Benidorm Tourist Traps

if you see anyone playing this game call the guardia on 091 they give the name of the street and watch where they go they have people working with them on each street corner and will steal from you you will never win it is a con.

watch out for the potato men on the streets of benidorm, on the beach and at the market.

You don´t win anything from them and are liable to say a quick goodbye to 20 or 50 euros - whilst their colleagues pickpocket the other people watching the "game"

Unique Suggestions: stand back and watch someone being conned - but don´t step in - as you will most probably be threatened by a friend of the potato man acting as a look out.

Fun Alternatives: don´t hand your cash over to anyone on the street and make sure you know where your wallet is.
Don´t carry all of the money that you bring on you - leave some in the hotel safe.

leave some of your bank cards behind in the safe too - don´t carry all these with you (just in case)

The reps when u arrive will advice u to go to market during the week as this is when it will be quiter and less pick pockets around. Very true. However if u go at the weekends it is cheaper to buy things

Unique Suggestions: Go to the market on the weekend as it is cheaper. However watch your bags wallets etc. As this is the time when pick pockets will most likely to be around as this is when the market is most busy.

In the height of summer Benidorm is full of people selling things, from roses, to flashing earings, jewelery, photo keyrings, timeshare, even drugs!! You can't escape them, the trick is to know what to say to get rid of them and whats a rip off and whats not.

Unique Suggestions: Most of whats on sale is just abit of fun -like the roses and photo keyrings, so if you have some spare cash then theres no harm done. Its a good idea to haggle with the rose sellers -especially towards the end of the night, for example, if they say 2Euro for roses they will usually sell for 1Euro.
The majority of the jewelery is cheap nasty and overpriced and will probaly turn you skin green! If you decide to buy then definately haggle, at least half the price and go from there if you arent having any luck then just say no and walk away .
If you are not interested and want to be left alone, just say no thanks and keep walking, theres no need to get nasty as they're all just doing there jobs and they get plenty of abuse as it is. 'No gracias'- no thanks and 'no dinero' - no money, usually does the trick.

Fun Alternatives: Go to proper jewelry shops to be sure of quality.

This exchange booth displays the rate of 1.49 Euros to £1 sterling (as do many others of this type), on closer inspection this is the rate for cheques. My wife thought it would give a fair rate for cash and before asking how much she would get, rather stupidly handed over £100 and recieved just 115 euros. The place we usually went to was closed due to it being on a Sunday and there we got 147 Euros for £100, so to change money at these rip off places cost me roughly £20 to change £100 .
The shop i was ripped off at was on the
Avenida del mediterraneo near the junction of avenida Almeria opposite the mini golf at the far end of Levante beach

Unique Suggestions: Just don`t use these places without asking how much you will get for your money before handing it over.

Fun Alternatives: Ask around in local bars they will have a better idea of the rip off places than most people. It would be a good idea to make sure that if you found a no commision, no fee, what you see is what you get change shop then make sure you have enough to last you over the weekend as these places are often closed on a Sunday leaving you at the mercy of the sharks .

There are Bar/Nightclub representatives out around the town which hand out tickets for free drinks but there are also those that try to sell you tickets for their nightclubs (the big ones that you need to take a coach to get to like KU, KM and Penelopes), and try to impress their 'special deals' upon you. Most of them are English, friendly and easy going people, but they will pounce on just about everyone that passes them. You can find them all over the place, on pretty much every street corner, on your way to the bars and clubs that are just a stones throw away from the sea front.

Unique Suggestions: If you have to go on one of their deals just make sure you don't take too much money with you, that way at least you can limit how much your spending.

Fun Alternatives: I found the bars and clubs like Hippodrome, Gigolos, Rockefellas, Top of the Pops, Bahamas Bar and Beachcombers enjoyable enough. You can quite happily go from one place to the next. Each has it's own activities going on through out the night to easily keep you occupied.