✦ The neighbourhood
How to get up to Santa Bárbara castle from the old town
The lift is a ten-minute walk from the door. And from the top-floor studio, the castle is right in front of you.
✦ The neighbourhood
The lift is a ten-minute walk from the door. And from the top-floor studio, the castle is right in front of you.
Santa Bárbara castle sits right above the old town, at the top of Mount Benacantil, 166 metres above the sea. It’s a fortress of Moorish origin that defended the city for centuries.
It’s so close that, from the terrace of the Superior Studio, the castle is right in front of you. But we’ll get to that at the end. First, how to get up there. There are three ways, and entry to the fortress is free whichever you choose.
It’s the easiest way. The lift is on Avenida de Juan Bautista Lafora, opposite Postiguet beach: open the map from the studio and you’ll see the way.
It’s the option with no climbing: the right one if you’re with older people or small children, or simply don’t feel like walking up a hill. A plan that works well is to go up by lift, explore the castle at your leisure and walk down by one of the two footpaths, which bring you back into the old town.
On foot there are two routes, and both start in the old town:
According to Alicante’s tourist office, either one takes about 30 minutes from the old town. It’s uphill: comfortable shoes, water and, in summer, best first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon.
By bus there’s a shuttle that leaves from Plaza Puerta del Mar and costs €1.45. The square is next to Postiguet, so it’s another way up with no climbing.
The hours change with the time of year:
So in summer you can go up at night. And in winter, watch the afternoon: it’s already closed at 18:00, so if you’re planning to go up after lunch, don’t leave it too late.
A word of warning: the castle may close during weather alerts. It happened, for example, on 9 September 2026. If the weather looks rough, check the Alicante tourist office website first.
And if you come during Hogueras, the castle has its part to play: at midnight on 24 June the palmera, the firework burst that signals the cremà, is launched from its summit. We tell you all about it in our Hogueras post.
From the castle you see the old town. And from the top of the house you see the castle.
The Superior Studio is the house’s top-floor studio and has two terraces of its own. It’s our favourite, for one reason: it has “spectacular views of the castle and the Santa Cruz quarter, all the domes, and you can even see the sea”.
The terraces are only for guests staying in the Superior. If you want to climb up to the castle in the morning and look across at it in the evening, drink in hand, this is the studio to book.
Everything else around us, from the beaches and the Mercado Central to the day trips, is on our Area guide page.
Information checked in September 2026. The opening hours change with the season and the castle may close during weather alerts: check before you go up.
