Reason #17 The Duke Of Wellington

Yep, Another bar.....

This is my favourite bar in the old town. It's a English style bar on Carrer del Port next to MacDonald's. It's A fairly decent size bar with a large outside sitting area but word of warning, it's up a lot of stairs and a little awkward getting pushchairs up.

It's well worth it once your there though. A good selection of drinks and decent prices with typical Benidorm measures. It's does a fantastic selection of food (Yes, food again - I like to eat!) With a large and varied menu, mainly British fare.

Everything I have had has been lovely, cooked well and comes out super quick,. I can recommend the Sunday lunches and the Cottage pie in particular. Wide range of desserts to.

As the outside area is quite raised it's a lovely bar to sit and people watch and stare out over the streets of benidorm. Sitting with a cold pint, Benidorm in view and some nice music  in the background is a lovely feeling, you also get these cute little lizards that run up and down the walls.

Another bar to add to the list of recommendations!

Reason #16 The Cellar

The Cellar is for Kids. Alarming as this may sound it's actually a Children Friendly bar located by the plaza in Vincents corner.

It's a traditional Vincents bar in many ways, it has reasonably priced drinks and large variety of them and the "Happy Hours" with buy one get one free. It's has pool tables and Various TV screen showing sports.

The bar is also full of arcade games and kiddy based games, they have entertainment on for children including a clown (And not the scary type either which is good for a clown fearing Dad) and Magic.

My Little lad went here for the first time last year and loved it, for the rest of the Holiday he was asking to go back to the bar than he played games in and ate popcorn. It's Nice having a bar like this so the adults can sit and have a drink while the kids are entertained.

So go on, grab a drink, get comfy and put your kids in the cellar!

Reason #15 The Buddah Bar

I love this place. It's quite new, only seen it for the first time last year.  It's perfectly located right on the front of the beach at the far end of Ave de Madrid and round the corner from our apartment which is perfect for a "lets just stop here for one more" pint before we tackle the short but steep ascent up to home.

Dude walked right in front of my picture!

The bar is very small but it's nicely done up, prices are reasonable, They do a small selection of food which is Nice and every time you buy a drinks they bring you a small snack (Nuts, crisps or sausage rolls) like Tapas but for Brits!

The view is great, a perfect view looking out to the beach and it's lovely to sit with a nice cold pint and gaze out at the sea and gave longingly at the island.

Staff are always friendly and they have a few newspapers left around for good measure.

Reason #14 Chinese Tack Shops

If you have been to Benidorm you will know exactly what I mean, if not, then here you are: Benidom is full of shops rung by Chinese which all sell exactly the same items.

These range from cheaply made toys and cheaply made cloths to cheaply made tacky souvenirs.  The consistent factor here is that everything Is cheap.

You literally cannot walk a few meters down any street without walking past one of there, you will know when you do as one the the cheaply made toys will start singing or dancing at you.

They are great though for the sheer amount of tack you can find here. if you want it, they have it. and if you don’t, they will have it anyway. My Little boy loves these and we cant go a day without buying at least one toy and almost always without fail they will break really early and really easily.  This is now part of our holiday tradition. They also seems to stock a large selection of binoculars and I still cant fathom why.

So, next time your out and about in Benidorm pop into one and pick up some tack today!

Reason #13 The Yorkshire Pride

The Yorkshire pride is one of the most well know of the British bars in Benidorm and there are 3 of them

Yorkshire pride 1,2 and 3!) The one we frequented by us is The Yorkshire Pride II on Calle de Londres.

There are several bars on here which are pretty great (See Stretford End).

As with most bars in benidorm the drinks are cheap and the measures are generous. There is always a sports even of some sort on (Generally Rugby league) and music in the background.

What makes the Yorkshire pride stand out is the food. It's quite renowned around Benidorm for the enormous portions. It's not served on plates, it's on huge platters!

The Sunday lunches are epic and come highly recommended. The beef dinner is serves with what seems like half a cow and comes with 5/6 vegetables, several kinds of potato and all the trimmings. I have only finished 1 of these and to this day it remains one of my greatest achievements!

The rest of the males Are equally as nice, Saturday is steak night and again, Huge and tasty.

Overall a great bar and great food for people with large appetites and well worth a visit!

Reason #12 Nightime Beach

I have made my feelings about the beach during the day quite clear previously, I am not a fan.

At night time however, this does change. The sand is a lot cooler and can be walked on without fear of losing your feet. It's much quieter so you can walk along the beach without fear of standing on heads and it has that certain romantic feeling about it.

That may sound a bit soft but I actually proposed to my now wife on Benidorm beach late at night  like the old romantic I am, Found a nice quiet spot, got down on one knee at popped the question.

It's nice just to sit and watch the waves at night, at least I do anyway, you can see all the lights along Benidorms coast and just watch the world go by, really quit nice and a stark contrast from the busy pubs and clubs.

So as much I as hate the beach in the day I love it at night

Reason #11 The Stretford End

Ok, let me get this out of the way first. This is A Manchester United themed bar. I am Liverpool fan. Lets not ever confuse that.

Putting aside the fact that there is a Man Utd theme this is actually a great bar. The food is tasty and reasonably price. The drink is also cheap with a wide selection and some good offers on.

The Stretford End is located on Calle de Londres just down for the Yorkshire Pride (More on that one another time)

My main reason for including this bar though is that fact you can have a bet. I like betting (http://thistimenextyear.info). I'm not very good but it's good fun and this is one of the very few places in Benidorm I can have a nice cold pint, a bite to eat and a punt on the horses/football/whatever I can bet on. I could happily spend my whole holiday doing this to be honest!

We watched the Boxing here last year and the place was packed and it was really a great atmosphere. There a number of TVs both inside and out along with a large screen projector for the big events.

Well worth a visit sports fan or not!

Reason #10 - India Gate

Of all the places we eat in Benidorm this may be my favourite. Located in the old town area (Calle Girona) this is an Indian (you probably guessed by the Name) restaurant.

It's quite small on the inside and due to a lack of air conditioning is can get very hot. It's well worth putting up with this though.

They make some of the best Indian food I have tested anywhere. In the world. Ever. I have never had a bad meal there and we have made maybe 7-8 visits in total. It's all well cooked, well flavoured and cooked to perfection.

I will highly recommend the Tandoori mixed grill. It's a mountain of Lamb, Chicken, Shami Kebabs and fish served with a choice of sauce.  It’s lovely, Words cannot describe how good this is.  If I was to be executed tomorrow this would be my last meal. It's around 12 Euros and you get far more than any human can eat. To be fair though I always have rice and starters (The Onion Bhaji's also come recommended) along with a bottle or 2 of wine.

The staff are also brilliant and very welcoming too. I would recommend going here at least once even if you don't like curry!

Reason #9 - Mundomar

Mundomar

This is Benidorms large wildlife area where you can see all sorts of animals and it’s a good family day out. It's a good size and to get around and take everything in will take a few hours.

They have a wide selection of animals, from birds to monkeys and Dolphins which even get their own show! The dolphin show is probably one of the highlights, it's pretty awesome and lasts a while. It's appears they are well look after and cared for which is always nice to see and you can have your pictures taken if you like.

I personally liked the meercats, lots of them and very amusing. It's also pretty cool going into the underwater parts and seeing the aquatic animals all swim around close up.

It can get very hot there and there is little shade so do bear this in mind. The do have some area's scattered around which spray mist out and intervals and this is lovely and refreshing. Also small parks for the kids and fast food joints. Well worth a visit!

Reason #8 - The Triangle

This was the first place I was taken to when i first went to  Benidorm back in 2006 so It holds a special memeory for me. I probably don’t enjoy it quite as much As I used to but it's still a quality night out.

Anotehr of Vincents corner on  Calle Estocolmo in Rincoln, this is probably the one aimed more at the younger (I.E 18 - 25) group than the others, it's loud, too loud for my old delicate ears but it's a good laugh.

As ever with Vincents it's cheap, local spirits (Benidorm Measures, at least 2.5 times the British ones) and a mixer for only a couple of euros. Large selections and of course again with Vincents, the staff are great and really friendly.

The music is a mix of modern chart music along with recent classic and of course the ever popular Karaoke which is always a laugh - Providing I don’t sing.

As I say, it's not quite as much fun As it used to be, maybe due to it not being quite so busy but it's always a good, cheapish night out and ringing ears aside, I doubt you'll regret it.