This summer, I was based in Alicante Old Town for three days on my own and knew that I’d want to incorporate visiting one of the seaside towns along the Costa Blanca for the day whilst I was in the area.

I spent several hours reading up on Albir, Altea, Calpe, Dénia, Gandia, Jávea and Villajoyosa, finding it really difficult to make a decision on where to spend one of my three days in Alicante as quibbles on Trip Advisor proved inconclusive about which one was the town most worth visiting.

In the end, I went with visuals and I chose the most colourful town, the most joyful town (literally in the name): Villajoyosa, or, La Vila Joiosa in Valenciano. It is often referred to simply as ‘La Vila’.

Villajoyosa (pronounced vee-ya-hoy-oh-sa) is a 50-minute tram ride from Alicante’s Luceros station which costs something like 4.75 euros for a return journey! The tram is the Benidorm line 1 which is every 30 minutes from 6am to 10pm.

Make sure you bring cash for the ticket because the card readers on the self-service vendors weren’t working so I missed one tram as I had to exit the station to withdraw cash then return to buy the tickets.

Nabbing a seat on the side of the tram that looks out on to the coast is a must as it is a stunningly scenic journey that showed me just how beautiful the Costa Blanca is and it made me wish I had booked on for longer.

The sapphire blue Mediterranean Sea glimmered under the midday sun as we whizzed past countless immaculate white villas fringed with palm trees.

The stop before Villajoyosa is called ‘Paradis’ and it seems a well-deserved nickname from the brief glimpse I saw and is now also on my list for my next trip to Alicante (along with Altea & Jávea).

Finally, my tram pulled into Villajoyosa’s station and I began the slightly slippery descent down winding streets to the sea front (I saw somebody slip so be careful with your choice of footwear on the day you go).

Then, I saw the blue sea, white sand and the swaying palm trees and the blaze of sun on my face.

Despite the heat, I rummaged in my beach bag and pulled out a kaftan and put it on to cover my shoulders, preparing myself for a longish walk along the paseo marítimo. I turned around and that’s when I knew I was in the right place, when I saw the coloured houses.

Apparently, the assumption is that these houses are painted brightly to help guide fishermen back to shore, however, this has been dispelled by the fact that the pescadores are not fighting through fog and mists on the Costa Blanca as they may very well have to in Scandinavia or Great Britain.

The houses are painted in this wonderful chromatica just because it looks joyful, and just how fitting for the joyful town: Villajoyosa.

I headed all the way down to the fishing port at Platja Centro to see the fishing boats return to shore after a long day at sea, starting to dock around 16:30; boats sail in encircled by seagulls (gaviotas in Spanish) then the fishermen disembark and haul their nets in filled with silver slithering fish ready for auction.

I don’t know if it’s due to coming from a maritime city myself but something captivates me about being near the sea and watching both nature and industry in coexistence. I love blissful, unspoiled beaches like Tarifa or Cádiz or further afield but I have a big soft spot for beaches with an industrial transience of cargo and comings and goings, such as Algeciras (not particularly known for its beauty) or locally in Crosby, Liverpool.

It was swelteringly hot and my sandal straps were rubbing against my ankles (despite waterproof plasters) so I decided it was time to stop somewhere for a drink and a rest.

Music can decide where I pull up a chair (or stool) often more than what drinks or food is on offer and when I walked past a bar blaring out some 80s banger, I plonked myself down on a chair on their terrace, with stellar views looking out to sea.

I have gone back through my bank account transactions and searched in chat logs on WhatsApp but can’t find the name of the bar but all I can say is that it is run by a lovely Italian man named Marco who has lived in Villajoyosa for over 10 years and he has the best working view ever of the rolling sea from his bar.

I ordered an Aperol Spritz and when I said “gracias”, he said “prego” (Italian for ‘you’re welcome’). When I went indoors to pay the bill, I asked for “il conto” instead of “la cuenta” (the bill) and when he clicked that I speak Italian, he insisted on inviting me to a beer. We chatted about music and he regaled me with tales of concerts he would go to in Milan back in the late 70s, 80s and early 90s and got to see some big bands before they became really famous, such as Queen With Freddie Mercury! (The performer I most wish I’d have been around to see!)

The lovely thing about this is that I had already told him I was going to a chocolate factory next and he had already rung a taxi for me, so he offered the beer out of pure kindness as he knew I would be leaving in around three minutes.

He was just such a sound man and he quickly told me how he had ended up living in this little slice of paradise before my taxi came and he told me to take my bottle of beer in it with me (I hid it in my beach bag, but it ended up too warm to drink later on).

So, next stop in 35 degrees heat: a chocolate factory!

Villajoyosa was once the chocolate capital of Spain and perhaps still is, although it now has just three chocolate factories.

The geographical location of Villajoyosa on the Costa Blanca and its busy port meant that it received many cargo ships coming in loaded with cocoa thus the chocolate industry here was booming for a long time (hence the name in the street art above: La Vila de Xocolate/ The Village of Chocolate).

The biggest and most famous chocolate factory in Villajoyosa is Valor, a famous Spanish brand.

I had read excellent reviews of tours to this factory and I recognised the brand name from my time living in Spain so I almost booked to visit Valor, until I read about Chocolates Perez being a smaller, family-run business, so I decided to visit the latter.

I took a short 7 euro taxi from the Villajoyosa seafront up to the Chocolates Perez factory.

One of the owners was already mid-flow to an assembled group of Spanish tourists and I stood and listened in as he talked about cocoa beans and machinery. He prepared himself to restart in English for me then looked pleased/relieved when I told him I understand Spanish.

He smiled and handed me a paper cup of cool chocolate milk made with their blend and it was absolutely divine. I am not a chocoholic, I like it very much but I can go ages without it and not experience cravings. I often turn it down when offered as I am not obsessed with it. However, this smelt divine: rich, high quality and clean.

The tour was free so I wanted to contribute by purchasing something from their shop so I bought my brother a bag of their artisanal chocolate to make the above drink. My brother has a bit of a sweet tooth and would probably rather drink a chocolate milkshake than a wine or beer so this was the souvenir from Spain for him.

I then walked the 25 minutes or so through the winding downhill streets back to the seafront with enough time to catch another hour of sunbathing on the beach.

The mid-afternoon heat had relented by this time and a soft breeze was drifting across the beach. The sun was less harsh which meant you could appreciate the technicolour of the buildings without them dazzling your eyes.

Some time in the sea later, golden hour began to be cast across the casas while boys and men played a big game of beach volleyball nearby:

Keeping an eye on the time for catching my tram back to Alicante, I was lucky to get a table at the restaurant pictured on the left-hand side of the above photo, Som de Mar (We Are of the Sea) as they are so popular you usually have to have a reservation but I arrived just as they opened at 8pm and got one. Its popularity was soon explained once the dishes came out:

Olives can be an acquired taste (it took me around the supposed 11 times of trying something you don’t like in order to finally like it with these!) and not everyone likes fish but I consider it one of life’s real pleasures sitting near the sea, eating fresh fish or seafood, with a glass of chilled white wine.

I’m from Britain where it’s usually heartier, warming food and cosy red wine, so I relish the chance to do this when I can.

Then my phone battery ran out. I didn’t bring my charger as my phone is only a year old, no cracks or major drops, and I presumed the battery would last.

I used it to take some photos but I wasn’t on my phone excessively as I was enjoying taking in the beautiful surroundings, but alas, the battery ran out 20 minutes before my tram was due so I couldn’t use Google Maps to find my way back to the tram station, especially now it was getting darker.

I headed back to the bar with the lovely Italian owner (I wish I could recall his name!) and he kindly rang a taxi for me and gave me another beer to pop in my beach bag for later.

Such selfless people as these who we meet along the way in life are one of the joys of travels and they might not realise it but they are then always remembered fondly by someone, somewhere in another part of the world.

The tram back to Alicante seemed to take a very long time and it was again, very crammed at certain points in the journey, and when I returned, I had to navigate my way back from the station to my hotel and directions are not a strength of mine.

About an hour of wrong turns later with burning feed and blisters, I gleefully located my hotel, hobbled up the stairs with at least 26,000 steps clocked up on my Apple Watch, kicked my sandals off and ran cold shower water over my sore feet for a little while then climbed up on to my soft bed at last.

I was very tired but that sort of happy-tired where it’s all been worth it. The only thing I’d change would be to have more days in Villajoyosa, have time to visit Paradis and actually just stay and explore Alicante much more. Until the next time, I will be back soon!

Have you visited Villajoyosa? If so, I’d love to know what others made of this charming, colourful, and lesser-known seaside town. Leave a comment below!

Laura