Cantabrian landscape is so spectacular because the beaches and the mountains are very close to each other. Therefore, we could have chosen a route in any of the valleys and coastal areas of Cantabria, but we decided to make it at the valley of Nansa because of its beautiful landscape, very unknown and little influenced by men, and its proximity to Valdáliga, one of the most beautiful coastal areas of Cantabria.

The route begins in Santander, taking the A-68 highway to Oviedo. The following exit to that of San Vicente de la Barquera is the valley of Nansa and the cave of El Soplao, our first destination, at which we will arrive by a very well signalized road.

The cave of El Soplao is worth visiting not only for the beauty of all geological formations that it contains, but also because of the spectacular area where it is located, which has a superb view of Picos de Europa and the Cantabrian Mountains.

After visiting the cave, we descend back to the main road and we go to Puentenansa, where we take the road that leads us up to Cosío and Tudanca, our next destination.

Tudanca is a beautiful town declared a National Historic Landmark, and it is full of "Casonas Montañesas", typical Cantabrian houses. The best way to visit this village is leaving the car in the parking lot at the entrance of the town and walk up its steep hills discovering the beauty of this town. Don't forget to visit "La Casona de Tudanca", an extraordinary house of the XIX century that hosts an ethnographic museum and an excellent library.

After finishing our pleasant visit to Tudanca, we continue up the road to enjoy the views from the waterfalls of the Nansa river and the Cohilla dam, in the valley of Polaciones, and we stop to have lunch in any of the restaurants in the town of La Laguna, where they offer excellent home cooking at very reasonable prices.

After giving ourselves a great treat of excellent food, we will go back to Puentenansa where we take the road to Pesues, which was where we leave the highway in the morning.

We take the A-68 highway to Santander and we leave the road in the next exit, which take us to San Vicente de la Barquera. After visiting this beautiful fishermen town, we leave the town taking the N-634 road to Santander and crossing the Maza bridge. Just after crossing the bridge take the road on the left towards the beaches. Our fist stop will be the beach of El Tostadero to enjoy the view of San Vicente de la Barquera and Picos de Europa in the background, and then continue on this road and after climbing a steep slope you will have an spectacular view of Meron, one of my favorite beaches of Cantabria.

If we continue the road to Comillas, we passed through the natural park of Oyambre and its beach before arriving at this beautiful town. Those that are very tired can go to Santander taking the A-68 highway, and those that want something more can go to Santillana del Mar and finish the day there.