Guadalest near Benidorm

The mountains of the Sierra de Aitana rise steeply behind Benidorm's coastline, towering above lush and fertile valleys and dotted with hilltop villages. These valleys were terraced and irrigated by the Moors, who built a network of castles from which they controlled the northern valleys.

The most dramatically sited of these fortress villages is Guadalest. perched on a rocky crag above terraced orchards and a lake. Driving inland from the coast, the best view of its castle and bell tower, seemingly precariously balanced on the summit of a spectacular rock, is from the almond terraces and olive groves on either side of the twisting road. A few further bends and you reach the 15th century Moorish castle, surrounded by a maze of narrow streets, whose only access is by a tunnel cut through the rock Steep slopes drop to the reservoir below, and across the water the mountains, speckled with vegetation and cut by threadlike tracks, soar up over l,066m.

Although this castle was never overrun, Jaime I of Aragon took it after a lengthy siege in the 13th century. It successfully repelled Charles, Duke of Habsburg, during the War of the Spanish Succession and survived an earthquake in 1644 Attractions include small museums and gift shops.