What to see in Alicante in 4 days

Would you like to visit turquoise water beaches and charming villages but don't want to travel too far? Come with us on this route through the Costa Blanca where we show you some of the best beaches in the area such as: Cala Granadella at Jávea Cala el Racó in Calpe or the beaches of the island of Tabarca. However, the province of Alicante is not only beach as it offers many other options for visitors. From getting to know its most typical villages to enjoying its famous gastronomy and its essential rice dishes.

In addition, if you want to know what to do in the province of Alicante, throughout the guide we will tell you where you can do some activities such as the famous kayak route to Ambolo cove, dive and snorkel in Caló cove or go on a jet ski to the Tabarca Island.

If you are planning your vacations to the Levante area and you have enough days available, we recommend you to extend your stay by going to get to know Valencia in 3 days.

Day 1. Alicante

For our four-day route through the province of Alicante we chose the capital as our base camp. We were traveling from the mainland, so we only had to get in the car, drive a few hours and enter the city center where we were staying. If you come to Alicante We had hired one through an app (we usually use telpark or parkimeter) and we were very happy because if not, we would not have been able to park any day.

For our accommodation in Alicante we chose the hotel Occidental by Barceló and we loved it. Both for the facilities and the location which was perfect to enjoy the atmosphere of the city.

⭐ Did you know that...?
If you want to treat yourself, Alicante has some of the best 5 star hotels at a very affordable price: these 8 hotels are the ones that usually have the best offers.

The city of Alicante is full of life in the summer and has a old town full of restaurants. From our point of view, the most important places you should not miss are:

• The Santa Barbara Castle passing through the neighborhood of Santa Cruz. Walking up from the center is a bit of a walk but the views from the top are totally worth it.
• Esplanade promenade. A stroll along the promenade in summer is always a good option, at night it is full of stalls and street artists. In addition, you can see another of the characteristic points of the city, some rocks that resemble a human face commonly known as the face of the Moor.
• San Juan Beach. It is a fairly wide sandy beach. Although it is a little further than the city beach (Postiguet) it is worth the walk.
• Tabarca Island (see Day 3)

If you don't want to eat your head off, the best thing you can do is to make a free tour and take you to all the essential points.

The best places to eat in Alicante

In the map below you will find the best ones restaurants and bars to have a drink that we find around the city. If you want to have a more detailed description you can take a look at our article of the best places to eat in Alicante.

Food recommendations

• Estiu Rice Shop. Restaurant specialized in rice dishes different from what we usually find in other places. They stand out for their modern cuisine with starters and desserts that are not far behind. The best thing is to let yourself be advised by them to enjoy a gastronomic experience.
• The embers of San Miguel. Restaurant specialized in grilled meats. It caught our attention as soon as we saw that it had the option of grilling at the table: they put a small charcoal grill and the meat marked for you to make it to your liking.
• Tapas Alicante. Centrally located restaurant where you can have tapas and raciones. Everything we tried was very good.

Recommendations for drinks

• Pier 12. Open premises located in the port of Alicante where events, concerts, etc. are held.
• Rambla 33. Very economical cocktail bar.

Day 2. Javea, Cala Granadella and Altea

Granadella Cove

We started the first day of excursions with a strong start by going to the first essential place in the Alicante area Granadella Cove is a beautiful cove of turquoise waters and white pebbles located in Jávea.

As you can imagine, despite being a fairly secluded cove in summer it tends to get very crowded so you know what to do.... ¡get up early! We arrived at 10:30h thinking we were the first crazy people and it was already full of people.

A recommendation that we would have appreciated before arriving at the beach is that if you have the opportunity, go with a chair. Yes, it seems that a few years have just fallen on us but the boulders are not the most comfortable to lie or sit .... Besides, the chair can be used as a support for the umbrella, which is not easy to plant among so many rocks.

As you will see in this travel guide it is highly recommended that you have a car to move around the area, public transport is not an option if you want to get to the best coves. We leave you with a car rental offers here!

Parking in Cala Granadella

Once you reach the end of the road to Cala Granadella you will find some fences and staff controlling the passage that will indicate the two options available for parking in the area:

• Free parking: From my point of view, this is the most recommendable option since, despite having to take a walk to get to the beach (10 minutes maximum), the road from the parking lot runs along the cliff of the cove from which you can see the best views of the beach and without a doubt the place from which to take the best photos.
• Paid parking: The most comfortable option if you are heavily loaded as it is right next to the beach.

Kayak excursion to Cala Granadella, Cala en Caló and Cova del Llop Marí.

If you are a fan of active tourism as we are, you can book a kayak tour that leads you to Caló Cove A small "hidden" cove that is not accessible by land. I say "hidden" because although at the time it was only visited by locals, now it has become a tourist attraction in the area and we almost had to queue in the water to get there. Even so, once you are diving you forget about the people and enjoy an ideal place to snorkel. In the middle of the cove there is a huge rock that you can dive through, you can even breathe under the rock thanks to a hole that makes a big air bubble.

Following the itinerary of the kayak excursion, after visiting Cala en Caló, we will head towards the Discovery Island which we bordered to be able to contemplate Ambolo Cove. This cove is accessible by land although it is currently closed to the public due to danger of landslides. Even so, according to the guide, it is not difficult to jump the fence that protects the entrance (for the record, this is not our recommendation).

To finish off the morning, we headed to the Llop Marí Cave The cave is only accessible by kayak. There we met several groups of climbers practicing the free mode, without ropes. The truth is that we were eager to try it, taking advantage of the overhangs of the rocks climbed from the water to the roof of the cave and then jumping from above and diving into the sea.

Altea

After spending the day at the beach we decided to stop by this charming village, "The Dome of the Mediterranean". One of the most beautiful of the Costa Blanca.

Altea has an old town with cobbled streets to get lost enjoying its charm and several viewpoints from which to see the sea. In the center is the Plaza de la Iglesia with the Parish Church of Nuestra Señora del Consuelo and its famous blue dome. The square is full of stalls, restaurants and above all ... people!

• 👉 If you would like more detail about what to see in Altea take a look at our article

Essential places to visit in Altea

The streets of the old town are all beautiful and we recommend you to wander aimlessly, but here are the most typical areas:

• San Miguel Street Picturesque street where you can take the typical photo with the dome of the church in the background. Full of stores and restaurants.
• Carrer Major The street with steps is quite steep but with a lot of charm that goes down from the church square. At the end of the street is the Portal Vell, the old entrance to the old town.
• Santa Barbara Street Beautiful street with steps from which you can see the sea.

We parked near the promenade and walked up to the old town from the town hall square. Finding parking is complicated and practically everything is blue zone but in summer it ends at 8 pm. Another highly recommended option is to do a free tour of Alteaas they leave from the Town Hall Square.

Day 3. Tabarca Island

Visit to the island of Tabarca

Tabarca on a small island with barely 50 inhabitants that is located very close to Alicante. For us visiting it was like the discovery of an unknown paradise. It is a perfect place to make snorkel due to its many coves and the area of "La Cantera" where you can see many species of marine fauna of the place.

The island is quite small so you can walk to all the highlights:

• La Cantera. Located at the western end of the island, from my point of view is one of the best places to dive in the place. Among the rocks you can find all kinds of marine species.
• Town center. Area of stores and restaurants to have a drink or eat. There is quite a lot to offer for the small size of the island.
• Cova Llop Marí. It is a rock located in the southern part of the island that you can dive under, also full of marine fauna.
• Tabarca beach. The widest beach on the island and usually the most crowded as it is the first thing you come across when you cross the harbor.

How to get to the island of Tabarca from Alicante

There are two options to travel to the island of Tabarca from Alicante.

• The simplest option is to hire a ferry which takes about an hour to get there for about 20 € round trip. It is the option that allows you more freedom to move around the island at your leisure.
• Make a excursion to Tabarca Island which already includes snorkeling also seems to us a highly recommended option to visit the island in a quick way and without having to make many preparations other than being ready to see thousands of fish!
• Another option is to hire a roundtrip excursion to the island in jet ski. We did it and the truth is that it was an incredible experience. It is about 40 minutes drive to Tabarca where we were invited to lunch, we had a small tour of the island and returned to Alicante. It is an activity that we had not planned but some friends gave us a gift and we would repeat without hesitation. Although the price is not very economical, if you go as a couple you can take turns to drive the same bike and we assure you that you can enjoy both driving and riding!
• Finally, there are less economical options such as TAXI BOATS or even restaurant boats that bring you back from the island to dine at their place.

Day 4. Cala en Racó and Calpe

Here we tell you what we did in this route through Alicante, but if you want to spend more days in Calpe or want to see more plans visit our article on what to see in Calpe and surroundings.

Racó Cove

Racó Cove is a small cove of pebbles in the area of Calpe right next to the Peñon de Ifach. It is perfect for making snorkeling and diving As proof of this is that the diving companies kept coming in and out of the water, I would say that this was one of the times we enjoyed snorkeling the most, we even saw starfish and a cormorant fishing!

This cove has the first signposted underwater trail we have seen. If you follow the route you will see informative signs (anchored to the buoys that delimit the most interesting area) of the species that can be seen in it. At first glance Cala el Racó does not seem very big but once inside it is super deep, while snorkeling we saw the divers below us!

If you don't feel like doing it on your own, there are plenty of snorkeling excursions and even if you dare, there are also diving baptismsWe assure you that you will not regret it.

Where to park in Cala en Racó

As always in high season, parking in the Calpe area is not easy, but to go to Cala en Racó you can leave your car in a parking lot free parking which is a 10 minute walk from the cove (you will have to leave something for the gorrillas but it's worth it). You can check the exact location on the map below.

Calpe

As we like to squeeze the most out of our vacations, after spending the day in Cala el Racó we went to see the old town of Calpe. If you are going to follow this planning it is highly recommended to move the car, otherwise you will have to walk about 30 minutes through the town, so we leave another good recommendation for parking on the map below.

Must-see places to visit in Calpe with map included

Here we show you a compilation of the best places to visit in Calpe and surroundings. The old town is full of signs that mark a tourist route so you won't miss anything. Some of the most interesting points are:

• Puchalt Street: street with the flag of Spain painted on the steps...surely you know which one I'm talking about!
• Pescadores Street: beautiful street with fish painted on the steps and colorful banners decorating.
• Plaza de la Villa y Peça Tower where you can enjoy the remains of Roman walls and ruins, as well as restaurants.

On the way to the old town you can also stop to contemplate the Calpe salt flats The flamingoes are full of flamingos and offer a very curious view. If you have even more time to spare, we recommend you visit the Peñon de Ifach As you can see, lately you have to book online, we leave you a link so that you can do it easily: Book your visit to Ifach Rock

We booked but in the end we didn't have time to go because we were mesmerized by the fish snorkeling.

If you want to read other articles ideal for your trip that complement What to see in Alicante in 4 days you can visit our posts about Alicante.