Museum/Gallery

Award-winning archaeological museum known as MARQ, housed in the former San Fernando hospital, featuring cutting-edge interactive exhibits that trace Alicante's history from prehistoric times through the Iberian, Roman, and medieval periods with an impressive collection of artifacts from across the province.

Shopping

A bustling two-story modernist market built in 1921 with a striking eclectic facade, the Mercado Central is the largest fresh food market in the Valencian Community, where locals shop daily for seafood, cured meats, regional cheeses, fruits, and spices in a vibrant Mediterranean atmosphere.

Attraction/Landmark

Alicante's iconic seafront promenade stretching along the marina, the Explanada de España is paved with 6.6 million tricolored marble tiles creating a distinctive wavy mosaic pattern, lined with palm trees and terrace cafes, and considered one of the most beautiful boulevards in all of Spain.

Attraction/Landmark

One of the largest medieval fortresses in Spain, the Castillo de Santa Bárbara crowns the 166-meter Mount Benacantil overlooking the entire city and coastline, with origins dating back to the 9th-century Moorish era and featuring three enclosures from different periods, accessible by a lift carved through the rock.

Attraction/Landmark

An imposing 18th-century Baroque civic building on Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Alicante's Town Hall features twin towers flanking an ornate facade and houses the famous altitude benchmark point — a bronze disc on its marble staircase used to measure sea level across all of Spain.

Religious

The oldest active church in Alicante, the Basilica of Santa María was built in the 14th-15th centuries in Valencian Gothic style over the remains of a former mosque, featuring a stunning Baroque facade, a Rococo high altar, and the chapel of the Immaculate Conception with its remarkable baptismal font.

Attraction/Landmark

An extravagant early 20th-century residential building on the Explanada de España, Casa Carbonell is Alicante's most emblematic modernist landmark, featuring ornate domed turrets, carved stone balconies, and an opulent facade inspired by French Beaux-Arts architecture that dominates the seafront skyline.

Religious

A striking 17th-century Renaissance church with a sober Herrerian facade and a magnificent blue-tiled dome rising 45 meters high, the Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás de Bari houses a beautiful Baroque communion chapel and an elegant cloister, built over an earlier medieval church.

Attraction/Landmark

The atmospheric heart of old Alicante, the Barrio de la Santa Cruz climbs the slopes of Mount Benacantil beneath the castle walls, with its whitewashed houses, narrow winding streets, and colorful flowerpots leading to the charming Plaza de la Santa Faz, a beloved gathering spot for locals.

Shopping

A wide tree-lined boulevard that connects the port area with the city center, the Rambla de Méndez Núñez is Alicante's main commercial artery, bustling with shops, cafes, and cultural events, and serving as the traditional route for the famous Hogueras de San Juan bonfires parade each June.