Castellón

We left Javea to discover an area where we haven’t been before: Castellón de la Plana.

Sunrise near Castellón

The capital of the Province of Castellón has a port at El Grao de Castellón, which offers a free caravan parking next to the beach and Planetarium. There is a little tourist information, where we got a map and information on the city.

Planetarium of Castellón

But first we discovered the seaside. Next to the big harbour stretches a beautiful beach which is very well maintained and has a beautiful path through the dunes. We walked until we reached the little airfield of Castellón which has a big parking next to it, complete occupied by caravans. Also a nice spot, as you can watch the little planes landing and taking off.

There is an electric bus going from El Grao to the city of Castellón for 1,- Euro, leaving every 10 minutes. But we had already our bikes out and drove on a cycling path the 4-5 km into the city. The city was busy and we walked through the pedestrian area first to the Farola square with its prominent street light and some houses from the Modernist period including the post office.

Modernist style post office

La Farola – Streetlamp at Plaza Independencia from 1929

But the most beautiful part was the Plaza Mayor with the bell tower called Torre El Fadri. We managed to be there between 12 and 1 pm, when the tower is open, so we could climb the small staircase up to different levels and finally the bells on top. The view was impressive.

Plaza Mayor

Ayuntamiento – City Hall

having a chat @ Plaza Mayor

El Fadri Bell Tower at the Plaza Mayor

ringing the bell

El Fadri Tower from inside

I think, I take this one …

The square itself is very pretty with the old townhouse on one side, the cathedral opposite and the market hall in between.

We had lunch in a little street at Restaurant Enkuentro with nice vegetarian food, before we took the bikes again to head first to the Real Casino Antiguo – a beautiful building, and then to the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Lledó, which was sadly closed. We drove to the seaside and along the beautiful route along the sea until we reached the our camper again.

would you like to taste the postre?

Before it got dark, we walked to the harbour of Grao where a lighthouse stands and many restaurants, specialised in fish, might have been tempting, if they would have been open. Some might have opened later, but of course January is not the season.

lost homes near the harbour of El Grao

light house @ El Grao harbour

The next day, we drove to Benicàssim and parked near the Via Verde which runs along the coast to Orpesa. As it is only about 5 km long, we decided to walk this route.

Via Verde del Mar, which runs along the coast to Orpesa

At the bay of Orpesa we stopped for lunch before we walked back. Taking the route along the beach in Benicàssim, we admired the villas, beautiful houses from the end to the 19th century.

19th century villa with HAM radio antennas 😉

In the afternoon, we drove along the coast to the north, looking for a nice spot to stay overnight, but didn’t find anything we liked, so we returned to Benicàssim and drove up into the mountains of the Desert de les Palmes, where we parked at a lookout point, with spectacular views down to the coast.