traveldk.com

This utterly charming mountain inn is run by a friendly British couple. Delicious local cuisine is accompanied by wine straight from the barrel. Also on offer are tailor-made walking, biking and activity holidays.

This sweet, tiny pensión right on the seafront in the old port of Xàbia offers no frills (except en suite bathrooms), but the location is perfect. Out of season, prices drop even further.

On the fringes of maze-like old Oliva, this pretty inn has five simple but stylish rooms. Breakfast is served at a long wooden table on the terrace. Two rooms are suitable for families, one is wheelchair-accessible.

This huge, jagged rock emerges dramatically from the sea and dominates the entire bay at Calp (Calpe). A protected Natural Park, it is home to over 300 species of flora. Connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, and impossibly sheer, for centuries it was the perfect hideout for pirates. Now it provides the perfect challenge for rock-climbers and, thanks to a tunnel bored through the rock early in the last century, there’s also a less arduous (though still demanding) hiking route to the top.

A designated Natural Park, this extraordinary rock erupts spectacularly from the sea. The views from the summit are breathtaking.

The mirador at the summit of the Penyal d’Ifac (see Penyal d’Ifac (Peñon d’Ifach)) is the ultimate viewing point – but you’ll have to work to get there, as it’s a stiff and slippery 45-minute climb from the base.

A vast, sheer rock erupting from the turquoise sea, the Penyal d’Ifac is a startling sight. Once a virtually impregnable pirate lair, it is now a Natural Park with a magnificent walking trail that, if you have the stamina for it, will lead you right to the summit (see Penyal d’Ifac (Peñon d’Ifach)).

The name says it all. This typical little tavern serves great Murcian specialities, with first-rate local cured sausages and hams.

This local pheasant dish is cooked with beans, bay leaves and garlic.

Precipitously balanced on a razor-thin cliff, this castle was built by the Arabs.