Are you asking yourself “Is Calpe worth visiting?” Then this is for you! I wanted to visit Calpe for years, especially because of the intriguing Peñon de Ifach.
Truth is, I wasn’t as impressed with Calpe as I had expected, though the town has a lot of great things to do and see.
In this post, I’ll break it down for you so you can decide whether it’s the right destination for you. There are many beautiful towns in Costa Blanca and Calpe is certainly one of them, so don’t get me wrong!
Read on to know what I didn’t like and all the things I did like to make up your own mind.
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Is Calpe worth visiting?
The big question: “Is Calpe worth visiting?” I always thought the answer would be a resounding YES, but after spending a few days there, I didn’t connect as much with the place as I would like.
That said, the beach town on Costa Blanca has a lot of positives about it and I absolutely loved the Peñon de Ifach hike which was the main reason that I had looked so much forward to visiting Calpe.
I’ll give you a small bullet point pros and cons overview here, and then I’ll go through them more in-depth further down, looking at the reasons to visit Calpe and debating them from my experience there.
Pros
- Peñon de Ifach hike (seriously a fantastic experience and unmatched views from the top!)
- Flamingo lake in the town (though I’d prefer it if it wasn’t surrounded by high rises.)
- Beautiful promenade
- Beautiful beaches and coves
- Very clear and turquoise water
- Great place for water activities in the summer
- A lot of free parking opportunities for cars, vans, and RVs within walking distance of the old town, the Flamingo lake, and Peñon de Ifach
- Pretty old town
Cons
- Tall buildings all along the coast
- A lot of construction work everywhere (on more tall buildings)
- We both felt like the old town lacked a bit of soul (but it might have been a quiet day)
- Quite ugly behind the beach line and outside the old town
As you can tell, there are a lot of fantastic things to like about Calpe and if you like tall buildings, it might resonate a bit more with you than it did with me. After all, I’m way more of a nature kinda gal than a city person.
Reasons to visit Calpe
The views from Peñon de Ifach are unmatched
Seriously, getting a birds-eye view of both sides of Calpe with the salt lake in the middle from the top of Peñon de Ifach is one of the coolest things to experience in Costa Blanca.
The hike to the top requires a permit (no cost) as it’s in the nature reserve. You can apply for it through this website or a QR code on the information signs before reaching the Visitor Center.
We got it for the same day, but I can’t guarantee that’s the case on Sundays and in the high season as there’s a limit to 300 people per day.
The hike itself is strenuous and requires good hiking shoes or boots. There’s a bit of light scrambling closer to the top and some sections are steep with ropes to hold on to.
My biggest takeaway was how slippery the rock was to walk on, so I’ll mention it once more, make sure you wear good shoes.
The whole hike (including a short detour to Mirador de Carabiners) is around 5 kilometers and takes 3-4 hours with plenty of breaks and time to enjoy the views from the top.
We enjoyed hiking Peñon de Ifach so much, that I’ve added it to my list of best hikes in Valencia.
Flamingos in the middle of town
You don’t have to go far to see Flamingos in Calpe as the salt lake is basically in the middle of the town, surrounded by buildings.
While I wish there was a nicer and more natural view around the lake, it’s pretty cool that you don’t have to drive anywhere to see flamingos, but they’re actually right there all year round.
There are generally fewer flamingos in the winter than in the summer, but even so, we saw quite a few. We did a hike around the lake that takes under an hour unless you stop a lot for the flamingos.
It was really nice with a mix of paths and boardwalks. There’s one section along the road, but it’s only about a 10-minute stretch.
Beautiful beach promenade
Calpe has a beautiful beach promenade – actually there are two if you could one on each side of the rock. They’re both nice to walk along with plenty of restaurants and bars to stop for a refreshing drink in the sun.
Even though I’m not a big fan of the tall structures along the coast, they didn’t bother me much while walking on the promenade as the view of the Peñon de Ifach steals the show away from anything else.
Fine-sanded beaches and small coves
The beaches in Calpe are really nice and the sand is of the soft, fine type which I love. There are long beaches on each side of the Peñon de Ifach rock.
Closer to the rock, there are also some really nice coves with turquoise water. Calpe’s beaches are by far a reason to visit Calpe in the bathing season and I would love to go back to spend some days at these pristine, sandy stretches.
Turquoise water that’s perfect for water activities
When it comes to turquoise water I’m obsessed with the water activities that come with it. Calpe is perfect for kayaking and snorkeling as the water is so clear.
There are several coves and at El Racó Cove there’s even an underwater itinerary with panels underwater where the different species are described which is really cool.
I haven’t been yet, but this is intriguing enough for me to want to go back in the summer!
Pretty old town
The Old Town in Calpe is very pretty with plenty of street art around every corner. There are even art pieces depicting cultural events like the Moros y Cristianos.
I love that they have a Spanish Flag staircase with beautiful doors and decorations on the way up. We also found a street with red shoes of all types which was pretty unique.
The old city walls and gate bring history into it, but I kind of wish there wasn’t a modern structure church attached to it. But I’ll get more into that later. Altogether, the old town has a lot of pretty corners!
Good parking opportunities
Finally, Calpe has a lot of good parking opportunities that are free of charge and within walking distance to both the old town, the lake, and Peñon de Ifach.
We had no issues finding places to stay the night in our van either, but day parking is even easier if you drive a car.
What we didn’t like about Calpe
Ugly and high buildings destroying the beautiful coast
This is very individual because I know a lot of people who love places with high buildings and more of a city vibe than what I do.
So if you’re one of them, this might even be a reason to visit Calpe. However, in my eyes, these high (and some of them very old and ugly) buildings destroy a very beautiful coastline that I would have loved to see with small houses blending in with nature.
These buildings also stand in the way of seeing the coast from the Salt Lake and vice versa which would have been amazing.
A lot of construction work to build more high buildings
To literally “build” on what I just talked about, there are so many new highrises under construction, and at times it felt like we were walking around a construction area which was a bit sad.
Calpe is such a beautiful place with a mountainous backdrop that you don’t even see from the beach anymore due to the buildings that are in the way, so it bums me out that they’re building even more of it.
I almost got the feeling that they’re headed towards Benidorm when it comes to the structures. Besides, many of these buildings were empty shells that seemed abandoned.
The Old Town lacked soul
Ok, so this might have been us walking around the old town on the wrong day, and I really hope so! It was a Sunday and we didn’t see too many people around.
Besides, the modern church (which I also felt lacked soul compared to the old, historical churches you see in other towns nearby like Altea) housed a funeral the first time we went by and the entire town flowed out of the doors, of course very sad. Bless them for their loss.
These are things that might have affected our experience.
However, we didn’t see many bars and restaurants around the streets giving life to the old town. Nearby Altea gives a completely different vibe even though it was a lot of beautiful decorations and street art throughout Calpe’s Old Town that we really enjoyed.
Generally not very pretty outside the old town and behind the beach line
This is kind of repetitive on Costa Blanca I’d say, but unfortunately, many places along the coast, like Torrevieja and even Alicante in some areas, are in pretty bad shape as soon as you move away from the coastline.
Buildings aren’t preserved and it’s quite dirty compared to other touristy areas in Spain, like Costa del Sol. Calpe was no different.
That said, the residential areas further back in the town have beautiful local parks and it looked like there are many nice places to live there for the locals away from the immediate coast.
This might not bother you at all and it’s not a dealbreaker for me as long as there are pretty areas I can be in – and Calpe has plenty.
Summing up: Is Calpe a good holiday destination?
Summing up, there are many reasons to say that Calpe is a good holiday destination and I’ll definitely go back. I haven’t been there in the summer months, so I can only assume that it will be livelier and hopefully transmit a better vibe than when we were there.
It was mainly the old town that I felt could have done well with some more bars and restaurants to liven up the atmosphere a bit because the streets and squares were all very cute and charming with different decorations.
The beachfront, on the other hand, gave a nice vibe despite the high structures along the coast and the fine sand on the beach and clear water was a sure winner.
Whether you decide to visit Calpe or end up with a different destination, I wish you happy travels!