One of the most popular half-day tours on the Costa Blanca in Spain is a trip to Finestrat. A beautiful traditional Spanish village halfway up a mountain side, Finestrat is an interesting way to spend a few hours as not only do you get to see Finestrat village on a half-day trip, the tour also takes you to Finestrat beach. With half-day tours to Finestrat only costing 18 euros ($25) or less, they’re well worth doing if you want to see a little bit of Spain.
Where is Finestrat? – Finestrat is a small village up in the mountains just half an hour from Benidorm on the Costa Blanca. Why most people take half-day tours to Finestrat though is that it’s Spain’s only village that has a mountain location plus a beach miles below on the coast. Finestrat was given the beach by the Spanish government for its generations of work helping save that area of Spain from pirates. So nowadays, although the beach is a 20 minute drive from the village of Finestrat, with kilometers of land owned by other towns in between the two locations, it’s still part of the town of Finestrat and a wonderful place to visit.
What Will You See on a Half-Day Tour to Finestrat? – The half-day tour of Finestrat, Spain is split up into two distinct parts. You’ll be picked up from your hotel (or you’ll have to meet a bus somewhere) around 9am in the morning and then the tour will begin.
Finestrat, The Village (First Half of the Tour) – After a 20-30 minute bus ride, depending where you’re coming from, you’ll arrive in the lovely mountain village of Finestrat. At this point, your tour guide will have given you a rundown of the history of the area while you were on the bus, and will now take you on a walk through the old village of Finestrat, stopping at points along the way to explain more about the history of the village. The walk is just a 10 minute walk on gentle inclines to the church of Saint Bertomeu. Here, you can go inside the church, where you can take photographs and admire the beautiful architecture.
After this short stop, the tour will continue on going higher up the village to the famous lookout point ‘El Castell’. From here, you can see for miles down the mountainside, out across the valley, over the city of Benidorm and onto the Mediterranean ocean below. Walk around the park here, taking photos of the views as well as the pretty park and various sculptures.
At this point of the Finestrat village tour, most tour companies take you to a small cafe, where you’ll have a few minutes to order a cafe con leche or a cake and sit and watch the village life all around you. Saturdays are the best day to take this trip, as the village is less quiet, so you get a good idea of what typical Spanish village life is like.
La Cala de Finestrat, the Beach (Second Half of the Tour) – Most half-day tours to Finestrat end with a trip into La Cala de Finestrat area, the beach part of Finestrat. The tour bus will take you back down the mountain side and just a short 15 minute ride or so to the beach area of Finestrat.
Once in La Cala de Finestrat, the bus will park and you’ll be given an hour to an hour and a half to wander around the area. Take a short walk along the small bay and beach front, grab a coffee in one of the many beach side cafes (a wonderful place to just sit and watch the tourists walk by) or, if it’s Friday, don’t miss going to visit Finestrat market, just one block from the beach, as it’s one of the best and cheapest in the area.
If you prefer a little quieter setting, walk away from the cafe area to the right side of the beach and, from here, there’s a small path around the headland where you can enjoy some fresh sea air and take lovely photos of Benidorm and the surrounding Mediterranean area.
For around $20, the half-day tour to Finestrat is well worth it. You get to see a typical, traditional Spanish village, get a couple of coffees, a little bit of shopping, and some wonderful photographs and you’ll still be dropped off back at your hotel in time for a late lunch.
If you’re in the Costa Blanca area on a package tour, the half-day trip to Finestrat is often included. If not, ask one of the many local travel agents about a Finestrat tour. Most of them can book one themselves or can point you in the direction of an agent that can.