I want to tell you my story about a family trip to Europe in December 2023. Friends from Italy and Spain have been inviting us to visit them for a long time, so when the opportunity arose, we asked Koradius kelionės specialists to make up a route for us to visit Italy, Spain and France, pick up flights and book hotels. Our children study well, so there were no problems with teachers at school – they were quietly allowed to travel during their studies. The youngest daughter is learning French, and has long dreamed of seeing the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to surprise her and additionally visit Paris during the trip (she found out about this just before flying to Paris, at the airport in Spain))). In general, there were a lot of emotions and impressions during the trip, both positive and negative – in Paris, the scammers managed to deceive us and extort money. But about everything in order…
First we visited Bergamo (Italy), you can read the story about this trip here, the next city of our trip was Milan (Italy), you will find the story about this trip here, well, then we went to Spain.
Altea (Spain)
The resort town of Altea is located on the Costa Blanca, 70 km from Alicante Airport.
What to do in a resort town in winter? Yes, that’s it, what we don’t have time to do in the summer, when we spend almost all our time on the beach – slowly get acquainted with local attractions, enjoy the beauty of nature, learn the culture and traditions of local residents.
In this story there will be no information about the specifics of traveling by train or bus, since during the entire trip to Spain we did not have to use public transport, we traveled constantly by car. The cost of diesel fuel in December 2023 was 1.48 euros per liter😉
The weather on the Costa Blanca in early December was excellent – about +20 0C, mostly sunny, partly cloudy in mountainous areas.
The old town of Altea is located on a hill with a beautiful view of the coast and the modern part of the city.
In the very center of the old town is the Nuestra Señora del Consuelo Church, which is also called the “dome of the Mediterranean”, it is the main attraction of the region.
Althea has the unofficial status of the cultural capital of the region. In the old town there is a street of artists, where sculptures and paintings are placed directly on the walls of houses. And this is not surprising, the atmosphere of the city creates a mood for relaxation and creativity.
An interesting fact is that the zero meridian, Greenwich, passes through the territory of the city, or rather through the yacht port and the Luis Campomanes club.
Well, how can you not have a great Mediterranean dinner with seafood and fish in a cozy cafe in the heart of the old town! The price of this gastronomic pleasure is 44 euros.
25 km from Altea, high in the mountains, there is one of the most visited attractions in Spain, the San Jose Castle in the town of Guadalest
San Jose combines two fortresses:
There are a large number of souvenir shops, restaurants and museums here. There are such unusual museums as the Museum of microminiatures, the museum of salt and pepper shakers and the Museum of Torture.
Entrance to the observation deck is free, and in order to climb to the highest point of Guadalest, the observation tower of Alcazaiba Castle, you need to buy a ticket to the Ordunya House Museum. The ticket price is 4 euros for an adult, and 2 euros for children under 12 years old. We strongly recommend visiting the observation tower – you will never forget the scenery that opens up in front of you! Very exciting and beautiful!
In general, a trip to Spain in winter is a great opportunity to learn another, real, non-tourist side of life in this wonderful country. You can ride around the regions if you wish, chat with people and admire the architecture, art and natural beauty of the homeland of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.
Althea, you are wonderful! I wonder what Valencia will surprise us with?