ALicante, Spain

How to get here

You can get to Alicante by train or by plane from Barcelona airport. I don’t know what the connections are to the other major cities in Spain but this is something you can easily find out on the internet. I travelled with Vueling from Barcelona to Alicante for 44 euros. The flight time was one hour. If you want to travel by train you would look at www.renfe.com . I travelled by train from Alicante to Valencia for 16 euros (two hours).If you come by train, the station is centrally located in the city and you can also walk there. If you come by plane you will take the 6C bus and it will take you to the city. The bus runs between 06.00-23.00. There is no night bus to the airport but you can take a taxi. My flight was 06.30 in the morning and I took a taxi from Alicante to the alicante airport and paid 18 euros.

Getting around the city and out of town

The town is small and you can get around on foot. If you can’t. then there are buses and information can be found on www.alicante.subus.es Bus 22 goes to Sant Joan beach and passes by the main street Rambla Mendez nunez as well as Puerto del Mar square.If you want to get around by tram to another beach or another town ,there are 2 tram stops in the city centre where the Mercado stop and Luceros stop where the trams start. The trams leave every half an hour or so just there are lines that have shared stops and you don’t have to wait half an hour. The train station for your out-of-town commute is next to Plaza de la Estrella and you can also get a ticket from the machines with your card. I’m not sure if the machines accept credit cards.

What to visit

Depending on the time you have, you choose what you want to see. It doesn’t have any very special attractions, however you can visit the

Santa Barbara Castle, De San Ncolas Cathedral and Basilica de Santa Maria if you find them open, Gabriel Miro Square and the mushroom street behind the square, the Explanda de Espana pedestrian street with the nice wavy slabs with its market and the area with the toys for small children, the Playa del Postiguet beach with the very fine sand that can easily get in your eye as it did in mine and wake up with a red eye that you won’t be able to open. Also take a stroll around the marina where it has everything from restaurants to nightclubs. Alicante also has museums ,but I only visited the water museum which is near the Santa Maria Basilica and the entrance is free.

If you are a museum lover you can visit the archaeological museum, Alicante city museum musa, museum of contemporary art of Alicante, Gravina five arts museum,Hogueras museum, Bullfighting Museum, Nativity Museum and Museo Volvo Ocean Race.

To Santa Barbara castle you can go by car there are just not many parking spaces, you can however go on foot following the signs although it is tiring but you have the chance to see the alleys of Alicante. The easiest way to the castle is to pay 2.75 euros and take the lift up which is after the Puerta del mar square and opposite Postiguet beach.The entrance to the castle is free and you can see Alicante from above.

For a drink you can go to the Barrio area in the alleys of the old town near the cathedral. Afterwards you can continue your outing in the shops in the marina of Alicante. For food there is a pedestrian street that is full of restaurants and it is Castanos street .If you want to eat something Greek you will find a Greek restaurant which I did not visit but I saw an advertising poster somewhere on the street.

By train you can take a day trip if you want to Valencia or Murcia in which the only attraction is the cathedral so I didn’t visit it. If you want you can also visit the island of Tabarca for which a boat leaves from Santa Pola.By tram you can get to the town of Benidorm (one and a half hour by tram) and if you want you can continue with the L9 line that goes from Altea and goes to Denia.Just if you want to return to Alicante the same day you have to start early.