The best things to see and do in Alcoy (Alicante) in 1 day

Whenever I think of Alicante Its Mediterranean climate with warm temperatures all year round comes to mind.

But Alicante Not everything is sun and beach, but also inland lands that we have wanted to know, and what better than visit the city of Alcoy, town surrounded by natural parks.

Located 54 kilometers from Alicante and 105 from Valencia, Alcoy It is a town loaded with medieval heritage y modernist, which had great importance during the industrial revolution and the Civil War Spanish.

Known as the city of bridges, currently from a tourist point of view stands out for its two renowned parties loaded with traditions.

On the one hand. his famous Moors and Christians festivities in which the era of the Reconquest of the peninsula, and on the other, its parades of the Cavalcade of the Magi In Christmas.

Precisely they have been Christmas parties those that have led us to get to know Alcoy, where we could not miss the opportunity to discover its other attractions.

What to see and do when visiting Alcoy

I detail below What corners you can see on your visit to Alcoy.

Explora Museum in Alcoy

A great success we had on our trip was visit the Explora museum as soon as you arrive, which is not located in the very center of the city, but on the outskirts of the wall that surrounds it, right on the riverbed.

It was very useful for us to get a fairly exact idea of ​​what the city ​​of Alcoy.

It is something similar to what would be a visitors Center, and it is a perfect starting point that did not allow us to better understand everything that we later saw in the walk through Alcoy.

At Explora Museum of Alcoy All the periods that this area of ​​Alicante has experienced are reviewed, from its origins to the present.

The exhibition is structured into several themes such as history, industry, modernism, city and traditions; Don't miss the 360-degree map, which we thought was great.

By clicking on the buttons for each of the visitable sites, a white light marks where they are located on the map to help you locate all the enclaves within the municipality.

Font Roja Natural Park in Alcoy

Alcoy It has practically 70 percent of the municipality's surface area classified as parque natural, specifically, two parks, the Font Roja, which takes its name from the color of the earth and through which we walked during our visit, and the Sierra of Mariola.

La Font Roja It is one of the three most visited natural parks in the entire region. Valencian Community, Together with the Albufera of Valencia and Rock of Ifach in Calpe, and specifically by schools that come to carry out various activities.

In the days when it was not customary to go to the beach during the summer holidays, people went up to the mountains to spend their holidays in a cool temperature.

Hence the great importance that the natural parks.

La Font Roja, specifically, has a very important peculiarity such as that, within the Network of Protected Natural Spaces, Which are 22 natural parks, is the only representative of the Mediterranean forest, in addition to being one of the few mixed forests left.

It is a small forest with many species of fauna and flora, some of them absolutely unique.

But what we did not know and what we were able to discover there is that the Park of Font Roja It is a very important enclave to see the historical customs of the inhabitants of the area through the centuries.

It has several examples of the use of the forest as it was done in other times, such as the remains of snow pits to make ice, which practically no longer remain, or old coal pits.

Hermitage of the Virgin of the Lilies in Alcoy

In the visitor area there is the Center Font Roja Natura, which was once a splendid hotel, and is currently an exhibition and conference center.

Next to the center is the Hermitage of the Virgin of the Lilies, co-patron of Alcoy, where every third Sunday in September people come in a pilgrimage for their veneration.

Do not stop visit the viewpoint which you can find going up from the parking lot, just one kilometer, from where you can see the entire Sierra of Mariola and from where we get one of the best panoramic views of the entire area. You will not regret.

If you have time and want to enjoy nature, you can follow one of the established routes along its trails to get to know the forest in depth.

You can collect specific information about the routes within the aforementioned Font Roja Natura center.

Museums of the Alcoy Festivals

If there are two important events in the city, they are its famous and traditional festivals attended by thousands of people from across the community.

With the Festival of the Moors and Christians the battles that occurred during the Reconquest in the Middle Ages.

In the Town Hall Square They place a castle that serves as a stage for the reenactments of the battles, and on different days the conquest of the Muslims is dramatized, and the next day, the reconquest of the Christians.

These are days full of parades where the people of Alcoya dress in period clothing from the different sides.

The other event that arouses great interest is the parades on the days of the Magic kings's horse riding.

They are two days where the illusion of Christmas is experienced like nowhere else since it is about the oldest parade in Spain.

We were lucky enough to be able to experience it, and here we tell you everything you need to know about this exciting Christmas party in Alcoy.

Based on these two events, two have been created in the city museums that are almost together, one dedicated to each festival, which are interesting to visit if you getaway to Alcoy It does not coincide with any of these popular holidays.

In museums you will find, for example, costumes donated by parade participants, as well as explanatory videos of all the events that take place in the city during those days.

Historic Center and Wall of Alcoy

When we talk about Alcoy It must be remembered that the city is declared Historic Artistic Set with several assets of cultural interest.

The founding charter of the City of Alcoy It dates back to 1256 in the middle of the medieval period, and already in the XNUMXth century it was surrounded by a Wall of which several sections have been recovered.

Thus, from the wall we were able to see the Na Valora and Naixa towers and portals of Riquer and Sant Roc.

El historic helmet It is heir to the urban planning of the second half of the 19th century, where you can perfectly see the influence of the modernist architecture of Catalonia.

La Spain Square It is the nerve center of the city from where you can visit most of the interesting points.

La church of San Mauro and San Francisco, Place de Dins and  Llotja de San Jordi These are the points that you should visit along with the aforementioned Spain Square.

Industrial Circle of Alcoy

One of the essential streets to see is St. Nicholas, which part of the Spain Square and where the building is located Industrial Circle.

This center is a perfect enclave to understand life during the industrial revolution in Alcoy, where the separation of classes between workers and industrialists is expressed in the architecture and the spaces used for each class.

Don't forget to look at the forges of the balconies of modernist houses, Ya que Alcoy It had great importance in the metallurgy industry and is perfectly reflected there.

If you go up the Sant Nicolau street, don't forget to stop to visit the Tirisiti square, historical character of the city and of Christmas in Alcoy.

Civil War Shelter in Alcoy

Due to the great industrial importance that the city had, during the Civil War All factories had to be converted.

Thus, textile companies began to produce military suits and metallurgy companies began to manufacture weapons, as was the case with grenades.

This made Alcoy became a target of bombing, which forced the city to build numerous shelters to protect the population near important centers.

Almost the entire center and the factory and school areas are full of shelters, and as a curiosity, they told us that the war shelters They built them with an “L” shape at their entrance to avoid the effects of the shock wave of the bombs.

When the war ended, all the shelters were closed and abandoned, which has favored their conservation, and currently one of them has been opened for visitors, and a second shelter is being recovered.

At Alcoy Refuge Museum You will be able to see, among many objects from the conflict, a very interesting audiovisual that shows interviews with inhabitants of the city who lived inside the shelters.

La Sarga in Alcoy

The Twill is a neolithic settlement where the first remains of civilizations in the area have been found, which date back to about 40.000 years ago.

You can also see some prehistoric cave paintings declared Heritage, and remains of Iberian writing have also been found in a rocky area, which have not yet been deciphered.

Alcoy Municipal Cemetery

Lately there is a European trend in visits to cities which is to visit the cemeteries that show something special and, in fact, there is the European Cemetery Route from which Alcoy has been part since 2012.

Although cemeteries are not one of my favorite places when I visit a city, in this case I was surprised.

This Municipal cemetery It is a great space to see the social representation where the upper classes had impressive modernist tombstones.

La exempt pantheons area It is the one with the greatest artistic richness and variety, authentic micro-architectures where we were told that artists had considerable creative freedom.

The consequence is that now walking the cemetery paths has become a walk through the different architectural styles that have prevailed in the city, since the eclecticismUntil the art decó and rationalism.

Where to sleep in Alcoy

As a last piece of advice based on my Alcoy visit experience, I recommend staying in some central accommodation close to the Spain Square, since it will give you the possibility of easily moving around the city on foot without even having to use public transportation.

We stayed in the cozy Savoy Hostel which is located just two minutes from the aforementioned Spain Square, which allowed us to return to lunch, dinner or gain strength whenever we needed it.

Si vas a visit Alcoy coinciding with one of the important festivals, it is necessary to book well in advance as the city fills up and you may be forced to look for accommodation in one of the neighboring towns.

Map: how to get to Alcoy

Alcoy It is located 60 kilometers from Alicante, en route north along an inland road.