300+ high-rises · 300-metre sea cliffs · Five minutes apart
Destination Guide · Spain
A Complete List of Holiday Retreat Activities in Benidorm, Spain: Cliff Hikes, an Old Town Most Visitors Never Find, Two Blue Flag Beaches and the Most Misunderstood Skyline in Europe
Benidorm has a reputation and we are not going to pretend otherwise. What almost nobody mentions is that a natural park with three-hundred-metre sea cliffs starts at the end of Levante beach, or that the old fishing village the resort was built around is still there, whitewashed and quiet, between the two bays.
Written by the Optimo Lifestyle team · London · Last reviewed August 2026
Let us deal with the reputation first, because there is no point writing around it.
Benidorm is a British institution, and Calle Gerona — the strip — is exactly what you are imagining. Full English breakfasts, tribute acts, karaoke, cheap pints. It exists, an enormous number of people love it, and there is nothing wrong with that. If it is what you came for, you already know where to find it and you do not need a guide.
This is a guide to the other Benidorm, which is a genuinely surprising place. The town has over three hundred high-rise buildings and the highest concentration of skyscrapers per capita in the world — and the reason for that is the interesting part. In the 1960s the local council made a deliberate decision to build upwards rather than outwards. The result is that a resort handling millions of visitors a year occupies a remarkably small footprint, leaves its beaches open, and stops dead at the edge of a protected natural park.
That park — Serra Gelada, the first land-and-sea protected area in the Valencian Community — has limestone cliffs rising almost three hundred metres straight out of the Mediterranean, fossil dunes, watchtowers, and a ridge walk with a genuine drop on one side. It begins about fifteen minutes’ walk from a Wetherspoons. That contrast is the whole point of the place.
Below, everything worth doing, ranked honestly. Our Spain retreat destinations page sets out where we run coach-led fitness holidays across the country.
If you read one section, make it the cliff hike. It is free, it is spectacular, and it is the thing that will change your mind about this town. It also needs more respect than it usually gets — details below.
The Ranked List
Everything Worth Doing in Benidorm, Ranked From Essential to Entirely Optional
Ordered by what we would do first rather than by how heavily it is advertised. Several of the best are free.
| What | Time | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Sierra Helada cliff hike | Half to full day | Free, spectacular, and the reason to come. Choose your route carefully |
| Balcón del Mediterráneo and the Old Town | 1–2 hours | Free. The village the resort was built around, and most visitors walk straight past it |
| Playa de Poniente | An afternoon | Over three kilometres of Blue Flag sand, and considerably calmer than Levante |
| Boat to Isla de Benidorm | Half day | Marine reserve water, good snorkelling, best view back at the skyline |
| Cala Tío Ximo and Cala Almadrava | Half day | Small rocky coves at the far end of Levante. The snorkelling spots locals use |
| Mirador del Castillo at sunset | 30 minutes | Free, and the single best half-hour in town. Both bays at once |
| Tapas around Calle Santo Domingo | An evening | Spanish Benidorm, in the old town. Where to eat if you want the local version |
| The skyline from Rincón de Loix | An hour | Free after dark. Genuinely striking, and not remotely what you expected to enjoy |
| Playa de Levante | An afternoon | The busy one. Excellent for watersports, crowded for everything else |
| Terra Mítica | Full day | The big theme park. Essential with children, skippable without |
| Aqualandia and Mundomar | Full day | Water park and marine park, adjacent to each other. Family territory |
| Terra Natura | Half day | Animal park with a barrier-free design. The better of the wildlife options |
| Calle Gerona, the British strip | An evening | Exactly what it says. Wonderful if that is your holiday, irrelevant if not |
The Best Thing Here
Walking the Sierra Helada Cliffs: A Natural Park With 300-Metre Drops That Starts at the End of Levante Beach
The Parc Natural de la Serra Gelada was designated in 2005 as the first land-and-sea protected area in the Valencian Community. It covers roughly 5,650 hectares, of which around 4,900 are marine, and it runs along the coast between Benidorm, l’Alfàs del Pi and Altea.
The land part is a limestone ridge with sheer cliffs falling close to three hundred metres into the sea — among the tallest on this coast — along with protected fossil dunes, Neolithic archaeological remains and a series of watchtowers built against Barbary piracy. The name means “frozen mountain”, and comes from the way the pale limestone catches the moonlight and looks, from a boat, like an iceberg.
There are several waymarked routes and they vary enormously in difficulty. Choosing the right one matters.
Easy: Albir Lighthouse
A paved former quarry road running out to the historic Faro de l’Albir, roughly six kilometres there and back with about 210 metres of gain, taking under two hours. Wide, well surfaced, interpretive signs along the way, and suitable for families and casual walkers. Start from the information point at Albir. This is the one to do if you want the views without the commitment.
Moderate: Cala Tío Ximo to the Cross of Benidorm
A shorter loop of around three and a half kilometres from the far end of Levante beach up to the Creu de Benidorm, the cross on the clifftop above the town. It climbs steadily and finishes over two hundred metres above the sea with the entire bay laid out below. An hour and a half at a working pace, and the best return on effort in the whole park.
Hard: the ridge traverse
The full crossing, usually called the yellow route, runs the length of the ridge between the Cross of Benidorm and the Albir lighthouse — somewhere between eight and ten kilometres depending on the variant, four to five hours, with sustained ascent and descent and a high point at Alt del Governador around 438 metres. The path is unpaved, rocky and requires scrambling in places. It is linear, so you need transport at one end or a bus back.
Be Honest About Which One You Are Doing
The traverse is not a promenade stroll. It is exposed clifftop walking with a considerable drop on one side, unsuitable for anyone with a fear of heights, and it needs proper footwear with grip rather than the trainers you wore to the beach. There is very little shade on the ridge and almost no water on the route.
In July and August, do the lighthouse route early in the morning and leave the traverse for another trip. The combination of exposure, heat and a long linear route with no easy exit is how people get into trouble on an otherwise straightforward hill.
Whichever you choose, the views are the same currency: the bay of Altea, the Peñón de Ifach at Calpe in the distance, the Puig Campana and Aitana mountains inland, and Benidorm’s towers looking oddly small from above.
The Village Underneath
The Old Town, the Balcón del Mediterráneo and the Fishing Village Benidorm Was Built On Top Of
Between the two great beaches, on a rocky promontory that once held a castle, sits the Casco Antiguo — the original village, and the part of Benidorm that most visitors somehow never find despite walking past the end of it repeatedly.
The Balcón del Mediterráneo is the white balustraded viewing platform built out on the site of the old castle, which was destroyed in the early nineteenth century. Stand on it and you have Levante curving away to your left, Poniente to your right, the island offshore and the Sierra Helada cliffs behind. It is free, it is open at all hours, and it is the single most photographed spot in town for good reason.
Behind it, the old town proper: narrow lanes, whitewashed and blue-trimmed houses, the church of Sant Jaume with its blue-tiled dome on the highest point, and small squares that fill up in the evening with Spanish families rather than tourists. It takes about an hour to wander and it is a completely different town from the one on the seafront.
Eating in the Old Town
The streets around Calle Santo Domingo and Plaza de la Constitución are where the Spanish tapas bars are — small plates at a counter, standing room, the *tapeo* done properly and cheaply. This is a genuinely different evening from the strip and it costs less. Order local: rice dishes, grilled fish, and the Alicante province staples. The Mercat Municipal nearby is worth a mid-morning look.
One more free viewpoint worth the walk: the Mirador del Castillo at sunset. Go at least twenty minutes before the sun drops, because everybody else has the same idea and the space is not large.
Sea And Sand
The Beaches, the Coves and the Boat Out to Isla de Benidorm: Choosing the Right Stretch of Water
Benidorm has around five kilometres of beach split into two very different halves by the old town, plus a handful of small coves at the eastern end that hardly anybody uses.
| Playa de Levante — east | Playa de Poniente — west |
|---|---|
| Around two kilometres, urban and lively | Over three kilometres, quieter and more informal |
| Where the nightlife, the hotels and the crowds are | More residential, more Spanish families, more space |
| Best for watersports, beach bars and people-watching | Best for swimming, walking the promenade and actually relaxing |
| Morning sun, and it gets going early | Evening sun, and the better sunset of the two |
| Blue Flag, fine sand, shallow shelving | Blue Flag, fine sand, and a striking modernist promenade |
Cala Tío Ximo and Cala Almadrava
Past the far end of Levante, tucked under the start of the Sierra Helada cliffs, are two small rocky coves that most visitors never reach. Both sit inside the marine reserve, both have clear water over rock and seagrass rather than sand, and both are where people go with a mask and snorkel rather than a sunbed. Tío Ximo is the more accessible; Almadrava requires a bit more effort and is correspondingly emptier. Neither has much shade — go early.
The Boat to Isla de Benidorm
The triangular island a couple of kilometres offshore is part of the same protected marine area, and boats run out from the harbour by the old town in about twenty minutes. The water around it is some of the clearest in the bay and the snorkelling is genuinely good. There is a walk up to the top, a restaurant, peacocks wandering about, and the best possible view back at the skyline — which from out there, with the mountains behind it, looks far more impressive than it does from underneath.
Two Practical Points
Boats do not always run if the sea is rough, and sometimes they run but cannot dock, in which case you are offered a cruise round the island instead — which is not really the same thing. Check the forecast before booking.
There is very little shade on the island. In July and August this matters more than it sounds. Take water, take a hat, and go on the first boat rather than the middle-of-the-day one.
The Skyline, And The Parks
Why the Benidorm Skyline Is More Interesting Than It Looks, and Which Theme Parks Are Actually Worth a Day
Benidorm has over three hundred high-rise buildings and the highest density of skyscrapers per capita anywhere in the world. Intempo, the M-shaped tower on Levante, is the tallest residential building in the European Union. The Gran Hotel Bali was the tallest hotel in Europe when it opened and has a public viewing deck near the top for a few euros.
Urban planners take this town seriously, and the reason is worth knowing. The 1956 general plan set out to build vertically and concentrate density, deliberately preserving open beach frontage and green space rather than letting low-rise sprawl consume the coast the way it did further south. Whether you find the result beautiful is a matter of taste. Whether it worked as planning is much less debatable — the town absorbs enormous visitor numbers on a footprint of under forty square kilometres, and the natural park next door is still a natural park.
The best free way to see it is from Rincón de Loix after dark, at the eastern end of Levante where the ground rises. The whole illuminated wall of towers curves away along the bay. It is genuinely striking, and quite a lot of people who arrived intending to be sniffy about the architecture end up taking photographs.
The Theme Parks, Ranked
Benidorm has four major attractions and they are genuinely good at what they do — but they are family attractions, and if you are not travelling with children you can skip all of them without regret.
Terra Mítica is the big one, themed around ancient Mediterranean civilisations, with the serious rollercoasters. A full day. Aqualandia is the water park, one of the older and larger in Spain, and sits next door to Mundomar, a marine and exotic animal park — combined tickets make sense if you are doing both. Terra Natura is the animal park with a barrier-free design that puts you closer to the animals than traditional enclosures allow, and it is the more thoughtful of the two wildlife options.
All four are hot work in July and August. Go early, book online, and expect queues in school holidays.
Building The Days
A Four-Day Benidorm Itinerary for People Who Want More Than the Strip
Built around getting the outdoor days done before the heat and leaving the parks for whoever wants them.
| Day | Morning | Afternoon and evening |
|---|---|---|
| One | Old town, Balcón del Mediterráneo, Mercat Municipal | Poniente beach, Mirador del Castillo for sunset, tapas on Santo Domingo |
| Two | Sierra Helada — the Cross of Benidorm climb, or the full traverse if you are up for it | Swim to recover, then the skyline from Rincón de Loix after dark |
| Three | First boat out to Isla de Benidorm, snorkel the reserve, walk to the top | Back for the afternoon at Cala Tío Ximo, evening wherever suits you |
| Four | Theme park if you have children; the Albir lighthouse walk if you do not | Levante for the watersports, or a last evening in the old town |
With longer, Benidorm works well as a base for the wider Costa Blanca. Altea’s whitewashed old town and blue-domed church is fifteen minutes up the coast, Guadalest sits dramatically in the mountains inland, and Alicante is under an hour by road or on the TRAM light rail — a proper Spanish city with a castle, a marine reserve island and an old quarter, and a very useful contrast to a resort week.
Timing And Practicalities
When to Visit Benidorm and What UK Travellers Should Know Before Booking
Best months. May, June, September and October. Benidorm has an unusually sheltered microclimate — the mountains behind it block the worst of the weather — and it is one of the few Spanish resorts that genuinely stays open and busy through winter, which is why so many British visitors go in January and February. July and August are hot, extremely crowded and the worst time to attempt anything on the cliffs.
Entry. British passport holders can visit Spain without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Since the EU’s Entry/Exit System became fully operational on 10 April 2026, arrivals are registered biometrically — fingerprints and a facial image — rather than stamped. Allow extra time on a first crossing, and check the FCDO travel advice for Spain before you book and again before you fly.
Health. A UK Global Health Insurance Card gives access to state healthcare on the same terms as Spanish residents, though it is not a substitute for travel insurance. For current guidance, consult TravelHealthPro, run by the NHS-affiliated National Travel Health Network and Centre.
Insurance. If the Sierra Helada traverse is on your list, check your policy covers hiking. A number of standard travel policies exclude off-road walking, and this is exposed clifftop terrain rather than a coastal promenade.
Footwear. Trainers are fine for the town, the promenades and the lighthouse route. The ridge traverse needs shoes with proper grip — the path is rocky, loose in sections and involves scrambling.
Getting around. You do not need a car. The town is compact and walkable, buses cover it well, and the TRAM light rail runs south to Alicante and north towards Dénia, which makes day trips easy. Alicante-Elche airport is about forty-five minutes away.
Sun and water. The sea breeze disguises the strength of the sun from May onwards, and the cliffs, the coves and the island all have minimal shade. Carry more water than feels necessary, particularly on the walks.
The Active Version
Benidorm as a Base for an Active Holiday, and How It Compares With Our Other Spanish Destinations
Here is the thing nobody expects: Benidorm is a serious winter training base, and professional cyclists have known it for years. The combination of a sheltered microclimate, mild winter temperatures, quiet mountain roads climbing inland towards Guadalest and the Aitana range, cheap accommodation and an airport forty-five minutes away has made this coast a fixture on the off-season calendar for European cycling teams.
For walkers and runners the picture is similar. Five kilometres of flat promenade for measured sessions, a natural park with genuine ascent starting at the end of the beach, coves for open-water swimming, and a climate that works when northern Europe does not.
Set against our other Spanish guides, Benidorm is the value option rather than the beautiful one. Marbella has a 1,215-metre summit and is the most demanding. Málaga gives you a cliff boardwalk, a karst plateau and a national park within an hour. Barcelona is the culture-first city option. Alicante is the gentler, more authentically Spanish city an hour down the coast. Benidorm has less charm than any of them and better winter weather than all of them, and our Spain retreat destinations page covers what we run in the country.
Across the wider range, İzmir is the flat-waterfront city, Fethiye puts a mountain straight behind the beach, and Marmaris is the trail week. Our Morocco and Portugal destinations lean Atlantic, and the full list is on our destinations page.
Everything here can be done independently and most people should. What a coached week adds is structure — an assessment beforehand, twice-daily programmed sessions built around the terrain, nutrition guidance, scheduled recovery, and a twelve-week plan written before you fly home.
Where To Start
The retreat destination finder narrows things down in a couple of minutes, and the fitness holiday readiness calculator gives an honest read on where your training currently sits. Our formats are under retreats, with London personal training and online coaching either side.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Planning a Trip to Benidorm
Is there anything to do in Benidorm besides the strip?
Considerably more than its reputation suggests. A natural park with three-hundred-metre cliffs and waymarked trails, a whitewashed old town on a promontory between two bays, a marine reserve island reachable by boat, two Blue Flag beaches and a handful of quiet snorkelling coves. The strip is a small part of the town and easy to avoid entirely if you want to.
How hard is the Sierra Helada hike?
It depends entirely which route you take. The paved Albir lighthouse walk is a comfortable ninety minutes suitable for families. The Cross of Benidorm climb is a moderate hour and a half with a real payoff. The full ridge traverse is four to five hours of exposed clifftop walking with scrambling, unsuitable for anyone afraid of heights, and needs proper footwear and plenty of water.
Levante or Poniente?
Poniente if you want space, swimming and a calmer day. Levante if you want watersports, beach bars and atmosphere. Both hold Blue Flag status and both have fine sand. Poniente gets the better sunset; Levante gets going earlier in the day.
Is the boat to Isla de Benidorm worth it?
If you snorkel, yes. The island sits inside a protected marine area and the water is the clearest in the bay. If you have no plans to get in the sea it is a pleasant twenty-minute crossing, a walk up a hill and a restaurant. Sailings depend on sea conditions, so check the forecast, and note there is very little shade out there.
Are the theme parks worth a day?
With children, absolutely — Terra Mítica for the rides, Aqualandia and Mundomar as a pair, Terra Natura for the animals. Without children, you can skip all four and lose nothing. Book online, go early, and avoid them in the middle of August.
Can I visit in winter?
Yes, and a great many people do. Benidorm’s sheltered position gives it mild winters and it is one of the few Spanish resorts that stays properly open year-round. It is also when the cliff walks are at their most comfortable and the town at its least crowded. You will not be swimming much, but everything else works.
Do I need a car?
No. The town is walkable, local buses are good, and the TRAM light rail connects south to Alicante and north up the coast. A car helps only if you want to explore the mountain villages inland at your own pace.
Important Information About This Guide
The information on this page is general and provided for planning purposes only. The Serra Gelada ridge traverse is exposed clifftop walking above drops of up to three hundred metres, with rocky and loose ground, scrambling in places, minimal shade and limited water. It is not suitable for anyone with a fear of heights and should not be attempted in extreme heat, in poor visibility or without appropriate footwear, sufficient water and someone aware of your plans. Open-water swimming and snorkelling carry risks that vary with conditions, and the waters here form part of a protected marine area with rules governing access.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition, a recent injury, a cardiovascular concern, are pregnant, or have been inactive for a prolonged period, please speak to a qualified medical professional before undertaking sustained activity in heat, hill walking or open-water swimming. Optimo Lifestyle coaches are qualified to design and deliver training; they are not medical practitioners and do not provide medical advice.
Boat sailings, opening hours, ticketing and route conditions change. Always confirm details with the operator directly, and check current FCDO travel advice for Spain and TravelHealthPro guidance before booking and again before departure. Nothing on this page is a substitute for official advice current on the day you travel.
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References and Citations
Sources consulted in preparing this guide. All information was accurate at the date of last review, August 2026.
- Generalitat Valenciana, Conselleria de Medi Ambient. Parc Natural de la Serra Gelada — protected area, extent, trails and marine reserve. Available at: parquesnaturales.gva.es
- Visit Benidorm. Serra Gelada Natural Park — official visitor information and waymarked routes. Ayuntamiento de Benidorm. Available at: visitbenidorm.es
- Visit Benidorm. Benidorm’s architecture, skyline route and viewpoints. Ayuntamiento de Benidorm. Available at: visitbenidorm.es
- Turisme Comunitat Valenciana. Benidorm — beaches, Blue Flag status and Isla de Benidorm. Available at: comunitatvalenciana.com
- Foundation for Environmental Education / ADEAC. Blue Flag awards, Spain. Available at: blueflag.global
- Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana. TRAM d’Alacant network and Benidorm services. Available at: fgvalicante.com
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs. Entry/Exit System (EES) fully operational, 10 April 2026. Available at: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu
- Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Spain travel advice. UK Government. Available at: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain
- National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC). Spain country information. TravelHealthPro. Available at: travelhealthpro.org.uk
- Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA). Professional standards and register. Available at: cimspa.co.uk
Written and reviewed by the Optimo Lifestyle coaching and editorial team, London. Our coaches are Level 3 qualified personal trainers, CIMSPA endorsed and YMCA Awards certified, with credentials independently verifiable through the CIMSPA professional register. Last reviewed: August 2026.
