"Qué bárbaro!" a Alicante Travel Page by BlackTshirt

Alicante is the capital of the Costa Blanca.

Many northern Europeans come to the coasts of Spain for only the sun, good weather and cheap alcohol, and that's fine. But when you get tired of that you'll find that there is a hell of a lot to discover. Alicante was one of the first centers of civilization on the Mediterranean. It has traditionally been a place for travelers and trade, due to its excellent port and proximity to northern Africa. In Alicante you can take a quick tram from the beach to walk around an ancient Ibero-Roman city called Lucentum, that is being excavated presently, and you can start to understand how Spanish civilisation came about. Next, go to the Castle of Santa Barbara and from the top you can imagine how it was in 1000 BCE. If you want to tie it all together and really understand what you are seeing, pay a visit to the MARQ musuem, rated the best archeological museum in Europe. It's nothing less than amazing.

Alicante is also a modern city. It's big enough to offer a little bit of everything. Check out the central market - in that one building you can find more quality and variety of fresh foods that you can in many entire cities! To give you an idea of how fresh the food is, there is no seafood sold on Mondays because the fishermen were with their families instead of out fishing on Sunday. Phenomenal!

The city is extending the tram system to go from the train station all the way to El Campello up the coast, and from the central market all the way out to the University of Alicante in San Vicente del Raspeig. In combination, you can get anywhere rapidly, safely and logically by bus, even if you don't speak Spanish. There are detailed maps of the bus system at each covered stop and they run frequently. There is the railway to connect with cities across Spain and the government is installing a high speed rail to and from Madrid. Murcia is an hour away by train which costs under 4 euros per person, and Valencia is 45 minutes north. For the hard partying crowd, Benidorm is also connected by rail to the tram at El Campello. Add in the international airport with direct flights to Great Britian, Germany, and Scandinavia, and you have the world at your fingertips.

But that's beside the point that you can comfortably walk anywhere you want to go in Alicante.

There are two excellent jazz clubs, 4 Gatos and Jubilee with regular jam sessions. There are all kinds concerts with internationally recognized musicians for 3 euros per person at the CAM. There is always a fiesta to go to, and many free art museums.

Want more? Alicante is full of beautiful parks, fountains, an excellent culinary tradition, hustle and bustle, the evening paseo, many small scale independent merchants, yacht trips and rentals at the port, excellent local wine, turron and ceramics.

Be sure to check out the big party of the year - the Fogueras - in the last week of June. They're outrageous and there is something for everyone including couples, singles, students, and families of all ages.

Oh yeah, AND there are the beaches.