It was towards the end of October. Sam was between jobs, and I had four days of vacation left. Despite being in the midst of a work nightmare, I needed some sun before the English winter kicked in.
We flew to Alicante on a Friday night, with a view to come back the following Sunday from Murcia. This meant I would be working one day from Spain.
Sam and I are both Spain obsessed, but we had put off Alicante because of it’s ‘Brits abroad‘ reputation. In England it is probably more famous for this than for anything else that makes it special.
It is part of Costa Blanca, a coastline swept up in the rise of short-haul tourism in the 70s and 80s. As a result many ugly buildings were erected on its coast to cater to this boom of tourists.
We decided to put our reservations aside to go enjoy the 30 degree weather on a beach in Spain, only a two hour flight from London, at a time when much of Spain was cooling down for the fall.
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Where to stay for a week in Alicante
Our already late-scheduled flight was delayed by an hour. By the time we arrived at 1am we hopped straight into a metered taxi to our hotel in central Alicante. This cost about €25 and took no more than 15 minutes. We checked into La Milagrosa which was perfect for this stay. The hotel is in the old town, a couple of minutes from the beach, and a couple of minutes from the bars and restaurants.
Breakfast was included on its rooftop along with a stunning view of Castillo de Santa Barbara, which dominates the city. In the room we had a table and chairs where I would work from on Monday. It was more than we expected to pay during the off-season, at around £95 per night, but we got added value when we discovered our booking included a free round of drinks on their rooftop bar every evening.
A week in Alicante: Saturday at the market & beach
It was too late to do anything on that Friday night, but on Saturday morning we ventured straight out to the local market. We try to do this every Saturday when in Spain.
The markets of Spain are always very popular at the weekends. They are often filled with little bars and eateries where you can try market-fresh produce and hang-out with the locals. Mercat Central d’Alacant was big and incredible, but the stalls were produce-filled, with less of an eating and drinking vibe.
Nevertheless there were a good three to four little bar/bodega stalls set up in the halls, too. We walked around and drank a couple of cañas, which were around €3.50 each. We didn’t stay for lunch because we wanted to hit the beach before we ate.
The beach isn’t the most amazing in Spain, but there’s nothing like staying in a city on the beach. We reserved chairs and an umbrella for the day for around €15, and hung-out for a couple of hours before visiting the first restaurant of our trip.
We walked down the palm tree-lined mosaic sidewalk of Explanada de España to D’Tablas.
This could not have been a more casual, walk-off-the-beach affair. Cañas are advertised for €0.80 on a photo wrap around the restaurant. There is no menu. Just servers who walk out of the kitchen with sets of tapas on wooden blocks. As they come past you take what you want to eat. You pile up your plates and glasses, and at the end of your meal the server counts them all and hands you the bill.
We really, really went for it. 16 tapas, 2 cazuelas (potted stews), and 12 canas. For €33.40. It was so good and fun that we went back later in the trip.
A week in Alicante: Post-siesta pick-me-ups
After an afternoon sleeping off lunch on the beach we pulled ourselves together for drinks. We went to the square below our hotel and had a vino and vermouth in front of the beautiful Basilica de Santa Maria. Alicante’s skyline on the beach might be famously ugly, but there’s still so much beautiful architecture to enjoy in the city.
We walked into the downtown area where there were many, shall we say, inauthentic restaurants. Establishments catering to crowds who didn’t know, or understand, or care, how amazing Spanish cuisine can be. On our way in we passed a shop which advertised itself as a butcher, but which was surrounded by old men drinking small bottles of Estrella or big glasses of red wine. It was called La Charcuteria and we obviously needed to go.
It wasn’t really lying… there was a deli counter, but the woman (who I fell in love with) had stuck a couple of tables inside, and opened a few of the bottles of wine. We got some incredible glasses of red for €4 which were served with sides of cheese, olives, and, of course, charcuterie.
The woman who owned this bar-slash-butcher shop gave us many of our dinner recommendations for the trip, too. This is one of the last few cash-only bars, so come prepared. My biggest heartbreak of the trip was that this amazing little spot, while advertised as open every night, wasn’t open again for the rest of our week in Alicante. If it had we would have gladly come again and again.
A week in Alicante: Dinner at Nou Manolin
Recommendations in hand, we walked to Nou Manolín for dinner. We couldn’t have picked a better place for our first dinner on a Saturday night.
The restaurant was made up of one giant u-shaped bar right smack in the middle of the space. Within the bar was a good portion of the kitchen itself. The remainder was in full view but sunken a bit below and behind the main scene. We were welcomed in spite of them being full and were escorted to the back corner of the bar. Here we could wait for seats with drinks and snacks, and a view of the whole scene.
Once seated, the food was amazing and the drinks were excellent. Although not with that low Spanish price to which we are accustomed. All in we still had a great evening and meal with beers, wines, and several dishes for less than £70.
After dinner we stopped at a wine bar named Syrah. We sat at a table on the street to people-watch, and drank some excellent and great value reds. Finally, we stopped at the Soho Parc cafe in Plaza Portal de Elche for one last (unnecessary) night cap.
A week in Alicante: Climbing the Castle
The next morning, during our rooftop breakfast overlooking the Castillo de Santa Barbara, we decided to actually climb up to it.
This castle dates back to the 9th century and is very visibly of Moorish build. It sits atop Mount Benacantil, 160 metres above the bay below.
A week in Alicante: Some upmarket options
We went for lunch at La Taberna del Gourmet before hitting the beach. While slightly more upmarket than our previous lunch spot (though I can’t imagine anything being less upmarket than D’Tablas), we were still welcomed in our beach gear. This menu featured some of my favourite Spanish sandwiches, like the Bikini (triangles of truffle, ham and cheese on white bread) and grilled Solomillo.
We spent the afternoon on the beach, and I started getting anxious about having to work the next day. The evening was therefore more lowkey than a usual second night out on vacation, and we had a nice dinner at the somewhat swanky Manero seated at the bar.
This included a couple of really nice wines by the glass as well as a couple of really good sandwiches. We were in bed by 10pm.
A week in Alicante: A few other gems
The next day I woke up early for a run before sitting down at my laptop for the day. Sam went to explore the city solo. It was about 8pm when I finally met Sam on the roof for a drink.
Afterwards we headed to Cerveceria Sento Rambla for beers and several delicious mini sandwiches. We stayed here for the evening rather than bar hopping since it was such a great bar.
Later we went for gelato at Livanti, a place I had earmarked earlier in the week as somewhere to go. I am a gelato snob and can always sniff out the good from the bad. When I spot somewhere good I have to go!
A week in Alicante: Rinse & repeat and the best of the rest
The rest of the trip was much of the same. Beach during the day with a stop-off for lunch nearby, and dinner in town. Another lunch spot that we have to mention is Layton. It’s right off the beach and excellent quality with pricing more in line with our expectations of Spain.
Other favourite dinner spots included Restaurante Capri. In addition to a dinner spot, it became a snack spot for us when we discovered a truly delicious sandwich which we came back for several times over the course of the week. It also happened to be right beside La Guapa Vermuteria, where Sam could indulge in a post-dinner vermouth.
Piripi was the sister restaurant to Nou Manolin which we had loved for our first dinner in the city. It had a very similar menu and layout, but at the far end of town it was a bit quieter. La Taverna del Raco Pia was one of the recommendations we got from the owner of the butcher shop/bar. It was a classic style white table cloths kind of place without being stuffy.
One night we stopped at Munich Bar for beers we didn’t need, and sat at two tall stools looking out of the window. I can’t say I remember much more about this spot than these details. Vino y Mas was a great wine bar with at least 25 served by the glass. It was also located on a street inexplicably lined with giant mushroom figurines.
Alicante for a week: The verdict
All in all we had a nice week in Alicante. The weather was incredible – even at the end of October. We found some great little gems to visit for drinks and food. Among the hideous 70’s and 80’s buildings are beautiful classical Spanish buildings.
With Castillo de Santa Barbara on the top of a hill visible from every part of town, there is no shortage of beauty to behold as well.
The one comment I would have, given the size of the city and the level of the hospitality within, the prices were disproportionately high compared to the rest of Spain. This is probably due to the number of British citizens who snowbird in the city for all of the reasons above.
Alicante does not compare to the likes of fellow Spanish beach cities Barcelona and San Sebastian, which are truly top tier. Nevertheless, Alicante was a great place to spend a week late in the season with minimal planning and where we could walk everywhere we needed to go. This would be very well suited to a long weekend. You could easily take in all of the sights, best eats, and climb the castle in a Thursday to Sunday night adventure.
1 comment
Really cool photos – Did you know that’s a trip to Alicante in mid December is also worth the trip. We went and loved it