Santander curls around its bay like a city that chose the best balcony on the Cantabrian coast. Ships dock right in the centre, at the terminal that also welcomes ferries from England: a ten- to fifteen-minute walk is all it takes to reach the shopping streets, gardens and cafés. Few port calls in northern Spain offer such a direct introduction.

The city has the bearing of the aristocratic resorts of yesteryear. In the early 20th century, the Spanish court spent its summers here, and that era left behind elegant avenues, villas and a lasting taste for seaside strolls, enjoyed here in every season, umbrella included.

The Centro Botín and the bayfront

Steps from the quay, you can't miss the Centro Botín, an art centre with rounded volumes clad in ceramic, set on stilts above the water and designed by Renzo Piano. Its exhibitions are worth a look, but so are its walkways: they jut out over the bay and frame the mountains on the opposite shore. The Pereda Gardens, just behind, link downtown to the waterfront beneath the magnolias.

Toward the Magdalena Peninsula

Following the shore eastward, the promenade leads to the Magdalena Peninsula, crowned by the palace the city's residents gave to King Alfonso XIII. The building, somewhere between English style and French Belle Époque, overlooks the entrance to the harbour; its public park, now the family walking ground of the locals, opens onto cliffs, a sandy cove and views of the entire coast. Allow about thirty minutes' walk from the centre along the shore, or take a city bus on the simple, frequent TUS network.

El Sardinero, the ocean side

On the other side of the peninsula stretch the beaches of El Sardinero, wide crescents of pale sand lined by an esplanade and period façades, about 2.5 km from the centre. In summer, beach umbrellas line up by the hundreds; off-season, surfers and walkers take over. The Gran Casino, a white façade from another age, still presides over Plaza de Italia, surrounded by terraces facing the open sea. Here you savour that distinctly Santander blend of sea air, slightly old-fashioned elegance and relaxed beach life.

The old town and the table

Back toward the shopping streets, the area around the cathedral, rebuilt after the fire of 1941, lines up shops and pintxos bars, where counters overflow with bites served on bread. The cathedral itself, with its 13th-century crypt, deserves a stop, as does the Mercado de la Esperanza, an iron-and-glass market hall where the fish stalls come alive from the morning. At lunchtime, rabas, the fried squid meant for sharing, sit alongside anchovies from the coast and seafood from the Cantabrian shore.

Distances from the terminal

Santander lends itself to a car-free day: everything unfolds along the water, from the quay to the beaches, in a setting of calm water framed by mountains. It's a port call that doesn't seek spectacular effect, but instead instils a lasting sense of well-being, that of cities that have always lived facing the sea.

At departure, as the ship glides past the Magdalena and the beaches file by one last time, you realize how lucky you were to spend the day in one of the most harmonious bays in Spain.