Spain tips

[Smallend]

Any tips on where to head to for 10/12 days towards end of July in Spain?
The criteria are:

- Within c.10k of nice beaches (i.e. not crammed full of Brits!)
- Ideally in a nice, traditional area with plenty of traditional villages / areas to visit
- Not ridiculously expensive
- Child friendly (6 & 8)

We've seen a couple of nice looking villas available for sensible money in Moraira, but are concerned that it's close to the Benidorm area. We've been perusing the 'Direct' owners websites, such as ownersdirect etc.

We have never 'done' Spain before, having previously fallen in love with Italy, we thought we'd try something different this year.

If it makes a difference, we're looking to head out Sunday 18th, and would like 10 nights minimum.

Any general comments / suggestions?

[LaserTam]

I have just returned from a week staying near Calpe, just up the road from Moraira. Plenty far enough away from Benidorm.

Moraira is lovely, realy liked it and would happliy return. There is a small beach but it looked busy. However just round the coast towards Valencia there are loads of beaches which I would imagine are far emptier.

[Rouleur]

Moraira is lovely, as are Altea and Javea. There's no need to worry about them being just down from Benidorm as the kind of people who stay there never venture very far from places where they can get fish and chips!

TBH there's not many great beaches in the area but between the massive one at Denia, Moraira, Javea's Arenal beach and places like Granadella you should be okay. I'd suggest that Moraira and Javea are the best areas for rentals, and you're close to the mountains (awesome roads), nice little villages, coves etc as well as only an hour from the airport.

If you see any villas you like post a link and I'll see if I know the area they're in.

[lazy_b]

Moraira couldn't be more different from Benidorm. We've been there on holiday five or six times, and are going again in September. Javea (just up the coast from Moraira) is quite pleasant, as well.

[Smallend]

Thanks for the responses.
It's nice to get a little reassurance that we're looking at a good area and that we're not going to arrive to find we have 2 weeks in a desolate wilderness, or even worse a noisy, beer fuelled chav-fest!

The one remaining concern then, is that there seems that there could be a potential shortage of nice beaches.

Any thoughts on this, as the boys will drive us insane if they don't have a nice beach to play on?

[lazy_b]

The main beaches at Moraira (l'Ampolla and El Portet) and Javea (Arenal) are very good but a bit small. They are OK May/June and September, but I imagine they could get a bit crowded during high season. There are lots of smaller beaches, but access and (lack of) facilities may be a problem.

If you go a bit further up the coast to Denia, though, there are kilometres of beach in the Les Marines/Las Marinas area.

[Rouleur]

I'm sure they'll be happy with Javea's Arenal beach:



That end of the town is maybe a little too touristy but the beach is great and easy to access. The beach at Denia goes on forever so you can find a busy bit or a quiet bit, and there are nice little coves like Granadella.

[Smallend]

Yet more great advice! Many thanks
Javea had been recommended by someone else we know, so that is looking promising.

Any advice on accommodation location around Javea then?
i.e. if we're a bit further out, then will parking for the beach / town be reasonably easy and a sensible price?

I'm sure to have more questions as the research goes on!

[Rouleur]

TBH parking will be an issue almost everywhere unless you arrive earlyish, but it's possible in peak season.

You may not have a huge choice of rental location at this stage as it's so close to when you're going, so I wouldn't worry too much about that yet. If you find that rates are a bit more than you like then it might be worth looking at property in Albir or Alfas.

[lazy_b]

There's a large, free car park (approx. 1000 cars, except on Fridays when the local market is held there) in Moraira. It's an easy walk to l'Ampolla beach and the marina, plus all the shops, bars, and restaurants in the town centre.

Parking in Javea is more of a problem; we've had trouble finding a space even in mid-season, so I imagine July/August will be a nightmare.

[LuS1fer]

Moraira and Javea tend to be busy. For my money, I would head further south to Costa de Almeria. Roquetas de Mar is the main resort with a long beach. Just over to the west you have the Cabo de Gata National Park. To the weat you have Mojacar and Vera and lots of secluded beaches along that coast. North of Roquetas you have the Alpujarras and Sierra Nevada mountain range. I strongly advise a day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra Palace. Almerimar is also worth a look.

The south is so much more unspoilt that the more touristy Casta Blanca. Don't get me wrong, I have had villas around Calpe (probably the best resort in the area) and Javea and Moraira and the area around Gata de Gorgos and Pedreguer is a lot quieter but I still prefer Almeria.

Anothe resort I love is further north and that is Peniscola though it's a little further from the main airports. That has some fantastic inland drives to places like Adra too.

Worth noting that the motorways in the north ahve lots of tolls and those in the south don't.

[Smallend]

More food for thought... Getting villa blindness now!
We've had to make a decision so we're sticking with Moraira and now just putting out enquiries for availabilities.

Any tips on where to find the best deals on car hire?

[Rouleur]

I shopped around a bit and found that Auto Europe were the cheapest of the big names, although their cars are actually supplied by Centauro. The service was very good and our Focus was a minter (but sooo slow!).

[LuS1fer]

I've used www.carjet.com and also sSlmar seem to be cheap and don't screw you over when you get there.

[jammy_basturd]

Have a look into the Peniscola/Castellon region too. About 1-2 hours drive from Barcelona, they have some gorgeous beaches, nice and quiet and more of a traditional Spanish holidaying towns, so they aren't touristy. Peniscola is a really nice town too with the castle on an out-crop of rock.



My parents own an apartment in Vinaros which is about 10-15 minutes from Peniscola, a couple of times I've been over there I've decided to get a late flight back and spend the day in Barcelona too.

Let me know if you're interested as my parents apartment should be free most of this summer.

[Original Poster]

Also take a look at La Herradura on the south coast about an hours drive outside Malaga, lovely place.

I am off there tomorrow

[5potTurbo]

Remember to speak loud and slowly in ENGLISH to the locals, adding an 'o' to the end of every word, like my tt parents in 1982 ... such a couple of numpties they are - right when the Falklands kicked off too.








2nd thoughts, don't. We were treated like st because my parents were such tts.

[Smallend]

I'm always very conscious of my lack of language abilities when abroad.
We've been to Italy for the last 5 years, so when we popped to France recently for a day trip, I kept accidentally slipping in the odd 'grazie' in place of 'merci'... makes you feel like such a dumbass when you see kids of 4 or 5 nonchalantly slipping from French to English and back again.

[eldar]

Asturias in North West Spain is lovely, very, very few brits. Gijon has lovely beaches and food. Fly from Stanstead to Asturias airport, 5 europ bus ride into the city.

Edited by eldar on Tuesday 6th July 16:11

[LuS1fer]

Smallend said:

I'm always very conscious of my lack of language abilities when abroad.
We've been to Italy for the last 5 years, so when we popped to France recently for a day trip, I kept accidentally slipping in the odd 'grazie' in place of 'merci'... makes you feel like such a dumbass when you see kids of 4 or 5 nonchalantly slipping from French to English and back again.

I did the drive-through at MacD's the other day (for their cheap ice-cream)and offered a Gracias at the first window and a danke schon at the second. No real difference detected TBH.