Category: Casa Rural Spain

Guided Spanish Walking Holidays

Guided Spanish Walking Holidays A feature of the area surrounding Villa Florencia is the plethora of walking routes for the hiker, all carefully signposted with distances and estimated walking times. Beautiful April weather and a visit from my nephew prompted the decision to sample the delights of one of the walking routes ourselves. Turning left out of the driveway, a few steps along the road took us to the country lane that winds through the orchards and past several villas and casitas up to the tree-line, where the walk that we had selected begins in earnest. We had decided to walk the route that is designated as the GR236, which in fact begins in the nearby village of Ermita and comes past the house. Its destination is the mountain village of La Drova, and the estimated time for the walk from the tree-line point is 2 hours 20 minutes. The weather was perfect, with warm sunshine following a light shower of rain in the early morning, so by the time we were starting in the early afternoon the air was fresh and the sun gently warmed us as we went. The entire route is marked at regular intervals either by…

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Easter in Spain

Easter can be the perfect time to think about a break from the grey skies of northern Europe and to head to the Costa Blanca in Spain for some early, pre-summer sunshine. Days should be warm and sunny and a welcome change from the probably still chilly weather elsewhere. Evenings will still be cooler of course, but nevertheless very much milder than in the UK. As well as the better temperatures, Easter in Spain can give the visitor a feel for a tradition that has been all but lost in most other countries in Europe, and it is marked with a mixture of tradition, music, culture, theatre and, of course, religion. Semana Santa is the Spanish description for Easter, although this translates literally as ‘Holy Week’. The festivities do in fact last for the entire week leading up to the Easter weekend, with processions through the streets from local churches to the cathedral and back again. Most of the processions tend to take place in the evening, with the most important being on the Thursday, and going through into Good Friday. As far as church services are concerned, Easter Sunday is obviously the most significant. The Easter processions date back…

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Spring Property Hunters

The worst of the winter weather is now well and truly behind us and we can look forward to the beginning of a new season and a steady rise in temperature. One of the main attractions of living on the Costa Blanca is of course the much milder climate compared to the UK, so although residents here might complain about the cold season, it really is nothing compared to what they have left behind. The first of the year’s property hunters arrived to stay at Villa Florencia at the beginning of the week, having decided that the Gandia area was the ideal base to look around for some bargain Spanish properties for sale. It is the perfect area for those not wishing to be a part of the concentrated ex-pat communities further down the coast, but ideal for anyone looking for the opportunity to settle in a part of the country still so authentically Spanish. Added to that, there are excellent communications in the area with a great motorway network, efficient railway system and Valencia airport also within easy reach. Following the worst of the economic crisis now is an excellent time to think of making that major investment in…

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Spring on the Costa Blanca

Gandia Casa Rural  is an ideally located base for your Costa Blanca spring sunshine break, just over an hour north of Alicante by car, 40 minutes south of Valencia (or conveniently placed for the train to the city too), and within easy driving range of any of the other places and attractions along the coast or inland. Only minutes away from the A7 motorway, yet set in a completely rural environment near to Gandia town. Stay with us for a week in a comfortable and spacious room with a choice of either double or twin bedded accommodation. Bookings made for stays of 7 nights commencing up to the end of April will be given the preferential rate of just €350 per room (not per person!) including a very generous continental breakfast. What better time can there be to think of leaving the drab, grey skies behind and finding out what this lovely part of Spain has to offer?

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Self Catering Apartment Gandia

Early January marked the arrival of Peter and Sally, along with their good friend Margaret, who had made a booking several months before to stay with us in our self-catering apartment. They flew in to Valencia and hired a car at the airport, arriving by about midday – which meant they had had a very early start in the UK. When commenting that they obviously had no trouble finding us, since they made the trip from the airport so quickly, it emerged they knew the whole area really well, as they used to own a holiday property in Xeraco, the next town north along the coast from Gandia. So this was something of a trip down memory lane for them, visiting all the places that they knew and loved when they were regular visitors to the area. They had booked our self-catering apartment as they thought that a self-catering holiday would be the best option for them and give them the greatest level of independence, but they often chose to dine with us in the main part of the house in the evenings. Each evening they would tell us of the trips they had made that day, comparing the area…

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