Altea sits on a hill on the Costa Blanca, between Calpe and Benidorm, about 40 minutes south of Dénia. The old town is a knot of steep, cobbled lanes of white houses climbing to the church at the top.
The church and the square
Nuestra Señora del Consuelo has two domes covered in blue-and-white glazed tiles — the shape you see on every postcard of the coast, sometimes called the dome of the Mediterranean. The square in front of it, the Plaça de l’Església, has the widest sea view in town, with a few cafés under the trees.
Walking the old town
There are no cars up here. White walls, blue doors, bougainvillea, and a run of small galleries and craft shops — Altea has drawn painters and potters for decades. There’s no route; you just wander up one lane and down the next.
Evening
The old town is at its best from late afternoon into the evening, when the light softens and the day-trippers thin out. Dinner is in one of the small restaurants on the lanes or the square. Down by the water there’s a promenade and a pebble beach for a walk afterwards.
Good to know
- About 40 minutes from our villa by car, down the AP-7
- Park in the lower town or by the seafront and walk up — the old town is pedestrian and there is almost nowhere to leave a car
- Steep and cobbled throughout; wear proper shoes
- Busiest in August and on summer evenings