Valencia Spain
 

We have a home exchange in Javea Spain for a whole month, where are the best places to see in that month, we will have a car or we can do the train, also we love great food and wine, but we also do not like a resort attitude, we like the back streets better.

Javea is about 120 km to the south of Valencia and what month do you mean?

we will arrive in Spain May 1st, 2010 for the full month.we really do not want to travel completely across Spain, there must be great things to see and do there.

1st May is a public holiday in Spain.
2 things to read through, one is in Spanish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%C3%A0bia
http://www.xabia.org/inicio.html
The later is the official website for tourism in the area. it has loads of information and you can choose what takes your fancy. However it is only in Spanish.

Javea and the neigbouring coastal towns like Denia, Moraira, Calpe (visit Ifach monolite) and Altea are nice indeed. I recommend you to hire a car and visit the mountain villages as well. Guadalest, Valley of Laguart (moorish steps) and Tarbena are worth visiting and close by. Bocairent is also a very pictoresque with the Moorish cave dwellings.
There is a great number of nice walking routes in the valleys and mountains of Marina Alta and Marina Baixa. Hiking is a good way to explore the Moorish culture in Costa Blanca.
And one more thing! My favourite restaurant in Costa Blanca is Ca l’Angeles in Polop.

thank you so much for your help

Very nice time of year to come.

If you want a day out at a small island, this should be fun

http://www.alicante-live.com/playas/tabarca-island.htm
make wure yur car si aprked legally all day.

There is a tram now that connects most of the coast from Alicante up to Benidorm. Not sure how much further it goes or is intended to, but it is very scenic.

wow. sorry about the typos.. jeeez.

what type of restaurant is Ca l'Angles in Polop we would love to try it.

Two clues:
On May 17th, Moors and Christians Festival in Petrer (Alicante)
http://www.petrerenfestes.com/

Guadalest
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lo_del_Rey.jpg

The Ca l’Angeles is very Spanish first of all. Most of the visitors are local (which is good).
It is specialized in Valencian food, but I have eaten perhaps the best fabada ever there (though it is Asturian).
Nowadays I always accept what they recommend - even the wines - and I am always happy. It is not cheap, but not very expensive either. And they do not recommend you something like Vega Sicilia, but some up and coming wines - excellent wines, which are not yet with reputation and overpriced.
They have local (L'Alfàs del Pi) Enrique Mendoza wines for example, but I cannot recommend them since the fantastic Santa Rosa reserva 1995 (the later vintages are miserable with higher prices and lousy quality - overproduction).
Try Fondillón as an aperitif. It is from Alicante (!), but my favourite aperitif in the world.

About the train from Alicante. It is scenic but unfortunately it stops too often to my taste (very, very slow...). It goas all the way to Denia with stops in Benidorm, Altea, Calpe etc.

Also, you might like a short cruise between the harbours of Denia, Javea, Calpe and Altea. More information here: http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/costa...boat-trips.htm

the moors stairs look to be a bit much, to say the least! but some of the mountains and valleys with streams and pine trees look real inviting, We lived in Colorado most of our life, so we like the cooler weather and the nature in the forests

If you want to do a short hike with nice views over Costa Blanca, try the Peñon Ifach: http://www.topwalks.net/en/ifach/ifach.htm
You could cruise to Calpe, walk the Ifach route and take the boat back to Javea.

In the Valley of Laguart there are also many routes, easy and more demanding.
The mountain of Montgo, located between Javea and Denia, is a rather easy challange and offers views all the way to Ibiza. This walk starts from Denia.

sounds more like my pace, do you know any of the mom and pop small restaurants ( like the small back street places ) usually these places have a not so much tourist attitude and they have been cooking for many years, although that does not mean they really are good.