The Santoña Marshes Nature Reserve, 2875 hectares large, is one of the most beautiful and singular places of ecological interest in all of Europe. It is host to five different ecosystems: the marshes, the Cantabrian holm oak grove, the coastal cliffs, the dunes and the beaches.
Surrounding and leisure
The surrounding area of the posada
Ornithology
The charming nature of these marshes is much more striking when considering the huge amount of aquatic birds that use this place for breeding, resting and feeding. Many of the species that migrate from Europe to Africa or the Peninsula, stop over for some days to get their strength back. During the summer and autumn it is possible to catch sight of large groups of mud-living, wading birds, resting at the wetlands, although the highest concentration occurs in winter. There have been counted up to twenty thousand individuals belonging to a hundred different species, including some protected and endangered such as the Eurasian spoonbill, the whimbrel or the grey heron.
Recommended activities
Given its location, 50 m. inland from the marshes, you can make a lot of activities at the Posada such as crossing the area either on foot, canoe or mountain bike. This is the perfect place if you are a beach goer and love surfing, bodyboarding or windsurfing. Here you have the beach at your fingertips, the swell of Berria’s open sea but also the calm water of Santoña Bay.
Other activities
Apart from the sports, Santoña, and Cantabria in general, offer a wide range of activities you can enjoy and places you can visit during your stay.
On the information portal Cantabria Infinita you can find a complete guide on what to do and what to visit in our Autonomous Region.
El Soplao Caves, Cabárceno Nature Park, Picos de Europa National Park, Altamira Cave Museum, and some of the other Cantabria Museums (even going to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao) are the most remarkable recommendations we can sugggest.
Santoña beaches and those in the nearest villages, such as Laredo, Noja or Isla, are mandatory stops in Summer. In the same way, you can’t leave Cantabria without paying a visit to some of the most beautiful towns of the region first: Santillana del Mar, Comillas (and its famous Capricho by Gaudí), Bárcena Mayor and San Vicente de la Barquera.
Keep up with the weather on your trip by checking the Cantabrian meteorological website and choose the route that suits you the best: adventure, walk or in the middle of nature. And don’t forget to go through the regional holidays calendar, your stay may coincide with some of the Festivities of National Interest to Tourists like Santoña Carnival, La Folia in San Vicente de la Barquera or The Cantabrian Wars in Los Corrales de Buelna.
We hope these links will help you to make the most of your stay. Anyway you can make use of our little library about Cantabria for further details and we will remain at your disposal to clarify your doubts.
Book your room
For room availability and reservations, please call us at the telephone number