Most of the touristy books about what to see and do in Spain don’t have much to say about Cantabria (the province where we live). It’s a little off the beaten path and isn’t home to the biggest cities, the most exciting attractions, or the most “interesting” points of interest. It is a beautiful province, so it’s a shame that it gets a bit flubbed by Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, etc. But, this means there are fewer tourists to navigate around, which is nice.

When these books do mention Cantabria, one of the places they almost always mention is a town called Santillana de Mar. Santillana del Mar is an old Medieval village that is mostly intact with its original walls and streets. It’s very charming and is very much along the lines of what one might picture as a Medieval Spanish village.

A highlight of the town is its central church, which was built in the twelfth century, most of which is still intact.

Back on September 2 we took a short drive to visit Santillana del Mar. Perhaps due to its presence in the touristy books, we were met with a larger-than-expected crowd for a semi-rainy day. Our time in the town was great, so I shouldn’t really complain about any of it; I was just a little surprised at the crowd size.

I will share some nice photos, below (I was able to strategically take these photos sans other tourists):