La Costa Blanca, located on the South West Spanish Mediterranean shore, is known for its succession of long stretches of very fine white sand beaches. There are many tourist beach resorts along this famous area, but in this article we will mostly highlight the city of Alicante.
How to get there
From any airport in the UK, Alicante can be reached in about 2-3 hours. The tourism industry offers incredible holiday packages that make the Costa Blanca a favorite vacation spot for hundreds of thousands of Europeans and Spanish alike. This is one of the reasons that make the airport of Alicante so busy, as it is the closest Spanish airport to the famous beach cities of Malaga, Marbella, and Benidorm.
From Alicante’s busy harbor, you can take a ferry to North African Algeria, and to the nearby island of Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.
Things to see and do in Alicante
There are some beaches about five km from the city of Alicante, but they are not its main tourist attraction. Alicante’s very hot summer months and pleasant winters make it a perfect place for many European senior to retire. Knowing this, some of the local hotels are offering very good deals for extended holidays. Some older couples like to buy property in Alicante or other Costa Blanca towns and move there permanently. Theme, Water and Safari Parks are easily reached from Alicante.
The city of Alicante is very historical and the remnants of cultural and archaeological sites can be seen in what they call El Barrio historico. Some recommended sights and excursions are the Castillo de Santa Barbara atop a hill, or la Iglesia de Santa Maria, built over an ancient mosque. It is said that the great Michelangelo contributed to its Gothic design.
Most of the best places are at a walking distance. People like to stroll around the Esplanada, sit and enjoy a café, or window shop in the shopping mall.
Alicante’s seafood heritage
Local cuisine includes all kinds of delicious and fresh seafood, including calamari, mussels and Paella de mariscos. For those over 18 years of age, red wine accompanies every meal in Spain, and sangria can be enjoyed in clubs, pubs and discos that make up Alicante’s very lively nightlife. Most of the international fast food chains are also present if you don’t like local dishes. One good thing to remember is that the normal meal schedule in Spain is quite different from the rest of Europe. Lunch takes place between 2 and 4pm and dinner between 9 and 11 pm. Nowadays many restaurants offer a European dinner schedule for the tourists but the locals don’t come in until much later.