Cantabria from Bilbao: Santillana del Mar and Comillas as a Day Trip, by Tour or Car?
Updated October 22, 2026 · 5 min read
The answer first. It can be done in a day, but it is a long one, and public transport makes it harder than it looks. Santillana del Mar is about 123 kilometres from Bilbao and Comillas about 145, so a day trip means roughly three hours of driving. We found only one tour that runs it from Bilbao: the Comillas, Santillana del Mar and Santander tour, nine hours at €120, rated 4.7 from 45 reviews.
What you would see
Santillana del Mar is a medieval village of stone houses and cobbled streets. Nearby, the Altamira Museum has a replica of the famous cave, the Neocueva, which opened in 2001. The original cave is not open to ordinary visitors.
Comillas is known for El Capricho, a villa Antoni Gaudí designed in the early 1880s for Máximo Díaz de Quijano. It opened as a museum in 2010. Its facade is the reason many people make the trip, with bands of tile and a round tower. Opening hours vary by season, with the longest hours in summer, so check before you set off.
Santander is the regional capital, and the tour includes it.
The tour in detail
The listing says you visit Gaudí’s Capricho, explore medieval streets and have free time. It does not say whether Capricho admission is included, how long you spend in each place, or what the group size is, so ask on the booking page. Nine hours with roughly three of them on the road means a few hours on the ground for three stops.
Going by public transport or car
Public transport is the weaker option. ALSA buses run from Bilbao Intermodal, but we could not confirm a timetable that makes a same-day return comfortable, so check the current times before you rely on it. By car, Santillana del Mar is about an hour and a half away, and the two places are close to each other, which is why a rental car from Bilbao is the realistic way to do this independently. Check the pick-up and drop-off rules before you book.
If you only want the Gaudí building, there is a separate ticket for El Capricho, from €7 and rated 4.7 from 323 reviews. It is a ticket in Comillas, with no transport from Bilbao.
Our recommendation
Book the tour if you do not drive and want all three places in one go, accepting that the time on the ground is short and €120 is well above the €35 to €70 of the Basque coast tours. Rent a car if you want to spend longer in Santillana and Comillas. If a nine-hour day sounds too much, the closer coast is easier: see Gernika, Bermeo and Mundaka, or wine in Rioja. All options are listed under day trips from Bilbao.
