Alicante

In port from 8 - 5. Stay in town or book a tour to someplace nearby?

A lot depends on what time of year you will be visiting, and what tour options you have.

Alicante is a nice enough place to stroll around for a few hours, have a beer and tapas, but in July and August it will be hot, and the beaches [if that is your thing] will be packed solid.

I live just outside the city of Alicante.

For the short time you are there you can find plenty to do in the city (eg Santa Barbara Castle, several museums, a stroll through the old town, a glass of wine or sangria by the marina, a walk along Esplanada de Espanya). There is no need to take a ship's tour or tourist bus to see it. All you need is a reasonable map.

The cruise terminal is not far from the centre of town and the port authority provide a free shuttle bus.

The only ship's tour you might like to consider, if available, is to Guadalest. This is a village up in the mountains about 65km (40 miles) north of Alicante about one and half hours drive. You would not be able to go there unless you took the ship's tour.

Thanks, Will be there in mid July. Probably not planning on spending the day at the beach.

You'll be there at the hottest time of the year. If you plan on strolling round the streets, do so early, before the heat of the day sets in. It is no fun walking in 38c heat. Also many shops will shut for siesta,so again you need to be out and about early.

By 14:00 you either need to be in a cool restaurant/bar deciding what to have for lunch, or be back on the ship!

Maybe a ship's tour to Guadalest might be the answer. It will be cooler up there in the mountains.

It would be even better if the tour also visits the fountains of Algar (trips to Guadalest often visit there). That is a nice place to visit on a hot day.

We will be in Alicante in September, in port from 10:00 to 18:00, so not long. Will it be very hot? There is a tour to Guadalest for 5 hours, but that wouldn't leave us much (if any) time to see Alicante. What would you do given the choice?

We will be in Alicante in September, in port from 10:00 to 18:00, so not long. Will it be very hot? There is a tour to Guadalest for 5 hours, but that wouldn't leave us much (if any) time to see Alicante. What would you do given the choice?

The beginning of September can be still quite hot although not as hot as July and August. Later is September is likely to be still warm but not too hot. Having said this, weather everywhere is impossible to predict.

Guadalest is a nice place to visit. It really depends what interests you whether you go there or just explore Alicante.

Carol is right, Guadalest is a nice place to visit.You could also take a Train to Elche to visit the largest Palmeral in Europe.This is on the world heritage list.

Happy cruising

Now that we are back I can report that Alicante was a pleasant surprise. We stayed in town. In the morning we went to the castle and in the afternoon we went shopping and spent some time at the beach. Here is a link to some of the pictures.

https://southerneurope.shutterfly.com/pictures/626

I live just outside the city of Alicante.

 

For the short time you are there you can find plenty to do in the city (eg Santa Barbara Castle, several museums, a stroll through the old town, a glass of wine or sangria by the marina, a walk along Esplanada de Espanya). There is no need to take a ship's tour or tourist bus to see it. All you need is a reasonable map.

 

The cruise terminal is not far from the centre of town and the port authority provide a free shuttle bus.

 

The only ship's tour you might like to consider, if available, is to Guadalest. This is a village up in the mountains about 65km (40 miles) north of Alicante about one and half hours drive. You would not be able to go there unless you took the ship's tour.

 

can you provide more info on the free shuttle into town? What do the buses look like, where we can catch a bus or a website with more info. Thanks!

We plan to leisurely stroll the shopping areas during our day in port. Does anyone recommend specific stores to visit, beyond the stalls?

Harry

We were in Alicante in May and just loved it! The weather was beautiful and there was plenty to see within walking distance of the cruise port. We took the hop-on hop-off bus from the cruise port and explored the castle that overlooks the city.

http://Alicante.ca

Found a middle eastern restaurant in Alicante. The cultural influence of Moors and North Africans has to go beyond architecture. Found a place called Mish Mish. Anyone ever been there?

Hello, we live about 45 minutes from Alicante and have never been to Mish Mash but some friends of ours have been and LOVED it. I believe they serve middle eastern food especially from the Lebanon. The restaurant isn't that far from Alicante cruise port, it's situated in the old town and is within good walking distance. It can be found in the plaza san cristobol.

hope this helps. happy cruising:)