Safari Aitana (Penàguila): drive-through visit, tips and access

The lion is right there, a few metres from your windscreen, and he clearly has no intention of getting up for you. Welcome to Safari Aitana, a park unlike anything else on the Costa Blanca: no slides or cardboard sets here, just a mountain road you drive in your own car, among animals from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. According to the regional tourist board, it is the only safari in the Valencia region you can visit this way.

A family story since 1975

The park was dreamed up in 1973 by Juan Sevila and María Van Soldt and opened in 1975 on the slopes of the Sierra de Aitana, in Penàguila, far from the bustle of the coast. Half a century later, the spirit hasn’t changed: a park that ‘lives for and from the animals’, among pine forests and mountains.

How the visit works

You drive in and follow the signposted route at low speed. The animals live in semi-freedom in large enclosures that recall their natural habitats: lions, elephants, giraffes, llamas, as well as deer and many other species that appear around the next bend.

Two fallow deer with large antlers watching the photographer in the Safari Aitana woods — Deer that watch you as closely as you watch them. Archangel12 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Part of the park is then visited on foot, with smaller animals and areas for children. That’s the moment to get out of the car and stretch your legs.

Pale yellow albino python coiled up, head raised towards the camera — Not every resident lives outdoors: some you get to see up close. Archangel12 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The golden rules of the safari

Windows up and doors locked in the big-animal areas. Yes, even if ‘he looks friendly’.
Don’t feed the animals and follow all the posted instructions.
Drive slowly and stop without blocking other cars.
Animals have right of way on the road. They know it.

Practical information

Our tips

The drive is part of the trip. From the coast you climb winding mountain roads: take your time and plan ahead for sensitive stomachs.

In summer, come early or late in the day: as everywhere, the animals are more active in the cool hours, and it is often cooler up here than on the coast.

Clean your windscreen before you go in. For photos, it makes all the difference.

Binoculars and a camera for the kids: the safari turns into a real (photographic) treasure hunt.

Keep exploring

Animal lovers can carry on to Terra Natura in Benidorm or Río Safari Elche. And to plan a whole week with the kids, follow our guide to family days out on the Costa Blanca.