Holiday information on Jávea, Dénia and Surroundings

Editorial MMC Property Services

General

Denia (in the Valencian language Dénia) is a lively town on the Costa Blanca that belongs to the province of Alicante and the Comunidad Valenciana. Denia is renowned for its beautiful long sandy beaches and harbour.
Denia offers a pleasant and mild climate with an average annual temperature of 18 degrees. Winters are short where it is at its coldest in January average about 11 or 12 degrees, and the summers are long and pleasant, with the warmest month August when it is about 30 degrees. There are on average 325 sunny days and there is relatively little rain. All together is Denia a perfect holiday destination for summer holidays, but also very popular with winter visitors, an ideal destination all year round.

Some facts and figures about Denia

Denia has an area of 66,2 km2 and is located between Valencia and Alicante.
Denia has 41.553 inhabitants (2015) but in summer this number may well increase fivefold to 200.000.
The inhabitants of Denia speak Valencian and Spanish.
Since 1612 Denia official has city rights, acquired by King Felipe III as the sixth city of the Valencian kingdom.
The raisins crisis, since the early 20th century, caused an economic standstill in the city. Since 1960, tourism is the main economic sector and caused the disappearance of most industries and rapid urbanization.
Denia is located 102 km from the airport of Alicante and 111 km from Valencia airport.
From Denia you can take the ferry to the Balearic Islands including Ibiza.
Also in Denia, like in other parts of Spain, people hold siestas. Many stores or organizations then are closed usually from 13.30h until 16/16.30h. Most restaurants and supermarkets however are open all day.

Typical Denia

El Castillo de Denia

Right in the center on a hill is El Castillo de Dénia, a castle that can be seen clearly from different places of the city is. The design dates from the Muslim period, between the eleventh and twelfth century. Since then several reforms can be found in the architecture and it collects traces that the different cultures have left behind in the city over the years.

The beaches of Denia

Denia has a 20 km long coastline, of which many kilometres sandy beach, and stretches from Las Marinas in the north to Las Rotas in the south. The beaches in the north are long, wide beaches of sand, in the south at Las Rotas the coastline begins with a sandy beach and then go over in rocky coves with crystal clear water and stunning coastal views. From north to south, we can successively distinguish the following beaches in Denia: Les Deveses, L'Almadrava, Els Molins, Les Bovetes, Les Marines, on either side of the port Punta del Raset and La Marineta Casiana and finally Las Rotas.

Las fiestas

Denia is known as one of the places with most festivals each year, Reyes, Carnival, Moros y Cristianos are only a few of them. The first two weeks of July they celebrate the "Fiestas patronales en honor a la Santísima Sangre y Bous a la mar" with parades, fireworks displays, bull runs, not to mention the Bous a la mar, literally bulls to the sea, declared a Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional (festival of national tourist interest).

But the biggest annual spectacle might well be Las Fallas in March, where the streets are adorned by large, often as high as the surrounding buildings, culptures and puppets “ninots” of wood, styrofoam and paper mache. Usually they have a satirical character on topical issues. The festivities are assisted by parades on the streets, music, fireworks and the offering of flowers and ends with the burning of the sculptures.

“Must sees” in Denia

The castle "El Castillo de Denia" mentioned before is definitely worth a visit, you can visit the castle itself and from the top you have great views over the city and harbour.
Denia has two port areas, the original port where fishing boats are still moored, has a fish market, with the Club Nautico and the modern part Marina El Portet with 424 berths and the boarding point for the ferry that goes amongst others to Ibiza and on the other side La Marina de Denia, a recreational and tourist harbour. The latter consists of a pier in the sea with nice restaurants and cafes to enjoy, while having dinner or drinks, the views of the harbour, the Montgo mountain and the city. Also you can go for a stroll along the seaside and the beautiful boats that are moored or rent a boat here for a day, with or without a captain.

In the centre there is the main street El Marques del Campo with shops and restaurants and the surrounding small cosy streets. On the Plaça de la Constitució is the town hall and the church Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. The adjacent thereto Calle Lloreto is a typical narrow Spanish street, very nice to walk through, to drink a coffee or something to eat.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Denia

The church Iglesia San Antonio de Padua is located on a small square in a side street of the Marques del Campo, Plaza Convento, which gets its name from the fact that there used to be the convent of San Antonio. La Iglesia San Antonio de Padua was, along with the monastery, founded in the late sixteenth century.
Denia has several museums including the archaeological museum that shows the history of the city from the Iberian origin to the 18th century and is located in the castle of Denia.
There is also the ethnological museum dedicated to the 19th century of Denia and the trade in raisins and the toy museum, which shows the toy industry in Denia between 1904 and 1960.

To do in Denia

Beach lovers can indulge themselves on the sandy beaches of Denia, but also for the more energetic holidaymaker there is a lot to experience in Denia. Hiking, cycling, mountain biking, rock climbing, tennis, volleyball on the beach or how about one of the many water sports? Diving, snorkelling, jet skiing, canoeing, (wind) surfing etc.
In the harbour you can rent a boat or enjoy a day of sailing on a catamaran. In summer, the catamaran departs daily and you can sail for a few hours or a whole day while enjoying the beautiful coastline between Denia and Javea, with a delicious barbecue on board and they stop so you can go for a swim in the sea.

You can also take a ferry to Ibiza and Formentera from Denia, in the summer you can even book day trips to these islands. More information can be found on the website of Balearia.com.
Playing golf in Denia, due to the wonderful climate, can be done almost all year round and there is a great variety of golf courses in the vicinity. There is the beautiful 27 hole golf course at La Sella or 18 holes at Oliva Nova.

Denia has many bike trails, an interesting one is the route from Denia to El Vergel on the "Vía Verde", the old railway between Denia and Carcaixent which has been in use for 90 years and after being closed many years, has been transformed into bicycle route. It is a 6,5 kilometer route through agricultural landscape and crosses the river Alberca. Since this route is relatively flat, it is also suitable for young children.
This route, other routes and more information about what to do in Denia you can find online or at the local tourist office called Oficina de Turismo, Plaza Oculista Buigue, 9 (on the corner of Calle Doctor Manuel Lattur and Paseo del Saladar).

To eat and drink

In Denia you can go to many places to have a nice drink or meal. The centre offers apart from the Marques del Campo and Calle Loreto mentioned above, many squares and streets with nice restaurants and bars.
Walking toward the beginning of Las Marinas you will find a nice street in front of the harbour with restaurants. But also along the road from Las Marinas you will find several dinings, some of which are literally located directly on the sandy beach.

In La Marina de Denia and La Marina El Portet, you can dine overlooking the sea and the many beautiful boats.
Denia is known for its rice and fish dishes, shellfish and especially the very famous and popular "gambas rojas", red prawns.

A day out

Enjoying an afternoon of shopping is possible in Denia in the centre or in the nearby shopping center "Portal de la Marina" in Ondara.
For a real day out you can go to for example, Valencia. In addition to visiting the beautiful city here is also the "Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias", a complex of buildings with modern architecture, the Oceanografico, a large marine aquarium, the largest in Europe and the Bioparc, a wonderful zoo designed under the concept "zoo-inmersion" where the animals are living as much as possible in their natural habitat.

For visiting zoos a bit closer by you can also go to Terra Natura or Mundo Marino in Benidorm. Furthermore, there is in Benidorm the amusement park Terra Mitica and the water park Aqualandia.