Hotels in Costa Blanca

Costa Blanca

The Costa Blanca, the "white coast", is more than 200 km of Mediterranean shoreline in the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community on the south-eastern coast of Spain. It runs from Dénia in the north, beyond which lies the Costa de Valencia, to Pilar de la Horadada in the south, where the Costa Cálida begins. The name was coined in the 1950s to promote tourism, and the coast is especially popular with British and German visitors. Benidorm and Alicante are its two main tourist centres: one a resort of skyscrapers and long beaches, the other a provincial capital with a castle above its port. To the north, Dénia, Jávea, Moraira and Calpe sit below the Montgó massif and the Rock of Ifach, with coves and a quieter pace. Altea, with its whitewashed old town and blue-tiled church dome, is the coast's best-known village. South of Alicante come the fishing port of Santa Pola, the pine-backed beaches of Guardamar del Segura, the salt lakes of Torrevieja and the beaches and golf courses of Orihuela Costa. Sources put the sunshine at around 300 days a year, which makes the coast a year-round destination rather than a summer one. It suits families, couples, golfers and winter visitors alike, at very different price levels from one town to the next. Alicante-Elche airport lies in the middle of the coast, and trams from Alicante reach Benidorm, with diesel trains continuing to Dénia.