The Historic Port - Alicante tourism attractions

Alicante Tourist Information and Tourism

 

As the capital of Alicante Province and Valencia's second largest town, Alicante is located in the southern part of Spain by the Mediterranean Sea. With a history of 3000 years, it is a city worth exploring its past and the present.

There are a lot of Alicante tourism attractions you can visit.

Archaeological Museum of Alicante

It is a museum built in 1932 and situated at at Plaza del Doctor Gómez Ulla. You can find around 8,000 pieces of archaeological findings here which display Alicante’s history from the Stone Age to the medieval times.

Castle of Santa Bárbara

One of the most visited attractions in Alicante is Castle of Santa Bárbara which stands on the Mount Benacantil at a height of 166 m. It is one of the oldest fortresses in Spain which was built in 9^th century by Muslim. Standing on the top of the castle, you can have an amazing overview of the whole city. Besides, although it was built by Muslim at first, obvious imprints of Bronze Age, Iberian, and Roman can be found on the mountain. A round-trip by elevator is available which only costs € 2.40 and there is no the entrance fee for the castle.

El Palmeral Park

On the Benacantil Mountain, you can not only visit Castle of Santa Bárbara but El Palmeral Park which is the favorite of people in Alicante. It extends until the old part of Alicante. You can organize picnic and any other family activities there. Sometimes, there will be concerts held in the auditorium in the park.

Get in

Alicante is easily to approach.

·         By plane

Alicante Airport is the major airport serving the Province of Alicante and the Region of Murcia. It is the sixth busiest airport in Spain. The airport is located 9 km southwest away from city of Alicante on Mediterranean coast. During the last decade, the number of passengers increases a lot who mainly come from Germany, the UK and Netherlands. Therefore, more than 80% of the flights in the airport are international flights. There are two terminals right now, but a new one in under construction and is expected to be used in 2011 which will fulfill the airport’s expansion.

·         By train

The RENFE Train Station operates trains commuting from the city to Madrid, Barcelona and Murcia. Usually, one way journey will take you 3 to 5 hours.

·         By tram

The city’s tram system is quite developed which runs along the coast of Costa Blanca up to Benidorm.

·         By boat

Do not forget that Alicante was a historic port in the past. It is also convenient to come by boat.

Hiring a car could be the best way for you to explore Alicante.

Car rental Company	Alicante Car rental in GBP	Car / Details
auto-europe.co.uk	59	Renault Clio 2dr
priceline.co.uk	62	HOLIDAY AUTOS / Renault Clio 5dr
ebookers.co.uk	63	AVIS / Renault Clio 2dr
opodo.co.uk	66	HOLIDAY AUTOS / Renault Clio 5dr
travelselect.com	64	Fiat Punto
expedia.co.uk	71	AVIS / Opel Corsa

Valencia’s Cultural Identity

Valencia’s Cultural Identity

As the third largest city in Spain, Valencia seems not that renowned compared with Madrid and Barcelona. It is situated in the centre of the coastline of Spanish Mediterranean, on the Gulf of Valencia. Unlike Madrid’s modern mixed with rebellious and Barcelona’s heavy due to its history, Valencia has done a very good job in integrating the past into the present. You will amazed by Valencia’s interesting and unique attractions.

General Information

Valencia is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Valencia and the city is the loyal supporters of Conservative party due to its family-oriented culture and a strong motivation to preserve its cultural identity.

Among its more than one million populations, most of people in Valencia were born here or from the nearby villages and towns. It also attracts a lot of people from Latin American countries due to its flourishing economy, such as Equador, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, as well as Cuba, Venezuala and Argentina. From this point of view, you probably can tell the difference from Valencia and Madrid where most of the people were not born in Madrid.

The language spoken by local people is Valenciano which is similar to Spanish.

Nowadays, Valencia is enjoying a very vivid economy. In the past, it was the agricultural and commercial centre, but now its role has switched into being a host of trade fairs and conferences.

Attractions in Valencia

• The Llotja de la Seda

It is a building which can date back to 1482 and in 1996 the UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site because "the site is of outstanding universal value as it is a wholly exceptional example of a secular building in late Gothic style, which dramatically illustrates the power and wealth of one of the great Mediterranean mercantile cities."

• The City of Arts and Sciences

Have you been fed up with Baroque, Rennaisance or Gothic style architectures? There is one tourist destination you can never miss. Designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela, the City of Arts and Sciences is for entertainment and cultural education purpose. The style is quite futuristic which is full of imaginations.  

The whole ‘city’ consists of five parts: The Concert / Opera Hall, The Marine Park, The IMAX Cinema, The Museum of Science, and The Greenhouse.

Falles

The Falles or or Fallas is a traditional festival originated from the city of Valencia in honor of Saint Joseph. The festival will last for five days during which the whole city becomes an entire party place. As a foreign tourist, you can indulge yourself into this kind of happy and crazy atmosphere. Every day of Falles will begin with the wake-up call at 8am by a brass band marching through the street, followed by Falleres in their special dresses. Then you will see no matter the young and the old will throw fireworks on the street. 

Airport

The only one airport in Valencia is in Valencia airport, also known as Manises Airport, which is 8 km of the city of Valencia.

If you want to hire a car to make the most of your tour in Valencia, the following companies will take care of your need: Avis, Sixt, Opodo, Enterprises, Europcar, Hertz, Holiday Autos, CarHire3000, EasyTerra and Victoria Rent a Car.