bergfamily

Our daughter will be spending fall 2006 semister in Alicante. We plan to visit her in November. Any ideas of places to visit, places to stay? We will be there for about 2 weeks.

Kay2

I go to Alicante once or twice a year to work with folks at UA. They always put me up at Hotel Spa Porta Maris where the University has a relationship so that is the only hotel I have personal experience with. It is located right next to the beach and marina, within walking distance of the tiny old quarter and reasonable walking of the more modern shopping district. It is very modern and plain, but works fine for me so long as I don't get a room facing the street/marina with its late night bars--very noisy. You will find several hotel reviews for Alicante on tripadvisor.com.

Of course, you will want to go up to Castle of Santa Barbara for a couple of hours to look around and see the view.

There are some Roman ruins that have been revealed but I haven't visited the site.

You'll want to walk the Explanada de España in the evening with the locals. Lots of elderly folks hang out there all day.

There is a tram than runs north from the beach to much prettier beach areas (San Juan?) with a few remaining historic small villas and a couple of restaurants that have been there practically forever. Further north where the tram ends and a train begins there is a town with a watch tower and a fish market. I enjoyed listening to the evening fish auction one afternoon.

bergfamily

Thank you Kay2, that's great info. Any one have suggestions on the least expensive way for our daughter to call to the USA while there? We hear buying a cell phone there is the best.

Chrissee

bergfamily - you should try posting your second question with a new subject title - you will probably get better response. I read your post because I am going to Alicante in September for a week. But I don't know anything about the phone system.

PalQ

A very famous and rather fun place, Benidorm, is a short train ride from Alicant'. Benidorm is famous for its tackiness - it's basically Blackpool on the Mediterranean - catering to a largely young and rather loutish British youngish crowd - lots of British pubs but a fairly fun atmosphere - something for something different - and maybe she'll be ready for a taste of English after a while.
Many folks will cringe at my recommending Benidorm - but keep it in the context i present it - as a kind of hoot!

kayd

I visited a friend's daughter during her term at Alicante and it seems all uni students have cell phones. But calls to the US are very expensive with the cell phones so they use cheap prepaid calling cards (either with the cell phones or from landlines) for calls home.
Her fellow students will have recommendations for phones; don't bother to try to shop for one before she gets there.

bergfamily

thanks for everyones response. Benidorm sounds like an interesting place to visit. We like going off the beaten track on trips so this sounds like it fits right in.

PalQ

I wouldn't call Benidorm off the beaten path as it's one of Spain's most thriving seaside resorts - Brits flock there by the plane load. But it's a lot of fun!

laclaire

I have spent years in Alicante, first as a student, then as a visitor with my host family. I have no experience with any hotels there, but the one that everyone knows and is really well located is the Melia, which is right on the beach and near the Explanada. There are also residences like Covadonga in Plaza Luceros, but the Melia is where I would stay were I to ever need a hotel there.

Cell calls are incredibly expensive to the US, and your daughter will not be eligible to get a contract, so she will have to pay by call on a card, which she can get at the Corte Ingles or any phone vendor (Amena, Movistar, Vodafone, etc). She just needs the SIM card and a phone the works in Europe. My parents and I used to have what we called "the bat signal." I called 2 times in a row and hung up before it connected, then they called me back. Now we set up call times online as I am really hard to catch at home and my phone right now has horrible coverage. The cheapest way for her to call you all is to go to a locutorio and use the phones they have there. I am at a locutorio right now posting this and I use them to call my friends. She can get a phone card, but the rates depend on what kind of phone you call from, so from a cell they are expensive and eat up your cell minutes, and from a pay phone they are expensive. If you have a landline, though, you can get great rates with the Happy card.

As for what to do in Alicante:
Have a Mojito a the Coscorrón.
Visit the Castillo de Santa Bárbara
Have a Chupi chupi sandwich at Labradores
Go out dancing.
Find a good paella place (we always eat it at home, so I don't know of any).
Rent a car and leave the city to visit villages like Altea and Calpe. Benidorm is overbuilt and crappy in my opinion, but different strokes for different folks. Elche is a 30 minute bus ride away and has quite a lot to see. I highly recommend staying a night at the Hotel Huerta del Cura and eating at their fabulous restaurant.

As for the Roman ruins, those are around the corner from my house. YOu get off at the Albufereta Trenet stop and walk down Carolina Pascual, taking your second right. Go 2 blocks and there they are: Lucentum. I don't think they are half as interesting as the MARQ museum in Alicante (not downtown, but in the periphery), but they are fun to visit. I worked on them one summer when they were first being set up for visits.

I adore Alicante and think it is a wonderland, but admit that pretty much all memories I have there are about people I have there, and not the actual city. The villages, though, are amazing.