alicante area??
 

We are looking to move to the Alicante area. We would like to be no more than an hour from the airport and would prefer to be near the seaside. Not familiar with this area so can anyone recommend some places we should visit ?? We would prefer not to be on a big urbanization if possible.

Re: alicante area??
 

An hour from Alicante to the North will take you to the seaside towns of Moraira, Javea, Denia, Oliva & Gandia. Depends on how much you have to spend really, as seaside towns are going to be more expensive than further inland.

Re: alicante area??
 

you need to go out yourself and explore the many many toiwns and villages, places appeal to different people for different reasons

plus you have to take into account other things such as schools, work etc etc so its best to research yourself first hand

is there a reason why you would want to move to an area you are not familiar with ?

Re: alicante area??
 

It also depends whether you want north or south Costa Blanca. I personally prefer the north having lived in both parts.:)

Re: alicante area??
 

Thanks for your replies. Probably the North we already live in Spain in Almeria and find that we would prefer to be nearer Alicante. We are retired so we have no need of schools. Yes we need to explore just wanted some thoughts on different places. Thanks for your help.

Re: alicante area??
 

As you travel up from Almeria, and skip Murcia, you come to the Alicante province around San Pedro, with its airport. The costal route will then take you, slowly but surely, into the heartlands of the British community who have settled around Orihuela Costa and Torrevieja.

Here you have serious-sized urbanisations which have everything for British people who have just come for the weather and cheapness, and are not bothered about integration or culture (although Torrevieja can offer plenty of museums, theatres, and cultural events). The British people, mainly pensioners, have a vast number of clubs that cater for every taste, from chess to line dancing, and there's a British Legion on every corner.

The Vega Baja inland area at this point offers something more for those who are overwhelmed by the Britishness of the coast, but like to remain within travelling distance of Fish and Chips and blue-flag beaches (and the airport).

The foreigners grow smaller in number as you travel past Guardmar, Santa Pola and into Alicante, although another large foreign contingent live at La Marina (and seem to live there happily).

The much-praised 'North of Alicante' starts with Benidorm, in reality, there's not much before that, just rocks and mountains, and Villajoyosa is practically joined on to Benidorm.

From Benidorm, which doesn't need any comment from me, you come to the nearby towns of Alfaz del Pi, which is Norwegian, and its British and German satellite at Albir, then on to Altea, all walkable along an excellent coast with stunning mountain views, and a regular train and bus service that will take you back to Benidorm in a few minutes.

There's a gap between Altea and Calpe, due to some high cliffs.

Calpe used to be mainly German, but has proportionally more British people now, although the Germans still stage their annual Oktoberfest there. The Calpe rock is famous and features as the most recognisable part of the Costa Blanca.

Another rocky coast leads on to Moraira, a bit posher than further south and, around a detour, to Javea, on the south side of the Montgo mountain. Javea is roughly split in three, the Old Town, the Port and beaches, and the villa areas in the mountains. It really has everything you could wish for in Spain, all in the one place, and naturally costs you a bit more.

Denia lies on the other side of Montgo, an ancient Valencian town, with a castle and large harbour, from where you can travel to Mallorca on a fast ferry. Denia has many festivals and traditions, and whenever they dig the streets up, they find skeletons from hundreds of years ago to testify to the town's historic importance. They also speak a lot of Valenciano there.

It only leaves Oliva and Gandia which signal the end of the Costa Blanca at its northern point, and Gandia is really a holday resort for Spaniards, while Oliva has golf.

Re: alicante area??
 

I tend to look on Benidorm as a sort of cut-off point between the increasingly dry dusty arid regions moving South and the increasingly greener prettier regions to the North.

Once you get towards the North end of or just beyond the Blanca region and within easy range of Valencia and its airport there are lots of excellent,clean and generally fairly quiet beaches,(outside peak Spanish holiday periods).
There are many small towns and villages just a little inland, most of them very pleasant and with more than adequate shopping and supply facilities.

However there are few if any concentrated expat communities, with most people spread out and mixed in amongst Spanish or Valencian holiday/weekend home districts, where there is a good selection of property at very reasonable prices and mostly in very pleasant and spacious surroundings.

Re: alicante area??
 

:thumbsup:Thanks that has been really helpful we live in a rural area that has both british and spanish which is ideal for us. We have looked at some prices and we may have to go inland as the prices nearer the coast seem to be out of our price range. But looking forward to coming up and having a look. thanks

Re: alicante area??
 

I totally agree, and it depends on exactly what the OP is looking for, more integration with the Spanish, but at the cost of not having a British Legion at every corner; or no integration but familiar Britishness all around, and eating Fish and Chips overlooking a blue flag beach.

Re: alicante area??
 

:confused:I live in Javea and it takes me around one and a half hours to get to Alicante airport - getting to the motorway via Teulada takes around half hour alone

so Denia upward are 2 hours plus

Re: alicante area??
 

With little traffic, it is possible to get to Alicante Airport from Denia in about an hour. It has never taken two hours!

Re: alicante area??
 

Having sung the praises of Javea, I had forgotten about the long journey to the airport via Teulada. It may have changed now, but public transport was very poor 12 years ago, and taxis were hard to get, apart from illegal ones.

Re: alicante area??
 

gosh 2 hours.........I can drive Gandia-Alicante in 1 hour 15mins...perhaps you take the N332 rather than the AP7 (is that what you mean by via Teulada)

Re: alicante area??
 

This isn't true. Between Alicante and Villajoyosa there are San Juan and El Campello. Both are decent places and neither dripping with Britishness. Inland there are lots of decent places too, all within 15 minutes of the beach, airport, Cinemas, several large shopping centres, and Alicante city centre. Also, if you don't like the dry land of the South Costa Blanca you can go inland a bit. Taking the motorway out of Alicante towards Alcoy once you get to Tibi (about kilometre 15 from Alicante) the land turns as green as it comes in the whole province. There are some lovely towns around this zone too.

Re: alicante area??
 

thanks for the info have made a note of all your suggestions.