Albir or Altea

Albir is flat and Altea old town hilly. If mobility issues come into play.

Thank you Geoff going to book a long weekend to come for a look round. 

As has been pointed out Albir is flat whereas Altea has the steep hill from the new town on the front to the old town behind it. Altea wins hands down on charm and character. It reminds me of what Marbella was like in the 70's. I had a house up on the golf course at Don Cayo for several years and Altea remains a special place for me!

Albir has more UK residents and bars/restaurants tilted at British tastes.

Altea has a slight bohemian arty atmosphere whereas Albir is more like a typical Spanish resort. 

Parking in both is challenging in summer, Altea in particular. 

Both have apartment complexes in the town and within walking distance of the town centres.

Both nice places, maybe spend a little time in each to help your decision.

Steve

Hi NeilH, we looked at every resort around the Costa del Sol and from Torrevieja to Benidorm, 20 years ago, without finding anywhere we could settle. Finally we drove into Albir and I knew immediately that this was the place I was looking for. Relaxed, no narrow congested streets, low rise, lots of restaurants.  Although the centre is flat, a lot of housing is up the mountain which I would avoid as it's nice not to always have to use the car to do anything. I think there is a difference between a holiday home and one that you are going to spend more than a few weeks in, where convenience of shopping (Albir has 4 large supermarkets) and parking are more important. Apart from Summer evenings near the beach and around the Sunday market, parking in Albir isn't a problem. Altea does have Spanish charm but parking is horrendous. Altea is easily reached from Albir as is Alfaz and Benidorm, by car or bus. Albir doesn't have a lot of British social activity, there being lots of Norwegian, German and Dutch as well as Spanish residents. But I suspect that Altea has even less. Depending on your tastes, it seems to me that Denia and Javea have more old- school British (amateur dramatics, Gilbert and Sullivan etc), while Torrevieja has a lot more "ordinary" activity (social dancing, drinking). We are nether of those, so maybe others can comment more. Albir is busier now, and we are unable to come often now, but it's still the best place I have seen in Spain for retirement living, but housing is very expensive.

Thank you to both the replies that’s really helpful advice. Looking forward to seeing both areas soon. 

Regards Neil. 

Also David your reply made me smile. Over the last 2 years we have done the same traveled several times looking at areas all over costa Blanca.