Photography Guide to Northern Spain
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Loading... - Sharon Lambert
- 03 Jun 2022
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Northern Spain has grown to become one of my favorite locations for landscape photography. Since living there for one year as an exchange student during my last year of university, I’ve been back several times to explore more of its unique and dramatic nature.
In this photography guide to Northern Spain, I’ll share some of my favorite locations in the regions of Asturias, Cantabria and Bizkaia (as well as a couple others).
Why Northern Spain?
During the last year of university, I grabbed the opportunity to do one semester abroad. There were many countries and cities to choose between and, quite honestly, I was extremely unsure where I wanted to go. After some thinking and researching, I decided I wanted to move to Spain but I was stuck between two options; Santander and Barcelona. I knew that Barcelona would be the better option if I mainly cared about weather, festivals and student life but I was afraid that I wouldn’t get to use my camera as much as I wanted. Therefore, I ultimately decided to head to the lesser known Santander where I’d have endless photographic opportunities within a short distance.
I remember moving day; It would be my first real adventure and I was both excited and nervous to head out on this journey by myself. After all, I had never heard about the city before and I knew very little about that region of Spain. I can say now that it was amongst the best decisions of my life.
Enough nostalgia, the real question is why should you visit and photograph Northern Spain?
Most importantly, it’s a paradise for landscape photography! Within a reasonable driving time, you’re able to visit rugged mountains, ancient villages, picturesque cathedrals, dramatic seascapes and unique badlands.
Since this region is still relatively unexplored, you won’t have to worry about standing next to hundreds of other photographers, nearly fighting to reach the good compositions. In fact, it’s rare that I’ve been at a sunrise or sunset spot with anyone else present (though there are more tourists during mid-summer). That being said, more photographers are becoming aware of it so it might not be long until it gets crowded there as well (maybe I shouldn’t post this article after all…)!
What Time of the Year is Best
This is a question I get asked regularly. What time of the year is best to visit Northern Spain? To be honest, all seasons have their charm and opportunities to capture good images. However, if you want to increase your chances to get the most interesting and photogenic weather; May is best.
During summer it’s rarely clouded and all days are warm and sunny, which is rarely the best combination for photography. During winter, you don’t often see the sun and the majority of the days are gray and rainy, which isn’t the best combination either.
The weather starts transitioning in May and it’s during this period that you normally get the most interesting conditions. Don’t be surprised if you have an entire week of rain or only sun, though, as the weather in this region is often unpredictable.
The Regions of Northern Spain
Cantabria, Asturias, Bizkaia and Navarra are the regions I’ll introduce to you in this guide. Galicia is also a beautiful region but I haven’t gotten to explore much of it yet, so I’ll only mention a few spots from there (Galicia is still rather unknown to photographers and despite having less obvious photography locations, it doesn’t lack any).
Driving from Ribadeo, the border town of Galicia, and all the way to San Sebastian in the Basque Country takes no more than 5 hours. Between these cities, you cross both Asturias and Cantabria (plus Galicia where you start and Bizkaia where you end) and it’s on this stretch that you’ll find dozens of picture-perfect places to visit.
If you want to drive via the mountains and certain areas along the coast, the trip will be much longer than 5 hours. However, a one-week photography trip along this road will give you a lot of time to see all the highlights and a little more.
Best Photography Spots in Cantabria
Since Santander is the town I used to live in, this is the perfect place to begin this photography guide of Northern Spain. Santander is the capital city of Cantabria and has a population of 175,000. Most landscape photographers, myself included, tend to stay away from the larger cities but Santander is a place with many gems within a short distance.
Faro de Cabo Mayor, Santander
Santander’s beautiful lighthouse, Faro de Cabo Mayor, is one of my favorite places to spend a sunrise in the town. Being only a 5-minute drive from downtown and even less from the popular Sardinero Beach, this is an easy-to-reach location. There’s also a cafeteria right next to the lighthouse where you can enjoy a tortilla and something to drink (although it’s most likely closed if you’re shooting sunrise).
Playa de Sardinero, Santander
Santander is known for its beautiful Sardinero Beach. Even though it’s not a well-known tourist destination for foreigners, it’s a popular destination amongst the Spanish. There are large daytime crowds in summertime so I strongly recommend a sunrise or sunset visit if you want to photograph the beach at that time of year.
If time allows, spend a couple hours walking along the beach and enjoying the scenery. There are plenty of cafeterias, restaurants and ice cream shops along the boardwalk and it’s well worth a visit.
Liencres
Liencres is a small village less than 10 kilometers out of Santander. Despite being small, it’s packed with some of northern Spain’s most popular beaches: Playa del Portio, Playa de la Arnia and Playa de Valdearenas.
While all of them are photogenic in more or less any light, I prefer to shoot Playa del Portio for sunset and Playa de la Arnia for sunrise. Playa de Valdearenas works well in both cases but I enjoy visiting it during a foggy or moody day as it has a beautiful forest right next to it (be aware of the nudists, though!!) Read More…
