Altea Old Town

Altea's old town climbs a hill set back from the sea, whitewashed and stepped, ending at the Plaza de la Iglesia and the church of Nuestra Senora del Consuelo, whose two domes are covered in blue and white glazed tiles and appear in every photograph of this stretch of coast. The square has a terrace on the seaward side looking over the roofs to the bay and the Penon de Ifach beyond. From the 1950s the town attracted artists and became a small colony, which left a concentration of galleries and craft workshops that continues, and the pace is deliberately different from Benidorm twelve kilometres down the road. The seafront below is pebble rather than sand, with a promenade of restaurants.

What you actually see

• The blue-tiled domes - the church of Nuestra Senora del Consuelo.
• The white stepped lanes - streets climbing the hill from the seafront.
• The square terrace - a viewpoint over the roofs to the bay.
• The galleries - workshops and studios from the artists' colony period.

When to go

April to June and September to October; summer evenings fill the old town with visitors from the surrounding resorts. Winter is quiet and mild with many galleries still open.

Honest expectations

The climb from the seafront is steep and stepped. The old town is small and walked in an hour, with its lanes lined by restaurants and craft shops. The beach below is pebble, not sand.

Nearby

Calpe and the Penon de Ifach lie north; Benidorm is twelve kilometres south.