Travels to Spain: The White Coast

In 2018 we went to Javea, Spain for our family vacation. It is a magnificent coastal town located 100 kilometers south of Valencia. For lodging, we rented a vacation home with friends from Germany.

Visit with Olga & Arrival to Javea: Ahead of my arrival, Ali and the boys visited Olga and family in Denia for beach time and a boat ride out at sea. I arrived in Javea on July 12.

Travels around Javea: While learning the navigation system on the fly in the rental car, the boys and I discovered La Granadella beach. It was so impressive we decided to take everyone back the very next day. What an amazing cove! Parking on the other hand is not ideal. One must drive up a mountain on a narrow, winding road and somehow parallel park with all the other cars beside the cliff. This makes getting out of the car a bit like walking a tightrope.

Once down at the beach, however, you are at one of the finest places in the world. The water is pristine and the fish are plentiful. After beach time, the boys and I travelled to old town Javea for sightseeing and lunch at Mi Lola.

Vistas in Javea: One morning while everyone was still asleep at the house, I followed the coastline up and found some amazing vistas. Despite the hazy morning, I was able to take some nice photos.

Excursion to Alicante: With sightseeing overruled in favor of more beach time, I set out on a solo journey to the Mediterranean port city of Alicante. This city is also in the Valencian community and major tourist destination. It is considered part of the Costa Blanca region as is Denia and Javea.

I was intrigued to see the tiled promenade, the beach, town squares, churches, and an impressive historic district. It has it all in a very compact area.

Alicante – Pórtico de Ansaldo & Town Hall

Castle in Denia: Denia is the starting point of the Costa Blanca and as you can see in the images it is magnificent. The 11th century Moorish castle is not hard to miss as it overlooks the city high-up on a hill. As you can see it provided fantastic panoramic shots of the sea and surrounding area.

Benidorm: Originally, vacationers from interior Spain, particularly Madrid, came to Benidorm for the beaches. However, in the 1950’s with the decline of the fishing industry, the city began promoting tourism throughout Europe, which led to a major international tourist boom. Today, the city of 69,010 people has more high-rise buildings per capita than any place in the world and boasts over five million tourist arrivals annually.

Our visit was an unplanned but since we had an open day, we decided to drive down to see what it was all about. As advertised, there were tourists everywhere on the streets, mostly British.