The Misadventurer 02: The Dos and Don'ts of Visiting Dénia, Spain
What to see, what not to do, and where to find the best Nepalese food in a city famous for its seafood.
I went on a marvelous solo trip last weekend, spending Thursday through Saturday in the beautiful seaside town of Dénia. I arrived Thursday night, spent Friday on what I called a “writer’s retreat” (aka I sat on the balcony of the Airbnb and worked on various writing projects), then explored the city on Saturday morning.
Using a combination of personal experience and scouring the internet, I have compiled this OFFICIAL, DEFINITIVE LIST of top dos and don’ts for visiting Dénia.
Dos and Don’ts of Visiting Dénia, Spain
DO: go there in the first place. I decided to go on a weekend trip because my boyfriend went on a weeklong trip, and I couldn’t join him because of my work schedule. I was looking for somewhere reachable by public transport (I don’t have a car), not too far (I only went for two nights, and didn’t want too much time eaten up with bus rides), and cool (duh). I had, like, 17 tabs open on my laptop and was trying to figure out where I wanted to go, when the thought started to creep in, “Ughhhhhh. Maybe I just shouldn’t go anywhere. I can write here at home. I can travel another weekend.”
I’ve never regretted traveling, and I don’t think most people do. I certainly don’t regret finally wading through all my browser tabs, picking a destination and going for it.
DON’T: forget to bring cash! You can often buy bus tickets online or at kiosks. But if you want to buy your ticket on the bus itself, you’ll find some buses accept credit/debit card and some don’t. I forgot to stop by an ATM before leaving on my journey and ended up having just enough money for the bus back.
DO: double check when your Airbnb host tells you the grocery store is on the way from the bus station to your Airbnb. Otherwise, you might, just for example, have to double back to the grocery store and add an additional 20 minutes to your already-35-minute walk.
DON’T: spend upwards of half an hour walking up and down every aisle of the grocery store, agonizing over what food to get for the next <48 hours. When you finally decide to get a frozen pizza for dinner, so you can have half for dinner and half for lunch tomorrow, do not somehow forget to buy it when you get to the checkout line. But, if you do leave the store and realize you forgot it, DO NOT go back in, get back in line and buy the pizza, only to arrive at your Airbnb and remember it has no oven.
DO: try The Everest, a Nepalese Restaurant. This advice may be controversial, because Dénia, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, is very famous for its seafood, especially its shrimp. There are also Michelin-starred restaurants there for people who have a lot of money, and taste.
But, as I stood in a small shopping center near my Airbnb, seeing a typical-looking bar serving seafood to my left and The Everest to my right, I had to think about who I was, what I wanted and where I really believed my destiny for the evening lie. And I’d been craving Indian or Indian-adjacent food for weeks, so I followed my heart on this one. The restaurant was bizarrely empty (January is a slow month in Dénia), so my servers were very attentive, but without being annoying. I loved it. Though, if you do want to try seafood when you visit, here is a list of Dénia’s Michelin-starred restaurants.
DON’T: forget that, while, in the United States, the bottom floor of a building is the first floor, in Europe, the bottom floor of a building is just called “the ground floor.” What Americans call the second floor, Spaniards call “the first floor.” I think America is wrong about lots of things (why are we not on the metric system?) but we are right about this! The first floor you stand on should be called the first floor!!!
Anyway, if you do forget, you might find yourself, after an hour of walking through the city and a grocery store, unable to find the door to your Airbnb because you are on the wrong floor. And that would be embarrassing. I would imagine.
DO: go walking along the port, or running, if you’re a runner. It’s just picturesque. There are Spanish buildings on one side, the beautiful blue Mediterranean on the other, and the gorgeous Dénia castle overlooking the whole thing. Feels like you’re in a postcard, 11/10.
DON’T: skip the castle. I know this is a “do” disguised as a “don’t,” sorry! But the Castle of Dénia, built in the 11th and 12th centuries, has an amazing view of the port and city. And the walk up to it is lovely, through some truly charming European streets. The castle is, apparently, part of something called the Route of the Valencian Classics, a cultural route that takes you through some of the places where great Valencian writers have lived/places mentioned in Valencian literature. So, it seemed fitting for my “writer’s retreat.” The castle costs just €3 to visit. Definitely worth it.
Closing thoughts: Dénia is a great place for solo travelers, couples seeking a romantic getaway, castle enthusiasts, fans of the Yellowcard hit “Ocean Avenue” and seafood connoisseurs.
Question of the Week: What do you think is the biggest difference between children and adults? Which are nicer?
Recommendation of the Week: this ridiculously romantic poem by Jeffrey McDaniel.
Thanks for reading!
This is great!
As a Brit I have to concede you Americans have it right on the ground floor/first floor debate, though that causes some pain to admit!