Typical Spanish town between Gandia and Javea

Denia is a delightful cosmopolitan town set on Spain's northern Costa Blanca. This typically Spanish town is rich in history and culture, and is also a thriving commercial centre.

The town of Denia is set between Gandia and Javea, 85 km north east of Alicante, and lies at the foot of the Montgo mountain. Denia's harbour is one of the most important in this part of the Costa Blanca, with ferry connections to the Spanish islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and elsewhere. This, and the huge fishing fleet have made Denia a very prosperous town over the past years.

Denia boasts modern supermarkets, an extraordinary number of banks, top quality shops, tax consultants, lawyers, doctors, dentists, the area's biggest hospitals and the courts of justice.

Great shopping and excellent restaurants

Shopping in Denia is a sheer delight. Besides offering all the high street essentials, there are some top-of-the-range clothes shops with designer wear for both men and women and beautiful gift shops specialising in the unusual and exquisite.

A myriad of restaurants offers some of the Costa Blanca's best regional and international cuisine. There are great tapas bars, seafood restaurants with a mouth-watering selection of produce fresh from local waters, Indonesian, Mexican, Italian and Greek restaurants.

One of the most visited tourist attractions is the castle, built in the 11th and 12th centuries and providing wonderful views around the sea, the city and inland Spain.

20 Kms of fabulous beaches

The summer temperatures reach 40° C. The beaches are some of the best in Spain, and stretch for 20 Kms north and south of Denia. They consistently win the European Blue Flag for safety and cleanliness. All the main beaches have the benefits of sunshades and beds to hire and a generous sprinkling of beach "chiringuitos" - beach bars popular in Spain, selling alcoholic and soft drinks, ice creams and snacks.

There are plenty of beach-based activities both on and off the water, including climbing frames, volleyball nets and huge expanses of open beach set well back from the sea - ideal for football and other team sports. There are sailboats, dinghies and pedaloes for hire, and the rocks at Les Rotes are perfect for fishing, snorkelling and scuba diving.

This is a town big on fiestas!

The Spanish simply love fun, fire, fiestas and fireworks! One of the biggest "parties" takes place between March 16th - 19th. This is the fiesta of the "Fallas" when huge papier-mache effigies are erected on street corners throughout the town - then burnt to the ground in a spectacular bonfire party. June 20th - 24th sees the "Fogueres de San Juan" fiestas with yet more burning - this time it's giant bonfires on the beach echoing the pagan rituals celebrating midsummer night.

During the Christ of the Holy Blood fiesta in July the town holds its famous "Bous al Mar" (Bulls to the Sea"), listed as a fiesta of National Interest. The locals go wild with excitement but be warned - it's enough to turn the stomach of many an animal loving Brit!

The huge Moors and Christians fiesta runs from August 14th - 16th, with its spectacular street parades recalling the many hundreds of years of Moorish occupation of region. And there are many other smaller religious feasts throughout the year, giving the locals more opportunity to let their hair down.