Calpe, Benissa and Moraira villas at the Costa Blanca

There is almost no better place to rent a villa on the Costa Blanca than between Calpe, Benissa and Moraira. All year long, it is green, and still there is not a lot of rain. This is caused by a so called “micro-climate”. The area is moist and so the vegetation gets it so needed water and the plants are not dehydrated.

The road from Calpe to Moraira is a lovely drive (if you are on a holiday…) with many curves and places to enjoy the beautiful views to the Mediterranean. It is also nice to visit one of the many “calas” small beaches from sand or pebbles and many nice rock-formations where you can enjoy the sun in all privacy.



On some of the beaches, like in Cala Baladrar, there are nice little bars where you can relax and take a nice cool beer or ice-cream, or some of the typical Spanish “tapas”. If you look down to the south, you will have a great view to the “peñon de ifach”, the mighty rock that divides Calpe´s two beaches.



If you take the road from the coast to the inland, you will get to Benissa. Most of the properties on this coastal strip are on the land of the Benissa town hall. The landscape is enchanting with hills and valleys, olive trees and orange trees, and some times, as you turn the corner, the magnificent sea-view will just take your breath away.

In Benissa you will find supermarkets with everything you need to fill your refrigerator to the top with Spanish and good old “imported” groceries from the UK and the rest of Europe. Of course you cannot have been in the Costa Blanca without having tried to make your own Paella. Many of these villas have a set to make home-made Paella. If you are not into fish you can use the barbeque and grill until late at night as the climate in this area allows you to stay outside by the pool till late, late, late….

If you move up on the coastal road you will get to the town of Moraira. This cosy little fisher town offers you very nice restaurants and bars. Especially one of the ice saloons near the harbour offers you fantastic fresh home made Italian ice-cream. Near the harbour are very nice sandy beaches with lot or space for children to play and where you can hire jetski´s and all kinds of boats.

To be here for one or two weeks will get even the most stressed out person relaxed. The laid-back Spanish atmosphere will affect anyone wanting a nice holiday in a positive way. I hope to see you soon !

Holidays in Benidorm

One of the most favourite destinations in Spain is Benidorm. With hundreds of thousands of visitors enjoying their Costa Blanca Holidays in the summer months and more and more visitors during the winter months.

In the summer Benidorm is filled with life and joy, you can always find something to do at the beach and the large beaches make sure everybody has his or her own spot and if you don´t want to be packed all together you can go to the Levante beach where there is always plenty of place.

The last few years another beach, la cala de Finestrat at the south of Benidorm went to an extremely fast development with lots of new apartments being build, so if you are going to rent an apartment there it could get a little crowded on the small beach. One of the nicest beaches to be is there just around the corner, at the end of the Poniente beach, called la playa de Benidorm.

The great advantage of the Benidorm beach is that in the winter you can even go to the beach while in other parts of Spain it is impossible. The temperature at the beaches of Benidorm is always a few degrees up compared with surrounding beaches, like Calpe, Altea or Villajoyossa. The first reason is because the whole valley in which Benidorm lies has a micro-climate and is already always warmer than the rest of Spain. The other reason is because the beach of Benidorm is very much south facing, and with over 300 high buildings reflecting the sun and blocking cold winds from the north it explains a lot.

The development in the Benidorm area was tremendous over the last few years. A wonderful family-park called Terra Mitica was realized behind Benidorm. It now also holds a Golf course and an outside zoo called Terra Natura. Of course there are the classic attractions like the wonderful water park Aqualandia and the water-ski track at the levante beach.

At night, you will not get bored. Although the town hall made a very big mistake illuminating the enormous Benidorm Boulevard with fluorescent white light, so everybody looks a little bit pale, and the boulevard most of the time is being flocked by elderly Spanish couples in the winter, Benidorm nightlife has many faces. With numerous pubs and bars with entertainment in English it is not very difficult to find yourself at home. If you would like to “taste” the real Spain you can go to the old town where there is a special street where the Spaniards eat there “tapas” every day at about 20:00 you can walk over the heads so many people and such a good atmosphere! If you are young, just shaved off all your hair because all your friends did you might like to go to “the English street” where there are a lot of bars and discos for equally minded. At the beach there are the more classic bars and discos like Penelope and KM.

Renting an apartment is easy, but not very cheap. Buying an apartment in Benidorm is really crazy, because prices have gone up so much…

The Spanish Costa Blanca - A Nature Lovers Paradise

by: Ciara McNamara

If you have chosen the Costa Blanca , Spain for your holiday travel, supposedly it is because it has been recommended to you by someone you trust, you have read about it and seems quite amazing and/or just love being in contact with nature, the natural environment that it offers, relaxation and fresh air. Wow! What a fantastic combination if you can get all that together. Just take out your map of the Iberian Peninsula which will show you Spain and Portugal, go to the Mediterranean Sea and look for Alicante. Now go down the coast to the south and find the villa of Pilar del Honradada, now start running your finger up to Torrevieja, going through Alicante city, to Benidorm, Altea, Calpe, Moraira and Javea with the last point in Denia. Well, all of this is yours to explore when you say that you want some Costa Blanca holidays.
Now that you have an idea of what villas you can visit, let’s start making plans. Firstly, the majority of the people choose summer for their vacation time, which is great, but you will need to book your flight in advance. There are a lot of scheduled economy flights when flying in from another European destination. England is one of the countries which has the most amount of flights in as much as frequency year round, airport availability with a lot of open timetables and very low prices. Between Alicante and Valencia, both serving the Costa Blanca as they are almost the same distance away, your travel options will be plentiful. As far as getting around, if your budget permits, a rent a car would be quite nice, if not, then there are many buses, trains or taxis making trips to and from the airports and major bus and train stations, connecting all the villas along the Costa Blanca.
Nature Calls
Tradition, culture and landmarks is what differentiates one place from another even though they are neighbouring towns. Javea for example shares with Denia the Natural Park of Montgo, a solid massif right on the coastal line. Just the fact that the side facing the sea acts as a huge windsheild, blocking the marine winds and humidity, it does not have the same vegetation as the west side which is treated with warmer and drier breezes. Therefore, in order to appreciate the more than 600 different kinds of flora, you must make a complete circle round it. On doing this, you will also come across different fauna like the yellowed-legged seagull, eagles and royal owls. If that were not enough, there are also archaeological remains which are under study and that is probably one of the main reasons for this area to have been declared a World Heritage. But
Javea is also curious because it has kept up many of its original tradition like the ball game, similiar to tennis but played in a very primitive way. There are no courts, just the streets, the ball is made with cloth, compactly held together with string and more cloth, their hands are used as paddles and the spectators are the judges or referees. At the weekends there are usually a few games going on so feel free to sit on the curb and participate. And if that is not thrilling enough, then plan your holiday when Javea is celebrating its patron saint in the summer. This is usually a week long festivity which includes bullfighting in the streets.

After this stay, it would be relaxing to just lay around on the beaches in Moraira or Calpe, sip some sangria made with good Spanish wine and feast out on fresh seafood, most of which you have never seen so close up or have probably ever tried. In Calpe, there is another treat for the nature lover’s- the Rock of Ifach, a small roky peninsula joined to land by an isthmus right in front of Calpe. Among the fauna you will see cormorants and hawks of all kinds and of course a completely different vegetation from other areas. The sea in Calpe is usually crystal clear, letting you see red corral, sea sponges and the sea anemone. Now onto Altea, an old fishing village which has grown considerably thanks to the amount of tourists and foreigners looking for a second residence. The villa of Altea is surrounded by various mountain ranges making the general view from almost anywhere nearby a special combination of a mountain backdrop and the sea. The waters are usually quite calm although the beaches are pebbly. They have a nice festive air when celebrating their Moorish tradition in April, a great firework display in early July and the local honouring of their patron Saint Ann in August. Cannot ever be bored there!
Other Kinds of Fun Parks around the Costa Blanca.

Now your travel has taken you to Benidorm, which if we stretch our Spanish into English, it could mean ‘sleep well’. As that is what you will probably do after a long day of boat rides, skiing classes or theme park activities. You can go on all kinds of thrilling and daring rides, be they on dry land or going down long watershoots or hang out with the wildlife and then go for a splash in the same park or prfer completely dry land and smell the aromas in an area filled with exotic plants and birds. Alicante is just a stone’s throw away from Benidorm ( http://www.alicante-spain.com/benidorm.html ), and this city is where you can get a good dose of Spanish culture with its innumerous museums, cathedrals and castles. If you choose late June, you eyes will be amazed with when seeing the huge carton figures that are set up in the streets, beautiful girls elegantly dressed in the typical Alicantinian dresses and the partying in the streets until late hours of the night. ut then again, you can change atmospheres and sprawl out on the beaches in Torrevieja before ending you wonderful holiday in the Costa Blanca.

How to gather information on hotels and companies

If you want to compare hotels, oraganisations, travelagents etc. the internet is the ultimate place to start your investigation. You can find various sites with information about hotels and experiences from other travellers. I would like to suggest you take a look on http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk. Tis site contains very valuble informations for travellers and has a Costa Blanca discussion Forum. You can access the forum directly using this link: http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=5 . Also the section used to compare hotels and reviews is fantastic.

Another tip is just simple type the name of the organisation or hotel in Google or any other search engine followed by one the following words: reviews, comments, stories or complaints. Here you will get direct access to peoples comments on the service of the company or hotel to prevent yourself from a disappointment on your Costa Blanca Holidays.

Cheers,

Tjeerd.

Holidays in Altea

Many of you will one day have the wish to live in Spain. Than the choices are many, do you want to live near the coast or inlands, more to the south or at the Costa Brava. Many choices are coming towards you and the whole thing is not getting any easier. Do you want to live in a place with a lot of Brits or do you prefer the silence of the Spanish inlands?
For the people who want it all there is Altea. Although the few among us who really want to live somewhere in the inlands, far away from the civilized world and internet connections we will not be able to help.

Altea is a real Spanish fisher village with a small harbor and a all-overlooking church on a small hill near the sea. It was build there together with the village because on this hill there is always a very nice and refreshing current coming from the sea, and air-conditioning was only invented a couple of years ago....

in Altea you will find a lot of nice places to visit also during the winter season, all the restaurants are open and at the boulevard there is always something going on. Unlike many other parts of Spain or even the Costa Blanca which are more quiet in the winter season.

Of course in Benidorm there is always something to do but that is more for the elderly people (and then I mean really old) In Altea, or La Nucia or L´Alfaz del Pi you can also come for the winter season. If you want to rent a place there are lots of websites ofering large collections of holiday villas and apartments; you can rent at a weekly base but also on a monthly base.

Normally you can rent an apartment or a villa in the winter for a month for the same price you rent it in the summer for a week!! If you are planning on buying a property it is the best way to do it because there is a lot of property on the market and you don’t want to make any mistakes. Buying a property is somthing else as buying a piece of bread or a cup of coffee!! You cannot do this in a week time ! I also advice everybody to not mix holidays with buying a property, it will ruin your holiday and in the end it will leave you with not enough time to look at properties.

At the big hill called the "Sierra Bernia"; near Altea there are a few very nice urbanizations like Altea Hills or Sierra de Altea and Don Cayo which holds its own 9 holes golf course. From this mountain and these urbanizations the views to Altea and the further to the north village Alfaz del Pi are breathtaking.

In the old town at the village you find this typical Spanish small streets where you can find very nice cousy restaurants and bars. In the summer it is really busy at the square in front of the church which has been converted into one big terrace.

Take my advice: Don´t go back!

Tjeerd Geerts is living in Altea at the Spanish Costa Blanca and is the managing director of the Inmolink Multiple Listing System (MLS) and an expert on Costa Blanca Property and Costa Blanca Holidays.