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 Alicante is the centre of the Costa Blanca region, situated on a bay between two capes. Most popular for tourists between May and October when the weather can be guaranteed to be sunny and hot with temperatures often touching 40 degrees. The town is one of the fastest growing in spain and is Valencia's second largest. It is a real town in every sense and whilst its economy today is based around tourism, it exports wine, olives and fruit and has its industries such as leather, pottery and food-processing, the central district is filled with Baroque building bearing testimony to the days when it was a busy seaport.
Today, with its boulevard, palm tree and abundance of shopping streets, Alicante has got to be one of the most well known towns along the Costa Blanca.  View live webcam of Alicante
Alicante's El Altel airport, 10km southwest of the town, gateway to the Costa Blanca, is served by charter flights from all over the world and makes Alicante the starting point for thousands of tourists every year. The Esplanada de Espana, (view live webcam of the Esplanada) the main pedestrian walkway, is an elegant palm tree shaded mosaic boulevard which makes its way around the harbour with many shops, cafes and ice-cream parlours. Try the unusual local drink, Horchata, made with almonds. From the Esplanada de Espana is an elevator which rises up through the bowels of Mount Benacantil to the 16th Century Castillo de Santa Barbara, an impressive castle originally built in 400BC by the Cathaginians but later used by the Romans and Moors. The fortress is massive with drawbridges, moats, stone passageways, hidden tunnels, a real dungeon and a wonderful garden filled with work by Spanish master sculptors called the Colleccion Capa. From the top of the castle you are greeted by fantastic sweeping views of the bay and city.  Alicante Car Hire in Association with In-CostaBlanca and CarTrawler.com
Alicante offers countless sightseeng attractions from cathedrals to churches. Northwest of the Esplanada towards the centre of the city you'll see the Cathedral de San Nicolas and around it the narrow streets of El Barrio, or the old quarter as its known. From the harbour, along a wide sandy beach stretching all the way to San Juan. As a change from the beaches, a visit to Elche is highly recommended, a valuable ecological area, just 19km inland west of Alicante and is Europe's only palm forest. With its many parks and gardens, the Parque Municipal is the most popular with the Hort del Cura being the most beautifull. Just a short drive on the Elche to Santa Pola road is the Rio Safari Park with many animals, water slides and dolphin displays. View image gallery of Alicante Also worth a visit is Isla Tabarca (Tabarca Island) which lies 10 miles south of Alicante and can be reached in one hour by ferry from the dock in Esplanada de Espana. It is increasingly becoming popular as a day trip destination with its quiet fishing village, fort and reasonably priced fresh seafood restaurants.
Further reading Articles on AlicanteAlicante Is More Than Merely A Runway
by: Michael Hanna Alicante is perhaps best known as the gateway to the Costa Blanca, famed more for its airport than for the tourist trapping provided by more familiar neighbours, Benidorm and Denia. Most visitors to Alicante use the town as an arrival and departure point, not stopping long enough to see what the area has to offer. But whilst the bright lights of the aforementioned neighbours beckon for most, Alicante is beginning to garner a reputation for having more to offer than the biggest airport for charter flights in Spain. Alicante offers a more subtle break in the Costa Blanca. The beaches and coastal attractions remains constant in the region, but the area is slightly more laid back than its’ noisy neighbour. Alicante has moved upmarket in recent years with a multitude of exclusive restaurants and bars popping up around the marina and commercial port area. The boulevard meanders pleasantly past the marina and beachfront area which merges into the charming Old Quarter. From a pleasant base in Alicante, Costa Blanca offers much to the more discerning tourist. The church at Altea is renowned and presents one of the most enduring and symbolic sights in the Costa Blanca. The regions old towns are typically a mix of traditional Christian and Moorish architecture with narrow, cobbled streets and plazas offering a pleasant atmosphere to while away the hours ( http://www.costablanca.org ) Further South lie Murcia and Valencia – a thriving modern city which has benefited from regeneration in recent years. Valencia is a cosmopolitan city which juxtaposes the traditional and modern features of Spain in miniature form. Alicante provides the ideal base for exploration of the region. The town offers a fine tourism infrastructure itself but the best way to explore the Costa Blanca is by self drive. There are several options for those willing to travel out with Alicante to discover the Costa Blanca on their own terms. The reliable train service meanders up and down the coast, taking in Altea and Denia as well as the bright lights of Benidorm. For a more authentic experience, hire cars are readily available. Driving in the region has much to offer with pleasant coastal roads allowing you to explore on your own terms. The roads are generally safe, but some of the more mountainous areas should be traversed with some additional caution. When you have clocked up the miles and soaked in all that the region has to offer, Alicante provides a relaxed and pleasant base to unwind in. Unless you fancy a night on the town amid the bright lights of Benidorm, that is…. Copyright 2006 Michael Hanna | About The Author | Michael Hanna is a keen writer, and internet marketer living in Scotland: Contact details: E-mail:
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This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , Phone: 0131 561 2251 Michael's Website: Gransha Taxis | Alicante Alicante is a historic Mediterranean port city situated in the southern part of the Land of Valencia, in Spain. Uniquely located between the sea and the mountains, the city, it is both a commercial town and a popular tourist destination in Spain. In administrative terms, Alicante is the headquarters of the province of Alicante. It is also the second biggest Valencian city, which is home to over 0.3 million people.
If to browse through the pages of Spanish history, it becomes evident that Alicante has had inhabitants since at least 7000 years back. Its early inhabitants were the hunter gatherers who moved down from Central Europe to the Spanish terrains between 5000 and 3000 BC. Greek and Phoenician traders followed suit in 1000 BC. But, the events that had permanently altered the destiny of Alicante came not before the 6th century BC, when the region started to figure in the territorial expansion plans of the two powerful conflicting armies of that time - the Carthage and Rome. In fact, that was a period that had impacted virtually every traditional settlement of the early Europe. Not many parts of Europe had escaped the Roman invasion in those times, and the destiny of Alicante was also no different from theirs.
After the decline of the Romans in the 5th century, Alicante passed hands quite a number of times, came under the war lord Teodmiro, and had a brief period of Arab occupation, before it eventually fell under the rule of the Castellan king Alfonso X in 1246. However, that was not to end the cycle of wars and conquests – which was a common phenomenon in the medieval Europe – Alicante has to withstand as it took another three more centuries to settle down as a major trading station in the continent. Historians consider this 15th century period as the golden age of Alicante. But, as it is said that there is every low for every high, the city went through another low in the 18th and 19th centuries owing to different political reasons. But the end of the 19th century saw a vast revival of fortunes for Alicante and the city slowly clawed its way back to prosperity, thanks to international trade and a new world order (Spain was a neutral nation during the World War I).
The present day economy of Alicante is mostly based on tourism, wine production and export, and a thriving service industry. In terms of tourism, Alicante has some of the best beaches in the world, and its heritage is something that is unmatched in the whole of Europe. The major attractions in and around the city include the "Castillo de Santa Barbara", City Hall Building, Paseo de la Explanada, Concatedral de San Nicolás de Bari and other cathedrals from the medieval periods, Palacio Gravina, Museo Municipal Casa de la Asegurada, and its many beaches - La Playa de San Juan, La Albufereta, and El Saladar and Los Judios, to name a few. Bonfires of Saint John and Moros y Cristianos are the two festivals characteristic of Alicante that are must-see events.
Alicante airport has connections to all parts of Spain and Europe. Alicante also has a bus station and a central train station that offers daily connections to Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and Seville. Bus services cover virtually every part of Spain. To know more about Alicante, visit the city page.
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