Santillana del Mar

Santillana del Mar needs 1 day: touring its medieval cobblestone streets, with heraldic stone manor houses and the Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana, in a single day. May-September brings Cantabria's mildest weather. It's mid-to-upper priced, one of the region's more expensive villages given its tourist popularity. It's known for the saying 'the town of three lies' -it's not a saint, it's not flat (llana), and it has no sea (mar)-, and its virtually untouched medieval old town is the usual gateway for visiting the nearby Altamira Caves, with replicas of its cave paintings.