Alicante Tourist Traps

The Explanada promenade is full of people offering cheap eye catching products and services. What out because most of them are illegal sellers and they won't hesitate to offer you any kind of products in a deplorable state. Some of them sell robbed stuff or fake DVDs.

There are some others who, although they don't have a license, thay try to earn their living honestly, making neat portraits or entertaining the kids with their performances. They don't seem to be the vast majority, though. Just make sure you need those sunglasses or that cool T-shirt before paying for it.

La Explanada is usually crowded. Make sure you have your stuff with you at all times and don't trust people offering unbelievable deals. They'll probably rip you off. If you speak spanish, pretend you don't and ignore them.

Unique Suggestions: If you decide to buy something on the illegal spots (they usually consist on a mere white sheet spread on the floor containing the stuff they're selling), try to have a discount on the product. Don't feel bad about it. Think they'll earn money anyway since very few of them pay taxes.

Fun Alternatives: El Mercadillo de Campoamor is the best place to buy clothing or souvenirs. It's located near the Bull fighting ring on Thurday and Saturday morning. The vast majority of spots there are legal, quality is not that bad and the prices are popular.

Tourism is a main industry for Alicante, and as such there are many places where tourists can get suckered in to payer higher prices because they just don't know any better. Across the road from the main beach, there are many restuarants, bars and cafes, these are all higher priced because most tourists hang out down by the beach. If you walk up a couple of blocks and search the smaller streets and alleys you will find way better deals and more authentic spanish food or gifts.

Unique Suggestions: It is nice to have a dinner on down by the ocean, but don't make it a evening habit, the best way to experience a city is to experience it as the locals know it, and not by the stores and shops that are set up with tourists particularly in mind

Fun Alternatives: Go into one of the smaller locally owned restaurants/cafes and make sure you have paella. it is a rice and seafood dish that is so good, and it is this area's specialty. The seafood is amazingly fresh, and the dish is filling.

Most of Alicante looks like a modern, pleasant city which is far for being picturesque. It is not the typical tourist oriented resort either. I f you are spending your holidays in a summer resort of the Costa Blanca packed with foreing tourists and you are feeling you are into a huge tourist trap, you might like to visit Alicante and experience the life of a city where the locals live.

In Alicante it is highly advertised to visit the small island of tabarca, just off the coast of Alicante. While the island is beautiful, the brochures boast a great beach, which there isn't. It is all rocky (not nice round small rocks either) The water is not so much for swimming.

Unique Suggestions: Bring or rent snorkel gear, so you will have something to do on the island after you have looked in all 3 of the tourist shops. Make sure you try the paella at the restaurant on the island. It is the specialty dish in this area of Spain.

Fun Alternatives: Spend a day on the beach of Alicante or take the local train to one of the several other beaches that are near by.

We tried to eat and drink mainly in places that had price lists on full view,we did eat and drink in places which did not show price lists and found we were paying something like double the price for the same thing,I asked for a vodka with a splash of orange & lemonade & was given a bottle of sprite & a bottle of orange juice which they wanted to charge 10 euros for about £6.50 beware when you order mixed shorts especially in the entertainment bars some of them will rip you off.

For abstract art, pay a visit to the Eusebio Sempere Museum in the Casa de la Asegurada, where you'll find an art collection donated to the city by this local sculptor and painter. Panoramic views of the city and sea from 166m high, surrounded by castle walls? Go up the Benacantil mountain and visit the Castillo de Santa Bárbara. By road or using the lift from the Postiguet beach.
Music lovers can attend a concert next to the sea in the afternoons, on the Paseo de la Explanada. In summertime, the concerts are given on Sunday mornings. Don't miss the magic and charm of Les Fogueres de Sant Joan. On the night of 24 June, the flames from blazing bonfires illuminate the Alicante sky. Try any of the delicious varieties of rice dishes, combined with shellfish, fish or meat. To complete your meal, taste the local wines, and don't forget the famous icecreams, turrones and dates. Get a good tan at practically any time of year on the fine sandy
beaches of Postiguet, la Albufereta or San Juan. If you prefer rocky coves and seclusion, try the Cabo de las Huertas.
You shouldn't miss the Island of Tabarca. Trips can be made from Alicante.

On holidays there are several stalls on the esplanade selling souvenirs. There are also many illegal vendors offering pirate CD's and fake articles.