Laredo is in the autonomous community of Cantabria. It has a population of around 12,000 inhabitants. The town is situated roughly halfway between Bilbao and Santander.
The town was traditionally a major fishing town. It has a large protected marina which now caters for more leisure craft than traditional fishing boats. Tourism has become an important industry in recent years. The main tourist drawcard for the town is the very popular La Salvé beach. The 5 km long beach attracts thousands of holidaymakers and water lovers, especially during summer. Thanks to the beach, Laredo is a major holiday destination in the region. There is a great deal of holiday accommodation available focussing on the beach.
The main festival in Laredo is called la Batalla de Flores or the battle of the flowers. The main event during the festival is a parade of floats covered in flowers moving through the town. The festival takes place in August each year. Of course, the town also celebrates the many other festivals and saint days celebrated throughout Spain.
One fun thing to do whilst in Laredo is to take a day trip by ferry across the bay to the town of Santona. The ferry trip alone offers many photo opportunities while on the water. These include Fort San Martin which the ferry passes by during the trip. Santona is a very pretty town and is famous for its anchovies and tuna production. There are many great places to walk and stop to eat and drink along the water and in town.
There are no rail connections to Laredo.
Laredo is roughly halfway between Santander and Bilbao.
There are regular bus services running from Bilbao and Santander. The travel time on the bus to Bilbao is 2 hours and 20 minutes. Driving time to Bilbao is 45 minutes.
The travel time on the bus to Santander is 90 minutes. The driving time from Santander is 35 minutes.