Tourist attractions in Alicante Spain highlights include the old town, Santa Bárbara fortress, Alicante Archeological Museum, San Juan Beach, and Explanada promenade.
The historical city center, the old town of Alicante, is an area, which consists of a triangular region between Rambla de Méndez Núnez, Explanada de Espanya, and Mount Benacantil.
The district is a very tourist-friendly place, offering old, narrow alleyways, which are fun to tour and at the same time enjoy some of the sights that go into the historical background of the city.
Best highlights in the district include the city hall, cathedral, ancient monastery, and several art museums.
The historical old town, in Spanish “El Barrio”, is a very lively city district during the evenings, as residents and visitors of all ages come here to enjoy the many pubs, bars, and tavernas.
Among the tourist attractions in Alicante Spain is also the fortress of Santa Bárbara, located on the 166 meter-tall hill called Benacantil, next to the city, on the Northern side.
The fortress was build to the location by the Muslims during their reign over the Iberian peninsula, around 9th century AD, and the place has been used as a museum since 1963.
The place is one of the biggest Medieval fortified constructs within Spain, and from it, you’ll have unique views to both the city of Alicante and its harbor.
A popular way to come to the fortress is to walk from Plaza de Carmen, going through the narrow streets, which are a tourist attractions by themselves.
You can also use the elevator, located inside the Benacantil hill, next to the Postiguet Beach. The elevator goes all the way up to the fortress.
Among the fortress highlights, in addition to the panoramic views over Alicante and Mediterranean, are the fortress exhibitions, showcasing the best in Spanish sculpture art.
Alicante Archeological Museum (www.marqalicante.com), on the other hand, which won the “European Museum of the Year Award 2004”, has a total of eight multimedia galleries, displaying the region’s historical way of life, through an interactive museum experience.
The museum collections include over 80,000 artifacts, which have been found from the archeological excavations within Alicante region.
Some of the best parts of the museum are the different types of instructive movies, telling the tale of the Alicante history, all the way from the stone age to the age under the rule of ancient Roman Empire, and further to the Medieval period.
The Archeological Museum, located at Plaza del Doctor Gómez Ulla street, is closed on Mondays.
San Juan Beach (www.santjoandalacant.es) is one of the most famous in entire Spain, and it is located about 8 km from Alicante, at the village of San Juan.
Playa San Juan has a length of around 7 km, and the locals call it the most beautiful in the entire province of Alicante…offering a spacious, wide, fine sand beach.
For visitors, of the tourist attractions in Alicante Spain, San Juan has several shops, restaurants, and other tourist services, including a magnificent 18-hole golf course, located right next to the village.
Finally, the Explanada promenade, officially called “Explanada de España”, is often placed among the most beautiful beach promenades in Spain, with a great location, next to the famous Alicante harbor.
The promenade is a pedestrian street, especially famous for the marble mosaics, of around 6.6 million mosaic tiles in fact.
Along the Explanada, there are many sellers of gift items, beautiful, tall palm trees, several terraced cafes, and panoramic views to both the harbor as well as to the Mediterranean sea.