I will be travelling with 3 girlfriends in our late 60's, but pretty spry. We will be renting a car from Barcelona, (where my son is getting married!) and driving down to the Costa Blanca, staying 3 nights in Altea. We wanted to spend two nights in or near Alicante to do a cooking class and see a flamenco show. But I read that Alicante is "not that beautiful". Does anyone have any recommendations of where to stay in Alicante, or near Alicante, and possibly recommendations for things to do or see? Thank you!
Posted by
new york
1314 posts
I can't tell you about Alicante but I can tell you that we spent five nights in Denia last year and had a wonderful stay.
It's quite close.
Posted by
USA
61 posts
Alicante is a very beautiful city in my opinion. Our trip in wintertime over the holidays also included Barcelona and Denia.
In Alicante we stayed at the EuroStar hotel in the main town close to the harbor. Off season rates were very reasonable. It didn’t strike me as someplace you could easily drive too.
We also enjoyed Denia.
If you are in Altea you can easily get to Denia or Alicante on the tram that runs down the coast. Headed towards Alicante you will change trains in Benidorm. I believe they run around every 30 minutes.
Posted by
Paris
7784 posts
Altea is close enough to Alicante to go there for a cooking class or a flamenco show. The tram takes forever, at least 1.5 hours, but by car it's only about 45 minutes. No real need to change hotels IMO!
But Alicante is a pleasant city and I had an enjoyable stay at the Meliá in January 2023. Both very central and very easy by car. Summer rates might be high, but IDK when you are travelling 😅
Posted by
3 posts
My wife and I visited Alicante twice last year (May and October) and stayed at Hospes Amerigo both times. You'll find folks that enjoy Melia as well, and it's on the water. It really depends on how much you want to spend. Parking might be an issue at some places, but Hospes and Melia have parking (Melia's is on-site, from what I can tell. Not sure about Hospes.)
We enjoyed walking up to the Santa Barbara castle. There's an elevator that will take you up as well but we didn't use it. There are also museums, churches, and the city town hall that are worth checking out. There are also a few places where you can check out ancient ruins (such as La Ciudad descubierta is pretty close).
There are several great restaurants in town. La Taberna del Gourmet is very close to Hospes Amerigo, and is pretty good. Alba impressed us and our friend who lives in Alicante. Both restaurants won't break the bank, and are quite an experience. There are also plenty of tapas restaurants and coffee shops around.
Posted by
USA
61 posts
The tram takes you directly to Mercado station. Walk up the stairs and you’re in the middle of Alicante. Much easier than driving and attempting to find parking. It’s also a fairly scenic ride and very inexpensive. Worth the 45 minute time penalty in my opinion, if it’s even that much.