The Eighth International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe, Santander, Spain. 13th - 17th September 2010

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PARTNER PROGRAMME

Monday, 13th September 2010. Half day trip

CABARCENO NATURE RESERVE

  • Pick-up at the hotels at 9, 30 a.m.
  • Bus tour around Cabácerno Nature Reserve stopping frequently to see the animals.
    The Cabarceno wildlife park is a spectacular paradise for fauna which offers a home in semi-liberty to hundreds of animals representing all the zoological communities of the Earth. In this reserve for animals in danger of extinction you can observe, in a way that is unique in the whole of Europe, a host of wildlife from far-off countries: tigers, bears, lions, jaguars, elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, buffalos and many more, living and reproducing in a habitat which is thousands of years old, and has now been restored.
    Within the spectacular geological landscape of the karstic formations of Cabárceno, located in the western part of the Peña Cabarga Mountains and transformed in 1989 into an extensive zoological park, Cabárceno has, over recent years, become one of the most important tourist attractions of Cantabria.

Price: 65€. It includes: transport, English/Spanish speaking guide, entrance fees and lunch. Taxes included.
Minimum number of participants: 15

Tuesday, 14th September 2010. Day trip

LIEBANA VALLEY AND PICOS DE EUROPA

It is one of the most visited areas in Cantabria which boasts natural landscapes of extraordinary beauty.

  • Pick-up at the hotels at 8, 30 a.m.
  • A drive through the steep gorge of La Hermida, an imposing 20-kilometre-long channel carved out of the limestone of the Picos de Europa by the river Deva.
  • Visit to the monastery of Sto. Toribio de Liébana. It is renowned as being the home of a relic named the “Lignum Crucis”, reputed to be the largest known piece of the cross of Christ. Those who come in pilgrimage to the monastery and flock through the Holy Door will be granted the special indulgence known as “jubilee”.
  • Go up through the valleys until Fuente De cable railway, which takes the visitors up to an altitude of 1800 metres, passing through the impressive Fuente De glacial cirque, in the heart of the central range of the Picos de Europa.
  • Lunch at a typical local restaurant.
  • Visit to Potes, capital of Liebana district, and declared a “Site of Artistic and Historical Importance”. It is well worth wandering through its charming streets and beautiful old buildings as well as admiring its original bridges. It is the ideal place to buy the local products of the area: autochthonous cheeses, orujo, honey, cheek peas and so on.
  • Arrival in Santander about 6, 30 p.m.

Price: 95€. It includes: transport, English/Spanish speaking guide, entrance fees and lunch. Taxes included.
Minimum number of participants: 15

Thursday, 16th September 2010. Day trip

SANTILLANA DEL MAR, ALTAMIRA AND COMILLAS

  • Pick-up at the hotels at 9, 00 a.m.
  • Visit to the Altamira Cave which was declared “World Heritage Site” by UNESCO. The original cave is closed to the public, but visitors can visit the “Neocave”, an exact reproduction of the original space with all its cracks and textures and the permanent exhibition “The Times of Altamira”, which introduces visitors to the prehistory of the peninsula and rupestrian art.
  • Visit to Santillana del Mar. This medieval town with cobbled streets is declared a “Site of Artistic and Historical Importance” and for decades has been one of the best-known cultural and tourist centres in Cantabria. It boasts an extraordinary architectural heritage of towers, stately houses and palaces. From a religious point of view, the Collegiate church of Santa Juliana is outstanding. The church dates back to the 12th century and gives its name to the village.
  • Lunch at a typical local restaurant.
  • Declared a “Site of Historical and Artistic Importance”, Comillas is a noble and aristocratic town with magnificent modernist buildings mixed with the “Montañés” style historic part of the town with its cobbled streets and elegant stately houses.
    Visit to the Sobrellano Palace, Capricho de Gaudí and the Pontifical University.
  • Arrival in Santander about 6, 00 p.m.

Price: 90€. It includes: transport, English/Spanish speaking guide, entrance fees and lunch. Taxes included.
Minimum number of participants: 15

Friday, 17th September 2010. Half day trip

Santander City Tour

  • Pick-up at the hotels at 9, 30 a.m.
    Santander lies in a protected natural bay, calm waters and golden beaches and is a member of the exclusive club of the “Most beautiful Bays in the World”. It has also been a major tourist destination since the Spanish Royal Family first chose it as their summer home at the beginning of the 20th century. The city’s buildings and surroundings reflect more than 2.000 years of history. The cathedral is remarkable for its early Gothic crypt, now forming a separate church, where visitors can see the remains of a Roman building beneath a glass floor.
    The beautiful “Magdalena Park” on the cliffs high over the sea, offers a stunning and unforgettable view. It is also the site of the “Magdalena Palace”, one of the few royal palaces built in this century, and now the seasonal headquarters of the prestigious “Menéndez Pelayo International University”.
  • Visit to the Cathedral, Magdalena Park and Palace and Lighthouse.
  • Lunch at a typical local restaurant.

Price: 65€. It includes: transport, English/Spanish speaking guide, entrance fees and lunch. Taxes included.
Minimum number of participants: 15

 

 

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