Villajoyosa: the perfect Long Weekend on the Costa Blanca

A Town Built on Chocolate and the Sea

To understand why Villajoyosa charms couples the way it does, it helps to know what shaped it.

Hand in hand, loving the Old Town

For centuries this was a fishing town, plain and hardworking, its economy tied to the boats that went out from the harbour each morning.

Local legend has it that the fishermen’s houses along the seafront were painted in bold blues, ochres, pinks and greens so each family could pick out their own home from far out at sea — a story that’s impossible not to think of as you wander beneath them today, watching the colours ripple in the evening light.

Then there’s chocolate.

Villajoyosa has been making it since the early 1800s, when cocoa beans and sugar arrived through the port on trade routes from the Americas.

By the 1930s there were around thirty chocolate makers working out of the town; today it’s home to Chocolates Valor, Spain’s best-known chocolate brand, still headquartered here and still filling the air with the scent of roasting beans from its factory on the edge of town.

Villajoyosa doesn’t just have a sweet tooth — it’s one of the reasons Spain has one too.

Add in one of the most spectacular festivals on the entire Costa Blanca — the Moros y Cristianos, held every year in the last week of July, when more than thirty ships re-enact a sixteenth-century pirate raid on the beach at dawn — and you have a town with genuine substance behind its postcard looks.

The Battle at Sea, Moors and Christians

This isn’t a resort built for tourists. It’s a real Valencian town that happens to be extraordinarily easy to fall for.

The Old Town: La Vila’s Beating Heart

This is where a couples’ weekend in Villajoyosa earns its keep.

Climb up from the seafront into the Casco Antiguo and you’re in a genuine working Old Town — narrow, sun-bleached streets, laundry strung between balconies, and those famous fishermen’s houses in every shade from cobalt blue to burnt orange.

A varied palette of colours at almost every turn

It rewards slow, aimless wandering more than any checklist: get lost together on purpose.

Aim for the Gothic Church of the Assumption, perched above the old fishing quarter with sweeping views back over the rooftops and out to sea, and the remains of the town’s old defensive walls, built to withstand the very pirate raids the summer festival still commemorates.

Hanging Houses over the Amadorio riverbed

Playa Centro and The Port

Below the Old Town, Playa Centro is Villajoyosa’s main beach — a long, gently shelving stretch of sand backed by the seafront promenade and that unmistakable wall of colour.

A stunning view of the Fishermen’s Houses from The Med

It’s rarely crowded even in peak summer, and the sea stays shallow and calm for a good way out, ideal for a leisurely swim together before breakfast or a sunset dip before dinner.

The Centro area itself, uphill from the beach, is where daily life and holiday life meet: a proper Spanish market town going about its business, with tapas bars, chocolate cafés and boutique shopping tucked between the tourist-facing restaurants along the front. It’s this genuine, lived-in feel — rather than anything purpose-built — that gives Villajoyosa its edge over the bigger resorts nearby.

At one end of Playa Centro sits the port, and it’s worth a proper look rather than just a walk-past.

What stands today — a combined fishing harbour and marina — began as a refuge port for the town’s fishing fleet in the early twentieth century, with its breakwaters and jetties built in stages over the decades that followed; the works weren’t finally signed off until 1964.

Port & Marina combine for work and leisure

It’s still a genuine working port rather than a decorative one: more than 300 local families depend directly on the fishing industry here, from the boats themselves to the net-menders and the fish sellers at the lonja, where the day’s catch is auctioned most afternoons.

Time your visit for late afternoon and you can watch the boats come in and the auction get underway, with the colours of the Old Town rising behind the harbour wall as a backdrop — a proper slice of working Villajoyosa life, and a world away from the manicured marinas elsewhere on this coast.

Where to Stay for Two

For couples, Villajoyosa’s accommodation splits neatly into two moods: clifftop seclusion or Old Town immersion.

Here are three to consider.

Hotel Servigroup Montíboli

Villajoyosa’s most romantic address, hands down.

Built in 1968 in a distinctive Arab-Levantine style, this 5-star hotel sits on its own clifftop between two small coves a few minutes outside town, with sea-view balconies, two outdoor pools, a spa and the excellent Restaurante Emperador on site.

Pool with a View at the Montíboli

It’s the pick for a couple wanting to properly disconnect — private, quiet, and built almost entirely around the view.

Rosal by Seaward Suites

An adults-recommended boutique stay right in the Old Town, on the church square just steps from the colourful streets and the beach. Only ten cosy rooms, a fresh Mediterranean feel, and a spa a few metres from reception — ideal if you want to fall out of bed straight into the Casco Antiguo.

A warm welcome awaits at Rosal

Hotel Allon Mediterrània

A 4-star beachfront option directly on Playa Centro, with sea-view rooms, an outdoor pool and honeymoon suites available.

It puts you within easy walking distance of the promenade, the port and the Old Town, making it a solid middle-ground choice for couples who want beach and buzz without straying far from either.

Perfect location on the beachfront

Ask about sea-view rooms and spa access when booking any of the above; several build their whole offering around a couples’ escape, from candlelit dinners to spa treatments for two.

Where to Drink & Dine

Villajoyosa takes its seafood as seriously as its chocolate, and a long weekend here is as much about the table as the beach. Four restaurants worth booking, and two bars worth lingering in.

Restaurants

T-Class

A beachfront restaurant with sea views and a Mediterranean menu carrying subtle Asian touches — the tuna tataki is the dish regulars keep coming back for.

A little bit of class, we’re worth it!

Warm, personal service from an owner who remembers faces, and a relaxed enough setting for a long, lingering dinner as the sun goes down over the water.

D-Roca

A more contemporary find tucked into the Old Town near the church, with a striking dining room and terrace and a menu built for sharing: think oxtail brioche, lobster salad, gratinated king crab and salmon tartare.

Creative, a little theatrical, and consistently rated by locals as one of the best tables in town — a good choice if you want the Old Town setting with a kitchen that’s pushing the food a bit further than tradition alone.

Tucked away in the Old Town, D-Roca

Hogar del Pescador

A Villajoyosa institution since 1970, right beside the Club Náutico with sea views over the marina.

Still run with the same family warmth, still built entirely around the morning’s catch from the lonja, and carrying a Repsol Sol for its cooking — the choice for a couple who want a genuinely traditional, romantic seafood dinner with history behind it.

‘Fisherman’s Home’ Villajoyosa institution

Restaurante Argentino ILPI

An Argentinian steakhouse right on the seafront promenade, tucked among the colourful fishermen’s houses, and consistently rated one of the very bestplaces to eat in town.

Rare or Medium, we love ILPI

Big grills, empanadas and a relaxed, sociable atmosphere with the Mediterranean as a backdrop — the right choice if you fancy something different from the seafood-and-rice norm, without giving up the sea view.

Bars

Ca Barto

A small, unassuming tapas spot tucked into a quiet street in the Old Town, specialising in oysters, cava and homemade Spanish tapas.

Sit outside on a stool with a chilled glass of sherry and you’ll feel like a local within minutes.

The real La Vila Vibe in Ca Barto

Vinos Handeland Wine Bar

A small, unpretentious wine bar with a genuinely well-curated list and beautifully presented small plates — the kind of intimate spot built for two glasses and no particular plan for the evening.

Quality wine cellar with the option to buy and take a bottle back to your hotel room!

It’s all about the wine at Vinos Handeland

Things to Do Together in Villajoyosa

Dive two thousand years into history

Barely five minutes offshore lies the Bou Ferrer wreck, a 30-metre Roman merchant ship from the time of Emperor Nero and the largest Roman vessel currently being excavated anywhere in the Mediterranean — discovered, remarkably, by two local sports divers in 1999 (José Bou and Antoine Ferrer).

Qualified divers (minimum 25 logged dives) can book a guided dive to the wreck itself through local operators; everyone else can see its recovered amphorae, ingots and fish-sauce jars at Vilamuseu, the town’s archaeology museum, which tells the full story of the find before you’ve even got your fins on.

Genuinely one of the most unusual things a couple can do together on this entire coast.

Walk the Villajoyosa Coastal Path (La Colado de la Costa)

Starting at Playa del Torres on the edge of town, this quiet, undeveloped clifftop trail winds through pine woods and past a 16th-century watchtower towards secluded coves — including the beautiful Racó del Conill — on its way to Cala de Finestrat, the small cove beside Benidorm’s Poniente beach (not to be confused with the hill-top pueblo of Finestrat further inland), for a couple of hours of proper together-time with the Mediterranean below you.

Raco Conill, part of La Colada de la Costa walking route

Tour the town’s real chocolate story

Villajoyosa’s factory tours split into two genuinely different experiences, and it’s worth knowing which is which.

Valor’s is the big, polished version — a modern factory employing 300 people, with a proper museum attached, and well worth doing if you want the full history of the industry.

For something smaller and more personal, Chocolates Pérez runs its own tour of a family-run factory founded by Gaspar Pérez over 130 years ago, still making chocolate the traditional “stone-ground” way — the very first method used in the town — and locals consistently say it feels friendlier and more hands-on than the bigger Valor visit.

Do either, or both.

Separately, if you fancy the classic sit-down ritual of hot chocolate and churros rather than a tour, that’s Valor’s café on Avinguda del País Valencia you want — worth knowing, since it’s a different outing entirely from the factory visit.

Do as the locals do on a Sunday: la hora del vermut

Before lunch, find a table at one of the bars around the Centro and order a vermut — vermouth on ice with an olive and a twist of orange — alongside a small plate to pick at.

It’s a proper Spanish ritual, unhurried by design, and a lovely hour to share before the real business of Sunday lunch begins.

But Villajoyosa has its own, stranger relative of that tradition worth seeking out: the Nardo, a local cocktail invented in the 1950s at the historic Café El Mercantil (family-run since 1875), when a group of locals returning from a Celia Gámez show in Alicante mixed absinthe with iced coffee granizado to cool off — and named it after a song they’d been singing all night.

It’s since become the official drink of the Moros y Cristianos festival, knocked back by festeros getting dressed before the hours-long parades.

Vermouth and absinthe share the same essential, EU-mandated ingredient — wormwood — so sampling a Nardo alongside your Sunday vermut gives you both ends of this one curious botanical family, Villajoyosa-style.

Shopping and Markets

A must visit is Villajoyosa’s municipal market, on Carrer Canalejas in the town centre and voted the top municipal market in the whole of Alicante province — local produce, cheese, cured meats and fresh fish, perfect for building a picnic or just soaking up daily Valencian life.

And search out the independent boutiques and artisan craft shops, many dotted throughout the town as well as the odd little gem on the seafront promenade.

La Vila Bella, Playa Centro

Further Afield: By Tram, Bus or Car

Villajoyosa is also the perfect base for exploring beyond itself.

By tram, Line 1 puts Alicante’s old town, castle and seafront within easy reach in one direction, and Benidorm’s beaches and nightlife in the other — useful if one of you wants a livelier evening out.

By bus, connections run to Altea, a genuinely beautiful hilltop town with a blue-domed church and an artists’ quarter worth an afternoon of wandering hand in hand, and to Finestrat, gateway to Terra Mítica for a more adrenaline-fuelled day out.

Blue-domed beauty – Altea church at night

By car, the inland villages of the Marina Baixa open up properly — Guadalest, with its castle perched impossibly on a rocky outcrop above a turquoise reservoir, is the classic choice, and makes for one of the most photographed day trips on the entire Costa Blanca.

The Best Time to Go

Villajoyosa works as a couples’ escape almost any time of year, which is part of its appeal — you don’t need to time it around school holidays or peak season. May, June and September deliver the sweet spot: warm enough for the beach and long lazy lunches, quiet enough that you’ll get a table without booking, and the Old Town’s narrow streets stay pleasantly cool rather than sweltering.

If you want atmosphere over tranquillity, plan your trip around the Moros y Cristianos festival at the end of July — book well ahead, as the town fills up fast, but few experiences will give you a story to tell for years the way that dawn beach landing will.

Winter, meanwhile, is Villajoyosa’s best-kept secret: mild, sunny days, empty promenades, and the kind of unhurried romance that only comes from having a town almost to yourselves.

Getting There and Getting Around

Alicante-Elche Airport (ALC) is around 35–45 minutes from Villajoyosa, and every method of getting from one to the other is straightforward — no detour into Alicante city required.

By Shuttle or Private Transfer

For many UK holidaymakers, this is actually the most popular route of all — a pre-booked door-to-door transfer, arranged online before you fly. Shared shuttles and private cars both run from Alicante Airport to Villajoyosa via a multitude of operators, with a driver waiting at arrivals (no queuing for a taxi rank), your price fixed at the time of booking, and the option of a private car if you’d rather not share with other passengers.

It’s a good middle ground between the cost of the bus and the convenience of a taxi.

By Taxi

The simplest door-to-door option if you’d rather arrange it on arrival than book ahead, taking around 35–40 minutes and best booked in advance for a fixed fare, especially late at night.

See Alicante-Elche Airport’s official transport page for taxi and rank information.

By Hire Car

All the major car hire desks — Avis, Europcar, Centauro and others — operate from the arrivals hall; details and booking links are listed on Alicante-Elche Airport’s official site.

It’s around a 35-minute drive north along the AP-7, and worth considering if you want the freedom to explore further afield independently.

Once you’re settled in, getting around Villajoyosa itself needs nothing more than your own two feet — the Old Town, Centro and Playa Centro all sit within easy walking distance of one another.

The Getaway You Promised Each Other

Benidorm will always be the headline act of this stretch of coast, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But the getaway you’ve promised each other — the one with time to talk, to wander, to eat well without rushing — belongs somewhere with a slower pulse.

Villajoyosa gives you the sea, the sun and the seafood without the queues, plus two centuries of chocolate-making history and an Old Town built in colour precisely so it could be found.

Beyond Benidorm is exactly where you’ll find it.

For more on where to stay, drink and dine in Villajoyosa, see our full Villajoyosa Directory.