Costa Cálida

What Alhama de Murcia is really like: an old thermal-spa town with a hilltop castle and gateway trails into the Sierra Espuña mountains.

What Caravaca de la Cruz is really like: a perpetual Jubilee holy city with a castle-basilica, the True Cross relic and the Wine Horses fiesta.

What Totana is really like: a gateway to the forested Sierra Espuna mountains, a strong pottery tradition, the La Bastida Bronze Age site and the Santa Eulalia shrine.

What San Javier is really like: warm shallow Mar Menor beaches at Santiago de la Ribera, the air-force academy, a summer jazz festival and easy access to La Manga.

What Cieza is really like: a Murcia Segura-valley town famous for its spring floración blossom, the Almadenes gorge and the Islamic site of Medina Siyasa.

What Yecla is really like: a Murcia Altiplano wine town of Monastrell reds, near the prehistoric UNESCO rock art of Monte Arabí and rugged sierras.

What Jumilla is really like: a Murcia Altiplano wine town famous for Monastrell reds, with a hilltop 15th-century castle and the Sierra del Carche nearby.

What Lorca is really like: an inland Murcia town crowned by the Fortress of the Sun, with a Baroque old town and a famously theatrical Holy Week.

What Murcia is really like: the Baroque cathedral, the Real Casino, huerta tapas on Plaza de las Flores, and the gateway to Costa Calida beaches.

Guide to San Javier on the Costa Cálida — Santiago de la Ribera’s Mar Menor beaches, the international jazz festival, La Manga access and travel tips.