Street Markets in Benidorm

Wednesday is the busiest day, with four of the five markets trading. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday each bring three, Monday and Tuesday two, and Friday is the quietest trading day with two markets open. There is no day of the week without a market somewhere in Benidorm, which is unusual for a town of this size and means a stay of even two or three nights will overlap with several.

If you only have one morning, take Wednesday. If you are choosing between a weekend day, Saturday and Sunday are equal at three markets each, so pick on the basis of which one is closest to where you are staying rather than on how much will be open.

The most common hours across these five markets are 09:00 to 14:00. That pattern shapes the whole visit: stalls are setting out at nine, the middle of the morning is the fullest, and by half past one traders are folding tables and boxing up. Arriving after one o'clock usually means seeing the tail end of a market rather than the market itself.

Individual markets vary from that pattern, so check the timetable above for the hours at the one you are heading for rather than assuming the 9am to 2pm window.

All five markets sit within one town, so no bus or car journey between them is long. That makes it practical to see two in a morning on a Wednesday, when four are trading, if you start at nine at the first and move on around eleven.

Bring cash. Card acceptance at open-air stalls varies from one trader to the next and is not something you can count on, particularly at smaller pitches. Bring a bag as well, and if you are buying fruit or anything that suffers in the sun, do it at the end of your circuit rather than the start.

Benidorm is not the only town in the area with regular markets. The wider Alicante province page covers the rest of the coast and inland towns if you are moving around.

For market mornings, the Old Town (Casco Antiguo) puts you closest to the stalls and within walking distance of the seafront, so you can start at nine without a taxi or bus first. If you'd rather stay somewhere with more resort facilities, the Magic Aqua Rock Gardens is further from the action but still a manageable trip to any of the five markets.