A small town and coastal resort located to the north of Alicante, El Campello is a popular holiday destination for both Spanish and International visitors. Boasting stunning views along the surrounding coastline, El Campello is in a fine spot, and itself has some wonderful beaches. Dotted with ancient watchtowers dating back to the days when Barbary pirates raided this coastline, El Campello has survived mostly as a fishing village over the centuries and has only found itself as a tourist resort in recent years. Typically for towns of the region, El Campello enjoys numerous fiestas and festivals, perhaps the main one, and the one which local look forward to all year, is the Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians) festival, which takes place in October. The town benefits for a fine climate with El Campello weather, generally sunny and dry for most of the year, though it can get a bit chilly during February. El Campello is situated between Alicante and Villajoyosa, about 13 kilometres from Alicante city centre. El Campello Map.
If you are holidaying in El Campello you may need to get transfers from Alicante airport, you can find details of how to book here: Alicante Airport Transfers. If you are driving you can view a map of Alicante here: Alicante Map.
Penon de Ifach Calpe
One of the northern Costa Blanca’s major holiday destinations, Calpe is located north of the massive resort of Benidorm and south of the more laid back resort of Moraira. Calpe boasts one of the Costa Blanca’s best known landmarks in the form of the Penon de Ifach rock formation, now a protected Natural Park. Calpe was formerly just a small fishing village and was originally the site of Iberian settlements, the Romans arrived there during their conquest of the Iberian Peninsular and founded a fish salting factory near the present day beach, remains of which still exist in the form of the Queen’s Baths. The Penon de Ifach was always important for the town as a watchtower and was also the location of the town of Ifach which was later destroyed during the War of the Two Pedros. Calpe itself grew after this and developed as a walled town often attacked by pirates. During the mid-twentieth century a small tourism industry developed and this grew into a major earner for the town by the 1970’s. Attracting those seeking a slightly more laid back atmosphere than its neighbour Benidorm which is one of the world’s major seaside resorts, Calpe is still more developed than many of the areas other towns and has a good range of facilties. Map of Calpe.
The undisputed holiday capital of Spain is without doubt the resort of Benidorm, located in the Costa Blanca region about 30 minutes drive from Alicante airport. What makes Benidorm so special? Is it the wonderful beaches, Benidorm has two main beaches Playa Poinente and Playa Levante, and these stretch for many kilometres of unbroken sand? Is it the vibrant and exciting night life, Benidorm has hundreds of bars, restaurants, clubs and discos? Is it the wonderful climate, everybody enjoys the weather Benidorm has to offer with over 300 days of sunshine each year? Or is it the great range of theme parks, Benidorm is second to none with the famous Terra Mitica with its unique civilization zones and great rides, the exciting Aqualandia with its super slides, wave machine and range of pools, the fascinating Mundomar Marina and Exotic Animal Park, the inspiring Terra Natura Safari Park? Who knows exactly what it is that attracts visitors to Benidorm, but attract them it does and in fine style with over 4 million visitors per year.
Present day visitors to the lively Costa Blanca resort of Benidorm would find it hard to believe that up until the mid-1950’s it was just a tiny fishing village. The growth of Benidorm as a holiday resort has been phenomenal and it has now become the most popular seaside resort in Europe with between four and five million visitors each year. Many would say that the skyline of Benidorm has ruined the look of this beautiful part of the Spanish coast but the tall sleek Benidorm hotels have a beauty of their own and stand in stark contrast to the surrounding Mediterranean Sea and the mountains in the background. One of the main attractions for visitors are the fabulous Benidorm beaches which are long, sandy and wide and become very busy especially during the hot summer months. Another of the great attractions is the rich and varied Benidorm nightlife for which the resort is famous, having a huge choice for visitors and specialising in spectacular cabarets and live shows. The big draw for families is the fantastic choice of theme parks – this is big budget entertainment folks, check out the amazing Terra Mitica theme park with its scary rides and miniature children’s versions, or maybe the fabulous water park at Aqualandia, one of the best water parks in Europe. Also worth a visit are the Terra Natura safari park and the Mundomar Exotic and Marine Animal Park. Finally perhaps the most important thing which makes Benidorm such a huge attraction especially for north Europeans is the fantastic Benidorm weather, which can usually expected to be fine and sunny from May to October and is also pretty reliable even during the winter months. Benidorm enjoys over 300 sunny days every year and generally there is very little rainfall. Benidorm Map.
One of the prettiest towns on the Costa Blanca, Spain, Altea old town is perched on a hilltop, overlooking the sea close to the huge resort of Benidorm. Separated from Benidorm by the Sierra Helada, Altea could hardly be more different, as yet unspoilt by mass tourism and over development, it still retains much of its old Spanish character. Altea has one or two decent hotels, but a better option for a holiday, might be to rent out a holiday villa and enjoy a bit of luxury during your stay. The town boasts a super climate and the weather in Altea is pretty reliable all year round, Altea is just 45 minutes drive from Alicante airport and is easily reached via the N-332 or the AP-7 motorway. Altea Map.
One of the popular coastal resorts in the region of Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, Spain, Albir was in ancient times a small fortified village known as L’Alfas de Polop, the name being taken from the Arabic ‘sown land’. It grew as an agricultural town, productive in olives, almonds and grapes, irrigation methods developed by the Moors made it a productive area, it also had a small mining industry. Refortified after the Christian reconquest, in order to defend it from attacks by Berber pirates, Albir (also known as Alfaz del Pi) continued as an agricultural town right into the 20th century, when a developing tourist industry changed the complexion of the town. Albir has a number of attractions including its fine beach Albir Playa, which has blue flag status for cleanliness, every July Albir holds a film festival which attracts thousands of visitors to the town. The town has also become a popular area for relocation and many holiday homes have been purchased in the area by non-spanish residents, some settling in the area, of the 17,000 inhabitants some 9,000 are of foreign nationality, the largest percentage being Norwegian. Sheltered by the Sierra Helada the town, beach and promenade enjoy a wonderful climate, perfect for holidays all year round. Albir Map.