Santillana del Mar is a municipality and an autonomous city, on the west coast of Cantabria, Spain. It is one of the most visited tourist villages of the region; much of the city residents live from tourism, especially with hotels, rural accommodation and shops of typical products. The historic center is organized around two main streets that end at the respective places. The first street takes various names (Carrera, Canton, and del Rio) and will give up to the religious square, the first center of the city, which gives access to the Collegiate. It is divided in two: in front of the Collegiate Church, Abad Francisco Navarro Square and on the side is Las Arenas Square. These are cobbled streets. The historic center is composed of homogeneous stone buildings, mainly from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. To see: the Valdivieso Palace (Altamira hotel today), the Palace of Velarde or Arenas (transition from the construction of Gothic to Renaissance); the Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana and its cloister of 42 Romanesque capitals; the Merino Tower (XIV); the Convent of Saint Ildefonso, among others. We also find many houses that have the coats of arms of the families to which they belonged.

Tips

Santillana has a hostel for pilgrims in the center, used in the Way of Saint James of Compostela and a number of hotels including the national Parador Gil Blas. We also find a campground.
Another interesting place to visit is the Zoo and Botanical Gardens apart from animals, it has a butterfly garden, a place with snakes and a space called Quaternary Park where there are replicas of animals that lived in the city in times of Altamira villagers. Altamira Cave, famous worldwide for its prehistoric paintings, unfortunately, is closed to the public.

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The Eiffel Tower is a puddled iron tower 324 meters in height located in Paris, at the northwest end of the Park of Mars beside the Seine in the 7th quarter. Built for the Paris Exhibition of 1889 by Gustave Eiffel that was named Tower of 300 meters. It has become the symbol of the French capital and a tourist site visited by tourists from around the world. For 41 years, with its 312 meters, remained the highest building in the world. Today it also serves as a transmitter of radio and television programs. It now receives over six million visitors each year and is open every day of the year. The tower is in a square of 125 meters on each side, it has four pillars; we find the ticket offices in the northern and western pillars, elevators are accessible from the pillars east and west and the south pillar has a private elevator reserved for the staff and clients of the gourmet restaurant Le Jules Verne (at 2nd floor). The 1st floor is 57 meters above the ground and can withstand the simultaneous presence of about 2,500 people; a circular gallery went around and allows a view of 360 ° of Paris where you can observe the Parisian monuments; it also houses the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant that extends over two levels with on one side a beautiful panoramic view of Paris, and on the other, a view of the inside of the tower. The 2nd floor is 115 meters above the ground and can withstand the simultaneous presence of about 1,600 people. Metal protective fences are present to prevent any attempt to leap into the void. The 3rd floor is at 276 meters above the ground and can withstand the simultaneous presence of about 400 people. To access is necessarily a lift (the stairs are closed to the public from the second floor) and overlooks an enclosed space punctuated with viewpoint. Up a few steps, the visitor then arrives on an outdoor platform, sometimes referred as 4th floor at 279 meters

Tips

If you want to avoid long lines , go early in the morning and preferably on a weekday cause you’ll find a little less tourists.
There is an iPhone application that gives you a guided tour to learn all of the tower ; it can be downloaded from the AppStore and Google Play in French or English.
If you like the photos, go to the second floor, it is from there that you will get the best view.
It is also possible to visit the tower in the evening and see Paris in light; it is open until 23:00.
If you are athletic, you can take the 704 steps between the ground floor and the second floor , up or down, it’s your choice.
If you want to top off your visit with a special touch, offer yourself a glass of champagne in the champagne bar on the top floor which is open from 12:00 to 10:00 PM.

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