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Spains Beaches
Thu, 02/02/2012 - 00:22
So Im planning a solo trip to Spain this summer and was hoping to hit some beaches. Ive heard Spain has a lot of them. I was curious what the best beaches to visit as a solo backpacker would be.
Ive heard Ibiza is great, but really only good for groups of people. San Sebastian is supposedly nice but doesnt have to much going on, and the Andalucia Region in Southern Spain is supposedly pretty nice.
Im looking to swim, surf and do water sports during the day, and would like to go out and meet new people and have a good time at night.
Any help you guys got would go a long way. Thanks
I myself have not been to Spain yet, but I have found a list of the best Spain beaches, hope you can use it. Apparently Ibiza is not on the list, but maybe it is very crowded and they did not include the very popular/busy ones.
Though I am not sure which one is the best for a backpacker.
Looked to me like there was plenty going on in San Sebastian last month, I would think during high season it would be very busy indeed. We stayed here: Pension Bellas Artes San Sebastian was simply beautiful, but more expensive than some other coastal cities.
We saw lots of surfers in A Coruña on the Galician coast, there is even a statue of a surfer, and it is not as high end as San Sebastian, but you might not want to go that far west. Lots of water sports and nightlife were going on in Santander, which is about an hour or so west of San Sebastian.
Yes, Spain has a coastline.
….I was curious what the best beaches to visit as a solo backpacker would be.
Ive heard Ibiza is great, but really only good for groups of people. San Sebastian is supposedly nice but doesnt have to much going on, and the Andalucia Region in Southern Spain is supposedly pretty nice.
Im looking to swim, surf and do water sports during the day, and would like to go out and meet new people and have a good time at night.
On San Sebastián, I wouldn’t say that it “doesn’t have much going on”. It’s a southern Euro town, which means that there’s definitely something going on, even if it’s not crazy like Ibiza. Everyone will be out and about in the summer evenings, including children and old people, and I’ve founds lots of little bars in San Sebastián to be quite fun.
But I’ve spent most of my coastal-Spain time in the Valencia and Catalunya regions. Pretty much entire Med coast (Catalunya, Valencia, Murcia, Andalucía, and the Balaeric Islands) will be saturated in the summer with northern European sun-seekers. Whereas the Atlantic coast (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, País Vasco) is much quieter [but no less worthwhile].
Having said that, more tourists doesn’t necessarily mean “bad”. During the summer months, it’s pretty much a fact of life in most of Europe’s Med coast, and there’s still plenty of gems that are worth visiting. (And personally, I like coming across people from all over the world in Med Europe…it’s fun). IMO, the key is in finding places that have retained as much of their traditional character as possible, despite the onslought of mass tourism. Going back the the Catalan-Valencian coast, which I’m most familiar with…I would argue stay away from Benidorm, which is just a mass, concrete jungle teeming with drunk Britons. You can opt for Alicante instead, which is still very much Spanish, and take daytrips to nearby coastal towns like Calpe or Altea. And there’s similar places in Andalucía and Murcia. You can still very much get a feel for the country despite mass tourism, and if you ask me……there’s a reason why this summer is the most popular time of year. I prefer this time of year (summer) for Med Europe, despite the prices and the “crowds” which actually aren’t bad, as long as you avoid certain places.
As for meeting people…this can pretty much happen anywhere. Here and there (but not everywhere), you’ll come across other solo backpackers at your hostel, and even become friends.
beach-lunch-siesta-beach-shower-dinner-nightlife-repeat
Thanks all. I think San Sebastian is probably going to be the easiest, although I will probably have to make an exception and visit more. I heard that Spain is full of beautiful beaches. But, Im planning on doing Pamplona and San Sebastian is right there, and it sounds like from the comments, San Sebastian is a pretty nice area as it is. Thanks for all the help!