La Vida Buena

Benidorm.  I think you either love it or leave it.  We happen to love Benidorm.  My husband and I have both been coming here for years, though my husband for many years before me.  He came to Benidorm as a child with his parents from the Netherlands and kept coming back off and on over the past 50 years.  He watched the city grow and expand and remembers things "the way they used to be" when he was a kid.    

I, on the other hand, made my first visit to Benidorm less than 10 years ago.  Being from the USA, my previous trips to Spain before that, were short city trips to the major cities of Barcelona and Madrid.  I never made it to the coastal areas at all until I came back with my husband for a holiday in 2006.  Immediately fell in love with Benidorm and the Costa Blanca area.  And since then, we've started coming back regularly, looking around for a small place to buy and last year, we found what we were looking for and decided to try living the good life in Spain during the winter months.  

We like the big city feeling and the constant buzz of activity in Benidorm. Yes, there are some areas we avoid.  Too many drunk Brits can get old real fast (for an American anyway )   But there are so many great restuarants and the beaches are wonderful.  Benidorm is a great location for us with easy access to other areas of Spain, which we hope to start exploring this winter.