Help finding "that" town in Costa Blanca

vollisen wrote on Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:18pm:

Hi forum,

Me and my family have been discussing moving to Spain in a couple of years. We want to "try it" either this or next summer, so we'll be looking for a place to rent first.

Read more...

I'm feeling a bit ambivalent of the which area (south Spain, so basically Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol and so on) we should go to though. And I feel it's time to take help from people who actually knows their way around these areas and have been to numerous cities.

I want to be clear first, with what it is we're looking for. South Spain is a must, it has to be "warm" all year around with 300+ sun days. That itself is a requirement that tons of cities will fulfill, but here's where it gets harder;

I want the town to feel authentic, and Spanish - I want it to be lively even in winters, and as little tourists as possible. I want to be able to eat real Spanish and GOOD food and I do NOT want to be in a town where all menus are in my own language serving my own type of food.

Now, before you shoot me down here I am well aware that what I am asking is virtually impossible looking at the south coast of spain. But it's not all black and white right? To illustrate a bit further of what I am looking for - I have been to one town in South of Spain - namely Torrevieja. This was hands down - one of the worst experiences I've ever had. I was devastated about how bad everything was there, not even one restaurant served decent food - and it felt like a ghost town in some areas. So, to sum it up - I am looking for the *opposite* of Torrevieja.

So, I started asking around - and here's where it got confusing. A colleague of mine said to me "What you're looking for is a town called Altea - it's a hidden gem" - I googled around, seemed pretty nice and then months later I discussed the very same topic with another dear friend of mine which I know have been around the area a lot. So I asked him about Altea, which I had been recommended.

His response? Well, he said big no no to Altea, and instead pointed me towards a town called Javea (Xabia) which he said really is as "real spain" you can find if we're narrowed down to just look at the south coast.

I googled around about Javea and could find some reviews confirming what he said, that it was really a hidden gem. But lately, I've been finding more and more posts that Javea is not all that hidden and that it's been exploited by tourists for quite some time.

So, back to square 1 I guess. As mentioned, now I am going to take help from the Forum to push me in the right direction. I hope I am picturing what kind of town we're looking for - I don't mind if it's small, as long as it feels somewhat Authentic, and it's not overly exploited. Was Altea and Javea good recommendations, or would you say there are towns that better suit our needs? If so, what towns would you recommend?

Thank you for taking the time and reading this post.

Vol

vollisen wrote on Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:18pm:

Hi forum,

Me and my family have been discussing moving to Spain in a couple of years. We want to "try it" either this or next summer, so we'll be looking for a place to rent first.

Read more...

I'm feeling a bit ambivalent of the which area (south Spain, so basically Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol and so on) we should go to though. And I feel it's time to take help from people who actually knows their way around these areas and have been to numerous cities.

I want to be clear first, with what it is we're looking for. South Spain is a must, it has to be "warm" all year around with 300+ sun days. That itself is a requirement that tons of cities will fulfill, but here's where it gets harder;

I want the town to feel authentic, and Spanish - I want it to be lively even in winters, and as little tourists as possible. I want to be able to eat real Spanish and GOOD food and I do NOT want to be in a town where all menus are in my own language serving my own type of food.

Now, before you shoot me down here I am well aware that what I am asking is virtually impossible looking at the south coast of spain. But it's not all black and white right? To illustrate a bit further of what I am looking for - I have been to one town in South of Spain - namely Torrevieja. This was hands down - one of the worst experiences I've ever had. I was devastated about how bad everything was there, not even one restaurant served decent food - and it felt like a ghost town in some areas. So, to sum it up - I am looking for the *opposite* of Torrevieja.

So, I started asking around - and here's where it got confusing. A colleague of mine said to me "What you're looking for is a town called Altea - it's a hidden gem" - I googled around, seemed pretty nice and then months later I discussed the very same topic with another dear friend of mine which I know have been around the area a lot. So I asked him about Altea, which I had been recommended.

His response? Well, he said big no no to Altea, and instead pointed me towards a town called Javea (Xabia) which he said really is as "real spain" you can find if we're narrowed down to just look at the south coast.

I googled around about Javea and could find some reviews confirming what he said, that it was really a hidden gem. But lately, I've been finding more and more posts that Javea is not all that hidden and that it's been exploited by tourists for quite some time.

So, back to square 1 I guess. As mentioned, now I am going to take help from the Forum to push me in the right direction. I hope I am picturing what kind of town we're looking for - I don't mind if it's small, as long as it feels somewhat Authentic, and it's not overly exploited. Was Altea and Javea good recommendations, or would you say there are towns that better suit our needs? If so, what towns would you recommend?

Thank you for taking the time and reading this post.

Vol

vollisen wrote on Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:18pm:

Hi forum,

Me and my family have been discussing moving to Spain in a couple of years. We want to "try it" either this or next summer, so we'll be looking for a place to rent first.

Read more...

I'm feeling a bit ambivalent of the which area (south Spain, so basically Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol and so on) we should go to though. And I feel it's time to take help from people who actually knows their way around these areas and have been to numerous cities.

I want to be clear first, with what it is we're looking for. South Spain is a must, it has to be "warm" all year around with 300+ sun days. That itself is a requirement that tons of cities will fulfill, but here's where it gets harder;

I want the town to feel authentic, and Spanish - I want it to be lively even in winters, and as little tourists as possible. I want to be able to eat real Spanish and GOOD food and I do NOT want to be in a town where all menus are in my own language serving my own type of food.

Now, before you shoot me down here I am well aware that what I am asking is virtually impossible looking at the south coast of spain. But it's not all black and white right? To illustrate a bit further of what I am looking for - I have been to one town in South of Spain - namely Torrevieja. This was hands down - one of the worst experiences I've ever had. I was devastated about how bad everything was there, not even one restaurant served decent food - and it felt like a ghost town in some areas. So, to sum it up - I am looking for the *opposite* of Torrevieja.

So, I started asking around - and here's where it got confusing. A colleague of mine said to me "What you're looking for is a town called Altea - it's a hidden gem" - I googled around, seemed pretty nice and then months later I discussed the very same topic with another dear friend of mine which I know have been around the area a lot. So I asked him about Altea, which I had been recommended.

His response? Well, he said big no no to Altea, and instead pointed me towards a town called Javea (Xabia) which he said really is as "real spain" you can find if we're narrowed down to just look at the south coast.

I googled around about Javea and could find some reviews confirming what he said, that it was really a hidden gem. But lately, I've been finding more and more posts that Javea is not all that hidden and that it's been exploited by tourists for quite some time.

So, back to square 1 I guess. As mentioned, now I am going to take help from the Forum to push me in the right direction. I hope I am picturing what kind of town we're looking for - I don't mind if it's small, as long as it feels somewhat Authentic, and it's not overly exploited. Was Altea and Javea good recommendations, or would you say there are towns that better suit our needs? If so, what towns would you recommend?

Thank you for taking the time and reading this post.

Vol

jimtaylor wrote on Thu Jan 25, 2018 4:20am:

I think you'll have to compromise. The 300+ sun days isn't a problem, but in winter, even when the sky is clear, it's decidedly chilly out of the sun - especially indoors. Every winter we get down to zero degrees on at least one occasion.

If you want lively, then some of the coastal strip areas would do that for you, but that's where most of the 'furriners' congregate, so you won't get authentic, and there are a lot of holiday homes which are vacant much of the year....

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...

Alicante might meet some of your needs, but it's full of visitors in summer, especially in August.

I suggest you consider looking inland. For example, Almoradi is nice, has most of the facilities anyone would want, the town hall lay on regular events in the theatre etc, and there are plenty of good Spanish restaurants either in town or a few minutes drive away.