Northern Spain to see the caves

A couple of points: The town you refer to is Santillana del Mar. Not just being pedantic here. It's important to spell it correctly if you're going to do any internet searching.

You do know, don't you that you can only see a reproduction of Altamira? The caves, themselves, are closed. (I think a very few people are allowed in every year.). The caves of Tito Bustillo at Ribadesella, another coastal town not too far away, are open to visitors. If you want to visit them, check out whether you can get advance reservations. We have been weirdly unable to see them. The first time we tried, many years ago, was a Tuesday, and that was the closed day. The TI agent didn't mention that. The second time, ten years later, a Wednesday I think, was a free day; and all the tickets were gone. There is another site, Cueva del Pindal, near Colombres, to which we did secure entry. It's less well-known, but access is very limited. Tours are in Spanish only.

I think the car drop-off issue depends on your flight departure time and on how easy parking wil be where you are staying. I hate the stress of trying to find a service station, fill the fuel tank, and return a car if I have an early take-off. Of course you could take care of that the night before and just take a taxi to the airport in the morning.

Thank you for the correction and for the information. Did you enjoy driving in the area? We made several reservations on line or by phone.

... background info: sadly Altamira's director for the past 25 years, Mr. José Antonio Lasheras died a few days ago in a car crash. Fortunately he built up a very competent team and his legacy in the discovering, restoring and spreading of this magnificent prehistoric site will surely continue in the future. Anyone visiting the area, even if you're not into history and geology, should pay a visit as it's really something, an exquisitely presented magnificent setup which makes one reflect on the incredible ingenuity of our ancestors.

@judy, I can't give you much detail on that area, albeit I was involved in a consultancy project for nearly a year in the neighbouring Asturias region I used to fly in/fly out so I didn't have much chance to explore. I have been in Cantabria a couple of times only but that was many years ago so I don't remember much. Anyhow, in case you haven't already checked these sites they might be helpful:

• San Sebastian (Donosti in Basc, the local language in Euskadi -Basc Country in English)
• Euskadi -the region Donosti is located in, same than Bilbo (Bilbao) or Victoria-Gasteiz among other . Another useful site.
• Cantabria -the region Santillana del Mar is located in and which capital city is Santander.
• Asturias -the region left to Cantabria, also well worth exploring. It's capital city is Oviedo but Gijón is a must.
• Picos de Europa National Park -located between Asturias and Cantabria is one of the best wild life reserves in the South of Europe. The mountain range reaches its peak with Torre Cerredo at ~9000ft. Another (amateurish) site but with some useful info.

Asturias and Cantabria don't receive much foreign tourism in comparison to say Galicia or Euskadi, all located along the same coast line, with the exception of a few very famous towns. Most of their tourism is internal -from other parts of Spain. This is a blessing as the territory has preserved its uniqueness and it's easy to find virgin-like landscapes and other untouched sites. This means that aside visiting specific cities/towns, you should drive in the small county roads to really discover the region. The other side of the coin is that as a visitor (and a "foreign" visitor) you might find not everything is 'designed' to cater you at all times (ie. language barriers, schedules, transportation, difficulty to find info in English...). The warmth of its people makes up for this of course, yet when planning note that you need to pay extra attention so your journey goes smoothly.

We did a trip similar to this two years ago by car with some Spanish friends of ours. Our friend did the driving but generally speaking Spain has a good highway/road system. We started in Santander and then went on to Santillana del Mar. It is very medieval and picturesque and you feel like you stepped back in time. Santillana del Mar is quite small, really just a few streets. I think spending several nights there is too much. Maybe one night. We also went on to visit Cueva del Soplao, the Sanctuary at Covadonga, and Cangas de Onis. All three sites are worth a visit and if you have the time I recommend them. At Cueva del Soplao there is a train that takes you down into the cave and from there you are on foot led by a guide. The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Covadonga was truly impressive and very picturesque. The scenery in that whole region is quite pretty. There are lots of outdoors activities in this area too. We stayed overnight in the town of Cangas de Onis. We stayed at a hotel right in town by the river but I think there is a parador nearby that you could look into. Visit the Puente Romano. I am not a big buyer of souvenirs but in that town there are some beautiful inlaid wooden boxes and wooden handicrafts. From there we headed over to Salamanca so I cannot offer any advice on Burgos or Bilbao. Do a search for images from these places or check them out on tripadvisor and see if they appeal to you. Enjoy your trip.

We recently did a train and coach trip in this area and several of the small towns and villages are fascinating.
I would especially recommend Comillas which is a picturesque village/small town which has attractive streets and squares and a particularly interesting house by Antoni Gaudi called El Capricho. I am sure you will have allowed yourself plenty of time for Burgos and Bilbao which are both full of history, art and culture although they are very contrasting cities. Another fine city although not on your direct route is Vittoria-Gasteiz.

I did enjoy driving in the area and would keep the car all the way to Bilbao, preferably seeing the Guggenheim museum and sleeping there before your flight. (I did an early-morning drive from San Sebastian to Bilbao airport and agree that it was somewhat stressful timing.)

I second the suggestion to visit Comillas if you are at all interested in architecture. In addition to El Capricho, there are works by other Modernistas: Palacios de Sobrellano and Universidad Pontifica by Joan Martorell and the Monument to Antonio Lopez by Domenech i Montaner.