Customer Reviews

Going Native in Alicante

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I ordered this book because I will be moving to Alicante, Spain for about 8 months. I was surprised that there was even a book for people planning on moving to Alicante, as it's not a huge city (I hadn't even heard of Alicante before I got placed there for a job). There weren't any reviews on it (which I usually take into great consideration before buying anything on Amazon.com), so I felt I was taking a slight risk, as I think this book is a bit pricey, at $18.99. However, this seemed to be the only book specifically for Alicante, so I figured I would buy it for tips, etc.

But when I received it, I was baffled to find that there were really only about 6 pages in the book (out of about 165) that talked specifically about Alicante! Now, when I say Alicante, I mean the city/capital of Alicante, and not the region. As Alicante (city) is the same name as the region, I just guess I didn't realize that the book would be covering the whole region and not only the city. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but when I bought it I figured (as I'm sure a majority of people looking at this book will think as well) the book would be on the main city people go to live/visit, and there was nothing on the description of the book that pointedly stated that the book would be on the Alicante, the region.

I feel it would have been much better to have a more clear or specific title (= The Region of Alicante, or something simple like that), or at least a bigger emphasis in the description on the page that it's not specifically on the city. I probably didn't play close enough attention, but as a person who didn't know much about Alicante, that didn't occur to me. For example, it gives summaries of little towns around the region, such as Benijofar, Petrer, Los Montesinos, etc. All very helpful if you're planning on doing a lot of travel in the region, but not if you're just looking for stuff to do/see in the actual city. The 6 pages on the city in the book is nice, but you can find the same info and more on the internet searching for "Alicante".

The first 47 pages give a basic overview of the region, such as history, climate, economy, etc. (which is kind of helpful, but none of which I'm sure you couldn't just find on the internet). I feel the rest of summaries about small towns might help if you're looking to pick a town to live in - like buying property and moving there (not just studying abroad), and need an overall view of the towns there. But since it covers lots of towns, there's nothing too in depth; just a broad overview of them (each description ranging from a paragraph to a few pages).

I'm only writing this to perhaps help others who are looking to buy this, under the impression that you'll be getting a load of information and advice about the city of Alicante. That, you will not. But, if you need a book about the whole region, and want to road trip it through the entire Alicante region or something, this may be for you.

I won't even be bringing this book with me on my trip now, because it's not specific enough to my needs of the city. It will save me space (not much, because it's a small book) in my luggage, but I still feel disappointed I spent $19+ on it for nothing. And as I plan on doing more travel outside the region of Alicante, I'll just be bringing a more broad travel book, which covers the more main areas I might be visiting.

I hope this helps, good luck with your travels!