Valencia & the Costa Blanca - Discover Spain: Experience the Best of Spain - page 443

Jávea) isn't the best place to meet the locals. That said, it's gentle, family-oriented
and well worth a visit early in the season, when the sun shines but the masses have
yet to arrive.

Sleeping

HOTEL MIRAMAR €€
( /fax [phone]; www.hotelmiramar.com.es ; Plaza Almirante Bastarreche 12; s
€30-40, d €55-70; ) This imposing family-run building, right beside the port, al-
most tumbles into the sea. Its 26 rooms, eight with balcony, are cosy; those over-
looking the bay carry a €10 to €15 supplement. There's a bar and restaurant, too.

Hotel

Eating

AMARRE 152 €€
( 96 579 06 29; Port de la Fontana; meals around €30) At the end of a backwater
in El Arenal, this is a delightful retreat (just count your way along the moorings to
number 152), with a designer interior and tiny quayside terrace. Great for rice
dishes, and its fish is the freshest.

Modern Spanish

Information
Tourist offices ( www.xabia.org ; 9am-1.30pm & 4-7.30pm or 4.30-8pm Mon-Fri,
10am-1.30pm Sat) EL ARENAL ( 96 646 06 05; Carretera Cabo de la Nao); OLD TOWN (
96 579 43 56; Plaza de la Iglesia); PORT (

96 579 07 36; Plaza Almirante Bastareche 11;

also Sat afternoon & Sun morning)

Getting There & Around
At least six buses run daily to both Valencia (€10) and Alicante (€8.50). They stop
on Avenida Óndara, at Rotonda del Olivo, with a large olive tree at its heart.

Altea
POP 11,900
Altea, separated from Benidorm only by the thick wedge of the Sierra Helada, could
be a couple of moons away. Altogether quieter, its beaches are mostly of pebbles.