What are the best towns to discover close to Murcia?

This articles talks about some towns close to Murcia that you can visit in a day or two, or more. I will only talk about towns in this article, not villages. Obviously, it is possible to go to all the coastal villages close to Murica but I have already written a post about that (beaches of Murcia). Here is the link.

Alicante

Alicante is a nice city, around 70 kilometers from Murcia, that you can visit in just one day. If you want to go to the beach, you could spend longer in Alicante and make sure you've seen everything there. There are also museums you can see, but not many of them.

To get there, it couldn't be simpler, you just take the bus with the company Alsa. The ticket costs around 8. 50 euros for a return. There are buses every two hours.

Once you are there, there are plenty of things to do:

• You can walk alongside the sea (there is a promenade with lots of little souvenir shop)
• See the port
• There is a commercial centre with a cinema incase it happens to rain, which actually happened to me!
• Visit the castle
• Wander around the old town
• Take the tram to go to the quieter beaches

To get to the castle, you can choose to take the lift or you can walk up to it. You can find the lift opposite the beach, at the end of the promenade. It's free. To get to it, you have to walk a few meters through a tunnel built into the rock. From the top, there is a really beautiful view. Avoid doing it during the afternoons of really hot days because it is a lot warmer at the top than on the beach.

In the old town, there are lots of churches. The streets are pretty, the buildings are beautifully built. There are also lots of nice restaurants with good food and for a good price (best to sit on the promenade alongside the sea).

Elche

Elche has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. It is an old medieval town and also the town that has the most palm trees in Europe. This is also a town which you can visit in just one day.

To get there, you can take a bus with the company Alsa. The ticket should cost a little bit less than the ticket to Alicante because the town is between Murcia and Alicante.

Once you're there, you can visit:

• An old castle fort
• A garden full of palm trees, flowers, exotic trees...
• A basilica
• The Arabic baths
• The tower
• An archaeological museum etc.

The castle fort dates back to the Moors era. It is possible to visit it and it really is worth it, it's great. However the hours aren't really adapted to tourists so if you arrive late morning, it is closed during the siesta period, all museums are closed then actually (well at least when I was there they were). As a reminder, they are closed between 14:00 and 17:00. The castle has since been remodelled during the Middle Ages. The archaeological museum is just next to it.

You can visit the Arabic baths just the same. They were restored not so long ago. There are different sounds and lights on site. It is small, but nice, especially since the museums aren't really expensive in general.

The basilica isn't as old as it only dates back to the 18th century.

Finally you can visit (and I recommend it) the Priest's Garden, called Jardín Huerto del Cura in Spanish. I advise you to rent the audio-guide which allows you to appreciate the scenery, and learn about the trees there, through stories and legends of Latin names which I have since forgotten. There are some really old palm trees and exotic flowers. It is amazing! The garden dates back to the 19th century.

Caravaca de la Cruz

Caravaca is an hour from Murcia. You can get there via bus. It is a city famous for its Holiness. They celebrate lots of religious events there. The historic monument which is important to visit is the sanctuary and its museum. The town itself isn't fantastic, you can walk around it quickly.

A long afternoon is enough time to visit it.

Lorca

Lorca is a small town close to Murcia (around an hour). There are not many things to see apart from the castle. I recommend that you stop there on you're way to somewhere further away, to Grenada or Malaga for example, because it is on the way.

Cartagena

Cartagena is a pretty town and I would recommend spending a day there. You can also go to the beach but I am not sure how to access it from the town because I have never been its beach, I was just happy to visit the town centre.

It's simple to get there, you take the bus with the company Lycar. Be careful, the hours of the buses on the internet aren't always accurate, the best is to phone the company to make sure. Cartagena is a little over an hour from Murcia.

Once you are there, you can visit the bath ruins/roman villas and the amphitheatre (I recommend visiting this more than the ruins). The amphitheatre museum is really nice, there is a whole section about the history of the town and the conquests it has experienced. Personally, I bought a pass that allowed me to visit nearly all the museums in the city. It was worth twenty euros of visits. But the ruins of Roman villas were a little disappointing.

On the other hand, I would recommend taking the small boat ride from the port. It wasn't expensive (five euros if I remember correctly) and it lasts around thirty-forty five minutes. It is quite nice and what they tell you about Cartagena during the ride is interesting.

You can also take a lift up to a castle that overlooks the city. The view is pretty and it is also worth paying to visit it. You can equally walk up it too.

Apart from the museums, the buildings are beautiful and some of them are in the process of being restored (well, that was the case a few months ago so I suppose it is still the same).

Food wise, beware of restaurants in the main square, I suppose not always terrible, but personally I was disappointed.

With that, have a good trip!