Over 200km of Mediterranean coastline in Alicante province, from Dénia in the north to Pilar de la Horadada in the south — one main airport, two very different halves.
The Costa Blanca (“White Coast”) is the name given to the Mediterranean coastline of Alicante province, Spain — over 200km running from Dénia in the north to Pilar de la Horadada in the south, where it meets the Costa Cálida. The name was coined in the 1950s as a tourism slogan; there’s no official administrative “Costa Blanca,” just Alicante province and its coast. The main airport, Alicante-Elche (ALC), sits roughly in the middle and handles around 20 million passengers a year — the 5th-busiest airport in Spain. The coast splits into two genuinely different halves: a mountainous, cove-dotted north, and a flatter, larger-resort south.
Ask anyone who’s spent time here and they’ll tell you: “Costa Blanca” covers two genuinely different places. Where you land on the coast shapes almost everything else — the towns, the pace, the landscape, even which airport makes more sense.
One airport dominates the Costa Blanca, but it’s not the only option depending on where you’re headed.
The Costa Blanca’s main gateway, 9km southwest of Alicante city. Around 20 million passengers a year, ~80% international — the obvious choice for almost anywhere on this coast, north or south.
Full guide →Worth checking for the far north — Dénia sits almost exactly equidistant between Alicante and Valencia airports, and Jávea isn’t far behind.
Full guide →Sometimes cheaper or more convenient for the far south — Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa, and Pilar de la Horadada all sit close to the Murcia border.
Read the full airports & getting around guide →
Getting around without a car is genuinely possible along parts of the coast: the TRAM Alicante network’s Line 9 runs the length of the north coast between Benidorm and Dénia, stopping at or near several towns along the way. The airport itself connects to Alicante city and the TRAM network via the C6 bus.
Warm enough to swim across the whole coast, with far fewer crowds than peak summer anywhere from Dénia to Torrevieja.
Peak heat (highs around 30–32°C) and peak season everywhere — book ahead, especially in Benidorm and the bigger southern resorts.
Sea stays warm, crowds thin out fast after early September — widely considered the best window on the whole coast.
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