The Costa Blanca is the coast of the province of Alicante, and it changes character every few kilometres. Alicante, the capital, has a castle on a rock above the city beach and the boats to Tabarca, Spain's first marine reserve. Elche, just inland, is woven through with a palm grove on UNESCO's list. North of Alicante come the coloured houses and chocolate of La Vila Joiosa, the towers of Benidorm and the white old town of Altea.
Further north, the Marina Alta is steeper and greener: the Penyal d'Ifac rising out of the sea at Calp, the coves and capes of Xàbia, and Dénia below its castle and the Montgó. A short drive inland, the mountain villages begin, with Guadalest on its rock and the Algar falls near Callosa d'en Sarrià.
Ride a lift up through the rock behind Postiguet beach to the castle that crowns Alicante, then walk down into the old quarter.
What it is
Santa Bárbara castle crowns Mount Benacantil, the rock that rises straight behind Postiguet beach in the centre of Alicante. The lift climbs through the mountain from its entrance opposite the beach, on Avenida Juan Bautista Lafora.
How to do it
The lift costs €2.70, free for pensioners with proof, and the castle recommends buying lift tickets online. Ride up, then walk down through the Parque de La Ereta into the old Santa Cruz quarter. A council shuttle bus (€1.45) also runs up from Plaza Puerta del Mar via the MARQ.
Good to know
Castle and lift share their hours: 10:00 to 20:00 in spring and autumn, until 23:00 from 17 June to 4 September and until 18:00 from mid November to late February, with last entry 40 minutes before closing. The castle closes on 24 June and in strong wind.
Take the boat to Tabarca, Spain's first marine reserve
Tabarca island (boats from Alicante port and Santa Pola)
A full day from AlicanteBook ahead
A flat, walled islet off Alicante whose waters became Spain's first marine reserve, with a fish-rice lunch after the swim.
What it is
Tabarca is about 1,800 metres long, eleven nautical miles off Alicante, and its waters became a marine reserve in 1986, with seagrass meadows in very good condition. The town was walled in the 18th century under Carlos III for Genoese fishing families, and its walls are a protected monument; the free Museo Nueva Tabarca, open Wednesday to Sunday, tells that story. Lunch is caldero, the island's fish rice.
How to do it
Boats leave Alicante port, about an hour each way, with several operators; Santa Pola, closer to the island, has its own boats, and some Benidorm operators sail there too. Swim off the beach or snorkel with a buoy.
Good to know
Lifeguards work on the beach from 15 June to 15 September. Never touch or feed the fish. Scuba diving in the reserve is regulated, so go with a dive centre.
See the Hogueras de San Juan burn in Alicante in June
Alicante (Plaza de los Luceros and the city's districts)
20 to 24 JuneFree
Wood-and-paint monuments rise across Alicante, a daily mascletà shakes the square, and at midnight on 24 June they all burn.
What it is
Alicante's own fire festival, the Hogueras de San Juan, runs from 20 to 24 June and is a Fiesta of International Tourist Interest. It opens on 20 June with the plantà, when the hogueras, monuments of wood and painted figures, go up in squares and streets across the city's districts. The climax is the Nit de la Cremà at midnight on 24 June, when every monument is set alight.
How to do it
Every day at 14:00 a mascletà, a barrage of firecrackers you feel in your chest, goes off in the Plaza de los Luceros; get there early for a place. From 25 to 29 June, a fireworks contest lights up the beach by the Postiguet. Watching costs nothing.
Good to know
Beds fill early. Santa Bárbara castle and its lift close on 24 June.
Walk Elche's UNESCO Palm Grove through the Huerto del Cura
Elche (Huerto del Cura, Calle Porta de la Morera 49)
Half a day from AlicanteNo booking needed
A UNESCO grove of date palms running through the city itself, entered by a garden with a many-armed Imperial Palm.
What it is
Elche's Palm Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000, is a patchwork of orchards of date palms. The Huerto del Cura is a private garden declared a Jardín Artístico Nacional in 1943, home to the Palmera Imperial. The Misteri d'Elx, the sung 15th-century drama of the Virgin's death and assumption, is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
How to do it
The Huerto del Cura is at Calle Porta de la Morera 49: €6.80 for adults in 2026 and €3.80 for children aged 5 to 15. Look for the Palmera Imperial, then walk the public palm parks nearby. Come in mid August for the Misteri: performances on 14 and 15 August in the Basilica of Santa María, with rehearsals from 11 to 13 August.
Good to know
It opens every day from 10:00 and closes at a different time each month, around dusk, with tickets sold until 30 minutes before closing.
Time needed
Half a day from Alicante
Best time
Any morning; 14 and 15 August for the Misteri d'Elx
Climb to the castle of Guadalest above its turquoise reservoir
El Castell de Guadalest
Half a dayNo booking needed
A village entered through a passage cut in the rock, with a castle keep above and a green-blue reservoir below.
What it is
El Castell de Guadalest is a village of under 300 people at 587 metres, in a valley ringed by the Aitana, Serrella and Aixortà ranges, inland from Benidorm. Its castle of Sant Josep was begun in the 11th century on the rock above the houses. What stands today, chiefly the keep, came through an earthquake in 1644 that split off part of the rock and a mine explosion that destroyed the west wing in 1708, during the War of the Spanish Succession. The village is full of small museums, from microminiatures to salt and pepper pots.
How to do it
Drive up the CV-70 from Benidorm or the CV-755 from Altea, or take a Llorente Bus coach. Enter the old village through the rock passage.
Swim in the pools of the Algar falls near Callosa d'en Sarrià
Callosa d'en Sarrià (Les Fonts de l'Algar)
Half a day; up to 4 hours in summer sessionsBook ahead
Swim in natural pools under the waterfalls of the Algar river, on a path of springs and falls about 1.5 km long.
What it is
Les Fonts de l'Algar is a protected wetland outside Callosa d'en Sarrià, with springs, waterfalls and natural pools, the tolls. Swimming is allowed: lifeguards cover Easter and the summer season, and outside those periods you bathe at your own risk.
How to do it
Buy tickets online at least a day ahead: the online shop sells nothing for the same day, and the ticket office sells only until the site is full. From 1 July to 31 August visits run in three sessions, 9:00 to 13:00, 13:00 to 16:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, and you must leave by the end of yours, so arrive at its start. Free parking is 700 metres from the entrance.
Good to know
Bring water shoes. Food stays in the picnic area at the top, alcohol and glass are banned, and pets are barred from 15 June to 15 September.
Time needed
Half a day; up to 4 hours in summer sessions
Best time
June or September; in July and August, the 9:00 session
Climb Altea's white old town to its blue-domed church
Altea (old town and Plaza de la Iglesia)
2 to 3 hoursFree
Whitewashed lanes and steps climb a small hill above the sea to a church whose blue-tiled domes appear in nearly every picture of Altea.
What it is
Altea's old town sits between Benidorm and Calp, its lanes full of craft shops and restaurants that all lead up to the Plaza de la Iglesia. The parish of Nuestra Señora del Consuelo goes back to the 16th century, but the church is neo-baroque, raised between 1900 and 1910 on a Latin-cross plan, its domes covered in the blue glazed tiles typical of the Valencian coast. Inside, the white walls are picked out in gold.
How to do it
Entry to the church is free. A few metres away, a viewpoint looks out over the bay and the coast. Walk up from the seafront by one lane and come down by another.
Good to know
The hill is small enough that you cannot get lost for long.
Climb a limestone rock that rises 332 metres straight out of the sea, through a tunnel and up a last stretch of fixed ropes.
What it is
The Penyal d'Ifac, at Calp, has been a natural park since 1987. The climb is the Ruta Roja, from the park's information centre through a tunnel in the rock and on to the summit, with a last stretch where ropes are anchored to the stone. From the top the view runs along the Marina Alta coast.
How to do it
Since 2020 the route has been capped at 300 walkers a day. Entry to the park is free, but every walker needs a personal booking on the park's website, open up to ten days ahead: one per person per day, not transferable, and police officers can ask to see it.
Good to know
Calp recommends mountain footwear, clothing for the season and water, and advises against children going on past the tunnel because the path is dangerous.
Walk the cliff path to the Albir lighthouse in the Serra Gelada
L'Alfàs del Pi (from Racó de l'Albir beach, Serra Gelada Natural Park)
About 5 km there and backFree
A paved, car-free path along cliffs more than 300 metres high, past Phoenician ochre mines to a lighthouse.
What it is
The Serra Gelada, a natural park since 2005 shared by Benidorm, l'Alfàs del Pi and Altea, drops into the sea in cliffs. The Camí del Far de l'Albir passes the coves of El Metge and La Mina, ochre mines first dug by the Phoenicians and later worked by the Romans, an old cistern and the Torre Bombarda, and ends at the lighthouse, where an interpretation centre opened in 2011 recreates the keepers' life and the park's plants and wildlife. Benidorm's island and the Mitjana islets belong to the same park.
How to do it
The path runs about 2.5 km each way from Racó de l'Albir beach. It is closed to traffic, fit for wheelchairs and pushchairs and holder of the Sendero Azul award again in 2026.
Good to know
In spring and summer carry water and sun protection and walk early or towards sunset.
Swim at Xàbia's Granadella cove, by tourist train in summer
Xàbia (Cala Granadella and Barraca-Portitxol)
No booking needed
A cove of pebbles and clear water with a Blue Flag every year, reached in summer by a tourist train.
What it is
Xàbia's southern coast is a run of rocky coves, and the Granadella, 160 metres long, is the one everybody wants. The Castell de la Granadella trail starts at the cove car park, and the cove is a favourite with divers. Barraca-Portitxol is the other regulated cove.
How to do it
In 2026 a barrier controlled access daily from 2 June to 13 September (then weekends to 12 October), and the 130-space car park on Carrer Pic Tort charged €9 a day from 9:00 to 19:00, with no reservations; the last stretch of road is closed to cars. From 3 July to 13 September a tourist train runs down from the La Guardia car park, Carrer de la Falzia 4, every hour from 10:00, at €6 return.
Good to know
Plan around the summer rules. Barraca-Portitxol has 59 paid spaces and no public transport.
Best time
June or September, before 9:00 or after 19:00 in high summer
Climb Dénia's castle hill, then order the red prawn
Dénia (castle hill and the port)
Half a dayNo booking needed
Order the red prawn Dénia's boats fish at night, in a UNESCO city of gastronomy, then walk lunch off on the castle hill.
What it is
Dénia, at the foot of the Montgó, has been a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2015, and the gamba roja is its most emblematic product. The chef Quique Dacosta acts as its ambassador, and the Marina Alta hoteliers have run more than a dozen editions of an international creative-cooking competition around it. Remains of Roman Dianium have been found on the castle hill's slopes; the fortress took shape in the 11th and 12th centuries under Islamic rule, the Torre del Consell was added in the 15th, and the Governor's Palace was rebuilt under the Duke of Lerma, Marquis of Dénia, before the War of the Spanish Succession wrecked it.
How to do it
After lunch, climb the castle hill in the centre of town, with views over the town, the sea and the Montgó.
Good to know
The castle opens daily except four public holidays, until midnight from July to mid September.
Tour the Valor chocolate museum and La Vila Joiosa's coloured houses
La Vila Joiosa (Valor chocolate museum and the old town)
Half a dayBook ahead
A chocolate factory you can look down on, a cacao sensory room, and an old town of brightly painted houses.
What it is
La Vila Joiosa lives on two things visitors come for: chocolate and colour. At the Valor factory, the Museo del Chocolate runs 45-minute guided visits through the museum, a cacao sensory room and an audiovisual, with a view over the factory floor, ending in the shop. The old town has been a protected historic ensemble since 2003. In late July, Moros y Cristianos (24 to 31 July) re-enacts a 1538 pirate raid with a landing on the beach.
How to do it
La Vila is about 32 km north of Alicante on TRAM line 1. English tours start at 10:00, 15:00 and 16:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on Saturday, with Spanish ones in between; on Saturdays entry is by online booking only. Then walk the old town.
Good to know
Saturday afternoons, Sundays and holidays the museum is closed. Groups are capped at 50 and there is no parking.
Alicante-Elche airport, between the two cities, is the gateway to the whole coast. Alicante station takes high-speed trains from Madrid, and the TRAM d'Alacant runs north from the city: line 1 follows the coast to Benidorm through El Campello and La Vila Joiosa, and line 9 carries on from Benidorm past Altea and Calp towards Dénia. Line 9 has been renovated stretch by stretch for years, with replacement buses at times, so check the TRAM notices before relying on it.
Getting around
A car is the easy way to Guadalest, the Algar falls, the Granadella cove and the Penyal d'Ifac visitor centre, and the coast road links every town. Without one, the TRAM covers the coast from Alicante to Benidorm and beyond, and buses fill most gaps. In summer, parking is the bottleneck: Xàbia charges €9 a day at the Granadella and Portitxol car parks and closes the road when they fill, and the Algar falls split July and August into three sessions.
How many days
In must30's view, five days cover this list: one in Alicante for the castle and the boat to Tabarca, one for Elche, one inland for Guadalest and the Algar falls, one for Altea and the Albir lighthouse path, and one in the Marina Alta for the Penyal d'Ifac, Xàbia and Dénia. With two bases, split the stay between Alicante and the Marina Alta rather than driving the whole coast every day.
When to go
Winters are mild, and July and August are hot and crowded, when the coves, Tabarca and the Algar falls fill up and the parking rules apply. Spring and autumn suit the walks: the Ifach summit, the Albir lighthouse and Guadalest. The festival dates are fixed: the Hogueras de San Juan in Alicante from 20 to 24 June, Moros y Cristianos in La Vila Joiosa from 24 to 31 July, and the Misteri d'Elx in Elche on 14 and 15 August.
Where to base yourself
Alicante, for the airport, the trains, the TRAM, Tabarca and Elche. Altea, for a quieter base between Benidorm and Calp, a short drive from Guadalest and the Algar falls. Xàbia or Dénia for the Marina Alta's coves, the Montgó and the Penyal d'Ifac, which make a long day trip from Alicante. Benidorm has the most hotel beds and the busiest nights.
Questions travellers ask
Do you need to book the Penyal d'Ifac climb?
Yes. The Ruta Roja, from the visitor centre through the tunnel to the summit, is capped at 300 walkers a day, and every walker needs a free personal booking on the Generalitat's tramita.gva.es portal. Bookings open nine days ahead and run up to the day itself while places remain.
How do you get to Tabarca island?
By boat. Several operators sail from Alicante port, about an hour each way, and boats also leave Santa Pola, which is closer to the island; some Benidorm operators run trips too. Book a return in summer, and check the timetable for the last boat back.
Can you see the Costa Blanca without a car?
Partly. The TRAM links Alicante with El Campello, La Vila Joiosa and Benidorm, and buses reach Elche and Guadalest. The Algar falls, the Ifach visitor centre and the Xàbia coves are much easier by car, although Xàbia runs a summer tourist train down to the Granadella cove.
When is the best time to visit the Costa Blanca?
May, June, September and October give warm sea water without the August crowds and parking limits. Winter is mild and good for walking, but some boat trips and beach services run only in season. Time a trip for the Hogueras in late June if you want Alicante at its loudest.
Is Elche worth a trip from Alicante?
Yes, for half a day. The Palm Grove is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the Huerto del Cura garden shows it at its best. In mid August, the Misteri d'Elx, a sung medieval drama on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, fills the Basilica of Santa María.
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