Barriej

Completely agree, but is it not the general idea of a holiday to somewhere different, that it gives the opportunity to actually do something different?
Maybe thats my problem, I treat each new place as if its new and seek out the different to home. As a family we have never been interested in all inclusive or even hotels, preferring self catering every time (ok once but my daughter worked for First Choice and we had a holiday including the flight and all inclusive for a week for £35.00 each in 2014).
Suppose spending so much time away for work in hotels tends to sour that after a while.

Best Calzone for me was in Rimini and strangely enough with the same work mate I met up with today.
Although Rimini itself is not (in my view) a very nice place.

Moses2013

You are right with the general idea, in reality a lot of people who go to certain parts of Spain just go for sun. If it was really about culture and a different experience, they could have gone to Pontevedra (although 20c and sunny there today). Globalization also makes it more difficult and I must admit that when I drive through France, I have stopped at the M because the staff are friendly and polite. You stick your card in the machine, it answers in English and you get a Thank you. Joking aside, it's really more convenience than anything else when you want to get through France as quickly as possible and need a coffee. On a Sunday you either have that option or some petrol station that only has vending machines with coffee that's even more bland.

mikelincs

Albir and Altea, just outside of Benidorm, far enough away to not have the usual influx of Brit tourists but still with a bus service to Benidorm for occasional visits and very nice, yes some Brit Expats but nowhere near as many as Benidorm.

Moses2013

Nice promenade but again the issue with light pollution. Detached homes are no longer that cheap ether it seems, so they'd probably have to go further out.
Relleu would be Ok it seems

Richielisa

agreed Rosemary. Thankyou for your input!

SanNico

I've never been to that area but I would suggest sticking with your initial thought. You probably chose it due to proximity to the things you need. In most cases it's proximity to a decent airport, beaches and countryside. I know a lot of people say Valencia airport is not the best, but for me it's perfect. Small enough to get through security in 5 minutes and well serviced enough to take me to the places I choose to visit.

Opinion

Valencia airport is fantastic. Burger King, very efficient, very clean and the Metro station takes you into the city in 15 minutes.

SanNico

I agree. I prefer smaller airports for this reason. Burger King closed during the pandemic although it may return when they finish the refurb. The only problems I've had are with the rip off car park for same day return flights and the new passport scanners for non-EU travel but it was the first week of operation so maybe they've fixed it now.

Opinion

I'm not living in the city at the moment but it was such an easy journey. Stansted Airport to Valencia, fly through security, escalator in the airport straight down to the Metro, cheap and frequent and straight into the city, from landing to my front door was usually less than 30 minutes. I've never used the car park so can't comment on that, but the scanners have always been fine for me.

Richielisa

Brilliant!

Albir_Tom

Sorry at first glance of the original post I thought the OP meant the Valencia province itself and not the whole Valencia region,

So many places to choose from, everybody’s opinions differ, if money isn’t an issue when buying then for me it’s Calpe, Moraira, Javea.

Guardamar del segura was definitely one of the best places I have lived on the coast, I lived in punta prima didn’t really like it there much, lived near Quesada too many expats for my liking but you do get more for your money down those ways.

I lived in Albir and Altea, ended up hating Albir but Altea is lovely but also expensive, I lived in Benidorm and that became too much for me seeing drunk people day in day out.

Denia, Pedreguer, Ondara, Oliva, Benissa upto Gandía are lovely places too.

Mutxamel is a great little town along with San Juan and El Campello.

In any case I would just suggest spending a year maybe even 18 months renting in different places and see where you fall in love with the most.

Richielisa

Thanks. Thats one heel of a list! :-) I will be looking at all of them mate!

Opinion

Keep this thread updated, would be very interested to follow for me personally.

Richielisa

will do

Albir_Tom

Also if you intend on driving in Spain then it’s definitely worth looking a little further back from the coast.

Callosa den sarria, polop, la nucia, finestrat can still be a little expensive but lovely places

further down you have busot, agost, creviellent, hondon de los frailes and nieves going down to catral, dolores, san fulgencio, la marina urb, Rojales, algorfa and los Montesinos, all these places you can buy for very cheap, have great weather and a cheap cost of living, expat communities and Spanish people mixed in abundance.

A little gem of a town on the Costa Blanca is Algorfa, so so cheap to buy and kept so clean and the mayor really looks after the town and everyone in it, situated right next to the la finca golf resort. Very good place to check out.

If you want really Spanish places you would need to go more towards Valencia city itself and if you want more luxury then I would definitely recommend Javea and around that area.

Hope you find your dream home