Spain gets plenty of attention in July and August. Beaches are packed, terraces stay busy late into the evening, and sunscreen becomes an unofficial part of the dress code.
Then autumn arrives, and Spain seems to exhale.
The Mediterranean is still there, the food certainly hasn’t gone anywhere, and many places settle into a slower rhythm. Temperatures begin to soften, exploring becomes more comfortable, and suddenly spending an afternoon wandering around a small-town sounds much more appealing than searching for the nearest patch of shade.
For a road trip, that change of pace works particularly well.
Alicante is an easy place to begin. Start with a walk along the waterfront, explore the old streets, find somewhere good for coffee and (because this is Spain) allow lunch to take slightly longer than expected. Once you’ve had enough city time, grab the keys and see what waits beyond it.
The Costa Blanca gives you plenty of excuses to keep driving, from seaside towns and viewpoints to roads that lead inland towards an entirely different landscape. You don’t need ten stops marked on a map. Pick one or two places that genuinely interest you, leave some space between them, and let the road do some of the planning.
That is especially true once you move away from the coastline. Spain’s beaches tend to get most of the attention, but mountain roads, historic villages and quieter inland landscapes can give a short trip a completely different personality.
Autumn makes those detours easier to enjoy. Instead of organizing your day around the hottest hours, you can walk a little longer, stop at the viewpoints, or decide that the small town you were supposed to spend twenty minutes in actually deserves two hours.
And if you see an interesting road sign pointing somewhere you’ve never heard of, consider following it.
You don’t need to recreate Don Quixote and start chasing windmills, but Cervantes did have one useful idea: sometimes the journey becomes the story. Just leave the windmills alone.
Food can also be a perfectly legitimate navigation system in Spain. Choose a town because someone recommended a local dish. Stop at the market because it looks interesting. Let what was supposed to be a quick coffee break turn into an afternoon break because the view is too good to leave.
The only real mistake is trying to fit too much into one trip. Spain is not something you need to complete. Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Seville do not all need to appear on the same week itinerary.
El sol sigue aquí. The Spanish sun hasn’t clocked out yet…