Our trip to Peñíscola was super spontaneous and not planned at all but it turned out pretty good. In fact, I found that anything not planned turns out to be a lot better than when we spend hours and hours of planning.
We left our place in Valencia at about 11:00 and 1h30min later we arrived at our destination. The way there is not exactly great, mostly fields and empty space, very different than the landscape full of small Spanish towns in the Alicante direction.
 |
| View of the castle from the car |
The town itself has not a lot to offer (from the touristic point of view) except for a castle and the beach. Having said that though, it is probably one of the pretiest town I have ever been to. We parked our car beside the beach and the view we got of the castle on the coast was amazing (the picture doesn't show it's true beauty). It is a lot bigger than what I had initially expected and it is full of hotels, making it perfect for people who are looking to just relax in a nice, quiet enough place for a week or two. The way up to the castle has a particular charm to it. It mostly consists of small, very narrow streets and colored houses, typical of the Spanish rural scene. There are also a lot of cafés,
tapas bars,
vinotecas where you can eat and drink about anything you want, the only thing that somewhat surprised me was that the prices were the same as in Valencia and,sometimes, even higher.
(Note: According to Philippe and Anthea they have a pretty darn good
paella and I quote "This is the best
paella I ever had!". Can't confirm but I'm sure it's true)
Verdict: Definitely go visit Peñíscola, it might not be a typical tourist place but it has it's charm.
P.S.: We had live music in the car on the way home! ..(Good one too! Me falling asleep had nothing to do with the music)
 |
| Sign to the castle. |
 |
| View of the beach from the castle's gardens |
 |
| Peñíscola is full of these narrow streets |
 |
| Panoramic view from the castle. Beach on both sides |
