Alicante

Santa Bàrbara castle on day one, a boat to Tabarca on day two

Give Alicante two days: the first for Santa Bàrbara castle, the MARQ archaeological museum and the evening stroll on the Explanada, the second at sea on a boat to the walled island of Tabarca, or on the long sands of San Juan if you would rather stay ashore.

Start the first day with the climb to Santa Bàrbara, before the sun gets high. Walk up from Plaza del Carmen through the whitewashed, flower-potted lanes of Santa Cruz, see the city museum (MUSA) at the top, then take the lift back down through the rock to Postiguet beach. After lunch, retreat from the afternoon heat into the MARQ archaeological museum, or wander the old-town streets around the Concatedral de San Nicolás and the town hall. As the light softens, join the evening stroll along the Explanada de España, and let tardeo, the local habit of early-evening drinks, roll on into a late dinner.

Day two goes to sea. Boats leave the port for Tabarca, a small walled island where you can swim off the rocks and eat caldero, the island's fish-and-rice stew, before the return crossing. If boats are not your thing, take the TRAM north to the long sands of San Juan, or carry on up the coast towards Benidorm. Save the evening for the old town bars, where dinner rarely starts before 21:00.

Arroz a banda, turrón and Fondillón wine in Alicante

Rice is the dish to order in Alicante, and paella is only the start. The local standard is arroz a banda, rice simmered in a rich fish stock and served with alioli, the fish eaten separately or not at all.

In Elche next door, arroz con costra is baked with sausages and finished under a crust of egg, and on Tabarca the dish is caldero, fish stew followed by rice cooked in its broth. Order rice at lunch, usually for at least two people, and expect it to take a while.

The lunchtime menú del día, three or four courses with or without a drink, is the best-value meal in town. Mind the rhythm: many kitchens close from about 16:00 and do not open again until 21:00. The Mercado Central, a modernist market hall, is the place for picnic shopping and a mid-morning snack at the bars inside.

Sweets come from the hills. Turrón, the almond nougat eaten across Spain at Christmas, is made in Xixona, inland to the north, in a hard Alicante style and a soft Xixona one. For wine, try a Monastrell red from DO Alicante, a glass of Moscatel or Fondillón, a rare aged sweet wine almost nobody else makes.

Alicante's dry, sunny year and its swimming months

Alicante is dry and sunny for most of the year: July sees about 3 mm of rain, June 8 mm, and even January reaches 17°C by day. The sea suits most swimmers from June to October, and the year's wettest spell, about 51 mm in September, usually comes in short, heavy storms.

Spring arrives early, with 20°C in March and 25°C by May. Winter, from December to February, is quiet and mild, good for walking the castle hill and the coast.

The city's own festival is the Hogueras de San Juan in late June. Each district builds a hoguera, a towering satirical figure of wood and papier-mache, and on the night of 24 June, after fireworks from Mount Benacantil, the cremà begins and the figures burn across the city while firefighters hose down the crowds. Rooms sell out early.

The wider province has two more dates worth planning around. Elche stages the Misteri d'Elx, a medieval sung drama listed by UNESCO, in its basilica on 14 and 15 August. In late April, the inland town of Alcoy holds the best known of the region's Moros y Cristianos festivals, with mock battles and costumed parades.