Looking for a Guide in April!

Hi Pat

There are tons of interesting places to visit in the Costa Blanca and surrounding areas, it depends on what type of places you’d like to see? There are the historical towns of Cartegena, Murcia & Alicante, a host of blue flag beach towns/areas, salt lakes of Torrevieja/La Mata, bustling ports of Santa Pola and Torrevieja (plus others no doubt), the inland caves in the north of the region, Algar waterfalls, etc...etc...The list goes on & on, and I’m sure that many members of the forum will recommend other areas too. You can go on TripAdvisor and pick out “things to do” in selected towns/cities, and this will direct you to the most popular areas and things to do - assisted by readers reviews. We have done this since buying our holiday home, and always hire a car to get out and about and discover for ourselves - speak with your friends and neighbours to gain information from them?

The last thing I would do is leave it to a guide to take you round, the fun is in exploring and finding these areas for yourself! So what if you hear of a hidden gem on your last day of your holiday - go and find it next time!!!

Hi Pat

When we were purchasing my husband bought a book online (Amazon - pic attached)

This has lots of ideas for day trips etc.

We have also just been putting things like Natural Parks/Nature reserves into google maps, along with just driving along the N332 and visiting coastal beaches for a walk and a coffee.

Whatever you end up doing enjoy!

Best wishes 

Sharon n Mike

Also have a look at the website coachtripsonline.com as they have plenty of ideas for day trips and longer ones.

Also for guidance on Spanish bureaucracy have a look at Jim’s Guides on this site.   Another couple of helpful sites are Citizens Advice Bureau Spain for general queries and N332 for anything to do with driving in Spain.   The latter is run in collaboration with officers of the Guardia Civil for English speaking people and has an English version of the Spanish equivalent of the Highway Code.

Steve,

Thank you for taking the time to comment!! Very helpful hints and places to get to. Appreciate it :)

Sharon & Mike,

Thank you for book info..... will get on to it!! 

Hi There,

Whilst I agree with the fun being in finding new places yourselves, I would also say that there is little fun in getting lost and wasting precious holiday time going round in circles. I am happy to concede that maybe we are more pathetic than average at this, but we have been out to our apartment with quite a few different friends over time and its always the same story. We just get totally lost almost every time. We know where we want to go, we have maps, satnavs, phones, we ask directions, but still we get lost.  And then when we do find where we want to be we have no idea of how we got there! 

I think the idea of a guide is brilliant, if you can find one that you can get good ideas from of where to go, and if they help you plot a route for the next time.  Maybe an english-speaking local resident with time on their hands would accompany you in return for a nice lunch out, if you cant find a professional one who would charge you.

Lots of lovely places to visit, and if you get taken to the actual place you can always retrace your steps another time on your own and do the exploring.  If you do find someone, or if there is someone out there who would like to offer this service, please let me know!!!!

JulieTony,

I completely agree... local knowledge could possibly take the pain out of wasting time walking in circles. Not to mention the arguments I could avoid with the back seat drivers snipping at me!!:) I did get the guide book (digital version from kindle) that Sharon & Mike kindly shared and it looks like a real find. My idea is to identify the highlights, make a list and ideally have my hand held getting there to pave the way for future visits. Someone has already contacted me via PM offering to guide so I'll keep you posted.

Pat 

thats great.  Yes would be interested to hear about your guide and how it all turns out.  Will have a look at that online guide myself.  Have had some very helpful info from this forum and will be trying that out very soon.  I think one of our problems is that we dont visit as often as we would like, and although by the end of the holiday we are getting much better at finding places, a few months down the line its all a confused memory!