Experience the best of Cantabria

Cantabria is a narrow strip of northern Spain squeezed between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains, with the Picos de Europa rising in the south-west. Its capital, Santander, has a sweep of beaches and the Magdalena Palace on a peninsula, and the coast to either side is cut with estuaries, cliffs and fishing ports such as Laredo, Santoña and Castro Urdiales.

The Cave of Altamira, with Palaeolithic paintings of bison, is a World Heritage site, and a replica is displayed at the nearby museum. The medieval village of Santillana del Mar, with its stone houses, and the town of Comillas, home of a villa by Gaudí, are close. In the mountains, a cable car rises at Fuente Dé to the high Picos, the Liébana valley is known for its monastery, and the Cabárceno park shelters wildlife in a former mine.

Cocido montañés, a stew of beans, cabbage and pork, warms the winters, anchovies from Santoña are prized, and sobaos pasiegos are sponge cakes from the Pas valleys; rabas, fried squid rings, are eaten in the ports. Orujo de Liébana, a grape spirit, and cheeses such as picón Bejes-Tresviso come from the highlands. The climate is mild and green, with rain throughout the year.