Where would you recommend?

have you tryed in land bite away from the costly area off Alicante ha look up ELX spain on google city know as Elche you 30 mins away from all , Alicante city, Torrevieja, Santa Pola, la Maria and just hour away is Murcia. To the north, Benidorm you find Calpe and Altea. An Drive inland can be made to Busot to see the Cuevas del Canelobre. The caves are 24km from Alicante and house the highest vaults in the whole of Spain. The interior reminds you of a cathedral interior with its coloured lights illuminating the rock and mineral formations. Busot also offers the visitor many hiking routes with unique views and a range of restaurants with local cuisine. More caves can be found at Vall d'Ebo, some 30km from Denia. The Cova del Rull , while Alicante airport is 15 mins down the road
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elche
http://www.turismedelx.com/en/

For got to say Elche has one biggest shoes industry in Eu

Of course I'm going to be biased living in Granada...

...but there's plenty to see and do here.

A wonderful and historic city, the Alhambra, the Sierra Nevada.

As for traditional Spanish towns and villages, there's too many to name, throughout all the Andalucian provinces.

Have a look here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusia are http://www.spain.info/
edit by jurdy

Sounds like some good places to see

Cheers

Nick

I'm biased in favour of Granada too - south east of Heath and quite a bit higher in the mountains, in the central Alpujarra. It's brilliant, but there are already British here; not many but some. If you really want to get away from it all, then head to Extremadura. Caceres is a jewel of a miniature city and the landscape just north of there is magnificent, great food and everything is cheap - it's like Andalucia twenty years ago. Or try Teruel. Badly served by main roads and railways, it's reckoned to be the most isolated province in the country. They have a protest group (with the slogan "Teruel existe!") which tries to remind the rest of the country that they are there, but if you can find it, it's beautiful.

We are going to do the Poole - Cherbourg crossing and then drive through Clermont Ferrand, Millau Viaduct, across the Pyrenees and then down via Barca - So it should be an epic journey - 4 weeks of holidays

I'd say go inland...Spain is such a large country with such a wealth of scenery. We've been up to Galicia and it was beautiful, rolling green hills, the food was amazing, fresh seafood snd the best we've ever had. If you go up there you must go to Santiago de la Compostela, and see all the pilgrims finishing their walk. Also try around Madrid - Cuenca - with the stunning old town and rock formations. Segovia blew me away totally....amazing. Toledo is a medieval city built almost in the middle of nowhere. Salamanca is great as well.

My brother in law went on a pilgrimage to Santiago just after my sister died - He said it was a wonderful thing to do and it was hard as hell - It took him 2 weeks - He flew over from Oz and went for 10 days by himself, then met his son for the last 4

I don't live in Granada but I have to say Granada is a must-see for any foreigner. Probably the reason so many Japanese go there too.

Granada has:

The Alhambra - A must visit. Impressive views of the city. Very historic.
Cathedral - The Cathedral is one of my favourite and is very impressive.
Very cheap food and drink - If you want value for money Granada town is the place. Tapas heaven!

Sierra Nevada isn't worth visiting. If you're into skiing you've probably seen better places. Not much of a sight. Highest point in southern Europe if that's of any interest to you.

Have to agree with Martcross here. While Andalusia does have its charms, if you are looking to get away from British culture, well you may run into a lot of it down there. It sounds cliche, but one of the least visited though most beautiful regions is Extremadura. The least populated region with the most stunning scenery, Andalusia's olive trees are replaced here by ancient Holm Oaks and Cork trees. 2 UNESCO cities in Caceres and Trujillo and if you really want to get away from it all, the excellent getaways of Las Hurdes and Sierra de Gata nestled up against Portugal.

> I don't live in Granada but I have to say Granada is a must-see for any foreigner. Probably the reason so many Japanese go there too.

Granada has:

The Alhambra - A must visit. Impressive views of the city. Very historic.
Cathedral - The Cathedral is one of my favourite and is very impressive.
Very cheap food and drink - If you want value for money Granada town is the place. Tapas heaven!

Sierra Nevada isn't worth visiting. If you're into skiing you've probably seen better places. Not much of a sight. Highest point in southern Europe if that's of any interest to you.


Granada is brilliant, right enough, but it (rightly) gets hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. If you go to the Alhambra, book in advance on-line, otherwise it's highly likely you won't get in. And avoid the busiest holiday periods.

If you'd like to visit a beautiful city with a Moorish citadel, a fascinating cathedral and some of the best bars in Europe - but very few foreign tourists - you should try Almeria. Even less touched by tourism is the charming provincial capital of Jaen; not quite as much to see (although there are some worthwhile old buildings) but a great atmosphere and, yet again, brilliant bars. Tapas in Jaen and Granada provinces are free with beer and wine (almost every bar), but you don't get a choice. In Almeria, you pay more for your combined tapa and drink, but you get to choose and it tends to be more generous.

Marcos II is a bit rough on the Sierra Nevada! True, you wouldn't choose it for ski-ing if you could easily get to (and afford) the alps, but it is amazing for wildlife and views. Also down below the Sierra proper is the Alpujarra where our house is - and although I'm a little biased, that's one of the most beautiful places in Europe.

Andalucia does have the overdeveloped Costa del Sol, right enough, but it is the size of a small country and is amazingly varied. All of the provincial capitals are worth visiting, as are some other smaller cities like Jerez, Ronda, Carmona, Antequera, Ubeda, Baeza.... Then there are natural wonders in the Alpujarra, Cazorla, Subetica, Sierra Morena, Donana etc. You could spend a lifetime discovering it all.

> Have to agree with Martcross here. While Andalusia does have its charms, if you are looking to get away from British culture, well you may run into a lot of it down there. It sounds cliche, but one of the least visited though most beautiful regions is Extremadura. The least populated region with the most stunning scenery, Andalusia's olive trees are replaced here by ancient Holm Oaks and Cork trees. 2 UNESCO cities in Caceres and Trujillo and if you really want to get away from it all, the excellent getaways of Las Hurdes and Sierra de Gata nestled up against Portugal.


I haven't been to Extremadura yet, but have a friend whose wife is from a little town there. So I looked up some photos.

http://flickr.com/photos/craigwetherall/140951240/

http://flickr.com/photos/craigwetherall/331141894/

lots more (http://flickr.com/photos/tags/extremadura/)

NICE