Benidorm
Spain · Valencian Community · 3 m
Description
Benidorm is the most vertical town in Spain and the clearest thing the country has to a purpose-built city of holidays. It was a fishing village of a few thousand people until the general plan of 1956, pushed through by the mayor Pedro Zaragoza, traded low density for height and let the towers rise straight off the sand. The result is a skyline with more buildings above a hundred metres per inhabitant than any other city in the world, roughly one for every three thousand residents, and among them the Gran Hotel Bali at a hundred and eighty six metres, the tallest hotel in Spain. Two long beaches run either side of a rocky promontory that carries the old town and the Balcon del Mediterraneo, a tiled lookout on the site of a vanished castle. Behind the strip lie four theme parks and the cliffs of the Sierra Helada, and seventeen kilometres inland the castle village of Guadalest sits on its rock as one of the most visited villages in Spain.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 2 to 7 days (optimal 4 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Playa de Levante
- Skyline of towers rising off the sand
- Playa de Poniente and its sculpted promenade
- Balcon del Mediterraneo lookout
- Old town and the blue tiled dome of Sant Jaume i Santa Anna
- Terra Mitica theme park
- Guadalest(Day trip)
- Aqualandia water park
- Sierra Helada cliffs and their coastal path
- Isla de Benidorm by boat
- Bars and cabaret of the Levante strip
- Mundomar marine and exotic animal park
- Altea and its whitewashed old town(Day trip)
- Terra Natura and its Aqua Natura water park
- Cruz de Benidorm viewpoint above the bay
- Algar waterfalls and their bathing pools(Day trip)
- Villajoyosa(Day trip)
- Gran Hotel Bali, the tallest hotel in Spain
- Benidorm Fest song contest (approx. January)
- Playa de Mal Pas below the promontory
Getting there
- Airports:
- ALC
- Train stations:
- Benidorm Intermodal
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry