43.39° N · 4.29° W
Gaudí's El Capricho, the Sobrellano palace and the Seminario above the town, with a beach in the village and Oyambre next door. 45 minutes from Santander.
Part of Cantabrian Coast
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Visit · 45 min to 1 hr 15 · Summer house designed by Gaudí · From €7 self-guided and €10 with a guide · Open every day
Guided visit · 45 min · Neo-Gothic palace of the Marquis of Comillas · €7 adult and €5 child · Closed on Mondays
Guided visit · 45 min · The Modernista building on the Comillas hill · €7 · Grounds open daily · Parking €2
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
All year for El Capricho, which opens daily except Christmas and Epiphany. From June to September add a beach with lifeguards; in winter, Sobrellano opens until three and the beach hotels close.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Comillas is small and explored on foot, but to get there, for Oyambre and for Santillana you need the car. El Capricho has no car park: leave the car in one of the public ones and walk.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Comillas is good with children because everything is close: El Capricho, Sobrellano and the beach can be done on foot in a day.
For teenagers, the guided visit to El Capricho has light and sound effects that surprise, and the rest of the day can be at the beach.
With small children, Comillas is a day of a storybook house in the morning and the beach in the afternoon.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Family hotel on the front line of Comillas beach, with all rooms facing the sea and direct access to the sand. Open from Easter to October.
Why we like it: Simple family hotel below the former Pontifical University, surrounded by trees, ten minutes' walk from the centre, with family rooms and free parking.
Why we like it: Seaside campsite on the Comillas beach promenade, among vines and garden. Open from the last week of May to early October.
Services for this trip
Areas, for any way of travelling
| Area | Who it's for | Average night |
|---|---|---|
| Centre and Sobrellano | Monuments on foot | |
| Beach promenade | Hotel and campsite beside the sand | |
| Ruiloba and Oyambre | Special-occasion restaurant and a big beach |
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: something from the nibbling section to share, the roast scallop or the off-menu fish of the day, and the Ruiloba lemon tart
What to order: a board of Iberian meats or cheeses to start and a spoon-dish stew
What to order: fish of the day with a view of the beach; the terrace, for a long coffee
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
43.38° N · 4.40° W
By car
43.39° N · 4.11° W
By carCar-free
43.46° N · 3.93° W
By car
43.36° N · 3.84° W
By car
Tips
Capacity is limited, especially in summer and on bank-holiday weekends.
With online tickets, leave 90–120 minutes between one visit and the other.
Everything in the village is done on foot.
The tourist office publishes the monuments' hours every month.
Going to see Sobrellano on a Monday: it is closed. El Capricho does open.
Comillas is a seafaring town whose face was changed by a single man. Antonio López, born here, made his fortune in America, received the title of Marquis of Comillas from Alfonso XII and brought the king to spend the summers of 1881 and 1882. By then he was already turning the Sobrellano district into a garden city of palaces, chapels and summer houses for his family and partners, with Catalan architects and, among them, a young Gaudí. Today it can be visited in a day: El Capricho, the Sobrellano palace and the Seminario Mayor, with the village beach for the afternoon.
Take the A-8 towards Oviedo and turn off towards the coast at Cabezón de la Sal or Santillana; allow about 45 minutes and about 50 km. From Santillana del Mar it is twenty minutes on the coast road, which passes through Cóbreces and Ruiloba. From Oviedo, on the A-8, a little under two hours. This guide assumes you have a car: Oyambre and El Remedio lie outside the town centre.
El Capricho has no car park and you cannot drive into the grounds. Comillas has several public car parks: El Capricho itself advises leaving the car a little way off and walking, rather than driving around a small village. The Seminario has its own car park for €2, €1 less if you take the tour. The beach has parking next to the promenade.
A day is enough for El Capricho, Sobrellano and the Seminario in the morning, lunch and then the beach or a walk around the harbour in the afternoon. El Capricho takes between 45 minutes and an hour and a quarter; the palace and the Seminario, 45 minutes each, always with a guide. If you buy tickets online for the two Cultura de Cantabria buildings, leave an hour and a half between the start of one and the other. With a night, you can add Oyambre and a dinner in Ruiloba.
El Capricho is open every day of the year except 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 and 6 January. In winter it closes at 17:30 and in July and August at 21:00. The Sobrellano palace and the Seminario have morning hours in winter, and the palace is closed on Mondays. From June to September, the village beach has lifeguards; the Hotel Joseín and the campsite open only in season. April, May, June and September offer the best balance between long days and few people.
Gaudí's El Capricho is visited independently with an audio guide, €7, or with a guide, €10; under-7s do not pay. Next to it, the Sobrellano palace, the marquis's neo-Gothic palace, only with a guided tour, €7. On the hill opposite, the Seminario Mayor, the former Pontifical University, with its grounds open daily. Below, the Comillas beach and the fishing harbour; to the west, past the Rabia estuary, the Oyambre sands.
For a special meal, El Remedio, in Ruiloba, on the cliffs, is open on Sunday lunchtimes. In the centre, Gurea serves home cooking from all over Spain with gluten-free options. In season, the dining room of the Hotel Joseín overlooks the beach.
Questions
€7 for the independent visit and €10 for the guided one, for adults. Under-7s, free.
No. Use the public car parks in Comillas.
In the gardens of El Capricho, yes, but not inside the house. The Hotel Joseín accepts pets for €10 a night.
About 45 minutes by car.
Mondays.
Yes. El Capricho has a family tour with a workshop for children aged 6 to 10, and the beach is a step away.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/cantabria/comillas
