El Capricho, a free-standing masterpiece: The Gaudí that resides in Cantabria

Not everything by Gaudí is in Barcelona. "El Capricho" is a summer house in Cantabria, a region that people visit for its caves, which have been declared a World Heritage Site, for its greenery, and for its historical heritage, and which also holds this modernist masterpiece. It is one of the architect's earliest commissions, and that shows: it bears his signature, but it also coexists with Orientalist and Mudéjar influences that he would later move away from. Those who arrive expecting the Barcelona of La Pedrera will find something different, smaller and more unusual. The entrance is open for individual visits, without a guide or group schedule: you enter the reserved time slot and proceed at your own pace. It pairs well with a day trip along the Cantabrian coast, as it doesn't require reserving the entire day. It can be canceled up to the time of the reserved time slot.