Spanish Language Trips to Cantabria
This coastal region in the north of Spain is a mixture of scenic coastal resorts, stunning mountain landscapes and prehistoric caves and makes an inspirational destination for a Spanish language tour. Relatively undeveloped and authentically Spanish it is a great place to immerse your students in the language and culture through a combination of lessons, workshops and educational visits.
Explore the perfectly preserved medieval village of Santillana del Mar and visit the Altamira Caves with their prehistoric cave paintings. The lively bayside capital of Santander is known for its seafood tapas and long curving Sardinero beach and maritime history. For natural wonders, head into the mountains for spectacular scenery or ride the mining train through the El Soplao Caves to see some of the best rock formations of their type in the world.
Prices start from£549pp
Popular itinerary
Our sample itinerary provides you with an idea of the visits you can cover during your trip. We can tailor-make an itinerary to support your specific learning outcomes.
| Morning | Afternoon | Evening | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check in to UK airport for flight | Arrive and transfer to your accommodation | Evening Meal |
| 2 | Full day excursion to Santander with a visit to El Capricho de Gaudi | Tapas Meal in a local restaurant | |
| 3 | Full day excursion to San Vincente and the Picos de Europa, including cable car ride | Evening meal | |
| 4 | Visit to El Soplao Caves | Transfer to the airport for return flight | Arrive UK, onward travel to school |
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
| Morning | Check in to UK airport for flight |
|---|---|
| Afternoon | Arrive and transfer to your accommodation |
| Evening | Evening Meal |
| Morning | Full day excursion to Santander with a visit to El Capricho de Gaudi |
|---|---|
| Afternoon | |
| Evening | Tapas Meal in a local restaurant |
| Morning | Full day excursion to San Vincente and the Picos de Europa, including cable car ride |
|---|---|
| Afternoon | |
| Evening | Evening meal |
| Morning | Visit to El Soplao Caves |
|---|---|
| Afternoon | Transfer to the airport for return flight |
| Evening | Arrive UK, onward travel to school |
Price Shown includes
- Return Air Travel
- 3 nights Half Board Accommodation
- Specialist Group Travel Insurance
- Bespoke itinerary planning service
- Free Place Ratios
- Live Trip Tracking
- Online trip organiser & Travel App
- 24/7 support whilst you are away
Places to Stay
Reasons to Visit
Language Lessons
There are excellent opportunities to improve your students’ language skills during your trip to Cantabria. We can include Spanish lessons with native speakers to your requirements.
Flamenco School Demonstration & Lesson
Take part in a two-hour session, with time for Flamenco and Latin tuition as well as a demonstration at the Centro de Danza Belin Cabrillo.
El Soplao Caves - Guided Tour in Spanish
The cave has a train to bring visitors to its heart, and a series of walkways through the formations. The informative introductory talk, the lighting, the colours, the acoustic and musical effects and the atmosphere make this 1-hour visit a memorable experience.
Altamira Caves
The cave of Altamira was the first place in the world where the existence of rock art from the Upper Palaeolithic age was identified. A visit to the cave allows visitors to discover the living environment of its settlers and the beauty of their cave art from between 22,000 and 13,000 years ago.
Fuente Dé Cable Car
From the Fuente Dé cable car you can admire one of the most outstanding views of the Picos de Europa range. In wonderful natural surroundings, the cable car rises almost vertically from 1094 to 1847m, an ascent of 750m along an impressive cliff. At the top your students will be amazed by the breathtaking views.
El Capricho de Gaudi
This superbly colourful, intricately detailed turreted house, is one of Antoni Gaudί’s very earliest works (1883-1885). It’s also one of the few pieces he designed outside Catalonia. Styled in strips of bright sunflowers and leaves, it is the exterior that really dazzles: various raised viewpoints dotted around the gardens give different vantage points to view its beauty.
Santander
The beautiful seaside city of Santander has a lot to offer. Excellent beaches, a lively city center, interesting museums, beautiful gardens and nature preserves. Take a cruise around the bay of Santander to get a different view of the city.
Guggenheim Bilbao
A short journey from Cantabria, the Guggenheim Bilbao is worth a visit. The website includes a number of resources designed to guide your students through the exhibition, prepare students before they visit the exhibition and encourage students to take a more in-depth look at the works on display.
Cabarceno Nature Park
The largest animal park in Europe is home to over 100 animal
species from five continents. This park is unlike any other zoo or
wildlife park. With lots of space for the animals to roam freely it
gives a real insight into how they live in the wild. Attractions
include falconry displays as well as workshops, all of which can be
conducted in Spanish, on a wide variety of topics.
Tapas Tasting Experience
Instead of a meal in your hotel head out to a restaurant. An
evening tasting Tapas offered your students the opportunity to
enjoy true Spanish cuisine in an authentic environment.
Santillana del Mar
Students will enjoy spending time exploring this attractive
medieval town, known for its medieval towers, winding cobbled
streets, tourist shops and an abundance of historic buildings.
San Vincente
San Vicente de la Barquera, is a picturesque fishing port on
Cantabria's coast with wonderful beaches, a pretty Old Town and an astounding backdrop of the Picos de Europa mountains. Visit the beautiful monuments in the Old Town such as the Church of Santa MarÍa de los Angeles, the Castillo del Rey and the 32-arch stone Maza Bridge that stretches across the river Ria.
Cantabria Maze
Can you reach the centre of Spain’s largest maze?! This 5000 square meter maze is located about 5km from Santillana and is a great activity to challenge your group and a great team building and bonding excercise.
We Make Trip Planning Easy
- Day to day support and advice from our team of travel experts
- Easy-to-view online tour quotation
- Market-leading trip organiser portal, My Tour Manager
- Free Resources and templates to help launch your trip
- Email reminders to keep you on track
- Free and completely personalised Travel App to access your information on the go
- Locate My Trip designed to provide reassurance to parents and teachers
- Risk Assessment advice so you can make an informed decision on every tour component
- Teacher Inspection Visits
What You Say
I was 100% pleased with the tour and service we received with European Study Tours. The itinerary was perfect. Included such a great range of activities that were all very interesting and exciting. The trip was exactly what I wanted and more. Rugby Free Secondary School
