Alicante - Gateway To The Costa Blanca
Since it’s a gateway to the Costa Blanca, Alicante is an excellent base for touring. With a pleasing mixture of old and recent culture and traditions, Alicante is situated within the popular tourist area of the Costa Blanca. Alicante’s visitors will enjoy warm and sunny climate, some of the best beaches Spain can offer together with the most remarkable of Moorish architecture.
Situated on the Spanish coastline between the resorts of Benidorm and Elche, Alicante city sits below its mountain-topped castle. Alicante and its surrounding areas are scattered with churches with the most recognised of them all being that of the Iglesia de Santa Maria. This is the city’s oldest church and was built between the 14th and 16th centuries with the church originally being a mosque. The Cathedral of Saint Nicholas was constructed in the seventeenth century to honour Alicante’s patron saint and is therefore one of the most important buildings in the region.
Alicante has a great selection of old buildings to satisfy historians and sightseers and can be found throughout the region with columns and statues adding interest to a number of once uninspiring locations. Providing a sharp eye out to Alicante Bay, the Castillo de Santa Barbara is said to be one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe. Easily reached by road or by elevator (lift) from the Paseo Maritimo, the fortress has incredible views of the wonderful surrounding region. In addition to the drama the Castillo offers, Alicante offers more ancient treasures in the form of the Provincial Gallery, formerly the Gavina Palace, together with its 19th century bull- ring. The vast majority of the Alicante sights are readily accessible using an Alicante Airport rental car. Online booking of your hire car will normally save you money together with ensuring that the model of car that you want to book is ready and waiting upon your arrival at the airport.
Alicante is the ideal place to come to enjoy your self and the main reason guests return each year. With such a diverse range of hotel rooms on offer, there’s a great selection of of value for money Alicante hotels to suit all tastes and pockets. The beaches here consist of wonderful golden sand and offer a variety of both accessible and secluded bays perfect for private sunbathing. Drive over to Albufereta Beach where you will find outstanding water sport capabilities. It is a peaceful spot that is relatively undiscovered by the majority of holidaymakers.
The Playa del Postiguet is the perfect location for an evening stroll. You will join the locals along this beautiful seaside promenade - it’s a wonderful location for a romantic evening. Once the Port of Madrid, Alicante Harbour offers a combination of sailing with fishing and is the ideal place to come for the best fish restaurants around. The harbour offers an excellent location for activity night and day. Here is where visitors come to learn sailing, eat wonderfully delicious, fresh seafood and enjoy a spot of clubbing into the early hours.
Nobody enjoys a celebration 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 time, no matter what time of the year you choose to visit. One of the more sedate of festivals in the Costa Blanca is the Easter Procession. Dressed in black and carrying lighted candles, an effigy of Jesus is paraded on a cross through the streets. Each November, in order to honour 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 amazing event of singing, dancing and firework displays. On a lighter note, one of the most famous local fiestas is that of the International Puppet Festival.