Part of the Costa Blanca guide · Centre: L’Alacantí, Alicante and Tabarca

Alicante city, El Campello and Tabarca is the central stretch of the Costa Blanca: the coast of the L’Alacantí comarca, from the coves north of El Campello through Muchavista and San Juan beaches, Cabo de la Huerta and the city of Alicante to the beaches of Urbanova by the airport, plus the island of Tabarca about 20 km south of the city centre in a straight line. It is the most urban part of the Costa Blanca, with a tram along the coast, and the place to combine city sights with a beach day. Behind the coast lie the towns of Sant Joan d’Alacant, Mutxamel and San Vicente del Raspeig.

Updated 7 November 2026 · How CostaMap researches its guides

At a glance

• Where the coast of L’Alacantí in the middle of Alicante province, from El Campello south past Alicante to Urbanova, with Tabarca island offshore.
• Towns El Campello, Sant Joan d’Alacant, Mutxamel, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante (San Juan beach, L’Albufereta, the old town and Santa Cruz, the Explanada) and Tabarca.
• Best for a city break with beaches, Iberian and Roman history, castles, food markets, and a day trip by boat to a marine reserve.
• Getting there Alicante–Elche airport is about 10 km from the Explanada in a straight line (OpenStreetMap). The tram links the city with San Juan beach, El Campello, San Vicente and Benidorm.

Map of Alicante city, El Campello and Tabarca

The map shows the places in this area that have a CostaMap page. Tick a place type to filter it, and click a marker to see the place in the panel. For every layer, open the interactive map of the comarca (L’Alacantí).

Towns and districts

From north to south, following the coast from El Campello to the south of Alicante, then out to Tabarca. Distances are in a straight line (OpenStreetMap); the inland towns come after Muchavista, the beach you reach them from.

El Campello

El Campello is the coastal town at the north end of the comarca, about 12 km from the Explanada and, Wikipedia says, a 20-minute tram ride from the city (Wikipedia). Its landmark is the Torre de la Illeta, a watchtower built in 1557 on the orders of the viceroy of Valencia against Berber pirates and restored in 1990; it opens only on guided tours booked through the tourist office (Comunitat Valenciana). Beside it, the Illeta dels Banyets is a former islet, joined to the mainland for almost a century, with Bronze Age, Iberian and Roman remains, including pools thought to have served Roman fish farming (Comunitat Valenciana). North of the port the coast breaks into coves such as Enmig, Baeza and Morro Blanc, and Punta del Riu beach is dog-friendly (Comunitat Valenciana). See our El Campello guide, Torre de la Illeta and Cala del Barranc d’Aigües.

Muchavista

Muchavista is El Campello’s half of the long beach that continues into Alicante as San Juan beach: 3,300 m of a single 6,200 m stretch, with the Blue Flag since 1993 (Wikipedia). El Campello’s tourist board recommends it for water sports (Comunitat Valenciana), and the tram runs behind it along Avenida de Jaume I. Camper vans can use the Sunset Camper Area, a short way inland.

Sant Joan d’Alacant

Sant Joan gave San Juan beach its name but lies a little over a kilometre inland and has no coast of its own (Wikipedia). It grew among the irrigated fields of the Huerta de Alicante, where 16th- and 17th-century towers such as Torre Salafranca and Torre de Bonanza were built as lookouts against pirates, and 19th-century families built summer villas on old estates such as La Concepción and Manzaneta (Comunitat Valenciana). See our Sant Joan d’Alacant guide.

Mutxamel

Mutxamel is the next town inland, on the edge of the Huerta. Its sights are the Neoclassical house and gardens of Peñacerrada, Casa Ferraz and El Salvador church, both with defence towers, and the El Ravalet quarter, whose streets keep their Moorish layout. Its Moors and Christians festival is an Event of Tourist Interest (Comunitat Valenciana). See our Mutxamel guide.

San Vicente del Raspeig

San Vicente del Raspeig is a university town next to Alicante, about 8 km from L’Albufereta beach. It has a 16th-century parish church, the University of Alicante museum (MUA) and a railway museum (Comunitat Valenciana), and tram L2 reaches it from the centre in 28 minutes (Wikipedia). See our San Vicente del Raspeig guide.

Alicante: San Juan beach and Cabo de la Huerta

Alicante’s own stretch of the long beach runs south from the El Campello boundary to the rocky headland of Cabo de la Huerta. The tourist board describes almost 3 km of golden sand about 85 m wide, with the Blue Flag, sports areas, a promenade and accessible bathing (Comunitat Valenciana). Trams L4 and L5 loop through the district behind it. Round the cape, L’Almadrava is a small rocky cove for a quieter swim (Comunitat Valenciana). See our new San Juan beach guide.

Alicante: L’Albufereta and Lucentum

Between Cabo de la Huerta and the city, L’Albufereta is a calm city beach of fine sand between the Serra Grossa and the Tossal de Manises, with a beach bar and accessible bathing with in-water seating (Comunitat Valenciana). On the hill above it are the ruins of Lucentum, the Iberian and Roman settlement from which Alicante developed, with baths, walls, turrets and a forum (Comunitat Valenciana). The tram stops at Albufereta and Lucentum. See our new Lucentum guide.

Alicante: Santa Cruz and the old town

The old town lies at the foot of Mount Benacantil. Santa Cruz, its highest and most colourful quarter, climbs to the 18th-century Hermitage of La Santa Cruz, built against the castle walls (Comunitat Valenciana). Below it stand the Baroque Town Hall, Santa María, the city’s oldest church, and the Co-Cathedral of San Nicolás, begun in 1616 in the austere Herrerian style with a Gothic cloister inside (Comunitat Valenciana). The MACA contemporary art museum, with works by Picasso, Dalí and Miró, is in the city’s oldest civil building (Comunitat Valenciana). Above it all, Santa Bárbara Castle stands on the 166 m summit of Benacantil (Comunitat Valenciana). See our Alicante city guide and Alicante place page.

Alicante: Postiguet, the Explanada and the port

Postiguet is the city beach at the foot of the castle: about 650 m of golden sand with calm, shallow water and lifeguards, next to the lift up to the castle (Comunitat Valenciana). West of it the Explanada de España runs along the port, known for its palm trees and patterned paving, past the façade of Casa Carbonell (Comunitat Valenciana). On the Muelle de Levante, The Ocean Race Museum tells the story of the round-the-world sailing race since its first edition in 1973 (Comunitat Valenciana). See our guides to Playa del Postiguet and Marina Alicante.

Alicante: Urbanova and the southern beaches

South of the port, past the industrial waterfront, the city ends in the beaches of Urbanova by the airport. The tourist board describes Saladar beach as backed by a preserved line of dunes, with a busy promenade (Comunitat Valenciana). It is about 4 km from the airport, and further south the coast continues into Elche and Santa Pola, covered in our Santa Pola to Orihuela Costa guide.

Tabarca

Tabarca is the largest island of the Valencian Community and its only inhabited one, about 8 km from the port of Santa Pola; administratively it is a district of Alicante (Wikipedia). It is about 1.8 km long and no more than 15 m high. In 1760 Charles III ordered it fortified and settled with Genoese families from the Tunisian island of Tabarka; the walls, gates and the church of St Peter and St Paul (1779) survive. Its waters became Spain’s first marine reserve in 1986, mainly for their seagrass meadows, and ferries run from Alicante, Santa Pola and Torrevieja, more often in summer (Wikipedia). A summer tourist information point opens in the Museo Nueva Tabarca (Comunitat Valenciana). See our Tabarca guide and the Tabarca Island place page.

Beaches and coves

Long town beaches with promenades and the tram behind them in the middle, a calm city beach below the castle, and small coves at both ends.

• L’Albufereta: a calm city beach below Lucentum, with a beach bar and accessible bathing with in-water seating; tram stops Albufereta and La Isleta.
• L’Almadrava: a small rocky cove at Cabo de la Huerta for a quieter swim.
• Tabarca: two small beaches by the harbour on the narrow neck of the island; the rest of the shore is rocky.

Things to do

Where to stay by town

The bases we would choose, from north to south, all linked by tram.

Getting there and around

A two-day route

On foot and by tram, with a night in Alicante.

FAQ

Other areas of the Costa Blanca

Sources and freshness

Checked 7 November 2026. Turisme Comunitat Valenciana (official tourism of the Valencian Community) on Alicante, El Campello, Sant Joan d’Alacant, Mutxamel, San Vicente del Raspeig, the beaches of Sant Joan, Postiguet, L’Albufereta, Cala d’Enmig and Cala Baeza, the Tossal de Manises, Santa Bárbara and San Fernando castles, the Santa Cruz hermitage, San Nicolás, the Mercado Central, the Santa Faz monastery, MARQ, The Ocean Race Museum, Las Hogueras, the Tabarca information point, the Illeta dels Banyets, the Illeta tower and El Campello’s routes. Spain.info (Turespaña) on Alicante and Santa Bárbara Castle. Background: Wikipedia on Tabarca (and in Spanish), Playa de San Juan, El Campello and the Alicante Tram. Map data, stops and straight-line distances: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). The Alicante, Costa Blanca, MARQ, FGV and El Campello sites could not be reached, so ferry times, tram timetables, museum hours and prices are not given. Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Alicante port at night by Jesús Alenda (CC BY 2.0); Postiguet beach by Cale Weaver (CC0); San Juan beach by JPOK (CC0); Lucentum by Concepcion AMAT ORTA… (CC BY 3.0); El Campello, Tabarca by chisloup (CC BY 3.0); Torre de Reixes, El Campello, by Oncina (CC BY-SA 3.0 es); Santa Bárbara castle and Santa María, Alicante, by PiotrMig (CC BY-SA 4.0); Alicante rice by Joakinol (CC BY-SA 4.0); Calp by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (CC BY-SA 4.0); Xàbia by Concepcion AMAT ORTA… (CC BY 3.0); Altea by diego_cue (CC BY-SA 3.0); Torrevieja by Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) (CC BY-SA 4.0).