Los Alcazares to La Manga by Boat

If you would like to visit La Manga strip during your stay in Los Alcazares and do not have a car then you can go by boat from May onwards.

Solaz Lines operate a service every Tuesday from Los Alcazares for 5 euros adult & 3 euros per child (each way).

The current timetable (May 09) is as follows:

Departures: Los Alcazares - 11:00 13:00 16:00
Departures: La Manga - 10:00 12:00 14:00 17:00

The up to date timetable can be downloaded from their site www.solazlines.com - click on Horarios.

Anyone for Tennis?

If you enjoy being active while you are on holiday how about a game of tennis. Our apartment is less than a 10 minute walk from the Club de Tenis in Los Alcazares. For just 4 euros an hour you can hire a court and enjoy a game with your friends and family. It is open from 9am to 10pm with a three hour break for siesta.

So why not bring your rackets and enjoy a match in the sun - strawberries and cream for afters are optional!

Don't start your holiday stressed....

Your holidays are usually the highlight of your year - when you look forward to some stress free time. For many the holiday starts once they have checked in at the airport, or at least when they've disembarked from the plane at their destination.

However with more people realising self catering accommodation is a great way to reduce holiday costs a new holiday stress is appearing. The 'lost on arrival' dilemma. Imagine picking up your hire car or jumping into a taxi, finding the street you are staying in, but then searching for a couple of hours in the hot sun, or even worse in the dark, for your apartment or villa. Stress levels rise, arguments break out, not a great start to your week or two of freedom.

With some rental properties you are sent the keys in the UK with a set of directions and left to your own devices. It sounds no big deal before your holiday, but on many holiday developments finding your rental property can be tricky; and that's if you can actually get into the development - what if the owner hasn't remembered to send you a key to the new security gates recently installed......

We quite often see lost looking people outside our apartment complex in Los Alcazares. Usually standing around hoping that some passer-by will help with their dilemma.

The easy way round this is to make sure that any apartment you book has a meet and greet service included. This may be a person booked by the owner to meet you, or it may be the owners themselves. That way you always have someone to contact if you are lost on the way to the apartment (even with the clearest instructions this happens) and once you arrive you have a friendly face to show you straight to the door. Even better that person will usually be able to give you some local advice about the area and show you the ins and outs of your accommodation. No worries about arriving to find the power off and the owner unobtainable!

We meet our renters at our penthouse apartment in Los Alcazares and we've found the service is always gratefully received. We provide a set of well tested directions in advance but if they have any problems finding El Divino we are on hand to show them the way. When they arrive at the main entrance we show them how to get to the apartment and explain the security system. We give a run down of how to use the various appliances, where the supermarket is and the quickest way to get to attractions such as the beach and local market.

It all makes for a stress free start to your holiday - isn't that what you and your family deserve?

Los Alcazares – No Need to Drive!

With the current economic climate people are reviewing how they can make their hard earned holiday money go further when booking their holiday accommodation in Spain. One way is to try and stay somewhere where car hire is not necessary.

Choosing holiday accommodation in Los Alcazares is a great choice if you want a holiday where you can walk, cycle or Our apartment on the El Divino complex in Los Alcazares is a good example. From the apartment it is a few hundred yards to the nearest supermarket. It’s one of the best in town with a wide selection of food and drink and a very popular fresh fish counter. If you are worried about carrying back anything heavy – for example a large quantity of water, just let us know in advance of your holiday and we will buy it on your behalf and pop it into the apartment before your arrival.

Local markets are always an interesting place to visit, not just for food but for gifts, trinkets and clothing. Los Alcazares market is on Tuesday mornings and again you can walk there easily. When you are over here ask us to show you on the map the quickest way to get there.

If you plan to go out and dine, then it is always pleasant if nobody has to drive.In Los Alcazares this is easy as there is a great choice of restaurants all accessible by foot. On either end of our apartment’s street you have an El Patio restaurant. These are Spanish restaurants that are very popular for both meat and fish. A short walk down to the square by the supermarket and you find Spanish, English, Thai, Mediterranean, German and Italian restaurants. For the completely Spanish experience a 15 – 20 min walk into the older end of town finds traditional Spanish restaurants that are always frequented by the locals.

Of course Los Alcazares is famous for being on the shores of the beautiful Mar Menor. This is the largest salt water lake in Europe, partially-separated from the Mediterranean by a strip of land called La Manga.

Los Alcazares beach is soft and sandy, regularly cleaned and with blue flag facilities. The Mar Menor has no dangerous currents or tides and is warm and shallow, an ideal place for all the family to enjoy swimming and snorkeling. From our apartment the beach is a very pleasant 7 – 10 minute walk. On the beach you will find plenty of beach bars (Chiringuitos) offering drinks, tapas and ice-creams.

If you’d like to explore more of Los Alcazares quickly, then hiring a bicycle is the ideal way to do this. The bicycle hire shop is close to the supermarket and offers a selection of bicycles to suit every family member. Los Alcazares is known for being an excellent place to cycle; it is very flat and has a number of dedicated cycle paths.

For holiday makers that like to see the city, you can catch buses from Los Alcazares into Murcia and Cartagena. Both are cities well worth visiting. Cartagena is the port of culture and besides having a lovely seafront it has numerous historical remains and museums to visit. There is an open top bus which will take you on a tour of the city and a boat which will take you out and around the port area.

Murcia is the region’s capital and is the location to head for if you are looking for superb boutiques and café culture.The exterior of Murcia cathedral is breathtaking and the interior is equally worth seeing. Buses regularly go to both cities from Los Alcazares – just ask us prior to your arrival to print out the latest bus timetable and at your meet and greet we will give directions to the bus stop.

One of the elements of a holiday which most people find irritating is a long airport transfer at their holiday destination. With Los Alcazares your journey from and to the airport is quick and simple – under 10 minutes from Murcia (San Javier) airport. Taxis are available at the airport or ask us to arrange an airport transfer for you.

With traffic in the UK increasing and a big part of the working day often spent on the road, why not enjoy a true holiday – no driving, no stress, just relaxation. Visit us in Los Alcazares soon.