Suggested days out

Benidorm

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Oh my God - it's Britain with the heat turned up !!!!

About 80 mins drive from the villa. Most people reading this will probably know more about it than I do, because I've only been there twice, and one of those times was in 1972 !!! The more recent time was in February 2006 when Sorelle, Patrick, Ollie and I together with Tracey had a marvellous time traipsing along the huge deserted beach in our overcoats whilst the wind tried to knock us off our feet ! Blimey, just like being in Skegness in early summer ! before finding a deserted amusement arcade. I have to say we had a fantastic day in this remote part of Britain, and the ice cream was stupendous.

Cartagena - architecture, shopping, cruises, history

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40 mins easy drive down the motorway.

Coastal city of historic importance (due to it's strategic position in the Punic Wars up until the Spanish Civil War) - visit the Roman Theatre, Castle, Roman Ampitheatre, Spanish Civil War Museum etc (you can find details of pricing and various discount tickets for multiple sites at http://www.ayto-cartagena.es/)

Great shops too (including a El Corte Ingles department store) !

Pleasure cruises round the harbour. Nice cafes on harbour's edge.

The area around Cartagena is also famed for it's windmills (see pics) which were used up until 1945, and are now being restored and preserved in some cases (UNESCO World Heritage status). They were originally of the 'alas' (wings) type, but were later replaced with 'velas' (sails). They were used not only to grind cereals, but to draw water from wells.

Here is some tourist infor for Cartagena taken from the Tourist Office Website

Elche

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Historic town between Torrevieja and Alicante.

About 30 mins drive from the villa. Great for shops (Elche has a large leather industry), historic basilica (with tower you can climb to admire views), castle (with fountains you can run through), and a famous palm-tree park (Unesco world heritage status). The town has also won Unesco world heritage status for it's religious 'mystery play' held annually.

La Mar del Mar Menor

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Head southwards to the Mar Menor ( the small sea separated from the Mediterranean) about 45-60 mins drive from the villa. You can drive along the spit for miles, and take in a completely different atmosphere to the rest of the coast. Plenty of places to eat and drink !

Madrid

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For the really adventurous, because it's 5 hours drive so you'll need to find digs when you get to the capital.

Murcia

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Approx 50-60 mins drive from the villa. The capital of the neighbouring region of Murcia, Murcia city is a medium-sized city with good shopping (eg El Corte Ingles department store, which is well sign-posted, or if you're on foot everyone will point you towards it)

Various routes to take, but there is a very scenic route: drive through San Miguel, and then take the Orihuela road. About 2 km out of San Miguel turn left to Torremendo, then left at the lights as you enter Torremendo village, which will take you along a narrow country road for about 15 km towards Sucina. At the T-junction turn right towards Beniajan and Murcia.

Orihuela

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Interesting Spanish town, not far inland from the villa, about 40 mins - good range of shops and bars

San Miguel de la Salinas (Wed market)

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Small Spanish town which retains most of it's original charm. No showpiece architecture, but a pleasant church square, palm-lined main street and interesting cave district. Busier on a Wednesday, as it's market day. 5-10 mins drive from the villa.

Eating out in San Miguel

There is a good selection of bars and restaurants to choose from in San Miguel, all quite widely scattered. Most are Spanish, although there is a very reasonably-priced Chinese restaurant near the town hall, and a recently-opened British restaurant. For tapas try Meson Rincon de Paco, or Casa Antonio. For an evening meal try Doña Isabels or Meson El Prado. For a special occasion, we´d definitely recommend Restaurante Las Cuevas (it´s actually formed from caves) on Barrio 1 de Mayo, 13 tel 966 723 432, open 1.30pm for lunch and 8pm for dinner. Closed Weds.

For more info on San Miguel, visit the San Miguel website

Shopping at Las Habaneras

Torrevieja has a new shopping centre called "Las Habaneras" - about 15 mins drive from the villa.

It's not massive, but very pleasant, and next to the Carrefour hypermarket.

It's signposted from the N-332.

More recently we've started using the Dos Mares commercial centre at junction 777 of the motorway near San Javier - also has a cinema, hypermarket and games arcade.

The beaches

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There's too many beaches within driving distance of the villa for me to mention just now, but if you go to www.torrevieja.com you might find more details. We like Mil Palmeras Beach (about 10 mins drive from the villa) or Guardarmar (about 30 mins), but there's loads more besides.

Torre de la Horadada

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Excellent small beach, marina and town with a fine seafood restaurant (El Mesoncito Murciano) near Pilar de la Horadada