Journey along the Eastern Coast of Spain Part I: Tarragona

I was looking for a place to break my journey between Barcelona and Valencia, and Tarragona seems to be the ideal place for me to spend a night. About one-and-a-half hour away by bus from Barcelona's El Prat airport, direct bus service links the gateway to Barcelona with several renown coastal resort towns such as Tarragona, Reus, Salou, and Cambrils. 

The bus from Barcelona El Prat airport leaves from the bus station in front of Terminal One and arrives at Tarragona's main bus station, situated at the centre of  Tarragona. From the bus station, it is a 20-minutes walk uphills along the main throughfare of the city - Rambla Nova - to the Old Town of Tarragona, where most of the city's tourist attractions are.

Konyaalti Beach, Antalya: Russians' Favourite Beach in Turkey

Some said Konyaalti is probably the most famous beach in Turkey. Well, although all-inclusive beach holidays is not exactly my cup of tea, I too find Konyaalti quite a convenient place for a beach weekend holiday with your family and kids, especially if you are a fan of 'sun, sea, beer and fun' style of all-inclusive package holiday, and you are very much into highly charged beach life style best known on the Spanish islands of Ibiza and Mallorca.

Popular beaches in the Mediterranean - some examples of which include the southern coast of Mallorca, Spain's Costa del Sol, Ibiza, Portugal's Algarve, and Turkey's Antalya - all have something in common, namely lots of beach bars and seafront discos with  dance floors, ocean-view stage and mega loud-speakers blurting out cheesy European and American pop music throughout the day. To be honest, I prefer beaches which are quiet, selcuded and less crowded, but there are people who do enjoy doing their daily rounds of swimming in the company of modern cafe bars, loud music and countless other people, so each to his own.  

 

Journey along the Eastern Coast of Spain Part IV: Alicante

The very name of Alicante has long been synomonous to perfect sun, flawless beach, mildeclimes, and warm blue sea. This place has been on my target list of 'must-see' places in Spain for years, but strangely enough, in spite of the easy availability of budget flights from all over Europe to Alicante, and despite the fact that I had already visited some really out-of-way, even obscure places in Spain, it was not until recently that I finally had the opportunity to visit Alicante.

So Alicante and its famed beach, here I come!!

Journey along the Eastern Coast of Spain Part III: Calp/Calpe

After spending several leisurely days in Valenica, I decided to head along the coast towards the direction of Alicante. My initial plan was to go straight to Alicante by train, but as I opened the map and study the route, I thought the journey would be more interesting if I take a slight detour and take a look at some of the world-renown coastal resort towns on the Costa Blanca before arriving at Alicante.

The unusal sounding name Calp in Valencian (Calpe in Spanish) caught my attention. It sounds interesting, like some kind of seashells. And it seems the place is not as touristic or overcrowded as nearby Benidorm. After a brief research on the internet, I went to Valencia's bus station and bought a ticket to Calpe.

Journey along the Eastern Coast of Spain Part V: Murcia

With all its honey-coloured stone houses and grand cathedrals, Murcia is actually a very picturesque and sweet city. About two hours by train from Alicante, this little inland city offers some interesting sights, most notably its medieval Cathedral and its arrays of Spanish Baroque houses. Known for its mild climates in winter, Murcia is a good place to spend a few days in the sun if you happen to find yourself touring around the south-eastern coast of Spain.

The beautiful town hall of Murcia lies right on the bank of the Segura River, close to the Puente de los Peligros, a 18th century bridge and the oldest bridge in Murcia. Just like in neighbouring Cathargena, metal sculptures of fish can be seen 'swimming around' in the river.

Journey along the Eastern Coast of Spain Part VI: Cartagena

Cartagena - this name always reminds me of Carthage, the once significant maritime power whose sphere of influence stretched all the way from northern African coast (modern day Tunisia, parts of the coast of Libya, Morroco, and Algeria) to southern Spain, the Belares Islands, as well as Sardinia, Corsica and parts of the island of Sicily.

 

Founded by a Carthaginian general in 228 BC, the city of Carthagena has been long an important naval base throughout its long history due to its strategic location and the natural deep-water harbour. The town is now the main military seaport of the Spanish Navy, and is home to a big naval shipyard and a regular port-of-call of several renown cruise lines.