Costa Blanca

©

Costa Blanca

Costa Blanca

The Valencian Community's "white coast" — Benidorm's high-rises, calpe's rock, and family beach resorts.

The Costa Blanca stretches down the coast of Alicante province, named for its bright light and pale sand. Benidorm, a wall of high-rise hotels above two huge curving beaches, is its brash heart and one of Europe's biggest package-holiday resorts. Quieter pleasures lie nearby: the towering Peñón d'Ifach at Calpe, the coves and old town of Xàbia (Jávea), and the harbour town of Dénia.

Cities

Places in Costa Blanca

Playa San Juan

Tenerife fishing village with a working harbour, dark-sand beach, and quieter southwest-coast rhythm.

Dénia

Costa Blanca port town beneath Dénia Castle, with a working harbour and serious rice-and-prawn cooking.

Javea

Costa Blanca bay town with separate old town, fishing port, and Arenal beach districts

Alicante

Costa Blanca port city below Santa Bàrbara Castle, with a palm-lined marble waterfront promenade.

Benidorm

High-rise Costa Blanca beach resort with two broad sandy bays and a wintering northern European crowd

Altea

Costa Blanca hill town with whitewashed lanes, blue-domed church, galleries, and a bayfront pebble beach.

Calpe

Costa Blanca town dominated by the Penyal d'Ifac, a limestone rock rising from the sea.

Torrevieja

Alicante coastal town backed by pink and green salt lakes beside the Costa Blanca beaches.