43.39° N · 4.29° W · Comillas
One of the few works by Antoni Gaudí outside Catalonia, in the Sobrellano gardens at Comillas. It can be visited inside and out, self-guided with an audio guide or with a guide, every day of the year except Christmas and Epiphany.
Part of ComillasCantabrian Coast
Who offers it
Independent companies: you book with them, on their terms. Prices are as they publish them and may change.
El Capricho is the summer house that Gaudí designed, very young, for Máximo Díaz de Quijano, on the Sobrellano estate, the quarter the Marquis of Comillas turned into a garden city. A brick façade with sunflower ceramics, a tower that looks like a minaret and a house designed to follow the sun through the day. It is privately owned, lives off its visitors and receives no public subsidies.
You tour the whole site: gardens, exterior and the inside of the house, up to the attics, reached by a spiral staircase. With the self-guided visit you have an audio guide in five languages; the guided one, 45 minutes long, shows light and sound effects in the house that go unnoticed if you go on your own.
| Ticket | Adult | Children 7 to 12 | Junior 13 to 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-guided visit | €7 | €3 | €5 |
| Guided visit | €10 | €6 | €8 |
Under-7s go in free, with their own ticket. There is a concessionary rate for over-65s, students, teachers, large families, the unemployed and people with disabilities, with proof. There are also flexible tickets, without a set time, at €10 for self-guided and €15 for guided. The ticket can be changed or refunded up to 24 hours beforehand.
It is open every day except 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 and 6 January. In January, February, November and December, from 10:00 to 17:30; from March to June and in September and October, from 10:00 to 20:00; in July and August, from 10:00 to 21:00. Last entry, half an hour before closing. Guided visits leave on the hour, more often in summer.
The entrance is on Plazuela de Fuente Real, in Comillas. El Capricho has no car park and you cannot drive into the site: park in one of the village's public car parks and walk. In summer, arrive with time to spare.
Dogs may go in the gardens and the exterior, but not into the house, neither in arms nor in a carrier: the usual thing is to take turns. For children aged 6 to 10 there is a family visit with a workshop; otherwise, you are given a children's leaflet to tour the house playing. The cobbles at the entrance and the spiral staircase make a visit in a wheelchair difficult.
Map
What you have around the starting point.
More to do
Itineraries
Tips
Capacity is limited, especially in summer.
From the palace park you see it without going in.
There are more guided sessions in the afternoon and fewer groups.
Questions
€7 for the self-guided visit and €10 for the guided one, for adults. Children aged 7 to 12, €3 or €6; under-7s, free.
At least 30 minutes; the usual is between 45 minutes and an hour and a quarter.
No. Use Comillas's public car parks.
In the gardens, yes; inside the house, no.
There is no ticket for the exterior only. From Sobrellano park you see the north façade.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/cantabria/comillas/things-to-do/gaudis-el-capricho
