Alicante, Spain

[sheffer]

Crowne Princess ports in Alicante, Spain in May 2010. Heard it's a great place for paella. Any information about Alicante, Spain will be appreciated.

[DEL67]

We were there a few years ago while on the fall Brilliance transatlantic. My husband was in a wheelchair so we could not to take a tour and I could not find a private tour so we just stayed around the city where little was happening. It was November and I believe that Alicante is mostly a summer resort.

 

There was a free shuttle from the ship to the end of the pier. We first tried to find tourist information booth. We did and it was closed. Then we started to walk to a musuem. At one point we asked someone for directions only to find out the museum was closed for renovation.

 

We then took a taxi up a steep hill to a fort which provided great views of the town and surrounding areas. Since I had researched the town, I knew that the fort was also accessible by an elevator so we decided to try to take that. We did and found ourselves in a park at the foot of the hill, about a 5 minute walk from the shuttle bus. At that point it had started to rain so we just went back to the ship.

[English_in_Spain]

Crowne Princess ports in Alicante, Spain in May 2010. Heard it's a great place for paella. Any information about Alicante, Spain will be appreciated.

 

I live in Alicante. What day of the week will you be here? What time do you arrive and depart? What sort of thing do you like to do?

 

I will help if I can

[sheffer]

Dear English in Spain, We will be in Alicante on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 from 9AM-6PM. We loved paella valenciana in Barcelona and wanted to try it in Alicante. Is Restaurant Darsena as good as it is rated on the internet? We like to shop in small stores and basically take in the local atmosphere. Can we walk from the port to shops and restaurants? What is the weather like in May and is it rainy? Your input is greatly appreciated.

[Woobieg]

Is the terrain in Alicante flat and walkable or steep and difficult to navigate? What would be a good souvenier?

[English_in_Spain]

Alicante is not really a ‘tourist’ town like Barcelona but there are a few nice things to see and do in the area.

ALICANTE

There is a castle called Castle Santa Barbara. This is a 13th century castle on a hilltop over 500 feet above Alicante. There is not a great deal to do there but it is worth going if only for the magnificent views. There is an elevator not far from the port which costs €2.40. Otherwise there is no entrance fee.

Back down at sea level you can take a walk along the nearby Explanada de España.This palm tree lined promenade is composed of 6.6 million colourful marble tiles and is a lovely walk.

If you are interested, there is MARQ (Alicante's Archaeological Museum). A couple of years ago it won an award for Best European Museum. I must confess I have not been there but keep meaning to. This Museum is closed on a Monday.

For those that like to shop, there are some nice shops within walking distance of the port. These are not tourist shops. If you want more details let me know.

You can get more information on Alicante from this website

http://www.alicanteturismo.com

with a street map here

http://www.alicanteturismo.com/generales/callejero.asp

On this map, underneath the copyright in the bottom right hand corner, you will see a strip of land going out to sea. The cruise terminal is down there. How far it is depends on where your ship docks. Smaller ships dock within walking distance of the port gates but for larger ships there will be a shuttle bus.

GUADALEST

Guadalest is a village up in the mountains about 65km (40 miles) north of Alicante about one and half hours drive. The drive there depends on which route the driver takes. It is possible to get there by a fairly direct, not very interesting, main road. There is also a more scenic route.

If you decide to go to Guadalest, I would recommend taking the ship’s tour. There is a company that does private tours. I do not have any experience of them and I think they look rather expensive. Here is a link to their web page

http://www.privateshoretrips.com/alicante.html

Guadalest is one of the first places we take people who come to stay with us. Apart from being very scenic there are a couple of very interesting small museums there.

You can get more information about Guadalest here

http://www.guadalest.eu/

One thing I would ask the shore excursions people on the ship is how many people will be on the ship’s tours. The reason I say this is that Guadalest gets very crowded in summer and if you add to that several buses from a large cruise ship it might spoil the enjoyment. Having said this, I am sure that is true of many places we all visit while on our cruises.

ELCHE

The town of Elche is about 25 km (15 miles) from Alicante. It is known as “The Palm Forest of Europe”.

There you can visit the Huerto del Cura(Priest's Garden).The garden features a large variety of palm trees and cactuses as well as other typical Mediterranean species, such as lemon and orange trees, pomegranate trees, carob trees and jujube trees along with other subtropical species gathered throughout the years to create a stunning collection of plants from the most unexpected places. The garden’s focal point is the magnificent eight trunked ‘Imperial Palm’ .

The entrance fee to the garden is €5.

You can get a taxi at the port to go to Elche. I am not sure how much it would cost as I have never had to use the taxi. You can always ask the taxi driver.

To return, the best place to get a taxi is at the Hotel Huerto del Cura which is opposite the gardens.

If you have time in Elche there are other interesting things to do including a visit to the Municipal Park.

More information about Elche here

http://www.turismedelx.com/en/

BEACHES

There are some wonderful beaches in the area. There is one right by the exit from the port (behind the Melia Hotel) but that will probably be very crowded.

There are other (in my opinion better) beaches nearby. If you are interested in this let me know and I will let you have details.

If you have any questions on Alicante and the surrounding area please let me know and I will try to answer them.

[English_in_Spain]

Dear English in Spain, We will be in Alicante on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 from 9AM-6PM. We loved paella valenciana in Barcelona and wanted to try it in Alicante. Is Restaurant Darsena as good as it is rated on the internet? We like to shop in small stores and basically take in the local atmosphere. Can we walk from the port to shops and restaurants? What is the weather like in May and is it rainy? Your input is greatly appreciated.

Yes, Paella is a traditional dish here in Alicante. To get the best selection you need to look for a restaurant which says "Arroceria". This means it specialises in rice dishes. I know of the Restaurant Darsena but I have never eaten there. It is in a very nice situation and near the entrance to the port. It will probably be very crowded as there is a cruise ship in port. It is difficult for me to recommend a restaurant as we rarely eat in Alicante itself. We tend to eat outside of town. When we do eat in the town we tend to eat in Corte Ingles restaurant (in the department store) but this is probably not what you would be looking for.

With regard to the weather in May. That is difficult to answer. It won't be extremely hot and it certainly won't be cold. But will it rain? If I could predict that I could make myself lots of money :D:D. May is one of our wetter months (with November) but some years we have no rain at all.

[Martita B.]

Thank you so much for the great information!

We'll be sailing from Rome to Malaga in Oct. Will call on Alicante on Oct. 28th ~~ I've been in the Canaries in Oct. but never Spain. Will it be cool? A sweater or jacket needed?

Thank you again ~~

Martita B.

[English_in_Spain]

Is the terrain in Alicante flat and walkable or steep and difficult to navigate? What would be a good souvenier?

 

It is a fairly flat walk from the port into own or around the Marina. It is a steep climb up to the castle and the MARQ museum.

 

A good souvenir - there is a local sweet call Turron. It is like nougat. You could buy that. As I said Alicante is not really a town that caters for tourists.

 

If you go to Guadalest you can buy some very nice decorated plates or dishes in the shops there.

[English_in_Spain]

Thank you so much for the great information!

We'll be sailing from Rome to Malaga in Oct. Will call on Alicante on Oct. 28th ~~ I've been in the Canaries in Oct. but never Spain. Will it be cool? A sweater or jacket needed?

 

Thank you again ~~

Martita B.

 

At the end of October you may need a light sweater or jacket. As I said before the weather is very difficult to predict. It tends to be cooler at night in October so you will probably need a jacket on deck in the evenings.

Some years we can sit on our patio during the day in December with just a short sleeved top other times we are in the house with the heating on.

The only time of year we can really predict our weather is July and August. It is always very hot and rain is almost unheard of. In fact today it is raining here for the first time since the beginning of June.

[sheffer]

Dear English in Spain, Thank you so much for your in depth responses. We really appreciate it and will make use of your information. Muchos gratias.

[Martita B.]

Mucho gracias as well ~~~

We embark in Rome 3rd week of Oct. so I'll plan to take a few sweaters for evenings. We sail down the Spanish Coast to Malaga....embark the next day for the Transatlantic Crossing to Ft Lauderdale.

I look forward to being in Spain again.....such a gorgeous and friendly country!

Thanks again

MB

[Woobieg]

Dear English in Spain, the info you sent is perfect. We'll be there in May 2010. Dying for Paella.

[Kane]

Is the terrain in Alicante flat and walkable or steep and difficult to navigate? What would be a good souvenier?

 

We were there a couple of years ago and the view from the castle is excellent, as is the promenade.

 

The tip: We paid for the elevator ride, but a couple of our friends went later and, when about to board the elevator were queried: "Pensioner???". It appears seniors are free because they did not have to pay.