I've planned a 16 day trip starting in Madrid to Cordoba, Sevilla, Arce de la Frontera, ROnda, Granada. We have two days to drive from Granada to Barcelona which I am not booking in advance. DOes anyone have any ideas of where to stay, nice small towns or coastal towns that will be interesting to stay in over night before we get to Barcelona.

Stay in Peñiscola. There is a picture book out now entitled "The Most Beautiful Villages in Spain". That's Peñiscola on the cover.

Thanks, Where is Peniscola near? Have you been there? What is it like?

Ahem... umm.. don't forget the "ñ" in that name. (i.e. Peñiscola) hehehe..

Better call Coca-Cola & Pepsi Cola. They've got some competition.

Oh my!

marilisa

Peñiscola is about 2 hours south of Barcelona, on the coast. Here is a website with lots of pictures:

http://www.lemonpage.de/english/azaharen.htm

I don't remember the hotel we stayed in, but it was right on the beach, and we showed up with no reservations, in June. You could try this one:

http://www.hotel-losdelfines.com/

The castle is beautiful, and the old town is really quaint. The tourists there are almost all Spanish. It would be a really nice stop on your way to Barcelona.

I agree with Aidance. Peñíscola's old quarter is a very small town placed on a rocky peninsula surrounded by beaches. In the 15th century, when there were two Popes (one in Rome and the other in Avignon), after the last Pope in Avignon lost pretty much all of his supporters he ended his days living in Peñíscola, and was known as the Papa Luna (Pope Moon). It's quite an interesting place. It's only about 2 hours and a half from Barcelona.

Thanks for the Peniscola, sorry I don't know how to add the mark on top of the n. It sounds great, would you stay there as opposed to Sitges. Also, what would be a good first night stop since your suggestion is almost all the way to Barcelona and I don't think we'll get that far the first night. Thanks again.

I still need a suggestion for a place to stay for the first night after Granada, somewhere more south than Peniscola, around Alicante or Valencia. We don't want to drive so far each day. Leaving in 3 days! Help!

Sorry, I can't help you with a personal recommendation, but you might browse this link:
http://www.costablanca.org/eng/

Also, a great guide book series is the Insight Guide to Spain. That's how I discovered Peñiscola. By the way, on a Mac, you press alt n then n again and you get ñ.

Have a great trip!

There are no beautiful towns (in my opinion, of course) in the route from Alicante to Valencia. A number of them, Calpe, Altea, Gandía, Cullera, have nice beaches where you can stop for a swim, but none of them have nice sights or beautiful old towns. I wouldn't really know where to stop in that route...

hi bev,
i am in the midst of planning my trip there too.. but if you wanna see nice villages... I kinda think Bubion is nice .. its near granada but in the sierra nevada region-Alpujarras... I dont know if that is put of the way..but check it out.

White walled villages..similar to moroccan style kinda....

Thanks for all your help everyone. Leaving in about an hour. Will let you know about everything when I get back. Maybe I'll discover some hidden gems. I'll be in Madrid in about 10 hours. Hasta la vista.

Ended up staying in Benidorm, loved it, shops are a little tacky but the beach is nice. Had a great, cheap hotel on the beach, Hotel Brisa. Then went to Sitges, expensive hotel and not as tacky a town but didn't like it as much. Maybe cause the weather wasn't so good and we got lost going there and almost ended up in Barcelona a day early which wouldn't have been so bad since we really loved Barcelona.