X-ray Astronomy Group

By Plane

Santander has its own airport ("Parayas", SDR) with flights to Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, London, Milan, Rome, etc. Then you can take a taxi (~ 15-20 Euros) to arrive to the city centre. If you prefer to rent a car at the airport, then take S-10 to Santander. You will enter the city through Calle Marqués de la Hermida.

The Bilbao (BIO)  airport is just over 100 km away (1.15 h driving) and has daily connections to many european destinations. From there, take a taxi to Santander (~ 120-150 Euro) or to the Bilbao downtown bus station (Termibus) taking bus "Bizkaibus A3247". From there you can take an "Alsa" bus to Santander Bus Station.
To arrive by car from Bilbao take A8 to Santander and the S-10 to city centre.

By Train

Santander has also a "fast" connection by train to Madrid. The trip takes 4.5 hours and it costs a maximum of ~40/70 euros (one way/return ticket), but there are important discounts if booked in advance. See RENFE for more details. You wil arrive to the Santander RENFE train station placed at "Plaza de las Estaciones".

By Car

You can find a road map here.

From the Hotel Palacio del Mar and Hotel Silken Rio

The Hotel Palacio del Mar is located in Avenida de Cantabria, 5, very close to the Football Stadium. It can be reached from the city centre (for instance the Train Station) using bus number 1. To do this, go to the bus stop in "Jesus de Monasterio", just crossing the "Pasaje de Peña" tunnel that you can see to your left once you go out from the train station.

From this hotel, IFCA is at walking distance (15-20 min). If you use a car you must follow the purple line from the hotel painted in the map. Should you come walking, you can also cross the park "Parque de las Llamas" and arrive directly to the parking at the back side of IFCA (follow green line in the map below). If you prefer to take a bus, you can walk to Avenida de los Castros and then take buses 7c2 or 03 (bus stop "Los Castros-Piquio") to the bus stop "Facultad de Ciencias" (although it is really near).

The Hotel Silken Rio is located in Avenida Reina Victora, 153, just in front of Sardinero I beach. It can be reached from the city centre (for instance the Train Station) using several bus lines (mainly 1 and 7c2. To do this, go to the bus stop in "Jesus de Monasterio", just crossing the "Pasaje de Peña" tunnel that you can see to your left once you go out the train station.

From this hotel, IFCA is at walking distance (15-20 min). If you use a car (or you come walking) you must follow the purple line from the hotel painted in the map. If you prefer to take a bus, you can take bus 7c2 (bus stop "Luis Martinez" or bus stop "Los Castros-Piquio", just on the beach side) or 03 (bus stop "Luis Martinez"). Then go down the bus at stop "Facultad de Ciencias" (although it is really near).

If you arrive at IFCA by car, take into account that during term time parking is quite difficult if you arrive later that 09:00 to IFCA. There is a parking area just in front of the main entrance and just on the back side.

From the city centre

If you arrive to the Train Station and want to go directly to IFCA, you can take:

• Taxi: just in front of the main entrance of the Station.
• Public transport: go to the bus stop in "Jesus de Monasterio" (just crossing the "Pasaje de Peña" tunnel) or to the  bus stop in "Avenida Calvo Sotelo" (from the Station take "Calle Cadiz" and then "Calle Isabel II")  and take bus number 1.

From the airport

If you go to IFCA directly form the airport by car, take S-10, then "Calle Marqués de la Hermida", go straight keeping the sea (well, in fact it is just the bay) on your right and then turn left in "Castelar" to enter the tunnel "Tunel de Tetuán" that puts you directly in the Avenida de Los Castros. Then just turn left on the roundabout to go to the Facultad de Ciencias and IFCA.