Benidorm old town and town centre

Benidorm's Old Town is an oasis of traditional Spain in a modern resort city sometime referred to as the "Spanish Manhattan" for its its high-rise hotels, shopping malls, and energetic nightlife. In practical terms the term "Old Town" covers the genuinely old narrow streets in the historic centre of the city, as well as some neighbouring central with more modern streets and buildings. Most Old Town hotels and apartments are in the newer part of the district, but several are found on the old streets themselves

The heart of the Old Town is the rocky point between the Levante and Poniente beaches, the highest point in the city and the location of a defensive castle until the 19th Century. Today the castle is gone, and in its place is a beautiful chequerboard stone plaza and the mirador - a balcony on a ridge of rock that overlooks the beaches and Benidorm's twin bays. The plaza is a popular spot for locals and tourist alike, who come for the extensive views of the coast, islands, and the Puig Campana beside the city - one of the biggest mountains on the Costa Blanca. There are several cafés and restaurants with outdoor tables around the plaza and the surrounding streets, and a few small hotels.

Benidorm's Church of San Jaime now dominates the headland where the castle once stood, and its blue domes have become an emblem of the city. It was built in the mid 18th Century when Benidorm was a thriving tuna fishing town, and the church celebrates the region's link to the sea. A founding story from Benidorm's history relates that local people found an abandoned ship on nearby Poniente beach. Fearing its crew had been killed by plague, the locals set fire to the ship - and later found a statue of the Virgin Mary among the embers, undamaged by the flames. Thereafter Saint Mary joined Saint Jaime as the town's patron saint, and the miracle is commemorated with re-enactments every year.

The Old Town and town centre are handy to both of Benidorm's main beaches, Levante beach and Poniente beach. Both are wide, sandy, clean - and often crowded, especially during the peak season months of summer. Life-guards monitor swimmers on the beaches, and there are ramps that allow disabled access. Levante beach is perhaps known best for its beach bars and open-air nightclubs. Poniente beach is more relaxed, with no beach bars and fewer hotels than the Levante side. Facilities for windsurfing, parasailing, jet-skiing and water-skiing are available on both Levante and Poniente beaches.

Benidorm has long been a favourite destination for British holiday-makers, and the narrow and winding streets of the Old Town area have many British owned pubs and bars that carry on the tradition. For dining one of the most popular choice in Old Town is the area around Plaza de la Constitution and Santo Domingo, known as "Tapas Alley" for the many bars where tapas - small dishes of cheeses, meats, salads, seafood and other delicacies - are washed down with plenty of wine and beer. There are a few cabarets and nightclubs around the Old Town, but visitors looking for something livelier are just a few minutes walk from the beach bars and major nightclubs around the Levante beach seafront.