Santander

As usual check the web sites www.booking.com and www.hotel.com however Santander is an affluent city and very popular with Spanish holidaymakers in the summer, this makes accommodation expensive. There is a gem of a place two minutes from the stations, Hostal Cabo Mayor, Calle de Cadiz 1, there are only a handful of rooms but they are very modern, well appointed and the family that own it is very helpful. It is only ten minutes walk to the centre of the city.

Hotel Bahia, Avenida Alfonso X111, 6, is a large newly refurbished hotel close to the centre and in the low season with four stars it can be a bargain. Some rooms have sea views but are naturally more expensive. This has become our place to stay as the quality, location and price are unbeatable.

There are some great old fashioned bars in the streets parallel to the Paseo de Pereda, particularly C/Herman Cortes, C/Pena Herbosa & C/Daoiz y Velarde, a lot of them were old wine bodegas.

Casa Lita, at the far end of the Paseo de Pereda, has a huge selection of pinxtos. It is high up on the list of best places to eat and the quality, range and location are all great.

Dias de Sur, C/Herman Cortes 47, is a modern bar which used to offer tapas and a good menu del dia however on a recent visit there is now only an a la carte menu and some tapas.

La Tuta, C/del Medio, this is a fairly recent opening and was a wonderful find. It has a Galician slant to the menu of pinxtos and main dishes, the pulpo, octopus, was first class as were all the other things we tried. A small free tapas and warm friendly service made this a must. Still as good on our latest visit, excellent food, drink & service,

La Catedra, C/del Medio 5, this has been here for a few years and seems very popular with regular customers, it is a small bar with a very good food and wine selection.

Ramonteca, C/del Medio 1, another new find close to the two above. Smart modern bar which seems very popular with a local crowd. service can be a bit slow but worth a visit.

Bodegas Cigalena, C/Daoiz y Velarde 19, looks a bit touristy with a sign saying museo de vino, but push through to the back and this is a great old bodega, excellent tapas and wines. Check out the wine list, we picked up an excellent wine at a very reasonable price. Their pinxtos/tapas seem to have taken on a more modern twist and are excellent. post Covid this is now seated instead of standing at the bar but staff remain the same.

Bodegas Mazon, C/Herman Cortes 57, may not look very appealing from the entrance but the bar in the front is great with huge old barrels and a free tapas of gazpacho in summer. They do a great jamon tostado and many other choices.

Bodega Fuente De, C/Pena Herbosa 5, is a small bar and restaurant which is incredibly popular with locals. The speciality is the Picon local cheese often given out when you order a drink. The meals served get excellent reports so a must to revisit next time.

Vermuteria Solorzano, C/Pena Herbosa 17, is a fairly new addition and an excellent one. They specialise in vermut and offer a huge range of both red and white, all served differently. The food is also excellent, the squid getting top marks. Great service and atmosphere.

Taberna Santona, C/Pena Herbosa 18, was a new find on our most recent visit, very local feel, friendly service and at lunch time a free tapas of mussels.

Casa Ajero, C/Daoiz y Velarde 18, was a great find, it is a think a re-vamp of an old bar and the decor is great. Excellent tapas on display, a free tapas at lunchtime and a menu del dia. This is a must for future visits.

La Malinche, C/Herman Cortes 41, first visit and impressed with the food on offer as the set lunch menu, most tables are up stairs but we got one on the ground floor and the service and value for money was excellent.

La Mar, C/Pena Herbosa 11, another visit and definitely the place for seafood especially oysters, a must for a return visit.

A Banda, C/Pena Herbosa 15, looking for lunch on our most recent visit we liked the look of this small place offering mainly rice dishes. The menu was excellent, fabulous salad, a plate of large prawns, then a traditional Valencia style paella to share, deserts & a bottle of wine & water for €39. There are other dishes on offer & the service is very friendly.

La Pirula, C/Pena Herbosa 21, was somewhere we had visited a long time ago and on a return visit this time thoroughly enjoyed the lunchtime menu del dia. Good choice, good cooking and excellent value, very popular with locals and a must for lunch next time.

El Diluvio, C/Ataulfo Argenta Músico, 14, had been an old haunt but due to the manner of the owner we had stopped visiting, gave it a chance again this time and were impressed with the tapas choice and the improved service.

Lanchoa, C/Gomez Orena 13, is yet another new bar. The name says it all, the speciality is anchovies. It is a stylish modern bar and if you enjoy the delicacy it is the place for you.

La Conveniente, C/Gomez Orena, going uphill behind the Plaza Canadio is an old bodega with the modern addition of a honky-tonk piano player up among the barrels. Only tried it for a drink and the atmosphere, it was packed with people eating but the food gets mixed reviews.

Bodegas del Riojano, C/Rio de la Pila 5, is one of the most lovely old bodegas I have seen in Spain. All the barrels that run along the walls of the bar and restaurant are all individually painted and the place is beautifully lit. It is well worth finding particularly when there are two other excellent bars in the same street. The restaurant gets excellent reports.

Casa Goria, C/Rio de la Pila 12, is an excellent place with great pinxtos, try the solomillo freshly cooked.  The bar shares the lane outside with Restaurant Cantabria which also does good pinxtos. In particular the morcilla with potatoes and an egg on top is great. It is worth visiting both as they are very different styles of bar although the pinxtos are similar.

Quebec, various locations, is a small chain of bars which offer a good avriety of eating and drinking, whether for breakfast or a lunchtime or evening tapas.

Barrio Pesqueno

This is the fishing port area and you can get a bus 4 from outside the Post Office, it is nothing to look at but it has a strip of excellent fish & seafood restaurants. We visited one which was good some time ago but it seems to have changed. The area is definitely worth a visit purely for the eating possibilities.

Drink

Expect the normal excellent choice of Spanish wines in bars and restaurants, you are not in a wine producing area but you should be able to try lots of wines from the Basque area to the east and Castilla y Leon to the south.

The new Centre Botin on the waterfront was designed by the architect Renzo Piano.There is an entry fee into the building and the galleries which have a permanent collection and special exhibitions but it is free to go up to the roof and explore the walkways on the outside of the buildings.

Mercado de la Esperanza, Plaza de la Esperanza is worth a visit, the fish and seafood display on the lower ground floor is one of the best I have seen in any market.

If you have seen the city and tired of the beaches you can take one of the small ferries either to Pedrena, birthplace of Seve Ballesteros or to the beaches on the spit of land in the bay. There are lots of places that can easily be visited from Santander like Santillana del Mar and Comillas.