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ALSO KNOWN AS "THE COSTA BLANCA"
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A walking holiday in...BENIDORM !? Well ... perhaps not in Benidorm itself ... but the surrounding area, although regularly walked by local residents, is unknown - or at least mostly overlooked - by British walkers. With cheap flights into Alicante and Murcia airports and abundant accommodation available in and around Benidorm, the mountains of Las Marinas are a great choice for an economical winter walking break - plus the area enjoys an average of 340 sunny days a year!
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In 1995 Bob Stansfield, in his Cicerone Press guide to Mountain Walks on the Costa Blanca, noted : “The Costa Blanca has the potential to rival Mallorca as a winter walking venue". |
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People
who have walked
with us during the past seven winter seasons
have been amazed at the beauty and variety of the countryside to be found so close to the
Costa Blanca. Many of them were well travelled walkers who realized
they had found a surprisingly favourable alternative to better known - but
often more expensive - winter walking areas. Las Marinas has spectacular mountain trails - a combination of tracks, farm lanes and traditional mozarabic pathways which link the older villages. They wander among rugged limestone peaks whose lower slopes are covered with almond and olive trees, through high valleys with cherry and nispero trees and on down to the orange groves of the coastal plane. All this can be enjoyed under sunny skies with temperatures in the 60´s F (15–22 C) On weekends, local resident walking groups (there are at least seven of them) car-pool to and from walks and between start and finish points. But with almost no public transport inland from the the densely populated coastal strip, the difficulty for visitors has always been getting to and from the best walking areas.
Walking boots with good ankle support are strongly recommended for all walks (except the easy rambles) and in case you hit one of those statistical 25 days which don't have sun, it's a good idea to bring wet weather clothing “just in case”.
After a day of great walking, the attractions of Benidorm and the coastal resorts are close at hand from the unashamedly tacky to the internationally sophisticated – to be enjoyed or ignored - and Benidorm itself is truly a year-round resort. A walking and/or activities break on the Costa Blanca lets you explore the mountains by day and the jungle by night. For those who like the idea of walking in Las Marinas mountains - but are perhaps put off by the prospect of being in Benidorm !? - there are quieter surrounding villages (but please be aware that quieter can mean very quiet indeed).
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