Perhaps you prefer small villages and towns? You'll stumble on hundreds as you drive through the region. Each one has its own unique charm. Algorfa, near Torrevieja, nestles in the shade of the Escotera Mountain and is surrounded by orange and lemon groves. Rojales is a small town on the River Segura with a huge personality. Almoradi is a lovely town with Moorish influences. Visit the huge market on Saturday, and check out the trees in the town square. Each one is hollowed out in the centre of the foliage, with a floodlight set into it. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.

If you like beaches, you'll be spoilt for choice. Most of the beaches on the Costa Blanca boast fine golden sand. The jewel in the crown is Guardamar, with its 14 kilometres of unspoilt shore. Not a skyscraper hotel in sight! Then there's La Marina, Punta Prima, Playa Flamenca - the list goes on. And with 320 days of sunshine a year, you should find time to sample as many beaches as you want.

For the Shopaholics, there are the huge shopping centres in Alicante, Murcia and Torrevieja. Murcia boasts over 300 major stores, many of them familiar English names such as Primark, Ikea, Zara and H & M. Then there are the daily markets. There are at least 3 to choose from every day, including Sunday, when the huge Zoco Market, near Torrevieja, attracts people from all over the region. It's a day out on its own. As well as everything you might wish to buy, there are several cafeterias and bodegas where you can enjoy drinks, breakfast and lunch at very reasonable prices.

The area around Torrevieja is dominated by 2 large salt lakes, La Mata and Santa Pola. Salt has been extracted here since Roman times, and you'll see big white mountains of it as you travel around. The salt lakes are home to dozens of species of water fowl, and there is a big nature reserve at Santa Pola. You can walk all around the lake, and there are hides for you to observe the wildlife unnoticed. As the lake is right on the coast, you can go for a swim to cool down after your walk. If you're in Spain in a motor home, you can even park up for a night or two at Santa Pola, free of charge. With the salt lake on one side of you, and the Mediterranean on the other, you'll go a long way to find a better view!

For a really relaxed way to view the Costa Blanca, book a coach tour. They are very reasonable - between 10 and 15 euros (£8 -£12) for a full day - and there is a varied programme on offer, with pick up points all across the area. Visit Guadalest, a beautiful village in the mountains above Benidorm. All the houses and shops are set into the mountains, and the views are stunning. This is the place to buy your souvenirs, as the prices are cheaper than on the coast. If you want to visit the larger towns and cities in the area, a coach tour is probably your best option, as parking can be virtually impossible between June and October. In addition, the coaches will drop you off at the main tourist attraction, saving you a lot of walking in the Costa Blanca heat.

Terra Mitica, on the outskirts of Benidorm, is the area's main theme park. With themed areas Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iberia and The Islands, it's educational as well as entertaining. There are rides and shows to entertain you, but Disney World it isn't. Then again, the prices are very reasonable, and you can spend a full day there. If you're staying in Benidorm, it's better (and cheaper) to make your own way there rather than book an excursion.

For an extra special night out, try a dinner and cabaret at the Benidorm Palace. It will cost you around 40 euros (£32), but you get a fabulous evening's entertainment, and the food is great. However, you don't need to pay for entertainment at all, as even the smaller resorts have a wide variety of live entertainment, discos, karaoke and quiz nights throughout the season.

These are just some of the diversions on offer in this lovely part of Spain. I hope I've inspired you to try it for yourself.

Taking the advice of Mr and Mrs Mahogany, I opted for a visit to Guadalest, a beautiful village in the mountains above Benidorm. The scenery is stunning, and there are lots of lovely little shops and museums built into the rocks. Considering Guadalest is something of a tourist trap, with dozens of coaches disgorging their cargoes of camera-clutching visitors from all points of the globe every day, the prices in the shops are much cheaper than we have come to expect on the coast.

There are lots of pick up points for the tours, all in areas where there is plenty of free, safe parking. We joined the coach at Quesada, only a 5 minute drive from our home in Algorfa. The coach was modern and comfortable and, once everyone had been collected, we discovered that our courier was very knowledgeable about the area and gave us plenty of information without being intrusive. So far, so good.

When we arrived at the Blanket Factory, we were told to expect a ‘short demonstration.' Our courier stressed that we were under no obligation to buy, and told us we could look forward to coffee and cake and a free raffle. ‘How could they afford to lay on all this?' I asked myself. Well, the demonstration didn't just involve blankets as we know it. These were double thickness, virgin merino lambs' wool under blankets, throws, pillows, dressing gowns and slippers, not to mention latex mattresses with lambs' wool toppers. The pillows retailed at around £80 each, while a complete ‘sleeping system' would set you back well over £1000.

The cheerful Geordie chappie who did our ‘short' (only an hour and a half!) demonstration assured us that, with this system, we'd get the best night's sleep we'd ever had. I wasn't so sure. The thought of parting with over a grand just for a mattress, blankets and pillows would keep me awake worrying about the state of my bank balance. Others obviously didn't have the same concerns, as several of the 20 or so people in our group made purchases. Others cheerfully admitted that they were only here for the trip and the free refreshments, and said they came on at least one trip every week.

When we finally arrived in Guadalest, we had two hours free time, which was nowhere near long enough to do justice to the place. Several people, including my husband and myself, decided that there just wasn't time to do lunch and explore, so we missed out on our meal. We needn't have worried, though. On the way back, we stopped at a large bodega where we were offered samples of wine, chorizo sausages and chocolates. You may think that sounds like an unlikely combination, but, when you've been on the road for over 6 hours with very little to eat and drink, it's just what the doctor ordered. Perhaps it was all part of a cunning plan, because almost everyone on the coach came out with a large bag of goodies.

Do the Blanket Factory Tours do what it says on the tin? Well, yes, although I'd argue with their definition of a ‘short demonstration.' An hour and a half is the length of the average feature film, and it's obviously going to eat into the time available at the destination. One couple who had sampled the Benidorm Market trip the previous week said that by the time they arrived, most of the stallholders were packing up. As it only costs around 10 Euros for Benidorm Market on an ordinary coach tour, I would imagine that that would be the better option, as there is plenty of free time in the resort. And would you really be prepared to sit through a demonstration of overpriced goods before embarking on the trip proper? I think I'd lose the will to live if I had to go through all that again. On the other hand, the Blanket Factory Tours are a good way of seeing the beautiful Costa Blanca if you're on a tight budget. With the pound currently at an all time low against the euro, many people are having to trim their living costs, so these trips do allow them to save on fuel and wear and tear on the car.

The tours compare favourably with regular coach tours in terms of customer service and comfort, so it's down to personal choice. There is absolutely no pressure to buy anything, so I suppose, in this instance, there is such a thing as a free lunch!