Spain Port Opinions: Almeria, Alicante, Cartagena

I'm looking at an Oceania sailing in July, 2016 (no, I don't mind the heat) that hits many ports in Spain: Almeria, Alicante, Cartagena, Malaga and Cadiz. I'm ok with Malaga and Cadiz but not finding much in the ports of Almeria, Alicante and Cartagena.

Wanted to hear your thoughts and past experiences. I've been doing some searches and it seems these ports are liked and not liked equally. Some have said they are charming and not crowded while others have said the coast of Spain is not nice.

I have never visited this part of Europe so I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

Thank you!

Cartagena is a lovely port, one that was a total surprise to us. There is a wonderful museum and Roman amphitheatre ,you just walk off the ship and the entrance is off the Main Street about a five minute walk away. The town itself has lots of shops and cafes and there is a little marina I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Having lived and worked in both Almeria and Alicante, I wouldn't choose them as cruise ports. You can reach Granada relatively easy from Almeria, but not much in the local vicinity. It is where the spaghetti Westerns were made in the 70s and 80s. The Clint Eastwood films were all made here e.g A Fistful of Dollars. It is very dry and barren and not called the Desert of Europe for nothing. Inland temperatures can reach up to 50C in the summer months.

Alicante not very exciting either, although Valencia is not too far away. it's a long time since I have been to Cartagena, but it obviously did not impress me as all I can remember is they have the first submarine there.

cartegena

another of cartegena

Having lived and worked in both Almeria and Alicante, I wouldn't choose them as cruise ports. You can reach Granada relatively easy from Almeria, but not much in the local vicinity. It is where the spaghetti Westerns were made in the 70s and 80s. The Clint Eastwood films were all made here e.g A Fistful of Dollars. It is very dry and barren and not called the Desert of Europe for nothing. Inland temperatures can reach up to 50C in the summer months.

 

Alicante not very exciting either, although Valencia is not too far away. it's a long time since I have been to Cartagena, but it obviously did not impress me as all I can remember is they have the first submarine there.

I live in Alicante and must disagree with you. I think it is a very good cruise port as it gives visitors a taste of what a Spanish city is really like.

Port stops here are usually quite short and I think there is plenty to do for the few hours the ship is docked here.

There is a castle called Castle Santa Barbara. This is a 13th century castle on a hilltop over 500 feet above Alicante with wonderful views. There is an elevator not far from the port.

Back down at sea level you can take a walk along the nearby Explanada de España. This palm tree lined promenade is composed of 6.6 million colourful marble tiles and is a lovely walk.

Near the cruise port is the marina where you can sit and have a drink at one of the many bars or restaurants.

Just wander around the streets of the old town and maybe have lunch at one of the many restaurants there.

If you are interested, there is MARQ (Alicante's Archaeological Museum). A couple of years ago it won an award for Best European Museum. This Museum is closed on a Monday.

For those that like to shop, there are some nice shops within walking distance of the port. These are not tourist shops. If you want more details let me know.

If you want to visit outside the city you can go to Guadalest - a village up in the mountains about 65km (40 miles) north of Alicante about one and half hours drive. The drive there depends on which route the driver takes. It is possible to get there by a fairly direct, not very interesting, main road. There is also a more scenic route. Apart from being very scenic there are a couple of very interesting small museums there. If you decide to go to Guadalest, I would recommend taking a ship’s tour.

Another interesting nearby town is Elche about 25 km (15 miles) from Alicante. It is known as “The Palm Forest of Europe”.

There you can visit the Huerto del Cura (Priest's Garden).The garden features a large variety of palm trees and cactuses as well as other typical Mediterranean species, such as lemon and orange trees, pomegranate trees, carob trees and jujube trees along with other subtropical species gathered throughout the years to create a stunning collection of plants from the most unexpected places. The garden’s focal point is the magnificent eight trunked ‘Imperial Palm’.

If you just want a relaxing day there are some wonderful beaches in the area. There is one right by the exit from the port (behind the Melia Hotel) but that will probably be very crowded in July. There are other (in my opinion better) beaches nearby. If you are interested in this let me know and I will let you have details.

Alicante has a HoHo bus but I don’t think it is worth it as, with a reasonable map, it is easy to see the main parts of the city on foot – many of which the bus cannot get to.

Thank you all for your info....and nice photos!

As expected, there are different opinions here. This cruise also stops at Casablanca and Gibraltar (which I've read many not so great reviews about).

Now I'm wondering if this is the right itinerary. I just love Barcelona so I wanted to see more of Spain.

JVNYC

I wouldn't choose the itinerary for that cruise. IMHO the only interesting ports of all are Malaga and Cadiz. The rest of the places I could certainly leave. However, that's my personal opinion, having lived in or visited all of those places. All, except Casablanca, but have visited Morocco a couple of times.

If you want to see more of Spain, why don't you do a land tour? Depending on your interests you can make an excellent itinerary to suit.

JVNYC

I wouldn't choose the itinerary for that cruise. IMHO the only interesting ports of all are Malaga and Cadiz. The rest of the places I could certainly leave. However, that's my personal opinion, having lived in or visited all of those places. All, except Casablanca, but have visited Morocco a couple of times.

If you want to see more of Spain, why don't you do a land tour? Depending on your interests you can make an excellent itinerary to suit.

Thanks LondonTowner, I appreciate your feedback. I'm going to give this some thought for sure. Hope to get more feedback....luckily I have lots of time!

Here are some links for Almeria & Cartagena:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1475802

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1983143

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1827178

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1217604

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1037715

Enjoy Spain!!

Just been to Cartagena on Quantum. It was a most interesting place, we thought.

English-in-Spain,

What is the more scenic route from Alicante to Guadalest? We are thinking about renting a car for the day.

English-in-Spain,

 

What is the more scenic route from Alicante to Guadalest? We are thinking about renting a car for the day.

1. The fastest route (takes about an hour) would be the AP7 motorway towards Valencia. At Benidorm turn off onto the CV70 to Guadalest. This route is mostly motorway and fairly good main roads.

2. One alternative is still take the AP7 to Benidorm but from there take the mountain road via Algar and Callosa d'en Sarrià. The road up the mountain has lots of twists and turns. If you have time, it is worth stopping to look at the water falls at Algar - especially if the weather is hot.

There are quite good driving instructions on the Algar web page

3. A third alternative would be to take the N332 from Alicante to Benidorm. This is a much slower route but would take you along the coast on a non-motorway road (therefore no tolls). From Benidorm take the Algar and Callosa route mentioned above.

With limited time I would probably go for option 2 and maybe come back on the faster CV70.

Just visited both Alicante & Cartagena on P&O Britannia, found them both interesting and would be happy to go to both again. Alicante has a nice tree lined promenade with bars & restaurants and good beach. Plenty of shops there, but we did not explore these.

Cartagena is smaller, less 'touristie' but nice enough for a couple of hours stroll. I'm sure there are trips to other places, but to be honest, all we want to do is get a feel for the place and spend no more than 2 to 3 hours ashore. It's the Med, it's summer, it's bloody hot!

English in Spain (Carol),

Thanks so much for your post. We will be in Alicante next May and look forward to exploring your city.

Merrill

Wanted to move this thread up....

Has anyone been to Murcia from Cartagena? Is it worth going and seeing? There is a half day excursion to Murcia available and wondering if it's worthwhile.

Thanks.

Towards the end of May 2016 we will be there on a Sunday. Will most sights be closed? Some of the HAL shore excursions exclude week-ends and Sundays.

Please tell us more about your favorite beach. Is beachcombing for pretty rocks, sea glass, other interesting finds allowed and or worthwhile?

Thank you, Sightcrr

Shops will be closed but museums etc will be open. What things are you looking at visiting and I can, perhaps, give you more details.

Beaches in or near Alicante are soft white sand. You are unlikely to find interesting rocks.

Murcia has a cathedral that is worth some time. The area in front of the building has several restaurants where you can get some hot chocolate (gotta have that, even if the weather is hot). I did some walking in Murcia after visiting the cathedral and enjoyed the architecture.

I tried to upload some pix, but this thing (again) would not allow me to do that.

Jim

Murcia has a cathedral that is worth some time. The area in front of the building has several restaurants where you can get some hot chocolate (gotta have that, even if the weather is hot). I did some walking in Murcia after visiting the cathedral and enjoyed the architecture.

 

I tried to upload some pix, but this thing (again) would not allow me to do that.

 

Jim

SightCRR was asking about Alicante not Murcia.

Carol thank you for helping us. Ship is in port 1000-1800. Plan is to do Castle of Santa Barbara via lift, tram along the coast for a little ways to a beach, finding valor and both kinds of turrons and back to Alicante to walk along palms and waterfront.

Is there a doll or dollhouse museum nearby? Any more info would be helpful as to open Sunday? Hours? How to get there? One of our travelers would very much enjoy miniatures, dolls and dollhouses. We did see information on one in Malaga but limited info on one in or near Alicante and we couldn't as of yet find where it is and or how to get there.

Thanks again for your help.

Sightcrr

Carol thank you for helping us. Ship is in port 1000-1800. Plan is to do Castle of Santa Barbara via lift, tram along the coast for a little ways to a beach, finding valor and both kinds of turrons and back to Alicante to walk along palms and waterfront.

 

Is there a doll or dollhouse museum nearby? Any more info would be helpful as to open Sunday? Hours? How to get there? One of our travelers would very much enjoy miniatures, dolls and dollhouses. We did see information on one in Malaga but limited info on one in or near Alicante and we couldn't as of yet find where it is and or how to get there.

Thanks again for your help.

Sightcrr

Explanada de Espanya (Esplanada de España), Alicante

Only being in port from 10am to 6pm will limit what you are able to do – especially on a Sunday. The good news is that there is a lot to see and do without going very far from the port.

You can see on this map that it is not very far to walk from the port shuttle bus to the lift/elevator up to the castle. The castle is open on a Sunday from 10am but the museum is closed from 2.30-4pm. There is not a great deal to see there but it is worth going just for the wonderful views over Alicante and out to sea.

There is a beach called Playa Postiguet near the port just behind hotel Melia Alicante. This can get quite busy on a Sunday but should not be too bad in May. Also in this area is the marina (just behind the casino) where there are several bars and restaurants.

If you want to go up the coast to other beaches you can take the tram. There used to be a tram stop near the hotel Melia but this was closed a couple of years ago. If you decide to take the tram along the coast there is a tram station not far from the castle called ‘MARQ Castillo’. You can take line 3 to Playa San Juan. The tram runs right along by the beach. There are 3 possible stops (Carrabiners, Muchavista or Les Llances). I would recommend Muchavista as there is a bar/café right there at the station. This tram is every 30 minutes and the journey takes about 20 minutes. Coming back to the ship by tram I suggest you get off at Sangueta station and walk along the road then along the beach promenade. You will see hotel Melia Alicante - head for that.

The miniatures museum and the dolls house museum you mention are in Guadalest about 40 miles from Alicante. The only practical way for you to get there is to take a ship’s excursion if it is available. This would probably take up most of your time in port and would mean you would be unlikely to have time to do the other things you mention.

Guadalest Museums

You may find it difficult to buy Valor chocolate and turron on a Sunday as most of the shops will be closed. There is a small supermarket (Carrefour Express) near the Explanada de Espanya but I doubt they will have a very large selection. If you decide to go to Guadalest you will probably see some on sale there. There are a few stalls along the Explanada, it is possible one of those may sell chocolate or turron but again, not a great selection.

I hope you find this information useful. Let me know if you have any more questions.

When you say "up the coast" do you mean to the east or west? (I haven't looked to see if the tram only goes one way). Will the food market in Alicante be open Sunday and have the sweets? What different selections are we looking for? Different sizes or flavors? Shapes? We have one grand-son who will like it all and then others not so much.

We have one person who can't have cows milk/dairy/butter or things made with milk (bread) etc so we skip most meals off the ship and make quick trips with small snacks to tide us over until we can be sure we don't have more problems.

There is a ship tour to Guadalest but at $70 p/p are going to skip it and just do the Alicante area.

Thanks again for all your help. Sightcrr

When you say "up the coast" do you mean to the east or west? (I haven't looked to see if the tram only goes one way). Will the food market in Alicante be open Sunday and have the sweets? What different selections are we looking for? Different sizes or flavors? Shapes? We have one grand-son who will like it all and then others not so much.

 

We have one person who can't have cows milk/dairy/butter or things made with milk (bread) etc so we skip most meals off the ship and make quick trips with small snacks to tide us over until we can be sure we don't have more problems.

 

There is a ship tour to Guadalest but at $70 p/p are going to skip it and just do the Alicante area.

Thanks again for all your help. Sightcrr

To answer your questions -

When we talk about ‘up the coast’ from Alicante it is north in the direction of Playa San Juan/Campello/Benidorm. That is the only way the tram runs. There is very little of interest to tourists (including very little public transport) in the other direction to the south.

The Alicante food market will not be open on Sunday.

Re Turron. There are basically two varieties. Turron de Jijona/Xixona is a softer, chewier variety of the sweet. Turron de Alicante is harder and more crunchy. Both varieties tend to contain nuts. As I said, on a Sunday you may not find a great selection.

Another interesting nearby town is Elche about 25 km (15 miles) from Alicante. It is known as “The Palm Forest of Europe”.

 

There you can visit the Huerto del Cura (Priest's Garden).The garden features a large variety of palm trees and cactuses as well as other typical Mediterranean species, such as lemon and orange trees, pomegranate trees, carob trees and jujube trees along with other subtropical species gathered throughout the years to create a stunning collection of plants from the most unexpected places. The garden’s focal point is the magnificent eight trunked ‘Imperial Palm’.

Hi!

We will be in Alicante on Monday, July 4. There is a ship's tour that goes to Elche, but if we wanted to do this on our own, how difficult would it be? It is not far away - is there public transportation? From what I read, I believe there will be enough time for us to explore both Alicante and Elche, as we are docked from 10AM until 7PM.

Thanks for any information and/or advice!