[Goldeneye]

Hi all,

1) We will not be looking for work.

Originally from the UK we have spent the past 20yrs living in BC Canada. We now want to return to Europe but not necessarily the UK....

Last year we did an amazing 6 week driving tour of Spain and Portugal which we combined our cultural/historical with searching for possible area to move to. We fell in love with Spain

This October we are doing the same with more emphasis this time on searching for a place that fits...


B & B'S ~ For this part of our journey we would like to stay in B&B's rather than hotels but seem to be falling short at finding any.. If you know of any could you please post a link here thanks..


We are planning on focusing our attention on the coastline Alicante - Denia with particular attention to Moraira.
If anyone has any ideas, thoughts or suggestions would you please share..

Without wishing to offend any readers here, but in order for all of you reading this to gain a better understanding of us so that you may be able to guide us as to areas....We are NOT looking for a ex-pat community that wants to spend it's days hanging out in bars drinking, smoking and watching the footie. We do want some sort of ex-pat community though where we can socialize, sure we don't mind a glass of beer or wine but not for it to be 'our life.' We want to go on nice walks, taste great food, draw, do photography, learn Spanish, perhaps play Tennis, be involved in cultural activities, perhaps even volunteer for a animal shelter.

Thanks for listening!

 

[xabiaxica]

Hi all,

1) We will not be looking for work.

Originally from the UK we have spent the past 20yrs living in BC Canada. We now want to return to Europe but not necessarily the UK....

Last year we did an amazing 6 week driving tour of Spain and Portugal which we combined our cultural/historical with searching for possible area to move to. We fell in love with Spain

This October we are doing the same with more emphasis this time on searching for a place that fits...


B & B'S ~ For this part of our journey we would like to stay in B&B's rather than hotels but seem to be falling short at finding any.. If you know of any could you please post a link here thanks..


We are planning on focusing our attention on the coastline Alicante - Denia with particular attention to Moraira.
If anyone has any ideas, thoughts or suggestions would you please share..

Without wishing to offend any readers here, but in order for all of you reading this to gain a better understanding of us so that you may be able to guide us as to areas....We are NOT looking for a ex-pat community that wants to spend it's days hanging out in bars drinking, smoking and watching the footie. We do want some sort of ex-pat community though where we can socialize, sure we don't mind a glass of beer or wine but not for it to be 'our life.' We want to go on nice walks, taste great food, draw, do photography, learn Spanish, perhaps play Tennis, be involved in cultural activities, perhaps even volunteer for a animal shelter.

Thanks for listening!

Hi

the way you want to spend your life is the way the majority of retirees & early retirees I know spend theirs

for somewhere to stay on your trip look at this Casas rurales en Alicante | Alojamientos rurales en Alicante | Turismo rural en Alicante

I googled casas rurales Denia - you could try putting different towns & see what comes up or try looking for hostales

 

[agua642]

If your not looking for ex pat lifestyle, then don't consider Moraire! as it had more English there then many other coastal towns. Denia is lovely it has everything and there are a few English too but not so many.

 

[djfwells]

The bottom line is that if you wish to avoid the 'expat lifestyle' but wish to be on the Costa Blanca, you really need to be looking at Towns and Villages away from the Coast line, and this rules out Moraira, Calpe, Javea, and to a lesser extent, Denia.
I live in a village called Lliber, about 20 mins, or 12km inland from Moraira, and whilst there is still a reasonable number of expats living here, we are all permanent residents living and working here (as opposed to second home owners or holidaymakers) and have such have taken a bigger effort to integrate into the community.
The problem here is finding where you wish to be on the curve of extremes. The more 'Spanish' a community you wish to find the more inland you will need to travel, which usually means further from things like Hospitals, Larger Towns, Supermarkets, Restaurants, Airports, Trains, Main roads etc...

 

[agua642]

Yes I agree the coastal resorts do have more numbers in expats, I got the impression the original thread were looking for coastal, Opps! Maybe I'm wrong,liber, Alcalali, jalon, Polop are all beautiful villages, and not to far from the coast! But they are inland. Denia however if you get just outside the town has very few expats and close to all amenities such as hospital! Med centers, shopping centers, indoor & outdoor markets, and a port. depends what you are wanting and your needs are. Happy hunting

 

[xabiaxica]

The bottom line is that if you wish to avoid the 'expat lifestyle' but wish to be on the Costa Blanca, you really need to be looking at Towns and Villages away from the Coast line, and this rules out Moraira, Calpe, Javea, and to a lesser extent, Denia.
I live in a village called Lliber, about 20 mins, or 12km inland from Moraira, and whilst there is still a reasonable number of expats living here, we are all permanent residents living and working here (as opposed to second home owners or holidaymakers) and have such have taken a bigger effort to integrate into the community.
The problem here is finding where you wish to be on the curve of extremes. The more 'Spanish' a community you wish to find the more inland you will need to travel, which usually means further from things like Hospitals, Larger Towns, Supermarkets, Restaurants, Airports, Trains, Main roads etc...

thing is - you can get the life they want

..We are NOT looking for a ex-pat community that wants to spend it's days hanging out in bars drinking, smoking and watching the footie. We do want some sort of ex-pat community though where we can socialize, sure we don't mind a glass of beer or wine but not for it to be 'our life.' We want to go on nice walks, taste great food, draw, do photography, learn Spanish, perhaps play Tennis, be involved in cultural activities, perhaps even volunteer for a animal shelter.

- even on the coast


the vast majority of brits I know in Jávea live exactly the life the OP wants - yes there are some that live the life he doesn't want - but they & the places they frequent are very easily avoided

have to say I love Lliber myself - but it's the thought that you need to drive to get anywhere that makes me glad we chose Jávea - there is very little I can't manage by either walking or cycling to it

 

[Goldeneye]

Thanks for your thoughtful posts, djfwells it's not that we want to 'avoid' the 'expat lifestyle' just certain styles of it. Sadly one we see all too often is many just hanging out around a smokey bar. (ok no smoke inside these days) yay!!
We're not looking to be isolated either and would welcome friendships with people, it's just hanging out around a expat bar isn't our thing where as drinking a ice cold cerveza or glass of vino in a Tapa's bar full or iberico jambon, now you're talking !!

We don't mind inland towns, anything that is 20 mins to the coast is great. In the mid 80's Hubbies M & D retired to Northern Tenerife living near La Orotava, Puerto de la Cruz was just a quick drive away. They lived there for around 18yrs returning to UK when their health started to get the better of them.
We know Tenerife really well and love Puerto de la Cruz but our passion is Travel we really want to be on the mainland so if we want to we can hop in the car and go off on a adventure!!

We were originally thinking we would base our search around Denia or Jávea but have been thinking perhaps Moraira would make a good base as it's in the middle of our main search area.

Thanks again for your postings, keep them coming :thumb:

 

[Guest]

Denia is well, dead right now...there are a few expats that I've seen but not really spoken to so I don't know that they live here or are visiting. What my family here tells me is that Denia goes from a sleepy little town of 40k+ to 200k+. We were just in Benidorme to check it out....wow what a difference in the number of people/expats. We did chat shortly with a nice couple from jersey island and had the worse sangria 'in the world' and then beat it back to Denia. Next trip here we will stay in Altea. I'd also like to check out Calp.

I can tell you that we loved Altea, especially the casa antiquo area.

 

[Goldeneye]

Denia is well, dead right now...there are a few expats that I've seen but not really spoken to so I don't know that they live here or are visiting. What my family here tells me is that Denia goes from a sleepy little town of 40k+ to 200k+. We were just in Benidorme to check it out....wow what a difference in the number of people/expats. We did chat shortly with a nice couple from jersey island and had the worse sangria 'in the world' and then beat it back to Denia. Next trip here we will stay in Altea. I'd also like to check out Calp.

I can tell you that we loved Altea, especially the casa antiquo area.

What we are looking for is a community where the expats treat the town as its home, rather than a seasonal 'fun in the sun' getaway.

We've found a nice B & B in Moraira in which to stay :clap2: We are undecided as to if we should float around a little rather than have one base, so we can get the night time feel of the other towns.. Any suggestions?

 

[djfwells]

Take your time, keep an open mind, explore a few different areas and enjoy yourself !

 

[Guest]

What we are looking for is a community where the expats treat the town as its home, rather than a seasonal 'fun in the sun' getaway.

We've found a nice B & B in Moraira in which to stay :clap2: We are undecided as to if we should float around a little rather than have one base, so we can get the night time feel of the other towns.. Any suggestions?

As we are only part-timers in Spain I'll defer to the more seasoned. We are leaving Denia a couple weeks sooner than originally planned for Seville. There is just not enough on the coast for us but we like city life.

Our favorite but it's a little cold for us right now is the Basque country specifically San Sebastian. If you would like a nice attico in Denia pm us and we can pass you on to the owners. It's a nice enough two bedroom with full kitchen etc. Our last trip to Spain we did the hotel thin for two months and missed our own cooking. Wishing you the best in your investigation.