Walking Alicante: Ramparts to Refugios
Alicante’s compact center makes it a genuinely good walking city, and its topography means the routes vary far more than “old town, then the seafront”: one climbs a mountain, another goes underground.
The fortress ramparts and Santa Cruz climb
Start at Plaza Puerta del Mar and take the winding pine paths through Parque de la Ereta, then thread the cobbled alleys of Barrio de Santa Cruz past the 18th-century Ermita de Santa Cruz, entering the lower fortifications of Castillo de Santa Bárbara via Calle Vázquez de Mella before climbing through the Salón Felipe II to the 166-meter summit at El Macho. It runs 3.5 kilometers with 170 meters of elevation gain, all stone stairs and inclined cobbles; sturdy shoes are not optional, and this route is impassable with a stroller. The castle grounds themselves are free; only the alternative tunnel elevator from opposite Postiguet Beach charges anything, at €2.70. Full hours and seasonal notes are on the official castle site .
The Civil War air raid shelters
Alicante was one of the last Republican strongholds to fall in 1939 and endured more than 70 aerial bombardments. Alicante Turismo runs a guided 2-hour tour through the restored underground shelters at Plaza Séneca, built inside a former bus depot, and Plaza Balmis, with audio simulations of air-raid sirens and original bomb-damage markings still visible on the concrete. Cost is €5.00 per person, and advance booking is required through alicanteturismo.com .
The market and tardeo food walk
A guided culinary walk through Mercado Central takes in cured tuna mojama and roe at Salazones Vicente Leal, local sheep cheeses and Iberico ham, before finishing at Horchatería Azul on Calle Calderón de la Barca for fresh tiger-nut horchata and sweet fartons. Guided versions run 2.5 hours for €45 to €60 per person; a self-paced Mercado Central and tapas walking tour covers similar ground with a guide doing the ordering.
The Cota Cero heritage circuit
The flattest and most accessible of the four: Plaza del Ayuntamiento, where a brass plaque at the base of the marble staircase has defined mean sea level for the whole of mainland Spain since 1874, then Plaza Santísima Faz, the Basílica de Santa María, MACA, the Concatedral de San Nicolás, the giant Ficus trees at Portal de Elche, and the Explanada de España promenade. Two hours, flat terrain throughout, and the only route on this list that works with a stroller.
Before you go
Pair the fortress climb with an early start, before 10:00 in summer, since the exposed upper ramparts have almost no shade and stone surface temperatures climb well past 40°C by midday. For where to eat after any of these routes, see our activities guide , which covers the market and tardeo in more depth.