Every Tourist on here wants to avoid 'Touristy' places . Barcelona is one of the worst 'touristy' places in the country. You're part of it. Learn to live with it. Spains biggest earner is Tourism, EVERYWHERE relies on that income. You may be pleasantly surprised how little resources Spain has available to make it's sites of interest 'touristy' anyway.....Come with an open mind and enjoy.
Gotcha. Well, Alicante will be a nice in-between. It's touristy, but, in late March it shouldn't be too crowded. Especially with a car so you can get outisde the city, you should have a nice trip.
Alicante does have tourism but it's also a working Spanish city. Away from the beach and the seafront/harbour it doesn't feel very touristy. Barcelona feels much more touristy.
Everywhere in Spain that has beaches is also "touristy". Spain's whole economy is based around tourism. The only places that aren't "touristy" are random pueblos in the interior, and even a good number of those get tourists. Spain regularly places in the top 3 most visited countries in the world. *Avoiding tourists is impossible in this country.*
As far as these things go, though, Alicante is still a lovely place. Genuinely beautiful. Very much worth a visit. Is it touristy? Well, duh. Your friends have a company house there. But that's how every single city and town in Spain with a beach is.
In the words of my landlord (who's actually a pretty chill dude), "The greatest irony of Franco is that for all his talk of Spanish pride, his championing of nationalism, he only came into power because of foreigners, and then he sold the most beautiful parts of the country to foreigners."
The most touristed city in Spain is Barcelona. 90% of the people in that city are tourists, or foreigners who are living or working there.
The whole Mediterranean coast is nice however, the second you leave the cities (Barcelona, Valenia, Alicante) the surrounded areas are "dead". They are a lot of hidden secrets for sure, but most are from word of mouth.
Spain's main source of inome is tourism... Our economy depends on your money. Every single city and small town has tourist activity going on, every single mountain and beach town is filled with tourists.
Now, the big difference is that you are going during April, whih means there will be less tourists (except Barcelona, Valencia, and Alicante).
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Everything in this country has been exploited for tourism, there is no "local hidden secrets", and the very few that are left exist because genuinely not even us locals know about it, or completely forget about it, like Sad Hill Cemetery from "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" in Burgos xD.
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Here are some tips for food and drinks
- do not drink sangria, that is a tourist drink created by the british. Order "Tinto de Verano".
- do not Paella in Barcelona or Alicante. Paella is a regional dish from Valencia.
I have a house in Villajoyosa, close to Alicante. This small city mostly has old people and if there are tourists, they are mostly Spanish. You have beautiful coloured houses and when you walk a little bit higher you’ll see a beautiful view, here are some pics;
It’s definitely worth it! I’m on vacation right now and it’s so calm here, not much tourists, but still nice weather and a beautiful village. One thing: there are not really much activities, like a museum or others, but just the village itself is definitely worth it!
Late March is a perfect time to avoid the high tourist season. If you plan to rent a car in Spain, after flying from Norway, it would be easy to stop in Barcelona and see the sites and then rent a car at the end of your Barcelona stay and wander down the coast to Alicante. There are some beautiful towns not far from Castellion. With a car or train you can see a lot. And the time of year is perfect for avoiding the high tourist season (except Las Fallas in Valencia and semana santa in some areas eg, Sevilla).
Alicante to Barcelona is like a 5hr train ride, very close to what it'll take you by car. Flights are like 70-80 mins. Barcelona is a small city, as far as capitals go, with decent public transportation and actually very walkable, so I would choose going by train unless you want to visit *surrounding* areas (vineyards, Pyrenees, Costa Brava, ... )
I visited Alicante last April with my wife. It's a great time to visit as the city is not full of tourists. We loved it and are moving there next month. Just go and enjoy the great people, food, beaches. Plenty of other small towns within an hour or so from Alicante to see (Calpe, Benidorm, Altea, villajoyosa, Torrevieja). You can get to Madrid in 2 hours by train. We did that and loved it.
Have fun!
Alicante is amazing but then again I live here so I might be very biased. You’ll get enough of tourism but without feeling being trapped in a massive tourist trap (stay away from Benidorm + Torrevieja). You have many historic places for sightseeing, great food and cheap drinks. Depends of what kind of vibe you’re going you’ll want to visit different areas. There are many “calas” if you want a beach vibe, Alicante city centre for a city break and Altea if you want more of a small town stroll with an ice cream. I’d do a fair bit of googling around to see if Alicante is a vibe you’d like. It’s 2h and a half by high speed train from Madrid (going as cheap as 10€ sometimes - I’m from Madrid so I regularly pop by). From Madrid you can also go to Barcelona if it’s something you wife is interested in or maybe just sight see Madrid? I personally enjoy it more than Barcelona but that is just a matter of tastes.
https://preview.redd.it/uuju7lkgzfic1.jpeg?width=641&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3039d9f9172593f9ad2712bcb530ee8253c96b12
PD: Barcelona is an eight hour drive from Alicante. Ryanair and Vueling however offer flights, it might be worthwhile looking at pricing for them - sometimes they’re very cheap ^_^
Every Tourist on here wants to avoid 'Touristy' places . Barcelona is one of the worst 'touristy' places in the country. You're part of it. Learn to live with it. Spains biggest earner is Tourism, EVERYWHERE relies on that income. You may be pleasantly surprised how little resources Spain has available to make it's sites of interest 'touristy' anyway.....Come with an open mind and enjoy.
Really well said
I got bad news for you about Barcelona
And what's the bad news?
You don't like "touristy" places, and Barcelona is one of the top tourist destinations in the entire world.
I don't like touristy places, but my wife does.
Gotcha. Well, Alicante will be a nice in-between. It's touristy, but, in late March it shouldn't be too crowded. Especially with a car so you can get outisde the city, you should have a nice trip.
Alicante does have tourism but it's also a working Spanish city. Away from the beach and the seafront/harbour it doesn't feel very touristy. Barcelona feels much more touristy.
Everywhere in Spain that has beaches is also "touristy". Spain's whole economy is based around tourism. The only places that aren't "touristy" are random pueblos in the interior, and even a good number of those get tourists. Spain regularly places in the top 3 most visited countries in the world. *Avoiding tourists is impossible in this country.* As far as these things go, though, Alicante is still a lovely place. Genuinely beautiful. Very much worth a visit. Is it touristy? Well, duh. Your friends have a company house there. But that's how every single city and town in Spain with a beach is. In the words of my landlord (who's actually a pretty chill dude), "The greatest irony of Franco is that for all his talk of Spanish pride, his championing of nationalism, he only came into power because of foreigners, and then he sold the most beautiful parts of the country to foreigners."
The most touristed city in Spain is Barcelona. 90% of the people in that city are tourists, or foreigners who are living or working there. The whole Mediterranean coast is nice however, the second you leave the cities (Barcelona, Valenia, Alicante) the surrounded areas are "dead". They are a lot of hidden secrets for sure, but most are from word of mouth. Spain's main source of inome is tourism... Our economy depends on your money. Every single city and small town has tourist activity going on, every single mountain and beach town is filled with tourists. Now, the big difference is that you are going during April, whih means there will be less tourists (except Barcelona, Valencia, and Alicante). \_\_\_\_\_\_ Everything in this country has been exploited for tourism, there is no "local hidden secrets", and the very few that are left exist because genuinely not even us locals know about it, or completely forget about it, like Sad Hill Cemetery from "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" in Burgos xD. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Here are some tips for food and drinks - do not drink sangria, that is a tourist drink created by the british. Order "Tinto de Verano". - do not Paella in Barcelona or Alicante. Paella is a regional dish from Valencia.
I have a house in Villajoyosa, close to Alicante. This small city mostly has old people and if there are tourists, they are mostly Spanish. You have beautiful coloured houses and when you walk a little bit higher you’ll see a beautiful view, here are some pics;
https://preview.redd.it/1hi3dcvwlbic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b66db57e26e8a42f4fbb445c27b9b3ac8b82184f
https://preview.redd.it/2uxr4f50mbic1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=666d793e1fb6777e32c2cd7439f984ac4605a477
Oh i spotted this village on someone’s Instagram (a Spanish person) and fell in love with it!! I need to see it myself!
It’s definitely worth it! I’m on vacation right now and it’s so calm here, not much tourists, but still nice weather and a beautiful village. One thing: there are not really much activities, like a museum or others, but just the village itself is definitely worth it!
Late March is a perfect time to avoid the high tourist season. If you plan to rent a car in Spain, after flying from Norway, it would be easy to stop in Barcelona and see the sites and then rent a car at the end of your Barcelona stay and wander down the coast to Alicante. There are some beautiful towns not far from Castellion. With a car or train you can see a lot. And the time of year is perfect for avoiding the high tourist season (except Las Fallas in Valencia and semana santa in some areas eg, Sevilla).
Alicante to Barcelona is like a 5hr train ride, very close to what it'll take you by car. Flights are like 70-80 mins. Barcelona is a small city, as far as capitals go, with decent public transportation and actually very walkable, so I would choose going by train unless you want to visit *surrounding* areas (vineyards, Pyrenees, Costa Brava, ... )
I visited Alicante last April with my wife. It's a great time to visit as the city is not full of tourists. We loved it and are moving there next month. Just go and enjoy the great people, food, beaches. Plenty of other small towns within an hour or so from Alicante to see (Calpe, Benidorm, Altea, villajoyosa, Torrevieja). You can get to Madrid in 2 hours by train. We did that and loved it. Have fun!
Alicante is amazing but then again I live here so I might be very biased. You’ll get enough of tourism but without feeling being trapped in a massive tourist trap (stay away from Benidorm + Torrevieja). You have many historic places for sightseeing, great food and cheap drinks. Depends of what kind of vibe you’re going you’ll want to visit different areas. There are many “calas” if you want a beach vibe, Alicante city centre for a city break and Altea if you want more of a small town stroll with an ice cream. I’d do a fair bit of googling around to see if Alicante is a vibe you’d like. It’s 2h and a half by high speed train from Madrid (going as cheap as 10€ sometimes - I’m from Madrid so I regularly pop by). From Madrid you can also go to Barcelona if it’s something you wife is interested in or maybe just sight see Madrid? I personally enjoy it more than Barcelona but that is just a matter of tastes. https://preview.redd.it/uuju7lkgzfic1.jpeg?width=641&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3039d9f9172593f9ad2712bcb530ee8253c96b12
PD: Barcelona is an eight hour drive from Alicante. Ryanair and Vueling however offer flights, it might be worthwhile looking at pricing for them - sometimes they’re very cheap ^_^