The Campousers' Great Escape

Groan ye not!  We just had to go to Benidorm as it was so close.  Once again we consulted the local oracles and took their advice to catch the tram.  Luckily we had asked the lovely reception lady for guidance as we had no idea where the tram stop was.  She gave us a map of Benidorm and pointed out the best and worst bits (The bit that the Brits go to!).  Also efficiently, we went for a walk to locate the tram stop the day before which was just as well, it was cunningly concealed down some rough looking urbanisacions.  These are what we would call suburbs.

Next day we set off complete with sandwiches and water, as you never know what might happen.  We found the ticket machine on the tram a bit confusing, but apparently had bought the correct tickets, as there was a fierce ticket inspector onboard and she spared us the glares and tuttings that other poor foreigners received.

Once at Benidorm we managed to find our way down to the old town via a pedestrianised old river bed.  It was quite a pleasant surprise as it was very attractive and even had an open air theatre.

The old town was extremely busy until 1400 when some of the little shops closed for siesta.  We treated ourselves to a cup of coffee in one of the cafes before heading down to the front to eat our sarnies.  The beach and marina were extremely pleasant and we wandered along to a peaceful and secluded small bay below the promontory.

We walked up the steps to the seafront church and a rather lovely area overlooking Benidorm Island where a man was playing a guitar and singing.

After enjoying the civilised part of Benidorm, we headed down to the bay that is frequented by hoards of British tourists.  At this time of year it is quite pleasant.  There were a few old folk on tandem motorised scooters and definitely more English tourists than other nationalities but nothing to be ashamed of.  I suspect it is rather different in the Summer.

Altogether a very enjoyable day out.  The tram back was fine, correct tickets again.

Whilst at Vila Joiosa, we visited the old town of Finestrat which was only a few kilometres away.  We took the van and set off in the direction advised by neighbours on the campsite.  Of course, they were all either cyclists or motorbikers!  That should not have mattered but, when it comes to small towns and parking a campervan, there is a difference.  We drove into Finestrat and up through the town and out the other side without finding anywhere to park.

The resulting journey up the usual winding mountainous roads up around Puig Campana mountain, took us to a wonderful high road above Benidorm.  There were fantastic roundabouts complete with fountains and a parking place with far reaching views across Benidorm to the sea.  However, we did not stop as we were determined to get to Finestrat.  Now we had our bearings, we made another assault on the mission and found a space outside a covered car park right near the town.

Unusually for us we had managed to get there before siesta and the Tourist Information centre was open.  We picked up a map and information and followed signs that took us around the best bits of the old town.  We enjoyed a wander around the narrow streets, popped into the  church where piped music broke the silence (rather nice), and called into a lovely little shop to buy savoury pastries and cake for our lunch.

Now that we were practically locals, we managed to find our way back up to the parking place with the lovely views and put the kettle on.  Our spoils from the shop in Finestrat were greatly enjoyed with a nice fresh cup of tea.

One strange thing about Finestrat was that it has a beach that is not attached to the town.  Unless we were really mistaken, it was actually nearer to Vila Joiosa.  Still, we had not gone there for the beach so we never got to visit.  There is a street of houses hanging over the rocks apparently.  We missed that particular spectacle.  You can’t see everything.

Another destination on our way towards Alicante.

We had made a slight error in our calculations whilst in Northern Spain and assumed we would arrive in the Alicante region by early December.  Experienced Winter in Spain travellers had advised us to book somewhere for December as it gets very busy.  We innocents abroad soaked up this intelligence and booked a campsite South of Alicante for a month.  By the time we realised that we would be beyond there by mid November, it was too late to change.  So, we decided to make the most of it and give the places we stayed more of our attention than usual.

Our Spain guru from MMM, Andy Stothert, had kindly visited this area and written about it.  He advised that La Vila Joiosa was exactly that.  With great expectations, we studied our ACSI guide and identified a nearly new campsite at the very location.  We tipped up unannounced and were fortunate to be given a very pleasant pitch with mountain views.  We met some very nice people there too.

On the second day we decided to walk down to the old port.  It was quite a trek through some very unprepossessing back streets.  However, once there, the  seafront was interesting and there was a well developed promenade along to the old town.  In fact, the port end was not up to our exacting standards so we didn’t return.  I did spot this rather unusual figurehead on a boat that was under construction.

Our next trip to the town involved a visit to the Tourist Information office, as usual in Spain, cunningly hidden!  The gentleman in there was very informative about the five chocolate factory shops/tours and not much else.  We accepted a map of the area and followed our unerring sense of direction towards the bits that looked interesting.

The old town is renowned for it’s colourful buildings.  There is not a lot more to the town but it is comprised of the typical Spanish old town narrow alleyways and has a charm of its own.

We had a couple of trips out from here and they are documented on the next post.

We left Altea and the campsite full of geriatric Dutch and German folk.  The excitement was getting too much!