I haven’t been all over Spain, but to a few places. I love the combo of a beach and a city life and Spain can realy offer that most of the times.
You might been to Barcelona, the most visited city in Spain and it is a nice place but to crowded for my taste. A lot of people fly in to Alicante but few actually stays there. Alicante, a piece of Spain – come and see for yourself!
For me this is one of the most perfect cities to visit. It is just about 20-25 minutes away from the airport. It is a beach city with and old town and a newer part and almost everything is close by.
The city has about 300.000 inhabitants and a wide range of shops, bars, restaurants and nightlife.
Alicante is very beautiful with a lot of old palace like looking buildings, avenues with palm trees and the beautiful Marina, that stretches a long the city line.
When I go I stay at the Meliá Alicante. The location is perfect and if you book the Level Experience, you’ll get a private breakfast room and private pool area. All day with free drinks, snacks and more.
This city is a vibrant town, a lot of young people mixed with tourists. It is very popolar to go here from Scandinavia and northern Europe. In Old town you’ll find a lot of trendy bars and restaurants and also some tiny tiny winebars where hardly five people can meet.
Try to leave the Promenade that goes along side the marina. You’ll find cooler and better places for food. I am not sayin all are bad, but there are better places to go to.
Tapas, porfavor!
You got it, TAPAS! well it is a must and if you tried tapas back in your on country I can guess you haven’t had the real stuff…
There are plenty of tapas bars in Alicante and the more locals it has the better it is (I found that to be true). One more expensiv one is La taberna del Gourmet. First, you need a reservation, you will be waiting for ever… Remember, the locals come late, about 11 pm in the summer for dinner, but this place is full all the time.
You can choose from hot and cold tapas and even try their set menu, the bigger one comes with a lot of food, but very yummy, so it is worth it. On the bad note, if it is too crowded the service is not as good as it can be.
One of the freshest sea food I ever had was in Alicante, this summer, at a tiny place called Mavi, Calle Foguerer, 9 . Everything daily fresh and cooked to order. It was so good we went their two nights of a four night stay.
The staff speaks mostly spanish, but some pointing and charading we got what we wanted and some really nice wines to go with.
Night is young
If you want to live a beach life you can do that, miles of beaches in Alicante and most of the time good water for swimming. It can be crowded though, especially during weekends.
People stay all day at beach, goes home for a late siesta and then goes out for a late dinner.
If you love to mix a city puls with your travels and a realxing beach day, Alicante might just be the place for you to go to.
I love it very much, been there three times in three years and already booked a stay for New Years. I might see you there?
