Private transfer from Alicante Airport to Guardamar del Segura

The pine forest on the dunes was planted more than a century ago. At the end of the 19th century the sand was advancing on vegetable plots and houses, and the dunes moved up to eight metres a year. In 1897 a project to hold back the dunes was approved, and the work was led by the forestry engineer Francisco Mira y Botella. From 1900 to the 1930s more than 600,000 pines, palms and eucalyptus trees were planted on the sand. Today the forest covers 800 hectares, and a 6.5 km circular trail runs through the Alfonso XIII park. Every year on 31 January local people and schoolchildren plant new trees here for the Tree Festival, first held in 1904.

A 10th-century Islamic rábita among the dunes. The rábita stands in the Alfonso XIII park, a kilometre from the mouth of the Segura. In 1897, while the forest was being planted, Francisco Mira found a slab here with an Arabic inscription saying that the mosque was completed in 944. Systematic excavations only began in December 1984. The dig has uncovered 23 prayer cells, a mosque and two streets between the buildings. Next to it lie the excavations of the Phoenician port town of La Fonteta, which existed from the 8th to the 6th century BC.

The "Memoria de Arena" tour, from the castle to the excavations. The group meets at Guardamar castle, walks through the Alfonso XIII park and finishes at the rábita and La Fonteta. The route is about 1.5 km long and takes roughly two hours. A ticket costs €5, or €4 for young people aged 8 to 18, students under 25 and pensioners. Children under 8 go free. Tickets are sold on weekdays at the Casa de Cultura and online.

The town was rebuilt after the earthquakes of 1829. Old Guardamar stood on a hill inside the walls of the fortress, and the Christian town was founded here in 1271. The 1829 earthquakes almost completely destroyed both the fortress and the town, and the townspeople used the stones to build the new Guardamar where it stands today. The ethnographic room of the Archaeological Museum, at Calle Colón 60, tells the story of the new street plan and the planting of the forest. The museum also has a copy of the Lady of Guardamar: this Iberian bust from the 4th century BC was found in 1987 at the Cabezo Lucero excavations.

11 km of beaches and five Blue Flags. North of the mouth of the Segura lies Els Tossals, a wild nudist beach 1,661 m long. South of the river, seven beaches stretch for almost 9 km, from Els Vivers to Les Ortigues. The 427 m Centre beach in town runs along a promenade lined with restaurants, and La Roqueta beach has access points for people with reduced mobility. Blue Flags currently fly over six beaches: El Camp and Les Ortigues share one flag. In August the water warms up to 26 °C on average, and in winter it rarely drops below 18 °C, so you will see people swimming here even out of season.

Prawns and ñora peppers at the food week in June. In the first half of June Guardamar's restaurants hold the Setmana Gastronòmica de la Nyora i el Llagostí, every year since 2005. That week the chefs cook dishes with local langoustine prawns and dried ñora peppers, which are used here to flavour rice. At the Marina de las Dunas port at the mouth of the Segura, 2 km from the centre, there is an open fish auction, where anyone can buy fresh fish and prawns. At the river mouth itself, known locally as La Gola, birdwatchers look out for waterfowl and migrating species.