Great Family Walks for Kids in Costa Blanca South

This article was contributed by Sarah, from ‘Our Spanish Adventures‘, a fellow resident and parent living right here on the Costa Blanca. As well as enjoying her new life in the sun, Sarah now runs her own social media management company.

Introduction

The Costa Blanca is an amazing place to spend time as a family, whether that’s for summer holidays or a more permanent move to Spain.

We moved from the UK to the south of the Costa Blanca in 2019, and have really enjoyed exploring the area and spending lots of time outdoors over the past few years.

As a family we love being outside, especially when you have such fantastic weather most days! We only have one child and found that she gets bored quite quickly playing in a park by herself, so we tend to spend time going for walks instead, especially now that she’s getting a bit older. After almost 4 years of living here, we have found some great places to take kids on the Costa Blanca.

If you have children or grandchildren, you’ll know only too well that you always have to find ways to keep the kids entertained! So we thought we’d share our top favourite walks in the local area that are ideal for keeping children amused – whether you have one or multiple!

Here are 5 great family friendly walks in the Costa Blanca South area for you to try. We hope this list gives you some inspiration for places to take your kids!

#1 Parque El Recorral, Ciudad Quesada

Parque el Recorral in Quesada is a wonderful place for kids to let off some steam. We love to head here with our lunch after school sometimes as it’s usually pretty quiet and there are plenty of shaded areas. 

A lovely natural space, there is a wooden playpark with picnic benches, a BBQ area, ponds with lots of wildlife and so much space to run around. You can walk around the ponds to spot fish, birds, frogs, dragonflies and more, and if you have a dog they are also welcome as long as they’re kept on a lead. Each time we visit El Recorral, new wooden animal sculptures have popped up, so it seems they are still doing plenty of work on this park.

The paths will take you for miles around the park with some amazing views across the Vega Baja and towards the mountains, and you can choose how far you want to walk. There is even a nature-related quiz trail for the children, and a water pump that is especially great fun in the summer.

The paths are fairly flat so make an easy walk for all ages and pushchairs, but you will probably want to leave the scooters at home.

There is plenty of free parking, you can find a Google Map of El Recorral here https://goo.gl/maps/t21XEJTiKmzzkfMUA

#2 Parque el Palmeral, Alicante

If you find yourself near Alicante city, the Parque el Palmeral is a fabulous place that you must make a stop at. Located on the outskirts of the city, this park is tucked away – you may even have driven quite past a few times without noticing it like we did!

As the name suggests, this park is full of different types of palm trees, as well as many other trees, flowers, and cacti. You will find toilets and a bar close to the entrance, and if you follow the paths around the park you will come across several playparks, picnic areas, artificial lakes with bridges, and even a waterfall which you can walk behind.

The paths are suitable for pushchairs, but possibly a little bit stoney for scooters. For older kids there is actually a BMX track as well.

There is lots of free parking right outside the park entrance which you can find here https://goo.gl/maps/BYzK5Az9tomWVmbM7 

#3 La Mata, Torrevieja

Another favourite of ours and a good walk near Torrevieja, this beautiful walk down to the sandy beach at La Mata starts at the top of Parque del Molino de Agua. The paths take you through the pine trees past the water mills, streams, and fountains, and onto the board walk through the sand dunes.

Once you reach La Mata beach you can continue your walk in either direction along the promenades, or have a play on the beach instead. There’s a restaurant at the top of the park, or plenty along the promenade if you also want to stop for lunch or a drink enroute, as well as picnic benches amongst the pine trees.

You can park on the road by the start of the park here https://goo.gl/maps/pKvMTLt4yxoEPXjG9 

#4 La Zenia to Cabo Roig

Another walk that we do regularly as a family, starts at La Zenia beach. From there you can follow the beach path all the way to Cabo Roig and further if you wish. The path is flat enough for pushchairs and scooters, but a little hilly in a few places. 

The best part of this walk is the views out to sea along the way. You can also take the steps down to the beach in a few places if you fancy a paddle. There’s a playpark on the beach at La Zenia as well as one just around the bend at Cala Capitan.

You have the restaurant La Mirada at the start of the walk and La Bahia in Cabo Roig at the end, as well as the Chiringuitos (beach bars) in the summer, so plenty of places for refreshments.

We would recommend parking on the road by La Mirada or the La Zenia hotel https://goo.gl/maps/qZKFzvPCtemmJpAq9 

#5 Parque Alfonso XIII, Guardamar del Segura

One of our favourite places locally is the beach town of Gurdamar. There are lots of great bars and restaurants, a fantastic park, and of course the beautiful sandy beach. A walk that we love to do starts opposite the Parque Reina Sofia, through Parque Alfonso XIII and takes you all the way down to the marina.

The flat path through the pine forest is perfect for scooters, and because the path is straight you can see the kids even if they zoom on ahead.

After the pine forest the path is lined with palm trees and there are several wooden boardwalks to take you to the beach and sand dunes. If you carry on until the end you will find the marina and lighthouse, before turning round to head back to your starting point.

There’s lots of free parking by Parque Reina Sofia https://goo.gl/maps/fLsrhxjJ6oCnr2EJ9