We are still in the middle of a pandemic, but the Communitat de Valencia is no longer on the travel ban list for us. My sister and I have dreamed of a spring holiday for a while now and are so happy that we can fly to the South of Spain. Our backpacks are once again packed only with bare necessities for a 10-day hike.

We only arrive late in the afternoon, but after strolling through the city for an hour we already feel like we have been on holiday much longer. Sitting under the spectacular trees of Plaza Portal de Elche and enjoying our take-away dinner is the perfect end to our first day here. One of our favourite spots is the Santa Cruz area. The planters in front of the white and colourful houses look so bright. The quarter clings to the side of the mountain and feels a bit removed from the center down below. The city is cute and the view from the Castillo de Santa Bárbara is spectacular. The blue sea stretches in front of us. We feel like we are on top of the world. Alicante was the perfect start to our holiday.

A short tram ride to the beach outside of Alicante brings us to our starting point of the GR92 hike. The first kilometres we hike along the beach promenade. The sun is shining from a blue sky, the sea is turquoise clear and lots of people take advantage of the perfect weather. Every five minutes or so one of us exclaims “I can’t believe we’re here.”, “This is so beautiful!” or “What a start to our hike.”.

Every night we sleep in a picturesque little town. The towns are either dotted with very colourful houses or with Moorish white houses. Both are beautiful. Even though in the evenings we are dead tired from our hike, after a reviving shower we stroll a little through town and have a look around. In Villajoyosa we actually leave the sight-seeing part for the start of next day’s hike.

The narrow alleys with colourful houses remind us a bit of last autumn’s hike along Italy’s Ligurian coast.In Altea, even though our feet can barely go on, we walk through the white old town set on the hill beneath the castle to the supermarket. The light begins to fade and the white houses take on the rose shimmer of the sky. It is so beautiful strolling a little through the town and taking in all the charms of this cute town.

The Costa Blanca is just magical. We cannot believe the colour of the sea. The limestone contrasts with the turquoise water and the green plants. Between towns we often hike through Natural Parks. It is spring and despite it being a very dry landscape everything is blossoming right now. Along our paths grow lilac, rosemary and lavender, olive trees and white cistus roses, yellow gorse, pink heather, palm trees and many more plants. It is so beautiful. Butterflies and dragon flies soar past, bees hum between the flowers and birds chirp in the bushes.

During the day we like to stop for lunch at a restaurant. This way we get to properly sit down, drink a bit of extra water, have a good meal and enjoy the scenery. The Menú del día is a perfect option for us. We always share and eat lots of delicious food this way. Dinner is often a simpler affair; also because by the end of the day we are pretty tired. Twice we stop at the beach promenade. We are in our hiking gear all sweaty sitting between the beach strollers enjoying our well-deserved lunch.

Benidorm is quite a site. We walk along the coast and suddenly, as we round a bend, we see the densely built skyscrapers appear in front of us. The town is not to our taste, but still we are fascinated by the sheer size of it. Luckily, there are not that many tourists around. We are glad as we hike into the hills behind Benidorm and leave the urban area behind us.

Hiking out of Calpe we pass a salt lake. The mid-day sun is burning down on us. But we still stop at the lake and gaze at the flamingos stalking through the flat lake, sifting the ground for food. Taking the photo the exact moment when they raise their heads out of the water becomes a bit of a sport. We could stand here for a while, just observing these graceful animals, but we have to hike on.

In the mornings we usually start by hiking along the beach. The first part of our hike along the Costa Blanca we have to climb a few hills. But the views more than make up for it. The turquoise water, the coastline is simply stunning. At some point during the day we usually pass holiday houses. It is so much fun to see the different styles, some houses are Spanish inspired, others ultra-modern cubes. We love taking a peek into gardens and houses. Spotting infinity pools becomes our speciality.

The hiking path leads us through varied landscapes; along the beach promenades, through Nature Reserves, through residential areas, over hills and along the coast.

The smell of orange blossom is following us for much of our hike. We have oranges every day for a break and feel truly like hiking in Spain. Hiking out of Denia we follow the old railway track through orange plantations. The smell is almost overwhelming. For six kilometres we have orange trees ladden with the small white star blossoms on either side of us. It smells heavenly.

One day shortly before reaching Valencia it is overcast, but we get to hike for 10 kilometres along the beach. Despite the clouds it is such a beautiful morning. Anticipating how high the waves are going to crawl is so much fun. Our usual Ensaimada break is coming up and so we are distracted by the smell of a bakery and tadaaa… a bigger wave hits us, the water enters my shoes and I get wet feet. The good thing about a multi-day hike is that you have your spare clothes with you. I change socks and we continue on, still laughing about getting distracted by bakery smells.

Before we arrive in Valencia we pass the Albufeira, an area famous for rice fields. While for all the wildflowers it is nice hiking in spring, the rice fields are at their prettiest in autumn. We walk between the brown fields, greet the farmers we meet several times during the day as if they were old friends and observe the herons. We cut the monotony of the hike by singing all the songs that come into our head. This way the kilometres pass quicker. Each time my sister’s watch vibrates and announces another kilometre achieved we cheer. From El Palmar we take the bus into Valencia and as we pass the magical looking buildings of the Ciutat de les Arts I les Ciències it slowly begins to sink in that this is the end of our beautiful hike along the Costa Blanca from Alicante to Valencia.

Valencia greets us with sunshine and a spectacular final day of sightseeing. We just stroll through the city centre enjoying all the sights. The streets, the houses, the churches; there is so much to see. We marvel at the beautiful houses. It is Sunday, families gather to celebrate the Holy Communion and later walk through the city.

After hiking for 10 days we soak up all the city energy. Sitting by the fountain on the Plaça de la Mare de Déu we people-watch and listen to the music of the street musicians. We have ice cream and then one last sea food lunch.

What a holiday. We had so much fun and enjoyed ourselves immensely during those one and a half weeks.