Is Alicante worth visiting? Honest Pros and Cons By a Local

Have you been asking yourself the question: “Is Alicante worth visiting?” If you ask me, absolutely YES!

Alicante has a hilltop castle, beautiful beaches, and a charming old town. I’ve been to Alicante more times than I can count and love the city big time. But that might not be the case for you.

In this post, I’ll share reasons to visit Alicante as well as the reasons not to visit so you can decide whether it is the right vacation destination for you.

Every destination has its pros and cons so it’s only fair that I highlight both sides of the coin!

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Is Alicante worth visiting?

Before I start selling in Alicante as the ideal vacation spot, I’ll list up some quick pros and cons here so you can see if you want to keep reading or not.

Pros:

• direct beach access from the city
• very walkable
• epic views
• cute street market
• great (vegan) food scene
• safe city
• international airport
• cool street art
• many cool museums

Cons:

• hilly to the castle
• worn down buildings in some areas and generally buildings are not as well-maintained as other cities in Spain

Reasons to visit Alicante

There are many reasons to visit Alicante and I’ll start with them here. Some of them might not fit you and your travel style and preferences, but these are the things I love about the city.

Further down, I’ve also written some cons of visiting Alicante that you might be interested in seeing if they are dealbreakers for you or not.

Hilltop castle that’s free to visit

Not many popular tourist destinations in Spain can brag about a castle with free entry for everyone, but Alicante can. And Santa Barbara Castle is well maintained with several halls and rooms with exhibitions you can visit. Not to mention, the best views of Alicante!

Lovely old town

Alicante Old Town is lovely. I love the architecture, the vibrant vibe from restaurant tables set out on the streets and squares, and the little shops.

There are beautiful churches and museums to visit around every corner in Alicante. While some buildings are worn down, I love that street artists have created art out of it in many places.

I also love that Alicante has its own palm tree lined La Rambla with a fantastic permanent street market.

Walkable city

Alicante is super walkable and you can easily explore Alicante in one day by foot. While the city has its hills, the views are so epic that it’s easy to catch your breath looking out on the beautiful city and coast.

All the main attractions, museums, restaurants, and bars are a short walk away from wherever you are in town, and if you need to go to the opposite side, there will be plenty of things to see on your way.

I mean, there’s even a Mushroom Street in Alicante! If that isn’t super cute to walk through, I don’t know what is.

Great beaches

The beaches in Alicante are great. You can visit the city beach by walking from the old town which is super handy, but there are also epic beaches up and down the coast if you want to get out of the city a bit.

The urban beach is well equipped with sun beds and shade for rent, toilets, showers, playgrounds for kids, and volleyball and football nets for us bigger kids.

Dog-friendly

I find Alicante really dog-friendly compared to other cities in Spain. There are many parks and pet-friendly restaurants like Mareando la Huerta which is fantastic.

Though generally, I like sitting outside, some winter evenings especially can be too cool to be comfortable outside. Then, it’s really nice to be able to take our Baby Atlas inside while we eat.

Shops like Ale Hop are also dog-friendly, so you can take your pooch inside.

Santa Barbara Castle is also dog-friendly which is really cool! While you can’t enter the halls and exhibitions, you can take your dog through the gift shop and all across the castle grounds for the city’s best views.

You also find one of Spain’s best dog beaches, Agua Amarga Beach, located just south of the city on the way to Urbanova. They have different accessories for dogs and even a dog menu on the beach.

Epic views

Since Alicante is quite hilly, there are also exceptional views from several parts of the city, though, in my opinion, the views from Santa Barbara Castle are unmatched!

You don’t even have to walk up if you don’t feel like it as there’s an elevator taking you all the way to inside the castle and a shuttle bus taking you to the entrance of the castle.

Kid-friendly

Alicante is also very kid-friendly. Though I don’t have kids myself, I noticed how many fun playgrounds there were on the beach and you can’t argue with a mushroom street with little mushroom houses for little humans to enter.

Reasons not to visit Alicante

Hilly

If you’ve got issues walking uphill and don’t want to spend money on the elevator or shuttle bus to the castle, you’ll miss out on the best views in the city and even the castle grounds are pretty hilly to walk. The old town is less hilly.

A bit worn down

Walking through the old town, many houses are quite worn down. After traveling a lot through Spain, what caught my eye in Alicante were all the buildings that could do with a little makeover.

In some places, there’s street art that makes it pretty and takes attention away from the worn down, but if this puts you off, there are prettier places to visit in Spain.

Small city

If you prefer bigger cities with many large neighborhoods to discover, Alicante might feel a little too small.

Then, I suggest heading to Valencia or Barcelona instead. Or if the beach isn’t a dealbreaker for you, Madrid might be just what you’re looking for.

Tourism is driving out the locals

Finally, I want to address a cause that’s dear to my heart as it’s been my and my close one’s reality here in Spain, both when living in Costa del Sol and in Costa Blanca.

Tourism is driving out the locals.

Unfortunately, the high demand for holiday rentals means that it’s extremely hard to find long-term rentals for locals who live and work in the city.

This means that it’s hard to find a place to live in the first place, but if you’re so lucky to find an apartment with a long-term contract (meaning you won’t be stranded on the street over the summer months when short-term rental increases the prices with 4-6 times the monthly cost), the prices are way higher than what’s reasonable with a local salary.

But what I noticed the most in Alicante city, are the campaigns and banners in the streets about noise from tourists (in the high season especially).

People need to sleep at night to get up for work in the morning, but it seems like the high numbers of vacation rentals in the neighboring houses result in late-night parties and a lot of noise on the weekdays.

While this might not be a reason NOT to visit Alicante, it certainly is a heads up on booking a hotel room instead of an AirBnB.

Conclusion: Is Alicante worth visiting

So, is Alicante worth visiting or not?

Summing up, there are a lot of reasons to visit Alicante. If you like a small city with plenty of do, an energetic vibe, a short walk to the beach, and beautiful views, Alicante is for sure a great place to be.

If you don’t like walking hills or prefer getting around with the metro or tram exploring different neighborhoods, maybe it’s not your best choice.

Either way, I hope you’ve gotten a clearer picture of the city to choose whether it’s the right place for you to visit.

Happy travels!