# Elche

The Elche Palmeral, a World Heritage Site, the Huerto del Cura, the Basilica of the Misteri and arroz con costra, 25 minutes from Alicante and 45 from Murcia.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/valencian-community/elche · Revisado: 2026-11-13

Elche has a forest inside it: the Palmeral, thousands of date palms planted in orchards irrigated by channels since Islamic times, which UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. Among the orchards lies the old town, with the Basilica of Santa María, where the Misteri is sung every August, and a wall tower that lost ten metres in an earthquake. It can all be seen on foot in a day. It is 25 minutes from Alicante and 45 from Murcia, and Sunday is its best day: several museums are free in the morning and lunch is arroz con costra.

## How do I get there and where do I park?

By car, on the motorway from Alicante, about 25 minutes, or from Murcia, about 45. Once in the city, leave the car in a car park in the centre and get around on foot: plaza del Parque, the basilica, the Calahorra and the Huerto del Cura are less than fifteen minutes' walk from each other. Alicante-Elche airport is within the municipal area and has an information point in arrivals. Start at the Tourist Info in plaza del Parque, which opens on Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00.

## What can you see in a day?

In the morning, the centre. The Municipal Park is the most central palm orchard and has free entry. Next to it, the Palacio de Altamira houses the city history museum, from the Iberians of La Alcudia to the present day, free on Sundays. Five minutes away, the Baroque Basilica of Santa María, built where the main mosque once stood; its tower, with 170 steps, costs €2 and is the best viewpoint over the rooftops and the palm tops. Next to it, the Torre de la Calahorra and the Arab Baths, also free on Sundays.

If you prefer to be told about it, the tourist office's guided tour leaves every Sunday at 11:30 from plaza del Parque: an hour and a half through the Municipal Park, the basilica, the old town and the Glorieta, for €5.

## Is the Huerto del Cura worth it?

Yes: it is the Palmeral turned into a garden. The Huerto del Cura has been a National Artistic Garden since 1943, with ponds, Mediterranean and tropical plants and the Imperial Palm, the most famous one. Admission costs €6.80, with discounts for children, students and seniors. From November to January it opens on Sundays from 10:00 to 15:00 and the rest of the week until 17:30. Opposite, the Palm Grove Museum, in a traditional orchard, explains how palms are pruned, climbed and blanched; it costs €1 and is free on Sundays.

## What is the Misteri d'Elx?

A sung sacred drama of medieval origin, about the death and assumption of the Virgin, performed inside the basilica. It was the first Spanish property declared by UNESCO a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, in 2001. The main performances are on 14 and 15 August, with free entry and queues of hours; the dress rehearsals, from 11 to 13, are paid. In even-numbered years there are extraordinary performances at the end of October: in 2026 they were on 30 and 31 October and 1 November. Outside those dates, the Museu del Misteri, on calle Major de la Vila, shows the festival and is free on Sundays. More in the Misteri entry.

## And outside the centre?

Elche's municipal area reaches the sea and two wetlands. To the south-west, in the El Hondo Natural Park, Avanzatour runs routes with an ornithologist guide among reeds and hides, in search of flamingos and white-headed ducks, from €78 with a picnic. On the coast, the Clot de Galvany has a free guided route on Sundays and public holidays at 10:00, with ponds, dunes and Civil War bunkers, and next to it Arenales del Sol beach, where Parres Watersports offers paddle surfing and kitesurfing all year.

In the countryside, south of the city, is La Alcudia, the site of Iberian and Roman Ilici where the Lady of Elche was found: €5, Tuesday to Sunday mornings. Nearby are the Puçol School Museum, the city's third World Heritage asset, and the family bodega Faelo, in Matola, with tours and tastings Monday to Saturday.

## Where do you eat on Sunday?

Elche's dish is arroz con costra: rice with meat and sausage, covered with egg and finished in the oven. To eat it, head out to the Camp d'Elx: the Restaurante Cachito, next to the Puçol museum, cooks rice dishes over vine-cutting fires and is open on Sundays until 18:00; it is closed on Tuesdays. In the Palmeral, Els Capellans, at the Hotel Huerto del Cura, is the table for a special meal, and La Taula, in the Jardín Milenio, offers market-garden and sea cooking. Book at all three.

## Where to sleep

Inside the Palmeral, the Hotel Huerto del Cura spreads its rooms in bungalows among palm trees, with a pool. A little further south, the Port Jardín Milenio has an outdoor pool and a restaurant, but does not accept pets. In the centre, the three-star Hotel Elche Centro is five minutes' walk from the basilica.

## When to go

From October to May, when it is pleasant to walk among palm trees. In summer, do your visit first thing and take refuge in the museums at midday. August is hot, but it also has the Misteri. Sunday is a good day to go, but note: the free municipal museums close at 14:00 or 15:00, so the morning is for the centre and the afternoon for lunch and a stroll through the Palmeral.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Tabarca Island (a 22.2 km), Villajoyosa (a 48.5 km), Bocairent (a 56.1 km), Ricote Valley and the Archena Spa (a 57.8 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Huerto del Cura garden and the Imperial Palm** (1 h · For everyone; flat paths · Desde 6.8 € per person): What it is
The Huerto del Cura is a palm orchard in the Elche Palm Grove turned into a garden: a National Artistic Garden since 1943 and a Site of Cultural Interest, within the area that UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. You stroll among date palms, ponds and Mediterranean and tropical plants as far as the Imperial Palm, the garden's most famous, with its arms growing from a single trunk.
Opening times and price
It is at Calle Porta de la Morera, 49. General admission costs €6.80; students and over-65s, €4.80; children aged 5 to 15, groups, people with disabilities, the unemployed and Elche residents, €3.80. From November to January it opens Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:30 and on Sundays from 10:00 to 15:00, according to the municipal timetable. The garden does not publish prices on its website: confirm on 965 451 936.
The visit
All tickets include an audio guide in several languages. You pay at the ticket office or online, with most cards, and sales and entry close 30 minutes before closing time. For reduced rates you must show proof of eligibility. If you plan to return, the garden sells an annual pass for €20 with unlimited visits. On 31 December it opens from 10:00 to 15:00 and on 1 January from 11:00 to 17:30.
The paths are gravel over earth and mostly accessible: almost all baby pushchairs and wheelchairs get through, and where there are steps or slopes an alternative route is offered. Dogs are allowed on a lead, there is bicycle parking, and smoking and swimwear are not allowed.
Getting there
City bus lines 1, 90, E and H reach the garden, and the Elche-Parque train station is on Avenida del Ferrocarril. There is a public car park on Calle Porta de la Morera. The garden warns of roadworks on its street that may cut traffic on some stretches, although access remains open: if you go by car, park nearby and call reception beforehand.
Two minutes away, on the same street, is the Palm Grove Museum, which explains the work of the palm growers.
- **Basilica of Santa María and the tower climb** (45 min · The tower, for those who climb stairs; under-5s free · Basilica free · tower €2): What it is
The basilica of Santa María was built in Baroque style where the main mosque of the Islamic city once stood. It is the setting of the Misteri d'Elx every August. You enter by the sacristy door, in Plaza de Santa María, free of charge, from 7:30 to 12:30 and from 17:30 to 20:30.
The tower
The bell tower is a viewpoint over the rooftops and the Palm Grove: 170 steps and five exhibition rooms on the way up. It costs €2, €1 up to age 10 and is free for under-5s. Because of works on the outside of the basilica it has special hours, from 10:00 to 12:00; information and bookings on 615 337 821.
History
After Jaume I conquered the city in 1265, the mosque remained standing until 1334. On its site a first church was built, probably Gothic, in which the Misteri may first have been performed. A second, larger church, finished in 1556, collapsed in very heavy rain in 1672. The first stone of the present church was laid on 2 July 1673 and the works were not finished until 1784, directed in turn by Francesc Verde, Pere Quintana, Ferrán Fouquet and, from 1758, Marcos Evangelio. Pope Pius XII raised it to the status of minor basilica in 1951.
What to look at
The plan is a Latin cross, with a large central nave and four chapels on each side. Above the crossing rises the dome, covered on the outside with blue tiles, which forms part of the stage for the Misteri d'Elx. Outside, look at the Assumption doorway, the work of the Strasbourg sculptor Nicolás de Bussi between 1680 and 1682 and one of the most beautiful of Valencian Baroque; the doorway of San Agatángelo is also his. Inside you can see the shift of styles, from decorative Baroque to pure Neoclassical.
Practical information
The basilica is at Plaza de Santa María, 2, and the adapted access is through the sacristy door. Parish phone: 965 451 540. As it is a working church, avoid Mass times if you are going to look round. The Calahorra Tower is a minute away.
- **Walk through the Municipal Park and the Palm Grove orchards** (1 h · For everyone; no problem with a pushchair · Free): What it is
The Elche Palm Grove is a set of date-palm orchards irrigated by channels since Islamic times, a World Heritage Site since 2000. The Municipal Park is the most central public orchard: free entry, next to the Tourist Info in Plaza del Parque and five minutes from the basilica. It is open from 7:00 to 21:00 from November to March, from 7:00 to 23:00 from April to October and until 23:45 in August. From here you can link up with the Altamira Palace and the orchards that border the Vinalopó riverbed.
What the park is like
It covers six hectares and brings together the orchards of El Colomer, Real, Mare de Déu and Baix. Most of it was bequeathed in 1661 by its owner, Nicolás Caro, to the Virgin of the Assumption, patron saint of Elche, who is still its owner; the City Council looks after it. It was the city's first public garden: it opened in 1946 with 20,000 square metres, and the Hort de Baix, the last addition, came in 1960. As well as date palms there are other palms, bougainvilleas, ficus, araucarias, magnolias, Elche poplars and even the rare African tulip tree.
Corners to look for
The Molí del Real is an 18th-century toll mill that worked with a drop from the Mayor irrigation channel; its façade facing the Vinalopó keeps arches and buttresses. The Visitor Centre, which people call "the egg" for its white, rounded shapes, is the only pavilion left from the regional exhibition with which the park opened in 1946. La Rotonda is an open-air amphitheatre, next to the bandstand from the 1980s. The Hort de Baix, with its staircase, becomes an open-air dance hall during the August festivities.
With children
The dovecote recalls the name of the El Colomer orchard, and feeding the pigeons is what the little ones like most. There are fountains and ponds, one of them with ducks and swans. In the centre of the park there is a café-restaurant with a terrace, and the tourist office is next to the south entrance, from where the guided tour of Elche leaves. On the way out, the Altamira Palace is opposite.
- **Palm Grove Museum at the Hort de Sant Plàcid** (45 min · For everyone · €1 · free on Sundays): What it is
The Palm Grove Museum occupies the Hort de Sant Plàcid, at Calle Porta de la Morera, 12, two minutes from the Huerto del Cura. It is a traditional orchard with its house, irrigation channel and palm trees, and tells the story of the palm growers' work: pruning, gathering dates and the white palm that is plaited for Palm Sunday. It costs €1, €0.50 reduced, and is free on Sundays. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00, and on Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00.
The house and the orchard
The City Council created the museum after UNESCO's 2000 declaration, in a traditional 19th-century house with two parts joined by a covered wooden bridge. The rooms explain, with videos, panels and objects, the history, uses and evolution of the Palm Grove, which with more than 200,000 palm trees is the largest in Europe. The visit continues through the orchard, with a re-creation of the traditional irrigation system of Andalusi origin. The Huerto de San Plácido is also the starting and finishing point of the Palm Grove Route.
Palm growers and white palm
From Tuesday to Friday mornings, with prior request, you can watch a palm grower at work in the orchard. In the adjoining workshop the plaiting of white palm is taught: the Municipal White Palm Crafts Workshop is open from 13 October 2026 to 16 April 2027, Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 13:00 (except Thursday) and from 17:00 to 18:00, and is closed at weekends, on public holidays and during school holidays. New craftspeople are trained there: the courses last seven months and the advanced level is reached in three years.
Tickets and contact
The reduced €0.50 ticket is for students, groups, Carnet Jove holders, pensioners and large families, and children under 6 go in free. It is closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January. The €8 museum pass is valid. Phone: 966 658 054.
Combine it with the Huerto del Cura, on the same street, or with the guided tour if you want the Palm Grove explained as a whole.
- **Altamira Palace and Archaeological Museum (MAHE)** (1 h 15 · For everyone · MAHE €3 · free on Sundays): What it is
The Altamira Palace is the castle-palace of the lords of the town, beside the Municipal Park; over the centuries it was also a textile factory and a prison. Inside is the Elche Archaeological and History Museum, the MAHE, which takes you through the city from the Iberians of La Alcudia to the present day. General admission costs €3 and Sunday is free. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00 and on Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 15:00. It is the best option if it rains.
History of the building
It is also called the Alcázar de la Señoría. It was the residence of the lords of Elche between the 15th and 19th centuries, and its keep housed James II, Peter IV and the Catholic Monarchs when they passed through the town. Three phases can be read in the building: the Islamic one, from the 11th to the 13th centuries, of which stretches of wall, a monumental gate and the ground floor of the tower remain; the great reform of the 15th and 16th centuries, after Gutierre de Cárdenas took possession of the lordship, which gave it its look of a Gothic manorial castle, and the two-storey Baroque house that the Count of Altamira added to the south façade in the 18th century.
Its rooms in the west wing were a prison, intermittently, from the 18th century until 1959. In 1915 an industrialist built a textile factory in the parade ground, which operated until the late 1960s. The City Council expropriated it and restored it in the 1970s for the former municipal archaeological museum.
The museum
The 2005 refurbishment brought to light remains of the original fortress, among them a high gate towards the river slope whose existence was not known. The palace was then integrated into the MAHE, opened in 2006 with the temporary return of the Lady of Elche. On the ground floor of the keep an exact copy of the Iberian bust, lent by the MARQ, is now on display. The parade ground sometimes hosts cultural events.
Opening times and address
It is at Calle Diagonal del Palau, 7, next to the Municipal Park. The Visitelche sheet gives opening Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00, while the municipal winter timetable says Tuesday to Saturday: if you go on a Monday, confirm beforehand on 966 658 203. It is closed on 25 December and 1 January.
- **Calahorra Tower** (30 min · For everyone · €2 · free on Sundays): What it is
La Calahorra is the largest tower left of Elche's wall, on Calle Uberna, a minute from the basilica. It was 25 metres tall and the 1829 earthquake took ten off. You can visit the inside: €2, €1 reduced, and free on Sundays. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00, and on Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00.
History
The tower was built in the late 12th or early 13th century, in the Almohad period, as part of the defences of the Islamic city. Together with another smaller watchtower opposite, it guarded the Lucentina gate, the most important of the Vila Murada, which opened onto the road to Alicante. Over the centuries its use changed: it was lodging for governors and an almudín, the lord's grain store; in the 15th and 16th centuries a manor house of two floors and a basement was added on the outside, and in the 19th century it became a middle-class residence. From that last stage come the neo-Moorish windows on the west side and the crenellated brick top. Today it stands about 15 metres tall.
What is inside
La Calahorra houses the permanent exhibition of the municipal art gallery, with works from the 17th to the 20th centuries: three paintings by Joaquín Sorolla and pictures by Ignacio Pinazo, Cecilio Pla and Muñoz Degrain, as well as Elche painters such as Pedro Ibarra or Vicente Albarranch. Some rooms keep early 20th-century frescoes with views of the city and neo-Moorish and neo-Gothic decoration.
The most curious thing is on the ground floor: the Egyptian-decorated room where the Masonic lodge founded in Elche in 1878 used to meet, painted by the scholar Pedro Ibarra. On the floor you can still see Masonic symbols and a trapdoor that led to the basement.
Tickets
The €1 reduced rate is for students, groups, Carnet Jove holders, pensioners and large families; children under 6 go in free. It is closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January; on 24 and 31 December it opens on public-holiday hours. The €8 museum pass is valid. It is a minute from the basilica of Santa María and two from the Arab Baths.
- **Arab Baths and Clarisas Cultural Centre** (30 min · For everyone · €1 · free on Sundays): What it is
Beneath the former Clarisas convent, at Passeig de les Eres de Santa Llúcia, 14, the baths of the Islamic city are preserved, with their vaulted rooms. It is a short visit to fit in between the Calahorra and the basilica. Free on Sundays, from 10:00 to 14:00; Tuesday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00.
History
The baths were built around 1150 and for centuries were a hidden treasure: from the 13th century they went through several transformations until ending up as a lumber room and store for the convent. They were restored and opened to the public in 1998. They are in the basement of the former convent of La Merced, which the City Council exchanged in 2007 with the Poor Clare nuns who lived there for a new monastery. They are almost entirely preserved and are among the few examples of Islamic public architecture left in the Valencian Community.
In the Muslim city there were other baths, but these must have been the most important, because they stood next to the main mosque and the main gate of the wall, the Lucentina. Travellers arriving would bathe here before praying and entering the walled enclosure.
What you see
You enter from Passeig de les Eres de Santa Llúcia. Inside you walk through the three rooms of the hammam, cold, warm and hot, side by side, separated by arches and columns and covered with barrel vaults with skylights. The panels explain the temperature circuit, inherited from the Roman baths, and the role of the bath as a place for hygiene, rest and gathering. Half an hour is enough.
Tickets
General admission costs €1 and the reduced rate €0.50, for students, groups, Carnet Jove holders, pensioners and large families. It is free on Sundays and for children under 6. It is closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January. The €8 museum pass gives access to all the municipal museums and is bought at any of them. Phone: 965 452 887.
Two minutes away are the Calahorra Tower and the Basilica of Santa María, so the three visits can be combined in a morning.
- **Guided tour of the Palm Grove and the centre of Elche** (1 h 30 · For everyone; free for under-6s · Desde 5 € per person): What it is
Elche's tourist office runs an hour-and-a-half guided tour that leaves from the Tourist Info in Plaza del Parque and passes through the Municipal Park, the basilica of Santa María, the old town and the Glorieta, telling the story of the Palm Grove, the Misteri and the history of the city. It costs €5; €3 for students, over-65s and groups of ten or more; free for under-6s. From late October to late March it leaves on Sundays at 11:30, from Monday to Thursday at 11:30 and on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays at 11:30 and 16:00. It is given in Spanish, Valencian and English.
What you are told
The route goes among palm orchards and along the monumental route, and helps you understand Elche's three World Heritage items: the Palm Grove, the Misteri d'Elx and the Puçol Educational and Museum Project. As well as the Municipal Park and the basilica of Santa María, it passes through the old town, the open-air shopping centre and the Glorieta. It is a good first plan if you arrive in Elche without knowing it: afterwards you can go back on your own to whatever interested you most.
Timetables in other seasons
From the clock change in late March until 30 June, and from 1 September until the clock change in late October, the tour leaves Sunday to Thursday at 11:30, and on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays at 11:30 and 17:00. The tourist office warns that there is not an afternoon tour on every public holiday: ask beforehand. On 1 January and 25 December there are no guided tours.
Tips
Wear comfortable shoes and bring water in the hot months: much of the walk is outdoors. If you are travelling with children under 6, they go free. Afterwards, the Huerto del Cura and the Palm Grove Museum are a few minutes' walk away.
- **Misteri d'Elx, the sung drama of the Assumption** (2 h 30 · For everyone; you need to arrive hours ahead · Free on 14 and 15 August; rehearsals and extraordinary performances ticketed): What it is
The Misteri d'Elx is a sung sacred drama of medieval origin that depicts the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin inside the basilica of Santa María. UNESCO declared it in 2001 a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, the first Spanish item to receive that recognition. It is performed in two parts: La Vespra on 14 August and La Festa on the 15th, with free entry; you need to arrive several hours early.
Tickets
The dress rehearsals on 11, 12 and 13 August are ticketed. Tickets are sold at the Casa de la Festa, at Calle Major de la Vila, 27, and through El Corte Inglés; the August ones go on sale in May. In even-numbered years there are extraordinary performances: in 2026 they were on 30 and 31 October and 1 November. The 2027 dates have not yet been published.
Origin and music
The Misteri was born in the second half of the 15th century. It survived the ban on performances inside churches that followed the Council of Trent thanks to a rescript from Pope Urban VIII in 1632, which allowed it to be performed at Santa María in perpetuity. Today it is the last living vestige of the medieval Assumption mystery plays of the old Crown of Aragon. The music mixes medieval, Renaissance and Baroque melodies, with monody and polyphony. It is sung by La Capella, a group of non-professional singers, with a boys' choir of treble voices for the roles of Mary and the angels.
August calendar

11 and 12 August, 22:30: dress rehearsal, ticketed.
13 August, 17:30: dress rehearsal, ticketed.
14 August, 18:00: La Vespra, free entry.
15 August, 10:00: procession of the burial of the Virgin through the streets.
15 August, 18:00: La Festa, free entry.

The Casa de la Festa ticket office is open Monday to Thursday from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00, and on Fridays from 10:00 to 13:00. If your dates do not coincide, the basilica of Santa María can be visited all year.
- **Guided Birdwatching Walk in El Hondo Natural Park** (3 h 30 · 6 km · For anyone who can walk 6 flat km; under-3s free · Desde 78 € per person): Two irrigation reservoirs, reeds as far as the eye can see and wooden hides beside the water. With a guide who knows where to look.
A wetland made by irrigators
El Hondo is not a natural lagoon. In the 1920s the Compañía de Riegos de Levante built two large reservoirs, Levante, of 450 hectares, and Poniente, of 650, to store the water it pumps from the mouth of the Segura and distribute it among farmers through a central canal. The reeds, pools and saltmarshes that grew around them attracted birds. Today it has been a natural park since 1994, shared between Elche and Crevillent, is on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance and is a special protection area for birds.
172 species have been recorded, about fifty of them breeding in the park. The two most sought after are the white-headed duck, a blue-billed duck, and the marbled teal: El Hondo holds important populations of both. Around them you will see herons, flamingos, avocets, waders and, on passage, migratory birds. Eels, mullet, carp and the fartet also live in the water.
The walk with Avanzatour
Avanzatour runs a birdwatching walk through the interior of the park. You meet the guide in the Visitor Centre car park, at Finca El Rincón, and walk about 6 km on flat paths that wind between wetland and saltmarsh. The route passes the hides on the yellow, green and blue itineraries, beside the lagoon, and at each one the guide stops, focuses and explains what each bird does and why it is there. Halfway there is a picnic with local produce and then you return to the centre.
The company publishes a duration of three hours and says the walk can stretch to four. The time is not fixed: it is agreed according to the time of year, because birds are not seen the same at eight in the morning in July as at mid-morning in January.
How much it costs and what it includes
From €78 per person, VAT included, calculated for a group of six. Under-3s do not pay. The price includes the ornithology guide throughout the walk, the picnic and civil liability insurance. It does not include transfer: you need your own car to reach the centre, or ask the company to pick you up, at an extra cost per person. Book by phone or WhatsApp on 622 202 210 or at turismo@avanzatour.es.
How to get to Finca El Rincón
The Interpretation Centre is at Finca El Rincón, Azarbe de Afuera s/n, next to San Felipe Neri, in the municipality of Crevillent, southwest of Elche along the roads of the Camp d'Elx. For questions about the park, the centre answers on 966 678 515 and at parque_elhondo@gva.es. If you go with the company, confirm the meeting time the day before.
When to go
The company runs it all year and adjusts the time to the season. Spring is the breeding season for a good share of the fifty species that nest here, and on migration passes birds appear on their way. In summer it is hot and there is no shade, so the outing will be early. Afterwards, go back to Elche for lunch: Restaurante Cachito, next to the Puçol Museum, is on the way.
- **La Alcudia Archaeological Park, Where the Lady of Elche Was Found** (2 h · For everyone; under-6s free · Desde 5 € per person): The Lady is not here, but her city is. Streets, houses with courtyards, baths and a basilica with a mosaic, on the outskirts of Elche.
What La Alcudia holds
La Alcudia is the site of Ilici, the city that preceded Elche. It covers about 11 hectares in the countryside, south of the present city, and for centuries it was farmland and a quarry. In the late 19th century, irrigation works brought the ancient remains to light, and in that work the Lady of Elche appeared, the Iberian bust that bears the city's name. The original is in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid; here there is a monument that commemorates the find.
It is run by the Fundación Universitaria La Alcudia, of the University of Alicante, which has its work areas on the site itself. The museum devotes spaces to explaining what the archaeology and restoration teams do, so you understand how what you see has come to be known.
The three cities of Ilici
The route tells of three periods, one on top of another. The Iberian one, with the reconstruction of a temple. The Roman one, the most visible: two sections of the western wall, a southern section, two half-excavated houses with their peristyle, the domus of Sailacos and the one with the impluvium, western baths with the cold pool and eastern baths from the 1st century, among the best preserved. And the late antique, Visigothic and Byzantine one, with a reconstructed early Christian basilica, with an apse and a colourful mosaic with Greek inscriptions, linked to the bishopric of Ilici. There is also a cistern, the so-called Venus cistern, and remains from the 8th century.
Interpretation Centre and Monographic Museum
At the entrance, the Interpretation Centre has an audiovisual room, a classroom and an exhibition that arranges the history of Ilici by theme. In the central area, the Monographic Museum gathers almost everything excavated: a vestibule devoted to the Lady and three rooms, Iberia, Hispania and Spania, which run from Iberian culture to Late Antiquity, with spaces where you see the archaeology and restoration work. Start with the centre, continue around the site and leave the museum for when you already have the plan in your head.
Opening hours and tickets
It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 to 14:30 and closed on Mondays. It opens on public holidays, except 1 and 6 January, Easter Monday, 1 May and 25 December. After 14:30 you cannot stay inside, and the Foundation recommends allowing about two hours, so arrive by 12:30 at the latest. General admission costs €5; reduced, €2, for students, unemployed people, teachers, large families, over-65s and people with disabilities; groups of 20 or more pay €3. Up to age 6 it is free. Telephone: 966 611 506; email, web.alcudia@ua.es.
On the Dolores road
It is at kilometre 2 of the CV-855 road, from Elche to Dolores. By car, from the A-7 motorway take exit 30, go round Elche on the EL-20 and join the Dolores road. From the city centre the R6 city bus runs there. The Foundation offers educational workshops for schools with an outside company; for groups, ask.
How it fits into your day
La Alcudia is a morning: it closes at midday. If you want the full Lady, go afterwards to the MAHE, in the Altamira Palace, which tells the history of Elche from the Iberians, or leave the municipal museums for Sunday, when they are free. For lunch, the Camp d'Elx is next door: Restaurante Cachito makes wood-fired arroz con costra.
- **Free Guided Walk at the Clot de Galvany, among Pools, Dunes and Bunkers** (2 h · 2 km · For everyone; no dogs or bicycles · Free): The Clot de Galvany is a coastal wetland between Arenales del Sol and Gran Alacant that Elche saved from drainage and development in the late 1970s. Today it is a municipal natural site, a site of Community importance and a special protection area for birds. Every Sunday and public holiday, at 10:00, the site's monitors lead a free guided walk of about two hours and about 2 km. It is the simplest way to see birds with someone to point them out, without paying and close to the beach.
Pools, saltmarsh and two bunkers
The site brings together several landscapes in little space: pools, scrub and hillocks, saltmarsh, fixed dunes with replanted pine wood and old farming terraces with carob and olive trees. It has two itineraries. The Wetland one leaves the dunes, crosses the terraces, passes the first bunker and reaches viewpoints over the artificial pool and the central one, with the option of entering the saltmarsh or returning by the hides. The Hill and Slope one climbs to the low pine woods, to the best-preserved area of saltmarsh and to viewpoints towards El Altet, the Balsares and Alicante, with Civil War bunkers and trenches.
From the hides you look for threatened species such as the marbled teal, the white-headed duck and the ferruginous duck, along with little egrets and black-winged stilts. Two of the five kinds of wild orchid described in the Comunitat Valenciana also grow on the site.
The Sunday walk
It leaves at 10:00 on Sundays and public holidays, lasts about two hours and covers about 2 km. There is no need to register if you are a group of fewer than ten people; Visitelche speaks of a maximum of 30 participants. On weekdays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, the site receives schools, associations and groups with prior reservation, at the nature classroom, on 966 658 028 or through its website.
The classroom is open to the public in winter, from September to June, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9:00 to 14:00; in July and August, every day from 7:30 to 13:00. It closes on 1, 5 and 6 January and on 24, 25 and 31 December.
Getting there and rules
By car, from Arenales del Sol follow avenida San Bartolomé de Tirajana, the beach promenade, towards Gran Alacant: the entrance is at the end of the avenue, on the right, along a dirt track. Buses from Elche and the airport reach Arenales del Sol. Inside, pets, bicycles and running are not allowed; you cannot eat outside the recreation area and you must stay on the marked paths and keep quiet. Afterwards, Arenales del Sol beach is a step away.
- **Stand-Up Paddleboarding and Kitesurfing at Arenales del Sol Beach** (2 h · Paddleboarding, to start from scratch; kite, depending on the wind · Desde 45 € per person): Arenales del Sol is Elche's big beach: almost 3 km of fine white sand, with a Blue Flag, about 16 km from the city and 5 from the airport. On its promenade is the base of Parres Watersports, a school that teaches stand-up paddleboarding, kitesurfing, windsurfing and wing all year round. For someone who has never done anything on the water, paddleboarding is the easiest way in; kite needs more time and wind.
Paddleboarding: two hours to get to your feet
The introductory course, "Descubre el SUP", lasts two hours and costs €60. It runs from 9:30 to 11:30 or from 18:30 to 20:30, with other times on request, as long as the sea allows. The school adapts it for students from 12 to over 60. If you prefer to go at your own pace, the one-hour private lesson costs €45. It includes an adapted board, paddle, safety equipment and insurance, and in winter, a wetsuit. You bring a swimsuit, water-resistant sun cream, water and a change of clothes.
Kitesurfing: first on the sand
The introduction lasts three hours, costs €75 and is the first contact: assembling the kite, safety and first pulls. If you want to really learn, the beginner's course is nine hours over three days, about six in the water and three on land, for €245, with two to four students per instructor. All equipment is included: kite, bar, lines, board, harness, helmet, life jacket and wetsuit if needed. Classes start between 11:00 and 15:30, depending on the wind; if it does not blow, there is no class and it is moved to another day.
The beach
It has sunbeds and parasols from June to September, beach bars, toilets, an information point and wooden walkways to the water, with an adapted bathroom from 1 June to 30 September. There are lifeguards at Easter, from June to September and from 1 to 12 October. Parking is easy and there are regular buses to Elche, Alicante and Santa Pola. If you have a spare morning, at the end of the promenade is the Clot de Galvany.
- **Visit and Tasting at Bodegas Faelo, a Family Wine of the Camp d'Elx in Matola** (1 h 30 · Adults; children's menu for the little ones · Desde 20 € per person): Bodegas Faelo is a country house in Matola, a hamlet of the Camp d'Elx, where the same family has made wine for more than a hundred years. It is now on the fourth generation. The visit takes you through the grandfather's cellar, the vineyard and the barrel room, and ends at the table with four or five of the house's wines. It is a short outing in the Elche countryside, trading palms for vines.
Grandfather Faelo's house
Grandfather Rafael, "Faelo", began treading grapes in 1930 in the afollaor, the house's winepress. For seventy years the wine was sold in bulk; it was not bottled at the Casa-Bodega until 2000. Today the winery works its own land with biodynamic viticulture, ferments only with native yeasts in 4,000-litre temperature-controlled steel tanks, and puts only the best wine through new barrels. Each vintage comes out with numbered, limited bottles, as Camp d'Elx wines within the Alicante D.O.P.
Two visits, two tables
The tasting visit lasts about an hour and a half and costs €20: it covers the grandfather's cellar, the pressing house, the vineyard, the fermentation room and the barrel room, and ends with four wines, white, rosé, red and sweet, and a plate of nibbles. The tapas and wine gastronomic experience, of about two hours, costs €28 and goes up to five wines, from the white to the crianza and the sweet, with two canapés, a hot meat pie and fig, date and apricot bread. If you go with children, there is a €12 children's menu with soft drinks, cured meats, cheese, mini pizza and a wafer. There are gluten-free, lactose-free and vegetarian menus: say so when you book.
Booking and getting there
Visits are Monday to Saturday, by reservation, on the form on its website or on 655 856 898, for groups of up to 50 people. The shop is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 and Saturday from 10:00 to 15:00. On Sunday it is closed. The winery is on camino de los Coves, partida de Matola, in the countryside southwest of the city; go by car and bring a driver who is not drinking. In the first half of September it holds the Festa de la Verema, with grape treading, on a date it announces on its website.
Very close, the Puçol School Museum shows what life was like in this same countryside a hundred years ago.
- **Puçol School Museum, the Life of the Camp d'Elx Kept by a School** (1 h 30 · For everyone; under-10s free · Desde 3 € per person): The Puçol School Museum began in 1969 in the rural schools of this district of Elche, as a project for children to learn the trades and customs of the Camp d'Elx through objects from their own homes. Families kept donating and today it holds more than 90,000 catalogued pieces, almost all from the 19th and early 20th centuries. In December 2009, UNESCO's intangible heritage committee entered it in its register of best safeguarding practices. It is one of Elche's three World Heritage items, along with the Palmeral and the Misteri.
What is inside
The rooms recreate scenes of life in the past, in the countryside and the city: tartanas and carts, threshing machines, farm tools, traditional clothing, objects from the area's industry and trade, from the school and from leisure. The collections are arranged by theme: farming and livestock, childhood, dress, trades, domestic life and society. Next door, the Casa-museo de L'Hort dels Pontos is a traditional house from around 1900 in a palm grove, furnished with pieces from the museum.
Hours and prices
The museum is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00, and at weekends and on public holidays from 11:00 to 14:00. The Casa-museo de L'Hort dels Pontos is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00. It closes on 1 and 6 January, Easter Monday, the Monday of San Vicente and 25 December. Admission costs €3; €2 for people from Elche, students, pensioners and people with disabilities. Under-10s do not pay. The guided visit for groups of more than ten people costs €5. To arrange it, call 965 938 985 or write to comunicacion@museopusol.com.
In the Puçol district
It is at partida de Puçol, 8, on the Casas del León road, in the countryside south of Elche, and has public parking. Next door is Restaurante Cachito, with wood-fired arroz con costra, and a few minutes away the Faelo winery, in Matola.

## Dónde comer
- **Cachito Restaurant** (Restaurant, Elche, €€). Qué pedir: the crusted rice or the onion, cod and potato one, with pipes i carasses and tomato from their garden to start
- **Els Capellans Restaurant** (Restaurant, Elche, €€€). Qué pedir: a rice dish or the fish of the day; ask about the seasonal menu.
- **La Taula Restaurant** (Restaurant, Elche, €€). Qué pedir: a rice dish or a seasonal garden dish.

## By car: By car from Alicante or Murcia
Elche is about 25 minutes from Alicante and about 45 from Murcia by motorway. Everything you visit is within walking distance between Plaza del Parque, the basilica and the Huerto del Cura; leave the car in a car park in the centre and get around on foot. You only need the car for eating in the Camp d'Elx.
Presupuesto orientativo: 50–120 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Hotel Huerto del Cura** (Hotel): Bungalows scattered through a palm orchard
The Hotel Huerto del Cura is a four-star hotel set in the Elche Palm Grove, a World Heritage Site since 2000, at Calle Porta de la Morera, 14, next to the Huerto del Cura garden and its Imperial Palm. For decades it belonged to an Elche family, the Orts, and since 2019 it has been owned by Port Hotels, a family chain with eleven hotels in the Valencian Community. It has been open for more than fifty years.
The rooms are in bungalows scattered through a protected garden, among palm trees, each with its own privacy. The basilica of Santa María and the old town are about ten minutes' walk away.
From the Garden Confort to the Junior Suite with bath
There are Garden Confort, Oasis Deluxe, Junior Suite Superior with a double bed, Family Garden Room, Oasis Deluxe Familiar with extra space for families, and Junior Suite Deluxe, with a bath built into the room and a large separate shower. All have a smart TV, air conditioning, minibar, safe, wifi, hairdryer and toiletries. The website does not publish nightly prices outside the booking engine, nor check-in and check-out times: check them when you book.
Pool, Oasis Zen and massages
The pool is surrounded by sun loungers in the shade of the palm trees. The Oasis Zen, in the same garden, brings together a pergola with heated jacuzzis, a sauna, a gym and a massage centre. The website now warns that the jacuzzis and sauna are closed for improvement works, so ask whether they have reopened before counting on them. Massages and treatments range from €55 to €132.
If you are not staying, the day pass for two people includes, from 9:15 to 20:00, breakfast, a Balinese bed by the pool with towels, €35 per person to spend at the Veranda and a 10% discount on massages.
Pastry chef's breakfast and two restaurants
Breakfast carries the signature of Fran Segura, a pastry chef who won the prize for best dessert in Spain in 2013 and silver at the Pastry World Cup in 2022: slow-fermented pastries and local produce, until 10:30. There is also a buffet breakfast. For lunch or dinner, the restaurant Els Capellans, by chef Jesús Gómez, serves traditional and avant-garde Mediterranean cooking; the Veranda, by the pool, cocktails and a more informal menu; and the Café Leopoldo completes the offer.
Car, dogs and children
The hotel has several parking spaces and fast charging for electric cars; the website does not say whether they are paid. There are family rooms, but it does not publish conditions for children or whether dogs are allowed: ask beforehand. With a free day, the Palm Grove Museum explains how the palm trees around you are cultivated and climbed.
- **Hotel Port Jardín Milenio** (Hotel): Among palm trees, south of the Huerto del Cura
The Port Jardín Milenio is beside the Elche Palm Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at number 17 Calle Curtidors, south of the Huerto del Cura. The hotel stands in a palm orchard and much of your stay is spent outdoors: the outdoor pool is surrounded by greenery and relaxation areas, and the restaurant has a terrace onto the garden. It belongs to the Port Hotels chain, which in Elche also runs the Hotel Huerto del Cura.
The rooms
There are four types. The Confort is the basic room, with air conditioning, free wifi, television, minibar, safe, bathroom set and hairdryer. The Confort Familiar is on the ground floor and adds a sofa bed for children. The Superior, recently refurbished, has the same equipment, and the Junior Suite Zen is the most spacious, with a bath depending on availability; the hotel says this last one is sold only on its official website. Breakfast is a buffet, with seasonal produce.
The website does not publish the number of rooms or check-in and check-out times, although it allows online check-in before you arrive.
What it has
An outdoor pool for all ages, a gym, a new massage room called Jardín Zen with its own treatment menu, parking, an electric-car charger, free wifi and rooms for meetings and celebrations. Pets are not allowed.
For non-guests, the hotel sells a day pass at €60 per person, booked and paid online: it includes breakfast, a Balinese bed by the pool with towels, €45 per person to spend in the café or at La Taula and a 10% discount on massages. The website gives hours of 9:15 or 10:00 to 20:00; it is best to confirm when booking.
Eating at the hotel
The restaurant La Taula serves Mediterranean garden-and-sea cooking, with rice dishes for two, fish such as turbot or corvina and grilled meats. It also hosts special dinners, such as literary dinners with guest authors.
Who it is for
For a quiet night in the Palm Grove without sleeping right in the centre, for families who want a pool after trudging round the city and for business trips by car. The Huerto del Cura and the Palm Grove Museum are a few minutes' walk away, and the basilica of Santa María about twenty. Bookings on 966 612 033 or at jardinmilenio@porthotels.es.
- **Hotel Elche Centro, Affiliated by Meliá** (Hotel): On Avenida Juan Carlos I, next to the old town
The Elche Centro is a three-star city hotel at Avenida Juan Carlos I, 5, in the shopping area of central Elche, with 69 rooms and open all year. From the door you can walk to the basilica of Santa María and the Calahorra in a few minutes, and the Municipal Park, with the first orchard of the Palm Grove, is just as close. Meliá places it half a kilometre from the train station and about 12 km from Alicante-Elche airport, which makes it practical if you arrive without a car. The Huerto del Cura is about fifteen minutes' walk away.
It is a chain hotel (affiliated with Meliá) designed for short stays, for both business and tourism: it has three meeting rooms and Meliá presents it as a business hotel near the Congress Centre.
From the 13 m² single to the superior with a terrace
All have a 43-inch television, desk, safe, minibar and a bathroom with shower. The standard rooms measure about 20 m², with two beds or a queen bed, and face the city. The single, at 13 m², faces the street. The superiors, at 28 m², have a balcony or terrace, a complimentary minibar and a welcome gift, with two beds or a queen bed. The family room, at 27 m², has a double bed and a sofa bed for the children, with large windows onto the centre. There are adapted, accessible rooms.
Check-in is at 14:00 and check-out at 12:00. Reception is open 24 hours.
Buffet breakfast, the Aladia and the lobby bar
Breakfast is a buffet with bread, pastries, fruit, cold meats, cheeses, hot dishes and options for coeliacs and other diets, which you should check with the dining room staff. The Aladia restaurant serves Mediterranean cooking with local produce, with a set menu of the day and à la carte, and the lobby bar serves mixed drinks and gin and tonics.
Parking in the centre
The hotel has its own covered car park connected to the building, and an electric-car charging point at an extra charge. Meliá does not publish the price of a space or whether it must be reserved: ask when you book if you are coming by car. The page does not mention pets either, so ask beforehand if you are travelling with a dog.
Meliá gives an average price of about €66 a night, which varies with the dates. If you are coming for the Misteri d'Elx, in August, the basilica where it is performed is a few minutes' walk away.

## As a family: Palm trees to gaze up at and a 170-step tower

Elche is a flat city with short distances, good for going with children: everything is within walking distance and many museums are free on Sundays.

### What works best
The Imperial Palm at the Huerto del Cura and its ponds

The Palm Grove Museum: how a palm tree is climbed

Climbing the 170 steps of the basilica tower, €1 up to age 10

Running around the Municipal Park, free

### Sleep
Family rooms at the Hotel Huerto del Cura

### Eat
Rice at Cachito, with a children's menu

### Bear in mind
Sunday: MAHE, Calahorra and the Palm Grove Museum are free, but only in the morning

No problem with a pushchair in the Palm Grove; the tower is for carrying or walking

### Qué hacer as a family
- Huerto del Cura garden and the Imperial Palm
- Basilica of Santa María and the tower climb
- Walk through the Municipal Park and the Palm Grove orchards
- Palm Grove Museum at the Hort de Sant Plàcid
- Altamira Palace and Archaeological Museum (MAHE)
- Guided tour of the Palm Grove and the centre of Elche
- Misteri d'Elx, the sung drama of the Assumption
- Guided Birdwatching Walk in El Hondo Natural Park
- La Alcudia Archaeological Park, Where the Lady of Elche Was Found
- Free Guided Walk at the Clot de Galvany, among Pools, Dunes and Bunkers
- Puçol School Museum, the Life of the Camp d'Elx Kept by a School

## Consejos

### On Sunday, museums in the morning
The MAHE, Calahorra, Arab Baths and Palm Grove Museum are free on Sundays, but close at midday.

### Museum pass
For €8 you get into all the municipal museums; it can be bought at any of them.

### Climb the tower early
Because of works at the basilica, the tower opens only from 10:00 to 12:00.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How much does it cost to enter the Huerto del Cura?
€6.80 general admission; €4.80 students and over-65s; €3.80 children aged 5 to 15.

### What can you see for free in Elche?
The Municipal Park, the Basilica of Santa María and, on Sundays, the MAHE, the Calahorra, the Arab Baths, the Palm Grove Museum and the Museu del Misteri.

### When is the Misteri d'Elx?
On 14 and 15 August, at the Basilica of Santa María, with free entry. In even-numbered years there are extra performances at the end of October.

### How long does it take from Alicante to Elche?
About 25 minutes by car.

### What dish should you try?
Arroz con costra, finished in the oven with a layer of egg.

### Can you go with a dog?
In the Municipal Park, on a lead. The Clot de Galvany does not admit pets. The museums and the Port Jardín Milenio do not publish that they admit them; the latter says no.