I Was Blown Away by Santander, Join Me For a Walk Around This Fantastic City...

I arrived into Santander after a long ferry journey from Ireland. I thought I'd dump my bag and head off somewhere different, but I'm so glad I couldn't find a suitable train and just had a chilled wander around the city and its coastline. WHAT A PLACE! Hope You enjoy the bonus video, it's nice to be able to show a little of destinations and not just the journey there :)

Filmed Sunday 3rd December 2023
Thumbnail designed using Canva
This video is not sponsored and all opinions are my own

I don’t pretend to be a travel expert, but I love what I do and would be honoured if you came along with me. My channel focusses on the wide-eyed wonder and excitement of finding somewhere new, and my genuine reaction to it. You may not get a history lesson in my videos, but who knows, you might pick up some useful travel tips along the way, add a few destinations to your bucket list and hopefully be entertained by what you see. Thanks for watching, it means a lot to me :)

I do ALL of this myself. Planning, filming, editing, promoting, all with a weekly upload schedule, so please understand not every video will be an epic adventure. But my pledge is to always do my best in any situation and KEEP THE CAMERA ROLLING :)

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FAQs:
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I was born in Glasgow but have lived in Carnoustie, Dalgety Bay, Stonehaven, Edinburgh, Montrose, and further afield (Salamanca, Spain & Devonport, New Zealand)
WHEN DO YOU UPLOAD?
Saturdays at 10am Scottish time. Occasionally a bonus midweek video will pop up (in which case, likely to be Tuesday at 5pm)
WHY IS THERE A DELAY BETWEEN TRIP AND VIDEO APPEARING?
This is a result of doing all this myself I’m afraid. Editing takes time and I also like to schedule videos a bit in advance in case of any problems/illness/cancellations etc. Keeping my uploads appearing every Saturday morning is important to me, so I don’t want anything to get in the way of it. Also, I occasionally need some time off to recover from trips!
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE?
WHY DON'T YOU SPEND LONGER AT DESTINATIONS?
The usual suspects I'm afraid - time and money! Hotels especially these days make my eyes water like a true Scotsman. Also my weekly upload schedule means I need to keep on the move.
WHERE'S ALICJA?
Alicja will feature whenever possible, but she has her own life and a proper job so it can take a while for our schedules to match up. Trust me though, I prefer it when She is there too!
DO YOU PAY FOR YOUR OWN TRAVEL?
Yes I do. I've only ever accepted a complementary ticket as compensation for a previous problem. All my opinions are frank and honest reflections of travel as I experience it.
WHY THE ADS?
It's my income, I can't do this for free. Notice I don’t have mid-roll ads though!
CAN I CONTACT YOU?
I used to list my email address but felt bad not having the capacity to respond to everything so took it down (and I got a LOT of spam so missed many genuine messages along the way).
HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE CHANNEL?
Watching my videos is of course support enough, but if you'd like to support further, I'll pop links in here for Paypal and Patreon. All kind donations are super-appreciated and will go 100% towards future filming trips.
DO YOU ACCEPT SPONSORSHIPS?
I don't like to upset the flow of my videos, so I don't even include mid-roll ads anymore (at significant loss of income to myself), so I prefer not to include sponsorships either. I'm open to a small slide at the start/end of each video, but I don't want to get into talking about products, it's something I don't like as a viewer myself (especially as a viewer who pays for YouTube Premium). So it's probably a polite no, although all of this goes out the window if you offer me something which can give me the chance to make a video for my audience that would otherwise be impossible.

#SteveMarsh #Spain #Santander

[steve-marsh]

I'm going to try to start posting on instagram. Who knows how long it'll last, but I'll do my best :) If you're looking for it, it'll be the stevemarsh_youtube account. I won't ask for a follow because I don't deserve it yet :D

[keithkeane]

This is probably the most boring travel video I have ever watched and I loved every second of it. In fact i might just watch it again in a few minutes. The architecture, streets, views, people wandering about on a Sunday morning and the peace of the place. More vids like this please.

[str]

I’m from Santander and I can say, not only thank you for showing it, and hope you feel welcome there, but also I guarantee nothing will happen to you there. It is a very safe community. Please, come again in the spring/summer time, and you will love it too! ❤

[yeiko]

As a humble inhabitant of Santander, and a satisfied subscriber of your amazing channel, i need to say that i have enjoyed every single second of the video, Steve. You have made me travel around my city with your eyes and your "scottish" english, (which i enjoy even and i loved it!!! Keep up your amazing work in the channel, you make a lot of people happy with your videos. Peace!!!!

P.S.
1) The "Government Offices" are in fact a Theatre, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, (kind of Santander´s Opera House) 😉🤣🤣
2) The "turntable" is a platform to ease the turn around of delivery trucks and vans
3) Most amazing coincidence, minute 26:03 of the video you pass by my working place, LF Cantabria. Real State Company in Santander
😊

[gordon]

What a lovely place! No shops open on a Sunday. Heaven, wish the UK was like this. It used to be 👍👍👍

[Gribbo]

The Spanish tourist board should be looking for you Steve. With your simple walk around town you have done more to sell this beautiful corner of Spain than any number of " Come to Sunny Spain" adverts. A pleasure to watch (as usual!). Thanks Steve

[Gribbo]

I love your everyman (and woman) style of adventure. Easy to watch and you know many people could do the trip with minimal planning, superfit or not at all, and a couple hundred Euros in pocket. Your videos capture the essence of simple adventure and are just so great for those of us who, through infirmity or lack of pennies, aren't able to do these little trips any more, except vicariously through you. Much pleasure. Thank you so much, Steve!

[lindajames]

I think Spanish people are by and large, very proud of their country and being Spanish. They keep their culture and food alive and I always feel safe.

[javiersandoval]

Steve, I'm glad you like Santander. It is a fantastic city that I know very well. In my opinion, the north of Spain is the best in the country. Beautiful beaches, incredible hiking routes through the mountains of Los Picos De Europa, I repeat, the best of Spain. I don't understand how many people go to Benidorm and don't know this part of the country. For future trips I recommend exploring Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and the Basque Country. You will not regret.

[cherylphilipsz]

You've inspired me to visit Santander! I loved the architecture and atmosphere, as well as the beautiful seascapes.

[presspound]

No doubt that the city of Santander is one of the best kept secrets in all of Europe. I didn’t even know that this place existed.
It’s all there… refined architecture, well manicured public spaces, above average municipal/port infrastructure, oceanfront footprint, multilevel terrain …. so yeah. Because of the ocean …it never gets too warm or too cold.
If summers were a bit balmier, we all would have heard of this city a long time ago. Thanks for the tour ! Much appreciated 👍

[alterntive]

11:40 Central Cantabrian Mountain range, ~ 2, 000 m elevation

24:40 a plataforma giratoria - a turntable for buses/coaches/larger delivery vehicles so they don't have to reverse along the pedestrianised area

[LuisGonzalez-gbuh]

Probably my favourite city in Spain. It has it all, and everything very close. Every time i visited I spent my days walking along the sea. The Magdalena, the beautiful green area at the tip of the peninsula, is a gem. That beautiful mansion you called a castle, was the summer retreat of the kings.

[umbugnet]

Living in Plymouth, I'm lucky enough to have access to Brittany Ferries' Pont Aven (their flagship ferry) that sails twice weekly to Santander during much of the year. So I know Santander very well as I've visited many times. I was last there exactly a week before you (I was there last week of November 2023) and also stayed at Hotel Bahia. A fantastic hotel (have stayed there twice so far) and excellent value for money. Santander is a beautiful city with spectacular beaches and a vibrant night life. It's also an extremely safe, peaceful city. You walked past the bus station earlier on. Every hour, a bus leaves for Bilbao, famed for its Guggenheim.

You saw one of actually two rail stations. They are next to each other. One is a narrow-gauge service for urban commuter services. The rail replacement buses you saw were because the line just outside of Santander, in the direction of Madrid is closed for engineering work. I was en route to Portugal when I travelled so had to use this for part of my journey to Madrid. That was before heading on to Badajoz on the Spanish - Portugese border.

Anyhow, thanks for another great video.

[johnellis]

Awesome city - clean, well-laid out, and scenic. Yeah, I could live there! Thanks for the video!

[adroxyjake]

I lived in southern Spain for many years and drove to Santander to get the ferry back to the UK on many occasions. I'm feeling really bad that I didn't spend the time to explore this beautiful city. Wonderful architecture, clean and safe. It reminds me of how the UK used to be on a Sunday in the 70's when I was a young boy. Great video Steve.

[jpmtlhead]

Ive been in Santander several times ( i have family there), and honestly all that Region of Cantabria with the famous Picos de Europa, is one of the most Beautiful regions in all of Europe.
The Landscape, the "Atmosphere", the local Architecture and so much more is just Astonishingly Beautiful.
A Must for the ones who dont know.
You wont regret it.

[elaineshepherd]

I love how everything is closed on a sunday and people are out just enjoying the sunshine. Not like home where everyone seems to be shopping. Looks a fab place to explore.

[angelhernandeznunez]

Me resulta curioso cómo los ingleses y otros extranjeros descubren el norte de España. Nuestro país, sin lugar a dudas el más variado de Europa por paisaje, gastronomía, arte, pueblos y costumbres y fiestas, es incluso para mí todo un descubrimiento considerando que ya he visitado todas las provincias de la España peninsular. Y aunque vivo en el sur del país, he comprado un pisito en el norte: una naturaleza impresionante, ciudades y villas maravillosas, calidad de vida superior...y todo con zonas para visitar y descubrir. Saludos.

[andrewgreene]

.. leaving content for a moment. steve marsh is a brilliant, enthusiastic, down to earth guide