El Castillo Caves and Paleotithic Art- small groups
Recommended by 97% of travelers
Santander, Spain
- 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
When you visit the Monte Castillo caves, be sure to see them the right way: with a professional local guide, in an intimate group that’s capped at just eight people. You’ll visit two UNESCO-listed caves, El Castillo and Las Monedas, to admire the wealth of cave art, and spend time in Puente Viesgo village and the Museum of Vega de Pas, too. Note that this is a Spanish-language tour.
- Book a Pasiegos Valley and cave tour online for quick confirmation
- Relax with door-to-door transport from your Santander hotel
- Skip the tourist crowds, and explore in a group of just eight people
- Learn about local culture on a visit to the Museum of Vega de Pas
What's Included
- Driver/guide
- Transport by private vehicle
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Entrance ticket to El Castillo Cave
- Entrance ticket to Las Monedas Cave
- Food and drinks
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
We will pick you up at your hotel in Santander. If your accommodation is outside the city, please contact us to agree on a meeting place.
Itinerary
1
Cave of El Castillo
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
2
Cueva De Las Monedas
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
3
Puente Viesgo
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Most travelers can participate
- A maximum of 8 people per booking
- This tour has a minimum of 4 people for final tour confirmation
- Tour request approval depends on cave entrance tickets availability
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- The visit into the cave is only in Spanish available, your guide access with you to translate
- Tour may be operated by multi-lingual guide
- Temperature into the Caves is 12ºC all year
- This tour is NOT recommended for people with mobility problems
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 30 reviews
Bri_L, Sep 2025
Fantastic tour and well worth the trip to see the caves and art. The columns of stalagmites and stalactites made it feel like we were in a natural cathedral and the many ancient drawings simply added to the experience. Definitely wear good footwear as the floor is slick and request an English guide who will translate alongside the Spanish guide. Our guide was fantastic and answered all of our questions!
A_E, Aug 2025
Wonderfully passionate and informative guides for some spectacular snippets of prehistory. An absolute privilege to get to see these works of art in person and in situ.
Phyllis_L, Aug 2025
The driver was great.. the tour good but there were many slippery steps without railings or support. That was a surprise and should have been explained more fully in advance. The examples of prehistoric art were very few. Not sure if more exist but are not shown.. We went to caves in France some years ago on own and saw many more examples..I understand the difficulty in preservation of the sites.. if they are open to the public , pathways to viewing should be more accessible.
ROBERT_G, Jun 2025
The Castillo and Monedas caves were fantastic, even just in terms of geology. Add the mystery of the ancient human artwork and the wonder of 40,000 years of preservation, and you get the gift of an experience full of wonder. Our guide, Pepe, was genuinely kind, knowledgeable and fun.
The guides at the two caves were really excellent and engaging. Do wear solid anti-slip shoes to maneuver the stairs and floors, and keep an eye open for low ceilings.
Nanette_M, May 2025
The tour guides were so knowledgeable and helpful. And the driver was so friendly and kind.
I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone who is interested in learning about history and caves. They were incredible.
Lisa_D, Oct 2024
Great tour and our guide was very nice. Pretty amazing to see the caves and drawings. I would highly recommend to anyone who is in the area. There is a bit of walking and a few steps! But 100% worth it.
Sharon_G, Jun 2024
Our guides were fabulous, multilingual and were really knowledgeable and helpful. A trip well worth undertaking.
John_S, Jun 2024
Cave tour was well organized and informative - guide translated presentation to english for us as we toured. Wanted more time in the caves and to see more of the paintings!
Fwahwa_S, May 2024
Driver is very nice person. He translates Spanish what the cave tour guide speaks into English for us.
Adrienne_G, Apr 2024
See the actual cave and geological environment made this tour of the Paleolithic art spectacular and unique. Highly recommend.
Dora_P, Mar 2024
The caves are amazing. This is a very unique experience. A must see on a visit to Cantabria. I’d like to give a special thanks to Gabriela, not only for a great drive to the caves with very capable description of the landscape, but also for walking down to the caves to help me all the way.
Barbara_D, Apr 2023
I wanted to see the real prehistoric caves of Spain, and this tour was the real thing not just a representation. Our driver picked us up right outside our hotel. We had a pleasant conversation with Mercedes, who spoke very good English, and told us all about the caves history even before we got there. We visited two caves. They were very dark, be sure, and wear good shoes because it’s wet, damp and slippery. Our first tour guide only spoke Spanish, but with the help of one of our tour companions, he was able to translate what was being said. Our second guide “translated” with gestures and broken English, she was a professional who took pride in her job. She was phenomenal. It is hard to describe the feeling of seeing Paleolithic art on cave walls over 38,000 years old. We were in awe and thrilled! I am sure they will restrict visitors to these cave wonders in the future, please go see it now while you can!
Kristin_A, Apr 2023
Big thank you to Mercedes for coming along on the tours and quietly translating for us when she realized that the cave tour guide was not going to be able to repeat everything in English. This was a longtime dream of mine, to see the cave paintings, and she made it possible!
JOHN_M, Apr 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed the experience and being able to see these ancient paintings. The tour guide who drove us to the caves was very helpful and gave us enough time to visit the village close to the caves afterwards. She arrived at the pick up point on time.
Debra_N, Oct 2022
The prehistoric sites in northern Spain are fabulous and Gabriela at Explore Cantabria was a great guide. She speaks perfect English and knows a lot of history and was really knowledgeable about all the Cantabrian customs. It was a fabulous day and a real treat to connect with our Paleolithic ancestors.
Michael_R, Jun 2022
Absolutely the caves and the paintings. All the guides did a great job navigating us thru the caves and pointing out the paintings. We saw some paintings 40,000 years old and were able to look at them from only a foot away. Don’t wait as these caves will be closing to the public soon.
Our guide/driver was pleasant, knowledgeable and a good driver. We had a fun group to travel with and enjoyed lunch together at a very good restaurant.
Came for the caves but did enjoy the ride to the waterfall and walking around a small spa town. A good value.
Martin_D, May 2022
Rafa & Mercedes we’re excellent! We are from USA (Indiana) and speak a little Spanish. They both did very well communicating with us and including us in all the conversations with others. Lunch was very nice. They even got a tour guide at El Castillo & Las Monedas Caves And The Pasiego Valleys that spoke English for us. The van was spotless and very nice. We were very impressed with their knowledge on the caves and the tour of the Villages. Church and dairy farm were very interesting too!! I almost forgot, we stopped outside of Santander at one of the most beautiful beaches we have been too.
Again, thank you so very much!
Martin & Lynn
John_H, Oct 2021
Gabriela’s narrative in English provided interesting and important information about the caves we visited. She made a small group from 3 countries comfortable and informed in 2 languages. The Valley is magnificent and her driving excellent. Book this tour!
Virginia_D, Oct 2024
Estuvo muy bien pero hubo alguna dificultad porque el guía de las Cuevas fue contratado por la empresa en ingles y quedo muy poco tiempo para el español. La guía del tour que nos busco en el hotel, trato de salvar el problema con explicaciones complementarias
From $119.85
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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