Alicante Airport car hire
Alicante is the best place to book car hire from if you are planning a trip to Spain´s Costa Blanca. Alicante Airport car rentals start from just €99.00 per week and you can explore the region of Alicante and Benidorm in comfort and style, while saving plenty of money on public transport.
Alicante things to do
This provincial capital, known as Alacant in the local form of Catalan is the heart of the Costa Blanca resort area. It s a gracious Mediterraean city dominated by the Castillo Santa Barbara (St. Barbara Castle), which glowers down from a hilltop. Long before the present tourist boom, Alicante was a fashionable wintering place, thanks to its mild climate. Around 200 BC, the Romans had a settlement here known as Lucentum.
The same settlement, during 500 years of Moorish rule, was known as AIakant. In more recent times, Alicante has been an important port, exporting wine, raisins, and other agricultural products. Palm trees and arid surrounding hills give a hint of Africa to the city, an impression that is strengthened around the port area by the sight of Algerian women in caftans and Senegalese peddlers offering their wares. The Explanada de Espana, the promenade that fronts the harbor, is the place to stroll, sip a drink, and listen to the city band on Sunday mornings.
Alicante is a modern city of wide boulevards and numerous shops, but it does have a Casco Viejo (Old Town), a labyrinth of narrow streets lying on the lower slope of the Santa Barbara hill. And despite the hordes of tourists who alight here to soak up the sun along the local beaches, Alicante remains surprisingly Spanish in character. The Castillo Santa Barbara, whose foundations date back 2,200 years, is Alicante's main attraction. To reach the castle, walk along Paseo de Gomiz, which continues northeast along the beach from the Explanada, to the 660-foot tunnel penetrating the rock; an elevator (admission charge) takes visitors up to see the dungeons, moats, and battlements, which offer splendid views over the city and coast. The castle is open daily.
In the Casco Viejo, the Museo de Arte del SigloXX , also known as the Museo de la Asegurada, contains sculptures, paintings, and etchings by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Antoni Tapies. The Iglesia de Santa Maria, the church almost opposite the museum, has a wonderful 18th-century Baroque facade, although it was built (on the site of a mosque) in the late 15th century by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Head toward the center of town along Calle Jorge Juan to the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), a 17th to 18thcentury palace with a magnificently ornate facade. The rococo chapel and some of the Baroque rooms are open to visitors in the mornings (ask the caretaker to open them). Note the brass plaque on the pillar of the main stairway; it's the sea level benchmark from which all of Spain's altitude measurements are calculated.
Alicante Cathedral
Between the Ayuntamiento and the modern Rambla de Mendez Nunez which is at the edge of the Casco Viejo and is the city's main throughfare is Alicante's cathedral, Catedral de San Nicolas (Calle Penalva), built during the 17th century on the site of a mosque and dedicated to the city's patron saint, Nicholas of Bari. A national monument open only during services, it has an austere Renaissance style, with beautifully carved gilded altars (severely damaged during the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, it has undergone extensive reconstruction). The pedestrians-only Calle Mayor, which runs behind the Ayuntamiento to the Rambla, and the side streets off it, are full of small shops selling typically Spanish gifts, leatherwear, pottery, and antiques.
On Thursday and Saturday mornings, the Mercadillo, a lively open air market, is held along the Paseo de Campoamor, beyond the Casco Viejo to the north of the Plaza de Espana and the bullring. The Teatro Principal has concerts and musicals during the winter season. In summer, nightlife centers on the disco-pubs of the Playa de San Juan, the long beach north of town. Alicante's own local beach, El Postiguet, is even more crowded, but the tiny island of Tabarca, a former haunt of pirates, lies a pleasant boat ride away. It's a good spot for snorkeling, with outdoor restaurants but no accommodations.
Trips leave from the harbor along the Explanada, or from Santa Pola (a much shorter sea trip), a fishing port 12.5miles (20 km) to the south. Alicante's Oficina de Turismo (2 Explanada de Espana is open daily during summer and can provide schedules.
During the week of June 24, the city goes wild with the unforgettable Hogueres de Sant Joan (Bonfires of St. John). The fiesta includes processions, bullfights, and fireworks, but the climax comes with the burning of colossal images, sometimes at considerable risk to life and limb, a legacy of pagan midsummer rites.
Places to go in Elche
It was founded by the Celtic Iberians and got its name from the Greek Helice, but much of the flavor of Elche (Elx in the local variation of the Catalan language) is Moorish. It's graced by some 600,000 date palms, originally planted by the Phoenicians (the dates are harvested from December to March).View the trees up close at the Huerto del Cura (Priest's Grove), a palm garden that also features an impressive collection of cacti and tropical flowers. The garden is open daily; there's an admission charge. Also within the grove is a replica of the Dama de Elche (Lady of Elche), a remarkable Greco-Iberian bust dating back to 500 BC, the original of which is on display in the Museo Arqueologico Nacional (National Archaeological Museum) in Madrid.
It was discovered in 1897 about a mile (1.6 km) south of Elche in the ruins at La Alcudia, where there now is a museum of Iberian and Roman relics, the Museo Monografico de La Alcudia.For a spectacular experience, visit Elche in August, when the world's longest-running play is staged in the blue-domed, 17thcentury Iglesia de Santa Marfa. The Misteri d'Elx (Mystery of Elche), celebrating the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, has been performed by local townspeople for six centuries. Although the songs are performed in an ancient form of Catalan, the action is not hard to follow, and the special effects, including the descent of angels from the lofty dome, are breathtaking. Entry is free (but competition for seats is keen).
Orihuela and Orihuela Costa
En Route from Elche Continue along N340, through the town of Crevillente to Orihuela, 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Elche in the Rio Segura valley. The center of a rich agricultural area, Orihuela has a late 13th century Gothic cathedral in the middle of the old quarter, on Calle Mayor.In its mused diocesano (diocesan museum) a famous Velazquez canvas, the Temptation of St. Thomas Aquinas, is kept under lock and key.
Velazquez painted the work at the request of Dominican friars, whose 17th-century Monasterio de Santo Domingo, later a university and currently a high school, has fine Baroque cloisters. Orihuela is the birthplace of Miguel Hernandez, a goatherd who became one of Spain's finest poets before dying tragically in Alicante's jail in 1942. Still on N340, the road crosses into the province and autonomous community of Murcia; at Monteagudo (about 17 miles/28 km from Orihuela), it passes a white statue of Christ atop a pinnacle commanding the huerta, a jigsaw of tomato, pepper, citrus, and cereal fields. From here, it's only a few miles to the capital.
Murcia Airport car hire
Murcia and its coastal regions have seen a massive influx of visitors during the past 5 years, and if you plan to visit the city, hire a car from Murcia Airport before you leave the UK. Murcia Airport car rentals are well priced and you can take advantage of plenty of discounts and special offers when you pre-book car hire online.
Most tourists pass through this pleasant and unhurried city of Murcia on the Rio Segura on their way to Cartagena or the coast, and this is a good place for a short respite from summer crowds. Founded in the 8th century by the Moors as Medina Mursla on the ruins of a Roman settlement, little of its Moorish past is in evidence today.
The major sights are in the older part of town on the north bank of the river. There, on Plaza Cardenal Belluga, is the mainly Gothic Catedral de Santa Maria, begun in the 14th century, but with a magnificent Baroque facade that was added in the 18th century. Inside, a statue of the Virgen de la Fuensanta (Madonna of the Holy Fountain), Murcia's patroness, presides over the altar. The church's Renaissance Baroque bell tower can be climbed for a stirring view of the city and the surrounding huerta.
The museo diocesano in the church contains La Fuensanta's gold crown, as well as one of Spain's finest polychrome woodcarvings, by the local sculptor Francisco Salzillo, depicting in amazingly lifelike detail the penitent San Jeronimo (St. Hieronymus, or St. Jerome). Most of the sculptor's work can be seen some distance away in the Museo Salzillo, which houses some of the woodcarvings that are carried in Murcia's Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions (see below), as well as a large number of terracotta figurines depicting episodes from the Gospels and the daily life of Murcian peasants.
Just north of the cathedral, on traffic-free Calle de la Traperfa, stands the Casino , a 19th century building that is another of the city's landmarks. Once a sumptuous private club for wealthier citizens, it is now a cultural center hosting a changing program of lectures, meetings, and other events. Marble, molded plaster, carved wood, and crystal chandeliers lend it an august air - visitors are welcome to look inside.
Farther north, the street broadens into Avenida Alfonso X el Sabia, a boulevard with many sidewalk cafes and a favorite spot for people watching. Many small shops can be found in the network of narrow pedestrian streets between Calle de la Traperfa and its parallel to the west, the Gran Via.
In Alcantarilla, 6 miles (10 krn) outside of town on the road to Granada, is the Museo de la Huerta, which contains traditional crafts, costumes, and implements of the region. A huge noria (water wheel), an iron replica of the wooden one used. Semana Santa, the week before Easter, with great solemnity and pomp in processions of stunning scope. More than 3,000 people take in a Miercoles de Ceniza (Ash Wednesday) procession, which stretches for nearly a mile. Several of Salzillo's sculptures are borne through the streets on Viernes Santo (Good Friday). On Domingo de la Resurreccion (Easter Sunday), a burst of gaiety sweeps the city with the start of the Fiesta de Primavera (Spring Festival).
Folk dancing, a jazz festival, and street festivals fill a week that ends with fireworks and a bizarre pageant known as the Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine). Colorfully decorated carts parade down the streets, the riders thereon tossing little gifts to onlookers, and the event culminates in the burning of a large cardboard sardine to symbolize the end of Lent, when Catholics are supposed to abstain from meat (and therefore many locals eat a lot of sardines, which are the cheapest fish available).
Things to do in Cartagena
Just 30.5 miles (49 km) down the highway (N301) from MurcIa, thIs ancient port city encapsulates the Mediterranean coast's turbulent past. Founded by the North African Carthaginians during the 3rd century BC, called Carthago Nova in its flourishing Roman epoch, pillaged by the Visigoths, independent under the Moors, and sacked by SIr Francis Drake in 1588, Cartagena was the port from which King Alfonso XIII sailed into exile after his 1931 abdication. Because of its deep, sheltered harbor, Cartagena is Spain's most important naval base.
Ancient ramparts lend a fortress-like air to the city, which is dominated by four hills. The best overall view is from the Castillo de la Concepcion, now more a park or garden than a fortress, where a Moorish-built lighthouse stands. To the west lie the ruins of the 13th-century cathedral, destroyed in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
At the port, opposite a monument to sailors who died in the 1898 Spanish-American War, is one of the world's first submarines. The 85 ton brown and gray cigar-shaped craft was built by a local inventor, Isaac Peral, in 1888. The impressive Ayuntamiento (City Hall) lies close by, and at one corner is the Oficina de Turismo.
Don't miss the Museo Nacional de ArqueoLogfa Maritima (National Museum of Maritime Archaeology); 2 miles (3 km) from the center of town (Faro de Navidad, Puerto de Cartagena; It is a treasure house of exhibits related to Mediterranean shipping, including ancient amphoras, anchors, jewelry, and a fullsize model of a Roman galley.
Easter week in Cartagena
Semana Santa (Easter week) attracts many visitors to Cartagena. Particularly impressive are the earlymorning processions on Viemes Santo (Good Friday). During the procession from the fishing quarter of Santa Lucia, singers compete to show their mastery of the saeta, a spinetingling flamenco lament. Around dawn, three processions blend together and continue as one.
Alicante things to do
This provincial capital, known as Alacant in the local form of Catalan is the heart of the Costa Blanca resort area. It s a gracious Mediterraean city dominated by the Castillo Santa Barbara (St. Barbara Castle), which glowers down from a hilltop. Long before the present tourist boom, Alicante was a fashionable wintering place, thanks to its mild climate. Around 200 BC, the Romans had a settlement here known as Lucentum.
The same settlement, during 500 years of Moorish rule, was known as AIakant. In more recent times, Alicante has been an important port, exporting wine, raisins, and other agricultural products. Palm trees and arid surrounding hills give a hint of Africa to the city, an impression that is strengthened around the port area by the sight of Algerian women in caftans and Senegalese peddlers offering their wares. The Explanada de Espana, the promenade that fronts the harbor, is the place to stroll, sip a drink, and listen to the city band on Sunday mornings.
Alicante is a modern city of wide boulevards and numerous shops, but it does have a Casco Viejo (Old Town), a labyrinth of narrow streets lying on the lower slope of the Santa Barbara hill. And despite the hordes of tourists who alight here to soak up the sun along the local beaches, Alicante remains surprisingly Spanish in character. The Castillo Santa Barbara, whose foundations date back 2,200 years, is Alicante's main attraction. To reach the castle, walk along Paseo de Gomiz, which continues northeast along the beach from the Explanada, to the 660-foot tunnel penetrating the rock; an elevator (admission charge) takes visitors up to see the dungeons, moats, and battlements, which offer splendid views over the city and coast. The castle is open daily.
In the Casco Viejo, the Museo de Arte del SigloXX , also known as the Museo de la Asegurada, contains sculptures, paintings, and etchings by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Antoni Tapies. The Iglesia de Santa Maria, the church almost opposite the museum, has a wonderful 18th-century Baroque facade, although it was built (on the site of a mosque) in the late 15th century by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Head toward the center of town along Calle Jorge Juan to the Ayuntamiento (City Hall), a 17th to 18thcentury palace with a magnificently ornate facade. The rococo chapel and some of the Baroque rooms are open to visitors in the mornings (ask the caretaker to open them). Note the brass plaque on the pillar of the main stairway; it's the sea level benchmark from which all of Spain's altitude measurements are calculated.
Alicante Cathedral
Between the Ayuntamiento and the modern Rambla de Mendez Nunez which is at the edge of the Casco Viejo and is the city's main throughfare is Alicante's cathedral, Catedral de San Nicolas (Calle Penalva), built during the 17th century on the site of a mosque and dedicated to the city's patron saint, Nicholas of Bari. A national monument open only during services, it has an austere Renaissance style, with beautifully carved gilded altars (severely damaged during the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War, it has undergone extensive reconstruction). The pedestrians-only Calle Mayor, which runs behind the Ayuntamiento to the Rambla, and the side streets off it, are full of small shops selling typically Spanish gifts, leatherwear, pottery, and antiques.
On Thursday and Saturday mornings, the Mercadillo, a lively open air market, is held along the Paseo de Campoamor, beyond the Casco Viejo to the north of the Plaza de Espana and the bullring. The Teatro Principal has concerts and musicals during the winter season. In summer, nightlife centers on the disco-pubs of the Playa de San Juan, the long beach north of town. Alicante's own local beach, El Postiguet, is even more crowded, but the tiny island of Tabarca, a former haunt of pirates, lies a pleasant boat ride away. It's a good spot for snorkeling, with outdoor restaurants but no accommodations.
Trips leave from the harbor along the Explanada, or from Santa Pola (a much shorter sea trip), a fishing port 12.5miles (20 km) to the south. Alicante's Oficina de Turismo (2 Explanada de Espana is open daily during summer and can provide schedules.
During the week of June 24, the city goes wild with the unforgettable Hogueres de Sant Joan (Bonfires of St. John). The fiesta includes processions, bullfights, and fireworks, but the climax comes with the burning of colossal images, sometimes at considerable risk to life and limb, a legacy of pagan midsummer rites.
Places to go in Elche
It was founded by the Celtic Iberians and got its name from the Greek Helice, but much of the flavor of Elche (Elx in the local variation of the Catalan language) is Moorish. It's graced by some 600,000 date palms, originally planted by the Phoenicians (the dates are harvested from December to March).View the trees up close at the Huerto del Cura (Priest's Grove), a palm garden that also features an impressive collection of cacti and tropical flowers. The garden is open daily; there's an admission charge. Also within the grove is a replica of the Dama de Elche (Lady of Elche), a remarkable Greco-Iberian bust dating back to 500 BC, the original of which is on display in the Museo Arqueologico Nacional (National Archaeological Museum) in Madrid.
It was discovered in 1897 about a mile (1.6 km) south of Elche in the ruins at La Alcudia, where there now is a museum of Iberian and Roman relics, the Museo Monografico de La Alcudia.For a spectacular experience, visit Elche in August, when the world's longest-running play is staged in the blue-domed, 17thcentury Iglesia de Santa Marfa. The Misteri d'Elx (Mystery of Elche), celebrating the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, has been performed by local townspeople for six centuries. Although the songs are performed in an ancient form of Catalan, the action is not hard to follow, and the special effects, including the descent of angels from the lofty dome, are breathtaking. Entry is free (but competition for seats is keen).
Orihuela and Orihuela Costa
En Route from Elche Continue along N340, through the town of Crevillente to Orihuela, 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Elche in the Rio Segura valley. The center of a rich agricultural area, Orihuela has a late 13th century Gothic cathedral in the middle of the old quarter, on Calle Mayor.In its mused diocesano (diocesan museum) a famous Velazquez canvas, the Temptation of St. Thomas Aquinas, is kept under lock and key.
Velazquez painted the work at the request of Dominican friars, whose 17th-century Monasterio de Santo Domingo, later a university and currently a high school, has fine Baroque cloisters. Orihuela is the birthplace of Miguel Hernandez, a goatherd who became one of Spain's finest poets before dying tragically in Alicante's jail in 1942. Still on N340, the road crosses into the province and autonomous community of Murcia; at Monteagudo (about 17 miles/28 km from Orihuela), it passes a white statue of Christ atop a pinnacle commanding the huerta, a jigsaw of tomato, pepper, citrus, and cereal fields. From here, it's only a few miles to the capital.
Murcia Airport car hire
Murcia and its coastal regions have seen a massive influx of visitors during the past 5 years, and if you plan to visit the city, hire a car from Murcia Airport before you leave the UK. Murcia Airport car rentals are well priced and you can take advantage of plenty of discounts and special offers when you pre-book car hire online.
Most tourists pass through this pleasant and unhurried city of Murcia on the Rio Segura on their way to Cartagena or the coast, and this is a good place for a short respite from summer crowds. Founded in the 8th century by the Moors as Medina Mursla on the ruins of a Roman settlement, little of its Moorish past is in evidence today.
The major sights are in the older part of town on the north bank of the river. There, on Plaza Cardenal Belluga, is the mainly Gothic Catedral de Santa Maria, begun in the 14th century, but with a magnificent Baroque facade that was added in the 18th century. Inside, a statue of the Virgen de la Fuensanta (Madonna of the Holy Fountain), Murcia's patroness, presides over the altar. The church's Renaissance Baroque bell tower can be climbed for a stirring view of the city and the surrounding huerta.
The museo diocesano in the church contains La Fuensanta's gold crown, as well as one of Spain's finest polychrome woodcarvings, by the local sculptor Francisco Salzillo, depicting in amazingly lifelike detail the penitent San Jeronimo (St. Hieronymus, or St. Jerome). Most of the sculptor's work can be seen some distance away in the Museo Salzillo, which houses some of the woodcarvings that are carried in Murcia's Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions (see below), as well as a large number of terracotta figurines depicting episodes from the Gospels and the daily life of Murcian peasants.
Just north of the cathedral, on traffic-free Calle de la Traperfa, stands the Casino , a 19th century building that is another of the city's landmarks. Once a sumptuous private club for wealthier citizens, it is now a cultural center hosting a changing program of lectures, meetings, and other events. Marble, molded plaster, carved wood, and crystal chandeliers lend it an august air - visitors are welcome to look inside.
Farther north, the street broadens into Avenida Alfonso X el Sabia, a boulevard with many sidewalk cafes and a favorite spot for people watching. Many small shops can be found in the network of narrow pedestrian streets between Calle de la Traperfa and its parallel to the west, the Gran Via.
In Alcantarilla, 6 miles (10 krn) outside of town on the road to Granada, is the Museo de la Huerta, which contains traditional crafts, costumes, and implements of the region. A huge noria (water wheel), an iron replica of the wooden one used. Semana Santa, the week before Easter, with great solemnity and pomp in processions of stunning scope. More than 3,000 people take in a Miercoles de Ceniza (Ash Wednesday) procession, which stretches for nearly a mile. Several of Salzillo's sculptures are borne through the streets on Viernes Santo (Good Friday). On Domingo de la Resurreccion (Easter Sunday), a burst of gaiety sweeps the city with the start of the Fiesta de Primavera (Spring Festival).
Folk dancing, a jazz festival, and street festivals fill a week that ends with fireworks and a bizarre pageant known as the Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine). Colorfully decorated carts parade down the streets, the riders thereon tossing little gifts to onlookers, and the event culminates in the burning of a large cardboard sardine to symbolize the end of Lent, when Catholics are supposed to abstain from meat (and therefore many locals eat a lot of sardines, which are the cheapest fish available).
Things to do in Cartagena
Just 30.5 miles (49 km) down the highway (N301) from MurcIa, thIs ancient port city encapsulates the Mediterranean coast's turbulent past. Founded by the North African Carthaginians during the 3rd century BC, called Carthago Nova in its flourishing Roman epoch, pillaged by the Visigoths, independent under the Moors, and sacked by SIr Francis Drake in 1588, Cartagena was the port from which King Alfonso XIII sailed into exile after his 1931 abdication. Because of its deep, sheltered harbor, Cartagena is Spain's most important naval base.
Ancient ramparts lend a fortress-like air to the city, which is dominated by four hills. The best overall view is from the Castillo de la Concepcion, now more a park or garden than a fortress, where a Moorish-built lighthouse stands. To the west lie the ruins of the 13th-century cathedral, destroyed in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
At the port, opposite a monument to sailors who died in the 1898 Spanish-American War, is one of the world's first submarines. The 85 ton brown and gray cigar-shaped craft was built by a local inventor, Isaac Peral, in 1888. The impressive Ayuntamiento (City Hall) lies close by, and at one corner is the Oficina de Turismo.
Don't miss the Museo Nacional de ArqueoLogfa Maritima (National Museum of Maritime Archaeology); 2 miles (3 km) from the center of town (Faro de Navidad, Puerto de Cartagena; It is a treasure house of exhibits related to Mediterranean shipping, including ancient amphoras, anchors, jewelry, and a fullsize model of a Roman galley.
Easter week in Cartagena
Semana Santa (Easter week) attracts many visitors to Cartagena. Particularly impressive are the earlymorning processions on Viemes Santo (Good Friday). During the procession from the fishing quarter of Santa Lucia, singers compete to show their mastery of the saeta, a spinetingling flamenco lament. Around dawn, three processions blend together and continue as one.
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