Cave of El Castillo — Attraction in Puente Viesgo

Unreal feeling of experiencing the meticulously preserved world of our early ancestors and distant relatives (neanderthals) and finding traces of their continual artistic expression and creativity from at least 40,000 to 13,000 years ago. The paintings may not be as spectacular as in Altamira, but the feeling you get from seeing an authentic bison sketch or a hand print that a paleolitic human created thousands of years ago cannot be compared with experiencing replicas of Altamira or Lascaux that are open for the public. The cave itself is very large and spectacularly beautiful inside, with stalactites creating beautiful patterns and shapes. The area surrounding the cave is also very scenic. The tours are guided in very small groups and by reservation only (can be done on their web site) and by default in Spanish only. However, the guide was so incredibly kind and knowledgeable and spoke so clearly that my basic Spanish was enough to understand most of the explanations. He claimed he didn't speak English and then answered all my questions and provided translations of the most important information during the tour in perfect English. When Spaniards tell you they don't speak English, they mean they dont speak it as well as their native language ;) It is incredible how much insight about the past scientists can glean from the paintings thanks to the modern technology, but it is even more mind boggling how much we dont know - the guide pointed out many curious tidbits that leave you wondering about the meaning and the purpose that motivated the early humans to create those masterpieces. From what I understand it is possible to ask for an English language tour if you contact the office well in advance. Sadly, photo/video is not allowed inside the cave. Tip - it is quite cold inside, so bring a jacket. Also, there is no coffee shop, only vending machine that doesn't accept credit cards, coins only. A bit disappointing, but what do you expect from a...

The guided tour this morning at 10:05 was simply amazing. Our guide - Spanish speaking gentleman - did speak slowly and hence with our 4 yrs Spanish on Duolingo we understood everything. His - the guide - passion for the subject came clearly through to all 6 of us and it was an really great 1 hour there.

We loved it! Hard to imagine our ancestors lived there already 150.000 yrs ago! What an incredible piece of history.

Couple of tips: the ticket office is directly to the left after the village. It’s easily missed and for tickets you need to be there. if you have booked online, they will let you in on the top of the hill too. try to pre-book online as the experience is incredible and it gets sold out quickly in popular times. The whole reservation page is in Spanish - again with our 4 yrs on Duolingo - manageable. It took us about 30 min to get the reservation. get coffee or sandwiches before or afterwards in the cafeteria El Parque in the village. They are both super delicious and it’s very relaxed / part if the grand hotel Puente Viesgo....

We took the 9am bus from Santander and got off in Puento Viesgo (Alsa). We arrived about 9.45/10am and it’s a short walk to the visitors centre. We hadn’t booked in advance so were lucky as in October it was less busy although there are lots of school groups. We were able to book visits to both caves. The gentleman on reception was really helpful and spoke excellent English. He advised on timings and the walking route (quite steep but not too far) to the caves. Each cave costs €5 euros with a guided tour. The first cave guide did a bi-lingual tour while the second translated key points. Both were really knowledgeable and very committed to their role. It was amazing! I would thoroughly recommend a visit and we left in awe of the history and felt incredibly privileged to have been able to visit. We went later to the archaeology museum in Santander - an amazing museum which really helps to piece together the history...