Cave of El Castillo - Puente Viesgo, Cantabria

Mehdi H.

Visiting Cueva de El Castillo is a truly humbling experience. Standing in front of paintings and handprints created over 40,000 years ago creates a powerful connection to early human imagination and expression. The guided visit is well organized and informative, helping you understand not only what you see, but how and why these artworks were created. The cave itself is atmospheric and respectful of its historical significance. A must-visit site for anyone interested in prehistory, human creativity, and the deep roots of our shared past.

Daniel C.

Have to be reserved the tickets online. The guide is really informative , patient and funny. It is lucky to having him to have the tour. The cave is impressive. better wearing the sports shoes or outdoor shoes. Taking photos is highly restricted inside the cave.

Lee R.

Unfortunately they didn't inform us that because there were slightly more Spanish speaking guests on the tour, the tour would be in Spanish. For those of us who are not fluent in Spanish had a much less informative tour than those who did. It was cool to see the art though.

JR S.

We booked the tickets in advance as there is a limit on the number of people for each tour. The visitors center is on the way to the cave but we drove directly to the cave. They want everybody to collect tickets in the visitors centre so few people has to go back. We were lucky we had the tickets in the mobile but they warned is the office at the entry of the cave may close soon. It doesn’t make any sense. Guides are nice but tours are only in Spanish that doesn’t make much se se either. Inside the cave can be slippery.

Ben G.

A mind-blowing experience that is a must-see if you’re in the area. The cave is all walkable, with stairs cut into the rock where required, albeit slippery in places and with no handrails. Anyone able-bodied should have no trouble if you take a bit of care. There is approximately 200m of walking up a slighty inclined service road from the car park.

The tour was in Spanish only, which is ok if you can pick up a few words here and there. Even if not it’s pretty obvious when the guide shines a light on a handprint or artwork.

Seeing these original artworks from over 10,000 years ago is simply phenomenal. Other caves have replicas, but this is the real deal.

Definitely book ahead to avoid disappointment, and make sure you check in at the visitor centre at the bottom of the hill.

Sebastian B.

Anna gave us an exceptional tour of the prehistoric art in the cave. Her deep knowledge, engaging storytelling, and passion brought the history to life in a way that was both educational and unforgettable. She made the experience truly special, and we feel very fortunate to have learned from her. Thank you, Anna—we will treasure this experience for a lifetime!

Andrea H.

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. Prices are ok.

Nicola U.

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 of the caves.