-074660. Delicious tapas ranging in price from €3 to €6 from morning till evening, or a full menu if you feel like something more substantial.
- Casa Ajero. Calle de Daoíz y Velarde 18, 00-34-942-218386. Traditional bar-cum-restaurant serving tapas and local wines, with a designated area for more formal dining. Very popular with the locals.
- Los Peñucas. Marqués de la Ensenada 32, 00-34-942-229445, lospenucas.com. Lively seafood restaurant down by the port, with an extensive menu ranging from scorpion fish pudding to traditional paella.
5 places to go
- Hit the beach. With nine beaches to choose from, including the imposing 2km-long El Sandinero to the smaller Bikini (beach not swimwear), there's no excuse not to dip your toes in the water, even if it tends to be a little on the cool side.
- On your bike. TusBic is Santander's version of the Dublin Bikes scheme and is by far the best way to get around the city. Register at tusbic.es before you go to save time . . . and confusion.
- Take a boat trip. Choose from a selection of cruises around Santander Bay, ranging from one- to two-and-a-half-hour excursions, to a ferry service to Pedreña and Somo across the bay. Los Reginas, Paseo Maritíma, 00-942-216753, losreginas.com.
- Península de la Magdalena. Coastal park featuring a mini-marine park with penguins – which seem somewhat out of place in this part of the world – and rather more-at-home seals in seawater enclosures. Venue for many of the city's concerts and festivals. Mercado de la Esperanza. Plaza de la Esperanza, 00-34-942-220529. Savour the atmosphere at the food market where the locals flock in the mornings to buy everything from meat and fish to fruit and vegetables, and all sorts of Spanish delicacies we could only guess the ingredients of.
Hot spot
- The crowds flock to Plaza Cañadio in the evenings, where late-night bars provide the backdrop to the experience as revellers spill out onto the square, hopping from one establishment to another, in search of the best tapas.
Shop spot
- Calle de Burgos. If footwear is your thing look no further. Every second shop here seems to sell shoes, but there are also boutiques offering the latest fashions, not to mention an inordinate number of hair salons. No excuse, then, for not looking your best.
Go there
Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from Dublin to Santander. Brittany Ferries (brittany ferries.ie) sails from Plymouth and Portsmouth to Santander.