Calpe, famous winter resort
In 2025 we finally made it to Calpe, the famous cyclists winter resort. In 2024 we were closeby when we had a biking holiday in Alicante, however for regular day trips the Calpe region was just too far. This year we had a workation for 1,5 weeks in the Alicante region of which we stayed 7 days in Calpe. Once you hit the roads, while winter is still active in Belgium, you instantly realise why cyclists are coming to this region. It’s just so enjoyable to ride your bike with a blue sky on great roads while you know it’s cold and rainy in Belgium.
Coll de Rates
Coll de Rates is probably one of the most famous trainingclimbs of the world. It’s about 6,5 km long and isn’t too steep with it’s average incline of 5.5% when you start from Parcent. This side is more regular than the one from Bolulla. When we did our first attempt from Parcent, we spotted several profesional cyclists amongst one of them was Remco Evenepoel. The views are marvellous
Vall d'Ebo
This was one of the most beautiful rides of our trip. I do think that most people to it in the other direction, however, as we wanted to climb the Coll de Rates from the other side than we did earlier, we selected this direction. Just before you reach Parcent you will turn to the left. It doesn’t necessarily look impressive, but shortly after you leave Benigembla and turn right, you are heading towards Vall d’Ebo and this part is really impressive. The roads are more narrow, you can see the rocks and mountains and it’s enjoying the scenery. When you descend to the start of the VAll d’Ebo climb be carefull as there are some nasty turns in the road, so make sure to stay concentrated. Make sure to take few moments just before you reach the top of the Vall d’Ebo climb as the view is really nice. What follows is a very long descend with plenty of twists. We really enjoyed that one. As this is such a long climb it makes that according to us most people ride in the opposite direction. That will be something for next time, I can only say we really enjoyed the downhill.
Old city town: a must visit
I can imagine that many cyclists focus on cycling, recovering, have great food, sleep and repeat that day after day. I can strongly recommend to do a city hike which started from our appartment region to the old city and back. There are narrow streets, small town squares, special buildings, magnificient views and many art works painted on the buildings.
Enjoying art
Since recent years you find them in most cities, the big letters representing the name of the city. Often they are in nice locations and the one in Calpe are placed in a perfect spot. You have the beach, the ocean, 3 palm trees and then the famous Peñón de Ifach of Calpe in the background. The promenade is a nice hike in the evening as you can enjoy a sea breeze and decide to take an icecream or select a restaurant.
During one of our rides we crosse Senija and there you have a very beautifull artwork of a cyclist which is on the house and the wall in front of it. When you are in the perfect spot, the painting is complete. We really enjoyed that one. You have several more in the old town of Calpe on the houses.
Take care of yourself
When biking day after day you might take the time to have a massage to let take care of your muscles. During our stay we visited Nassi Massage. She is a great massage therapist which prepared ourselves for the next day on our bike. Sometime I took the sport massage, but sometimes I cheated a bit and asked half hour sports massage with half an hour relaxation massage. After all we are not professionals but amanteur travelling and a massage is a nice moment to enjoy life.
We visited several restaurants and had great food everyday. As you could expect the ones at the beach front are a little more expensive that the ones in streets away from the beach front. I can strongly recommend La Mamma Rossa, a local pizzeria where service is friendly, food is served quickly, it’s tasteful and affordable and you get a homemade limoncello when you pay the bill which causes instant happiness.
