Tour guides Spain > Alicante

5 ideas for guided tours in Alicante

• MARQ Archaeological Museum

  

  The MARQ Archaeological Museum is housed in the former provincial hospital. Behind its simple walls, the history of Alicante unfolds, from prehistory to the Roman and medieval eras. Walking through its halls feels like a journey back in time.

  Here you’ll find ceramics, jewelry, and tools crafted centuries ago. Each piece carries traces of the earth and the dry sun of the nearby hills. Some displays even evoke the forgotten villages around Santa Bárbara Castle.

  Temporary exhibitions open up new horizons, sometimes far beyond Spain. Models and reconstructions give the sense of touching the past. A tomb softly lit in the dark, a film telling the story of life long ago—everything feels close at hand.

• Santa Barbara Castle

  

  Rising above Alicante from its rocky promontory, the Castle of Santa Barbara catches the eye long before you begin the climb. Its massive walls and successive bastions remind you that this site once served as much to watch over the city as to defend it.

  The ascent winds up through steep streets or along a path that snakes across the hillside. At the top, courtyards and towers open onto shifting perspectives—sometimes the sea, sometimes the tightly packed rooftops of the city.

  Every wall bears the mark of history, from Muslim rule to later reconstructions. You move through empty halls, narrow passages, worn stairways, fragments of stone that together form a broken yet enduring narrative.

• The Esplanade of Spain

  

  The Explanada de España is perhaps Alicante’s most famous avenue. Lined with rows of palm trees standing like a motionless guard, it stretches out a ribbon of red, white, and black marble. More than six million tiles form a wave that seems to ripple beneath your steps.

  You stroll slowly here, carried by the comfort of the shade. Terraces overflow with conversations, sometimes blending with music that drifts in as evening falls. Artisans set up their stalls along the walkway.

  By late afternoon, the light filters through the palms, warming the surrounding facades. The sea is never far—you sense it behind the murmur of voices and instruments.

• Guadalest

  

  Inland, Guadalest rises perched on a rocky peak, a tiny village surrounded by steep mountains. Its cobbled streets climb toward the fortress, and every turn reveals a new vantage point over the valley.

  From the castle courtyard, your gaze drops to the turquoise lake held back by a dam, a striking contrast with the arid ridges around it. Whitewashed houses cling to the rock, lined up as if daring the void.

  You pass through vaulted arches, small squares where pottery and local goods are sold. History is etched into the stones, between defensive walls and remnants of old bastions that recall the site’s strategic importance.

• The island of Tabarca

  

  Off the coast of Alicante, Tabarca Island appears as a strip of land with jagged edges, reachable by boat in less than an hour. Its narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses recall its past as a fortified village, still visible in sections of the old walls.

  Life moves slowly here, shaped by the sea and the wind. You wander from a rocky cove to a small beach, pause before a chapel, then follow the path toward the watchtower overlooking the island.

  In the clear waters, the marine reserve draws divers and onlookers, with fish visible almost without a mask. Light plays across the sand, sometimes broken by the shadow of a boat drifting gently.