During four months last winter, (November to March) “Karmavan” turned into “Karmalicante.” For my 2024/2025 winter migration I decided to settle with my van in the beautiful Spanish and mediterranean city of Alicante. The place has many advantages for Vanlifers. Let me share them with you:
Mild winters: Alicante in winter offers temperatures with daytime highs around 15-18°C and nighttime lows of 5-10°C. It’s mostly sunny, with occasional rain. Its coastal location keeps it warm, making it a great winter getaway. During my stay, I only turned on my heater five times. Even if I awoke a bit cold early in the morning, the temperature inside my van quickly rose with the sun.
Parking, driving and mobility: Alicante is a city very easy to access and to drive in, even with a van. No traffic-jams and plenty of huge and empty lots where cars, vans and camping cars can park for free. As in every city, I avoided driving downtown. Alicante’s city center is small and one can easily reach it with a 15/20 min walk from parking.
Swimming pools: Everywhere I go, I look for swimming pools. Here’s why. There are three public swimming pools in Alicante. The entrance is inexpensive and the opening hours are very convenient (almost everyday from 8am to 10pm).
Los Arenales del Sol: my favorite place to escape on weekends. It’s a coastal neighborhood, part of Elche, at about 20 km south of Alicante. There it was easy to park near the seashore and enjoy very pretty sunrises and sunsets directly from my van’s side window.
Besides Vanlife, Alicante has many other things I like :
Nature: from its beautiful boardwalks to its dry mountains, mother nature was generous with Alicante. If everything turns rather desertic as soon as you reach the outskirts and head inland, the vegetation in the city is luxurious and impressive : huge Ficus Macrophylla, elegant Araucaria trees (my favorite) and many many cactus and palm trees of all kinds. Alicante has a beautiful “Palmeral” but the most impressive one is the Palmeral of Elche (25 km south).
Food: Turrón de Alicante y arroz a banda for the classics! But my favorite specialty is the coca de mollitas. This salty crumble of flour and olive oil over a crunchy dough is sold in every bakery for less than 2€. For those with a sweet-tooth, there is a version with chocolate. Nice balance of sweet and salt. But I prefer the original plain one. If you want to be very very traditional : enjoy your coca de mollitas drinking horchata : a milky beverage made out of chufa.
Fruits: I never ate as many oranges and persimmons in four months. There are two types of persimmon, one that is eaten like an apple and another one, so soft that you need a spoon. It’s almost like jam. I also indulged in other tasty and local fruits like dates, pomegranates or avocado (because yes avocados are fruits and not vegetables).
Street markets: Especially the Mercadillo Teulada. My favorite place to make the best deals, observe local life and find local products at the best price. My tip: wait until the end and freely pick up from vendors’ leftovers. You would be surprised by how many good fruits and vegetables one can find “dumpster diving”.
Because there is no perfect place, here’s one thing I believe Alicante can improve on:
Libraries: I was a bit disappointed with the network of public libraries in Alicante. Most often old and small branches. Most of them close for lunch break, which makes it very inconvenient for remote work. And it’s not rare to arrive and find the place is “exceptionally closed”. The central library, while more modern, does not really raise the level up.
That’s the only downfall among all the good points… So the balance is clear : Alicante is the place to be in winter and especially with a van. Can’t wait for next winter!
isabelle garcia 