Alicante - The Perfect Touring Base

Since it’s a gateway into the Costa Blanca, Alicante is an excellent base for touring. Offering a refreshing melange of old and recent traditions and culture, Alicante is situated within the popular holiday area of the Costa Blanca. Visitors to Alicante enjoy a warm sunny climate, some of the finest beaches Spain can offer together with some great examples of Moorish architecture.

Found on the coast between the resorts of Benidorm and Elche, The city sits below its mountain top castle. Alicante and its surrounding areas are peppered with churches with the most photographed of all of them being the Iglesia de Santa Maria. This is the city’s oldest church and was built between the 14th and 16th centuries being at one time a mosque. St Nicholas Cathedral in the city was built in the seventeenth century in honour of Alicante’s patron saint and is therefore one of the most significant buildings in this area.

Alicante has generous servings of ancient buildings to please sightseers and historians alike and can be seen all around the area with columns and statues making a feature of a number of once unexciting locations. Keeping a keen watch over Alicante Bay, the Castillo de Santa Barbara is said to be one of the biggest medieval fortresses in Europe. Easily reached by car or by lift (elevator) from the Paseo Maritimo, the castle has incredible vistas of the stunning local area. In addition to the benefits the Castillo offers, Alicante has more architectural gems including the Provincial Gallery, once the Gavina Palace, together with its nineteenth century bull- ring. The vast majority of the Alicante attractions are readily reached with the help of a rental car from Alicante Airport. Booking your car hire online will normally save you money as well as ensuring that the model of car that you want to book is definitely when you arrive at the airport.

Alicante is the perfect resort to come to enjoy your self and the main reason holidaymakers come back every year. With such a varied range of accomodation on offer, there are plenty of cheap Alicante Hotels to suit every pocket and taste. The beaches here have the most golden sand and offer a variety of both easy to get to and hidden coves perfect for private sunbathing. Make your way to Albufereta Beach where you will find outstanding range of water sports. It is a quiet place that is relatively undiscovered by the majority of tourists.

A perfect location for an after dinner stroll is provided by the Playa del Postiguet. You will join the locals along this beautiful seaside walk - it’s a perfect location for a romantic evening. Once the Port of Madrid, Alicante Harbour offers a combination of fishing and sailing and is the perfect venue to come for the top fish restaurants around. The harbour offers a perfect venue for activity day and night. Here is where visitors come to eat wonderfully delicious, fresh seafood, learn to sail and enjoy a bout of clubbing into the wee small hours.

Nobody likes a knees up as much as the locals and visitors of Alicante! Here you will discover a celebration of one type or another taking place much of the year, no matter what time of the year you want to visit. One of the more sedate of festivals in the Costa Blanca is that of the Easter Procession. Wearing black and carrying lighted candles, an effigy of Jesus is carried on a cross around the streets. Each November, in honour of the Patron Saint Crist del Bon Encert, each town has its own fiesta. Don’t be surprised to find that shops are closed all day, every day as commerce grinds to a halt for this fantastic event of singing, dancing and firework displays. On a less religious note, one of the most famous local festivals is the International Puppet Festival.

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