People travel to Murcia for a variety of reasons. There’s a big rise in people travelling there to learn and practise their Spanish. We say why not hire a car and get away from the tourist areas where everyone speaks English anyway and head for the villages where you’ll need to be understood to get by.
Doing this is easy hiring a car online through Rhinocarhire.com. The rates start from as little as 14 euros a day and we give you the option of dropping the car off at another of our locations in Spain if you’re on a drive and stay holiday.
Murcia Mini Guide
Murcia can rival any other city in Spain for its architecture and the beauty of its beaches and parks. It is the capital of La Manga and lies in the south east of Spain on the Costa Brava. The fine, warm weather makes this a good place to grow vegetables and also attracts holiday makers who want sun, sand and the allure of the Mediterranean sea.
Murcia has more than 300 days of sunshine a year and it rarely rains there. However, the weather can fluctuate with severe heat in the summer and frosts coming in the winter. It is thanks to the Moors that the crops have grown so well in Murcia.
After the Iberians and the Carthaginians had lived there, the Moors set up a complex system of irrigation which still serves the land well today. Murcia's central low lying plain is known as the Huerta, which means orchard or vineyard, because of its fertility. The city has mountains rising up all around it and is built on the banks of the Segura River.
Murcia is Spain's twelfth largest metropolitan city with just shy of half a million residents. It has fantastic churches and monuments, many of which were built during the boom in the silk trade which the city experienced during the 18th century. There are masterpieces of the Baroque style of architecture within the city, none more impressive than the towers of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Cartagena. It also has marvelous examples of Gothic, Neoclassical and Rococo styles of architecture.
The centre of the town is a pedestrian's paradise as there are areas which are designated solely for walking. The Traperia goes from the cathedral to the former market square Plaza de Santo Domingo. It has a lavish casino decorated in the Moorish style and a patio which has been based on the Alhambra Royal rooms in Granada. The Plateria, or silver street, is where the silver goods used to be traded by the Jewish community and is also well worth taking a stroll along.
Murcia is a very good place to visit as much of its economy is geared towards tourism and entertainment with a high proportion of museums, theatres, cinemas and restaurants in the city. There is no airport in Murcia so your best bet is to fly into Alicante Airport and rent a car for the scenic trip of around 75 kilometres south along the Costa Brava.
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