Go where the road takes you

Most rental holidays here stay on the coast. Five hours of sun, three of dinner, repeat. The car spends the week in the hotel garage.

Take it inland once and the trip changes shape.

The CV-700 from Pego up to the Vall de Gallinera is forty kilometres of switchbacks through cherry orchards — bloom in March, harvest in June, otherwise a quiet ribbon of road. Stop in Patró for a mountain lunch.

The CV-755 climbs out of Callosa d’En Sarrià to Guadalest and keeps going to Confrides. Above Confrides the road is a shelf cut into rock; the views into the Marina Alta are the kind people take photos of and do not post because they do not believe a phone could capture them.

For a longer day, follow the N-332 down to Pilar de la Horadada and turn inland on the CV-925. Salt flats, vineyards near Pinoso, lunch in a pueblo with one restaurant and three menu options. Back to the coast by sunset.

None of these roads are on tour-bus itineraries. You will not share them with anyone. That is the point.