Car Rental > Europe > Spain > Alicante to Elche
Continuing our series of suggestions of trips to make if you arrange car hire in spain if you are visiting on business or holiday. We already feature the Terra Mitica Theme Park in Alicante and here is another day trip starting from there
If you’re staying in Alicante, on Spain’s Costa Blanca, there are a number of places that you can visit if you hire a car. In this article, we take a look at some of the things that you can see and do in the town of Elche.
Elche is only about 30 minutes’ drive from Alicante, so it’s a perfect place for a day-trip during a Costa Blanca car hire holiday. To get to Elche from Alicante by car, head out of Alicante on the A-31 and take exit 71B to get onto the E-15/A-7. Leave the E-15/A-7 at exit 74 to get onto the CV-84. Follow the signs into Elche.
Elche Attractions – Elche Palm Grove
Elche’s best-known attraction is the Elche Palm Grove, the only palm grove in Europe and one of the largest in the world. The Elche Palm Grove, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, contains more than 200,000 palm trees, most of which are date palms. The largest palm tree in the grove is a seven-branched tree known as the Imperial Palm. It was named after Elisabeth, the Empress Consort of Franz Joseph, and is located in the Priest’s Garden (Huerto del Cura).
Elche Palm Grove has its own irrigation system and microclimate, and you can learn more about these and the history of the palm grove in the Palm Groves Museum (Museu de Palmerar). The leaves of the palm trees are also used in the city’s Palm Procession, which is held on Palm Sunday every year, and during the Elche Mystery Play (Misteri Play d’Elx), the origins of which lie in the Middle Ages, and during which an angel gives a palm leaf to the Virgin Mary.
Elche Tourist Attractions – Basilica Santa María
The Basilica Santa María was completed in 1784. It was built on a site on which two churches and a mosque had stood in the past. The mosque was replaced by the first of the churches in 1334, and it is in this church that the Elche Mystery Play is believed to have been first performed. The church survived until 1492 and another was built on the site in 1556. However the new building collapsed in 1672 after the city was hit by torrential rainstorms, and work on the current Basilica began in 1672.
The Basilica Santa Maria features a number of architectural styles, including Neoclassical, Italian Baroque and Valencian Baroque. It is the venue for the Elche Mystery Play, which is performed on the 14th and 15th of August each year.
Elche – Other tourist Attractions
There are a number of museums that you can visit in Elche, including the City Archaeological Museum, which is located within the Palacio de Altamira, and the Municipal Festa Museum, where you can learn about the history of the Elche Mystery Play. You can also visit the Paleontological Museum, the Puçol Agricultural Museum (which contains exhibits relating to traditional agricultural techniques and other aspects of rural community life) or the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Other attractions in Elche include the Arab Baths, the Municipal Park and a number of excellent beaches.
Hiring a Car in Spain
If you want to visit Elche as part of an Alicante car hire holiday, you can book your rental car in advance from online spanish car hire specialists that have car rental offices in 100s of locations in Spain, including Alicante and most spanish airports
