| Transports
Bus
There are thirty regular
bus lines connecting Santander with different parts of the area. Information
on routes and timetables is available at the Central Bus Station, at the
Plaza de las Estaciones, Telephone: 942.21.19.95.
There are four regular international
bus lines to London, Andorra, Paris-Brussels and Geneva-Zurich respectively.
Train
In terms of rail traffic,
Renfe, the Spanish railway company, provides three trains daily between
Cantabria and Madrid. One of those trains continues on to Alicante. The
Santander-Málaga railway line only operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays
in the months of December and January. There is also a daily train to Valladolid
The telephone number for
Renfe is: 902.240.202
The narrow gauge railway
company FEVE, in turn, covers the lightrail needs of the capital with connections
between Santander and Liérganes and between Santander and Cabezón
de la Sal with multiple stops in-between. These trains run daily, and often
more than once an hour. There are also two trains daily from Santander
to Bilbao and two to Oviedo. Each of these cities offers two trains daily
to Santander.
FEVE also serves the TransCantabrian
regions. It has a narrow gauge, tourist train which travels along part
of the Cantabrian coast. The trip combines railway travel with sightseeing
excursions by bus to the most interesting places in the area. It runs in
the summer months, from June to September, and the trip lasts a week each
way. In the winter the same train can be chartered. For further information,
the address is: General Rodrigo, 6. Madrid. Telephone: 91.453.38.29. In
Santander, the number is: 942.21.16.87
Car
Cantabria enjoys a good
network of country roads. These allow one to reach even the most remote
spots in the area. The region is an ideal place for day trips, because
the interesting sights are located near one another.
The Cantabrian Region forms
part of what is called the "Cantabrian axis." This is a series of motorways
running parallel to the coast which will connect Cantabria to Galicia and
the Portuguese border to the west, and to Bilbao and the French border
to the east. Some spans of the axis are already open, others are still
being built. The eastern stretch will connect with other motorways in the
east and northeast of Spain and this will provide easy access to La Rioja,
Navarre, Catalonia and the Community of Valencia.
Castile can be reached through
Reinosa to Palencia, or over the Escudo pass to Burgos. Lastly, the CN-629
highway connects Cantabria with the Ebro Valley by way of the Asón
Valley. Santander is an obligatory stopping point for passengers and freight
from different places in Europe bound for Galicia and the Portuguese border.
By sea
Santander has traditionally
been the natural port of departure for products exported from the Castilian
plateau. In the fifteenth century there was already quite a lot of commercial
activity in the export of Castilian wool. Currently, there are several
shipping lines devoted to maritime trade and one passenger ferry from Santander
to Plymouth, in Great Britain, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during summer
months. Britanny Ferries, telephone 942.21.45.00.
By Plane
The Parayas Airport is 5
kilometres from Santander. Aviaco airlines has two flights daily to Madrid,
and one to Barcelona. For further information: 942.25.10.04. Aviaco's Santander
office is at Calvo Sotelo, 15. Telephone: 942.22.32.00. |
