Are you planning a road trip to Moraira on the Costa Blanca North in Spain and looking for inspirational travel ideas. This guide include great destinations, attractions, and basically all you need to see when you want to spend the day in the beautiful city of Moraira.
Plan your journey, find amazing places, and take fascinating detours with the help of your local car hire company in Moraira. If you need to save this article for later, you can download the Moraira road trip guide as PDF.
Road trip to Moraira
Moraira is located in the middle of Valencia and Alicante. If you drive from Marina Baja, you can choose the coastal road from Calpe. Here are charming little places in a row. The place is characterized by beautiful sandy beaches and sheltered little spots, an exclusive marina, an excellent selection of excellent restaurants and bars, as well as many shops. Moraira is located about 30 kilometers from Benidorm. You can see the Calpe mountain in the horizon if the viewing angle is correct and it is easy to find through the A-7 or N-333 motorway.
Friday is the market day, with a good selection of ceramics, leather goods, fruits, flowers and vegetables. Fresh fish can be bought at the fish auction in the morning. The fishermen have been replaced by holidaymakers, but the idyll is retained. Moraira, north of the Costa Blanca, is idyllically for pleasure for both locals and holidaymakers. Other local offers include three major golf courses, gymnasium, tennis, football, squash, water sports, boat rentals and tours, horse riding, as well as go-kart racing courses for both adults and children.
First step on our road trip to Moraira we are going to city center and have a look at the famous Castillo de Moraira. In the high season there could be problems to park in the city center, but there is a big parking area on the right side when you enter the city. The Castle is just 5 min walk from there towards the beach.
Castle – Castillo de Moraira
The castle of Moraira is an 18th century fortress on l’Ampolla beach in Moraira. The Bourbon royal coat of arms hanging over the front door, describing the year construction work was completed. It has been documented that Castillo de Moraira was planned by Juan Bautista Antonelli to protect the coast from the 16th century invaders, but, according to a plaque at the entrance, it was not completed until as late as 1742.
Castillo de Moraira was built to protect the city from pirates attacking this coast. The shape of the building is known as a pezuña de buey (beef court). Inside there are three wings and two floors. The castle is 10 meters high. A look was held from small openings in the walls, and the cannons were mounted in the weapon ending around the top of the castle. It is known that the castle was armed with four bronze cannons and that the castle was severely damaged by the British Navy on July 20, 1801. The castle was completely restored in the early 1980s and is in good shape today.
Next step on our road trip to Moraira is just a 2 minutes walk from the Castle in Moraira. We are going to Moraira city center. If you want to get a good look at the major sites without expending too much energy you might want to take the tourist train which will take you on a pleasant little trip around the main streets of the town and down to the port.
Moraira City Center
Start on the main street, known as Dr. Calatayud, and visit the local church built in the 19th century. Its special doorway with its arches and piers is a typical example of the region’s architecture known as Riu-Rau. Go down Almacenes and you will come to Playas y Mar street, which is the oldest and most picturesque street in Moraira. After stopping to take pictures, you will come to the old backing wall called Margenot, which protected Moraira from the stormy ocean. If you do not want to go, you can take a tourist train that goes along the main streets, past the gate and towards the El Portet beach.
The Moorish influence can be seen today in buildings and architecture throughout the city, and it is seen that many of the local names originate from the Moorish language. The Moors were thrown out in the 13th century by the Catalans, who introduced the Valencian language. This still depends on today, despite Franco’s stubborn attempt to monopolize Castilean as the official Spanish. Moraira can also showcase some of the most spectacular of fireworks when the story of how the Moors were thrown at sea should be portrayed during the city’s fiesta.
After getting the Moraira center experience, next step on our road trip to Moraira is to check out one of Moraira`s beautiful beaches.
The beaches of Moraira
With a coastline of eight kilometres, with many cliffs and crystal clear waters, Moraira has a wealth of beautiful beaches to choose from. There are mainly two beaches in Moraira: l’Ampolla next to the castle and El Portet on the other side of the harbor. Both are sandy beaches and are perfect for children.
La Ampolla beach Moraira
The beach of La Ampolla is one of the most important in the town of Moraira because of its location. It is located on the mound of the esplanade of Moraira Castle and is surrounded by a wooded park, many palm trees and a small marsh with different birds that cause a sensation among the youngest of the family.
The Ampolla has several services for leisure activities among which stand out the facilities of beach volleyball for summer tournaments, a playground for the little ones, rental of water skates to have a good time with friends or family and a floating platform full of slides and ramps that will be the delight of every child.
In addition, on the beach there is a large beach bar with a restaurant area to eat by the sea and not leave the beach all day. They are served from rice dishes, tapas to classic dishes combined throughout the day. Even on some summer nights there are concerts with live music that enliven the evening.
A very good point is that it is also very close to find companies that are dedicated to renting kayaks, jet skis and even parasailing and contemplate the whole area from the Levantine sky.
El Portet beach Moraira
El Portet beach is a lovely little beach with all services and a very good atmosphere. Portet beach is a semi-urban shell shaped beach about 350m long, it is protected by the Peninsula de Cap d’Or, in a natural setting of great beauty.The beach has a lovely promenade which narrows here giving way to many places where you can eat or drink while enjoying beautiful views of the Peñón and Punta de Moraira.
Portet beach has fine sand and shallow clear waters, ideal for swimming or take a kayak tour. The beach has a lifeguard, washing feet, toilets, walkway, rentals and canoes, and parking is easily accessible.
While in high season the occupancy level is very high because it is a small beach, during the medium and low season it is a charming and lovely place, highly recommended for families with children. Portet beach is so beautiful that it is very common to see boats deciding to anchor in its calm waters.
After some chill in time at Moraira`s best beaches, it`s time to check out the best fiestas in Moraira.
Fiesta in Moraira
The “war” between the Moors and Christians is without doubt one of the best things you can see during a local fiesta. An invasion of the Moors is drawn here, while the fireworks are milling over the water and exploding in the ocean. It all takes place on the 3rd weekend in June.
Video Moraira Fiesta
Other fiesta in Moraira: The city festival is to commemorate the patron saint of Moraira “La Virgen de los Desamparados” and “La Virgen Carmen”, who was the protector of the city’s fishermen. The festival will be held July 15 and July 16 each year. La Fiesta del Moscatel is held in late August in Teulada and is named after the local moscatel grape used to make Mistela wine. See full calendar for Moraira Fiestas.
You can set the pace of your road trip as you like, because part of the charm of Moraira is simply being here, eating, drinking, exploring, swimming, hiking, or just enjoy the atmosphere and letting the Spanish sunshine warm your bones.