Villajoyosa, the Joyous Town, is the first place to know in this stretch of the Alicante coast, and it is an easy one to love. Its seafront is a row of houses painted in bright colours, ochre, pink, blue and green, reputedly so that fishermen could pick out their own homes from the sea. A Moors and Christians festival every July commemorates the town's defeat of a Barbary pirate raid in 1538, with a staged landing on the beach and a lot of gunpowder. The town is also famous for chocolate, with old family factories that still make it, and you can buy a bar or a cup in the old centre.
The Garganta de la Hoz, about fourteen kilometres inland, is a cleft in the hills, and the sixth shelter of the ravine, Abric VI, belongs to the Levantine tradition protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain.
The landscape inland is pale limestone with carob, almond and pine, and the sea is never far away. On the crests, you can see the whole coast, with the high-rise towers of Benidorm to the north and the long blue line of the Mediterranean to the east. In autumn, brief fierce storms bring a flush of green to the slopes and send water roaring down the gullies.
The route inland from the coast is a good one, leaving the crowded coastal strip and quickly becoming a winding mountain road, with bends that tighten as you climb. Surfaces are variable, so watch for gravel and rocks after rain, and expect cyclists, especially at weekends. Early morning is the best time to ride, with soft light and cool air.
Fuel is easy at Villajoyosa, which has nearly thirty-four thousand people, and El Campello, with over twenty-six thousand, is the other nearby town. Cafes on the seafront serve fresh fish and rice dishes, a good reward after a day in the hills.