SPAIN-VALENCIA

ALICANTE (includes Cocentaina & Pinoso)
Hotels
●Hospes Amerigo – 7 Calle de Rafael Altamira; 011-34-965-146-570; hospes.com; delightful boutique; contemporary.
●Hotel Melia Alicante – 3 Plaza del Puerto; 011-34-965-205-000; melia.com; large, well-equipped property near beach and close to restaurants.
●SHA Wellness Clinic – 5 Verderol; 011-34-96-681-1199; shawellnessclinic.com; strikingly beautiful setting.

Restaurants
●L’Escaleta – 205 Pujada Estacio Nord (Cocentaina); 011-34-965-592-100; lescaleta.com; contemporary restaurant with world-class wine list.
●El Monastrell – 7 Calle de Rafael Altamira (at Hospes Amerigo); 011-34-965-146-575; monastrell.com; Alicante’s high cuisine seat; for aficionados; Catalan and Mediterranean dishes; local, organic produce; Iberian ham from acorn-fed pigs, saffron, and lemon oysters with cucumber and red tuna with lemongrass soup and rocket sprout are typical of the menu.
●Nou Manolin – 3 Calle Villegas; 011-34-965-200-368; noumanolin.com; institution; regional cooking based on best local ingredients.
●Paco Gandia – 2 Calle San Francisco (Pinoso); 011-34-965-478-023; pacogandia.com; try rice with rabbit and snails or gaspatxos (stews).
●La Taberna del Gourmet – 10 Calle San Fernando; 011-34-965-204-233; latabernadelgourmet.com; considered among Spain’s best tapas restaurant; friendly and lively.



BENISSA
Restaurants
●Casa Canto – 237 Avenida Pais Valencia; 011-34-965-730-629; casacanto.com; hour’s drive up coast from Alicante; handsome place with great view and varied menu; strong on regional cuisine; try octopus puchero (2-course meal, starts with soup and then cooked octopus).



BOCAIRENT
Hotels
●Hotel Ferrero – Carretera Ontinyent-Villena, km 16; 011-34-962-355-175; hotelferrero.com.

Restaurants
●Restaurant at Hotel Ferrero – Carretera Ontinyent-Villena, km 16 (at Hotel Ferrero); 011-34-962-355-175; hotelferrero.com.



DENIA
Restaurants
●Quique Dacosta – 1 Carrer Rascassa; 011-34-965-784-179; quiquedacosta.es; try “Oyster Guggenheim Bilbao” (single oyster, draped in edible titanium-silver alloy film to mimic museum) or “Animated Forest.”
●Restaurante Miguel Juan – 39 Calle Loreto (Denia); 011-34-628-948-232; 1929 vintage, urban tavern; traditional local food with emphasis on seafood.



PETRER
Restaurants
●La Sirena – 14 Avenida Madrid; 011-34-965-371-718; lasirena.net; sophisticated seafood restaurant with lively tapas bar.



VALENCIA
Bakeries, Coffee, Ice Cream, Juice & Tea
●Horchateria El Siglo – 2 Plaza de Santa Catalina; 011-34-963-918-466; Valencia famous for drink called horchata (chufa (tiger nut) juice), dating from Islamic period (8^th-13^th Century); pair with café cortado and farton (fluffy pastry finger dusted with powdered sugar).

Bars & Nightclubs
●Bar los Picapiedra – 25 Calle de los Caballeros; bar-lospicapiedra.com; bohemians, miscellaneous walk-ins, and students guzzle cider out of large, spouted glass porrones, which look like watering cans.
●Café Negrito – 1 Plaza Negrito; 011-34-963-914-233; for after-dinner drinks.
●MYA – 5 Avenida Autopista del Saler; 011-34-963-319-745; umbracleterraza.com; domed club underneath landscaped walkway leading to Principe Filipe Science Museum; Studio-54-meets-Imperial-Spain-meets-Jersey-Shore; starts around 1:00 a.m.
●Slaughterhouse Books – 22 Denia (Russafa); 011-34-963-287-755; slaughterhouse.es; former butchery (still has meathooks); now combination bar, bookshop, gallery, and performance space.

Hotels
●Hospes Palau de la Mar – 14 Navarro Reverter; 011-34-963-162-884; hospes.es; design hotel built in adjoining 19^th Century mansions; melds arches, detailed woodwork, and marble stairs with 66 minimalist-chic rooms.
●Petit Palace Germanias – 14 Sueca; 011-34-963-513-638; petitpalacehotelgermanias.com; in 19^th Century residence; comfortable 41-room boutique hotel in Russafa neighborhood.

Restaurants
●Balansiya – 3 Paseo de las Facultades; 011-34-963-890-824; balansiya.com; out-of-way restaurant authentically recreating medieval, Moorish Valencia; exquisite décor; great prix fixe meals.
●Carosel – 6 Taula de Canvis (Barrio del Carmen); 011-34-961-132-873; restaurante-carosel.blogspot.com; chic but unpretentious restaurant; prix fixe menu is bargain; make sure to try assaffa (Andalusian pasta with chicken, cinnamon, and nuts), waraka inab (cereal-stuffed grape leaves in almond-mint vinaigrette), and xarab Andalusi (flower, fruit, herb, and spice drink).
●L’Estimat – 16 Paseo de Neptuno; 011-34-963-711-018; restaurantelestimat.com; best paella; make sure to try paella Valenciana (made with chicken and rabbit).
●Maipi – 1 Maestro Jose Serrano (Russafa); 011-34-963-735-709; small tapas restaurant; fills up in early afternoon; soccer fan favorite.
●La Pepica – 6 Paseo de Neptuno; 011-34-963-710-366; lapepica.com; best known paella restaurant; on shore.

Shopping
●Bugalu – 6 Calle de la Lonja; 011-34-963-918-449; madamebugalu.es; accessories and clothing by French, Spanish, and Swiss designers, as well as international labels like Paul Frank.
●Gnomo – 12 Denia (Russafa); 011-34-963-737-267; elblogdegnomo.blogspot.com; design boutique.
●Madame Bugalu y Su Caniche Asesino – 3 Danzas; 011-34-963-154-476; madamebugalu.es; accessories and clothing by French, Spanish, and Swiss designers, as well as international labels like Paul Frank.
●Slaughterhouse Books – 22 Denia (Russafa); 011-34-963-287-755; slaughterhouse.es; former butchery (still has meathooks); now combination bar, bookshop, gallery, and performance space.

Sights & Sites
●L’Almoina – Plaza de Decimo Junio Bruto (Barrio del Carmen); 011-34-962-084-173; valencia.es/almoina; museum focused on ancient Roman origins; visitors walk over glass floors through which can see ruins.
●Barrio del Carmen – city’s creative center and oldest part; check out Plaza del Tossal for bars and tapas restaurants.
●Cabanyal – decrepit seaside neighborhood; art nouveau buildings and huge, maritime tile murals.
●City of Arts & Sciences – Avenida Autopista del Saler; 011-34-902-100-031; cac.es; buildings’ billowing, curved facades resemble everything from whale skeletons to giant eye’s upper half (completed by reflection in pool); make sure to visit L’Oceanografic, Valencia’s marine complex; designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela.
●Jardin del Turia – Calle del Turia; culturia.org; former river bed wholly converted into gardens.
●Lonja de la Seda – Plaza del Mercado; 011-34-963-153-931; whc.unesco.org; 15^th Century, late Gothic, silk exchange.
●Mercado Central – 6 Plaza del Mercado (in Barrio del Carmen); mercadocentralvalencia.es; high-fashion party locale.
●Russafa – city’s Muslim immigrant community center; alternative hub for artists and students.