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Alicante or Alicant (Valencian Catalan) is the largest city in the Costa Blanca region of Spain and is one of the most beautiful places you could wish to travel to if you take the time and the effort to explore the region and some of it's sheer beauty.

Located between Murcia and Valencia, Alicante has some of the best beaches in Spain with San Juan, Muchavista and Campello beaches being real gems with beautiful, clean sea and sand which appeal to both families, couples and surfers alike with calm days and days when the waves can be quite high due to strong winds of late.

Amongst the many varied and more popular attractions are the Castillo de Santa Barbara (Alicante City), Terra Natura (Benidorm), Terra Mitica (Benidorm) and Mundomar (Benidorm). There are also areas of outstanding beauty such as the mountains of Busot village situated just outside of Campello (also known as El Campello). Not only does Busot have it's popular attraction Cuevas de Canelobre (Canelobre Caves) but it also has vast amounts of stunning scenery in complete tranquillity. To get to these spots you need to do some investigating, but it is well worth it because you will find yourself all alone on some breath-taking trails overlooking Campello and surrounding villages.

To see all that is on offer, you have to arrange car hire in Alicante from either the airport or from a local town or city and prices start at ?10 per day for a small car and reserving before your visit is essential in busy periods of the year.

Where else but Alicante can you find such a diverse amount of activities, places of interest and things to do. In the morning you could travel to the Sierra Nevadas (Grenada) and be snowboarding and in the afternoon soaking up the sun, sea and sand on a beautiful, spacious beach. Not only this, but you can also get ferries to Majorca, Ibiza and Tabarca Island from Alicante harbour, so you will never have a lack of options available to you.

Real estate property in Alicante is another reason for visitors to come and like the rest of Costa Blanca, is a popular place where expats come to invest or to emigrate to. Property prices have rapidly increased over the years due to demand and the Euro being introduced, but if you are prepared to move inland slightly, or away from popular areas such as Benidorm and Javea, you can find some real bargains in comparison to the UK property market. Purchasing property in Spain is more expensive tax and legal-wise but it is still worthwhile as long as the Euro is weaker than the Pound.

Alicante's hotels are varied and you have a wide variety of choice when coming to this region of Spain and if you do some research you will get a hotel to suit your budget and requirements, just remember to book early in high-seasons to ensure a beach-side location.

Getting cheap flights to Alicante has never been easier thanks to Alicante airport being such a popular international destination and it is expanding continuously with new airlines operating from there.