Altea and Calpe

From chalk-white Altea perched above the bay to wave-level Calpe carved by the sea, this day draws a clean line: cobbled lanes and the blue-tiled dome of El Consuelo first, then a shore path under the Peñón de Ifach. Altea’s old town, roughly 60 meters up, still shelters studios that opened in the 1960s, while the Plaza de la Iglesia surveys a sweep of water where, on clear days, you can spot Benidorm 10 km to the southwest. Down below, La Manzanera’s coves sit beside Ricardo Bofill’s modernist complexes (1968–74), a sharp foil to Calpe’s broad beaches.

Your private driver collects you in Alicante, keeps the Mercedes at your disposal, and lets you set the pace—simple as that. Ride up to the Cronistas de España viewpoint, browse Altea’s ceramic workshops while the car waits, then follow the N-332 to Calpe in about 30 minutes, skirting the flamingo-streaked salt flats. Lunch on rice cooked caldero-style by the harbor, explore La Manzanera’s rocky inlets or stroll at the foot of the Ifach, and glide back to Alicante in about an hour.