Eating Out in Alicante
Alicante is a part of the Valencian Community, a region renowned for its cuisine, particularly its native rice and seafood dishes. Paella, popular all over the world and served all over Spain, is said to have originated here.
Alicante is packed with international dining options, from Italian trattorias to British-style pub grub. Cafés and beach bars along the seafront and Explanada de España make for ideal snack breaks and leisurely al fresco lunches.
The renovated harbour or El Puerto is now home to upmarket seafood restaurants, including stylishly customised boats serving dinner at anchor. The business quarter around Plaza Gabriel and the narrow streets and lanes of Barrio Santa Cruz host plenty of local tapas bars and neighbourhood tavernas specialising in authentic Valencian dishes.
Tip: Typically, lunch is eaten between 2pm and 4pm, and dinner starts at 9pm or later. There are plenty of restaurants in Alicante catering to visitors who prefer to eat earlier.
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Arroz Negro: This coastal paella variation mixes home-grown rice with squid cooked in its own ink.
Salazones: Salted tuna, cod or octopus, fresh from the sea and served as tapas all over town.
Alicanto: A local form of caviar made from herring roe, spread with butter.
Turrón: Almond and honey nougat said to be invented by the Moors, often used to make a rich, sweet ice cream.
Shopping in Alicante
A historic Mediterranean port, Alicante has been a major trade hub for centuries. The modern city is home to familiar European brand outlets, but you’ll also find plenty of independent retailers selling local wines and oils or arts and crafts.
Alicante’s Central Market is housed in a grand Art Nouveau building from the early 20th century. It’s a hive of activity every morning as residents, visitors and restaurant owners shop for fresh fish. Colourful street markets occupy Campoamor, Carolinas, Benalúa and Babel, and craft stalls line Explanada de España.
The main shopping district is centred on Avenida de Maisonnave, but if you prefer offbeat, old-fashioned stores, try Rambla de Méndez Núñez. For contemporary fashions, head to the air-conditioned malls and supermarkets on the Gran Vía and in Plaza Mar 2.
Gifts and souvenirs from Alicante
Mistela: Fortified, oak-aged wine from the vineyards of the nearby Jalon Valley.
Olive Oil: High-quality olives are grown and pressed all over Spain, but the oil produced around Alicante has a rich, distinctive flavour.
Paintings: Alicante’s coast and countryside have inspired some of Spain’s greatest artists. Today, the city’s galleries and market stalls offer paintings by local talents.
Ceramics: If seafood tapas is a local speciality, so are the brightly painted earthenware dishes it is often served on.
Culture & Nightlife in Alicante
Alicante’s cultural heritage is defined by its art and architecture, from galleries inside 18th-century palaces to museums inside Moorish castles. A buzzing holiday hub on the Costa Blanca, the city is also packed with bars and clubs that stay open until the sun rises over the Mediterranean.
By day, El Barrio draws admirers to its well-preserved Renaissance Cathedral of San Nicolás and the Gothic Basilica of Santa María. After dark you can enjoy a quiet glass of Spanish sherry in a backstreet taverna, or take your pick of local dancefloors.
Parties also run late at the chiringuitos – kiosk-style bars – along the beaches of El Postiguet and San Juan, while waterfront venues around El Puerto attract a well-heeled clientele.
Alicante’s busy calendar of fiestas, parades and street parties includes the revels of Carnival in February and St. John’s Bonfires around the summer solstice.
Alicante museums and galleries
Santa Bárbara Castle: Built by Spain’s Moorish rulers over 1,000 years ago, this well-preserved fortress is also a free museum with theatrical live tours and interactive exhibits.
Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ): A lovingly curated collection of ancient and prehistoric artefacts dug out of nearby excavation sites, including items from Lucentum, the ruined Roman town just outside the city centre.
Gravina Museum of Fine Arts (MUBAG): Housed within the grand 18th-century Gravina Palace, this free museum screens an illuminating video history of Alicante, and shows great works of local art dating back to the Middle Ages.
Alicante Museum of Contemporary Art (MACA): Inside the Baroque edifice of Alicante’s oldest surviving civil building you’ll find paintings by modern Spanish masters like Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris.
Visiting Alicante with a Family
Alicante is a prime spot for family holidays, with long, safe white-sand beaches in the centre of the city at El Postiguet, and just out of town at San Juan. You’ll have no trouble finding child-friendly restaurants or green spaces to play and relax in the shade.
If you’re staying near San Juan, you need only walk a few minutes in flip-flops to begin sandcastle-building and splashing in the surf. It’s a short tram ride up the coast toward the seaside resort of Benidorm and the roller coasters of Terra Mitica, a theme park with decorations inspired by ancient mythology.
The neighbouring wildlife park of Terra Natura is home to more than 1,500 animals. Children can spend a cooling, thrilling afternoon on the waterslides and flume rides of the nearby Aquopolis Torrevieja.
Tabarca Island, an hour by boat from Alicante, has quiet coves for family picnics and clear blue waters for snorkelling.
Family-friendly parks and gardens in Alicante
Canalejas Park: A stroll down Explanada de España, with its summer street performers and puppet shows, brings you to Alicante’s central park. Guarded by stone dogs and lions, it’s famous for its huge rubber trees and ornate, tranquil fountains.
El Tossal Park: On the grassy eastern slopes of Mount Tossal, near San Fernando Castle, you can play mini golf and scale a climbing wall with spectacular views of Alicante.
Lo Morant Park: Just outside Alicante, this vast expanse of parkland has playgrounds, games areas and an auditorium hosting live performances in summer.
Parque de la Ereta: A peaceful run of terraced slopes and scenic walkways lead down Mount Benacantil from the base of Santa Bárbara Castle into the Old Town.
