Images of Benidorm, home of many a cheap package holiday and drunken British jobs may send shivers through people looking for a sophisted gay friendly resort. However in recent years millions of pounds have been spent upgrading Benidorm into a slightly smarter holiday destination. An excellent, beautiful beaches and a healthy collection of small gay bars situated in the old town might tempt you to have another look.

Getting there:

Benidorm is just a short 2 hour flight from Gatwick. You arrive at Alicante Airport where you are either met by your coach or pick up your hire car. The drive from Alicante to Benidorm is roughly 3/4 hours and there is a fast motorway running along the coast. The are regular cheap flights throughout the year from most British airports.

Gay bars and clubs:

There are numerous small gay bars and one gay club (La Terraza) in Benidorm). Most of gay bars are situated in the "old town" which is the strip of land sticking out into the sea right in the middle of Benidorm. Many of the bars are situated on San Vicente or San Faz. None of the bars really get busy until late evening or after 1am. Most of the bars are hidden away behind closed doors although there is normally an illuminated sign outside or on the wall. Peak season for Benidorm is also July and August. When we visited in early June there didn't seem to be a great deal going on. You should be able to pick on a free gay bar guide in most venues making it easy to work your way around. The bars we visited were all very clean and the bar staff friendly with english widely spoken. Bars and clubs have a habit of coming and going all to readily. We visited the People bar.

La Terraza is the main gay club. Regular gay nights throughout July and August but only Saturdays during June.

Beaches:

Benidorm is blessed with two superb beaches, Poniente which is the spanish beach and Lavante on the british half. Both have golden sand, and clean blue sea. The beaches are swept every night to ensure they are kept clean.

Shopping and Eating Out

You are obviously going to need that special little number to wear to all the clubs. There is an Andros underwear shop in the old town plus the usual selection of shops. If you are in a villa or self catering apartments there is a excellent Carrefour Hypermarket just north of the city.

Tourist Attractions.

For the big kid in you there is huge waterpark in Benidorm. Disney are about to open Disneyland Spain just north of Benidorm. Local tourist attractions include the old town of Guadalest built on a cliff top with breathtaking views, and the waterfalls at Cascada de El Algar where you swim in the invigorating but freezing pools.

Gay Travel Agents:
	Respect Holidays the UK's no.1 Gay holiday company! Respect Holidays offer exclusively gay package holidays to all the popular European resorts including Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Mykonos and Sitges. Contact: Respect Holidays, London, UK. Telephone: +44 (0)870 770 0169) Email Website: www.respect-holidays.co.uk
	Sensations Holidays offer gay holiday packages to popular European gay holiday destinations including Benidorm, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Mykonos, Sitges, Palma plus European city breaks to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid and Prague. Contact: Sensations Holidays, 89 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8HS Tel: 020 8902 7177. Website: www.sensationsholidays.com Email

Gay Friendly Accommodation:

Advertising your hotel/guesthouse. If you wish to promote travel to Benidorm or offer gay friendly accommodation in Spain please feel free to contact us by e-mail or click here for advertising rates.

Useful Links:

Benidorm Gay Guide 1 - Trashy looking but claims to be the most up to date guide.
Gay Benidorm Guide 2 Rough and ready but quite a lot of content.
Gay Benidorm Guide 3 New flash site with snazzy intro. Content quite basic but growing.

Summary:

Admittedly we didn't actually stay in Bendorm but in a villa just along the coast. However during the week we took quite a few visits into Benidorm and liked what we saw. You can't beat the weather and you've got a bustling local gay scene to keep you busy in the evenings. The beaches are good and there are varied selection of restaurants.