Costa Blanca

The Costa Blanca (Spanish: 'White Coast') is a 200 km-long coastline of Alicante (province). It is very popular with British, German, and Scandinavian tourists.

Cities

• 1 Dénia (Spanish: Denia)
• 2 Xàbia (Spanish: Jávea)
• 3 Moraira
• 4 Calp (Spanish: Calpe)
• 5 Altea
• 6 Guadalest – an especially scenic mountain village.
• 7 Benidorm – known mostly for its British residents and tourists.
• 8 Villajoyosa (Valencian: La Vila Joiosa)
• 9 Alicante (Valencian: Alacant) – the provincial capital and largest city.
• 10 Elche (Valencian: Elx) – one of the world's largest palm groves, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
• 11 Santa Pola
• 12 Torrevieja (Valencian: Torrevella) – cheap southern resort famous mainly for the lovely beaches and a high percentage of expatriates.

Other destinations

• 1 Tabarca

Understand

The Costa Blanca district of Spain spans from south of Valencia, past the shores of Benidorm and Alicante to Torrevieja in the south.

The Costa Blanca has two striking areas, Costa Blanca North (also known as the Marina Alta) and Costa Blanca South (the Marina Bajo). The Northern part of the Costa Blanca features sea side towns and resorts such as Dénia, Jávea and Moraira to the far north. Further south larger resorts like Altea, Calpe, Benidorm, Alicante and Torrevieja attract millions of tourists annually.

Costa Blanca is decidedly a spectacular part of Spain in terms of nature, beaches and culture. With clean and immaculate beaches dipping into the crystal clear Mediterranean sea, flat fertile valleys and plenty of charming villages buzzing with traditional Spanish cultural events.

White sandy beaches, pleasant resorts and relatively cheap accommodation are the main features of the Costa Blanca from a traveler's perspective. The area is further blessed with stunning nature, hidden coves, the odd golf course and graciously adapted domestic areas. The grand mountain ranges provides vivid scenery to this gorgeous area and the ancient villages scattered along the coast has plenty of authentic Spanish life to be explored. The popularity of the Costa Blanca as a holiday destination is easy to comprehend.

Get in

By plane

Traveling to the Costa Blanca is relatively easy with multiple international airports, with the two main ones located in Valencia and Alicante.

By rail

The Costa Blanca is connected to the rest of Spain through the national rail network, with high speed train connections through France and the rest or Europe via Alicante. Arriving passengers who intend to travel by light rail further north up the coast should note that in Alicante the main Renfe station is about 1 kilometre from the terminating station of the Alicante Tram.

By car

The spacious motorway A7 follows the coast south to cater for driving travelers to the region, from Barcelona through Valencia and on to Murcia.

Get around

By light rail

Tram Alicante

• 1 Tram Alicante (el Trenet), ☏ +34 900 720 472. Customer service: M-F 06:00-23:00, Sa Su 06:15-22:40. Alicante's metropolitan light rail train connects all major settlements along the coast between Alicante and Dénia, with the exception of Xàbia and Moraira, and is great and affordable way to see the region with some scenic views along the coast. L1 (line 1) connects Alicante with Villajoyosa and Benidorm; travelers wishing to go further up the coast will need to change trains in Benidorm to L9.
  There are ticket machines (with a 5-language interface) on the train or in the main stations. Do buy a ticket, there are frequent checks. For travelers with smartphones, there is a helpful official app (iPhone and Android) with a route planner and timetables. Guide dogs and small pets in carriers are permitted. Single journey costs €1.35-7.15, depending on distance. (updated Jan 2018)

By bus

• 2 Alsa. Operates a route connecting all major coastal settlements between Alicante and Dénia, and extending further north to Valencia. (updated Nov 2017)

Do

• Montgó. The mountain of Montgó is a mountain between Dénia and Jávea with a height of 753m (2,470feet). The proximity to the sea lends Montgo a spectacular visual impact 

Stay safe

Crime on the Costa Blanca is lower than the European average, but higher than the Spanish average. The towns mainly plagued by crime are non-surprisingly the larger resorts such as Benidorm, Calp and Torrevieja, however the types of crime tends to mainly be petty theft, street hustling and similar as opposed to more dangerous forms of crime found elsewhere in the world.

The smaller resorts such as Moraira, Xàbia and Dénia are all but crime free. Normal common sense applies but it is perfectly safe to walk the streets alone at night.