I spent 8 days in Alicante learning Spanish at Enforex. Outside of studying, there are a lot of things to do in this beach side town. I have come up with the top 5 things to do in Alicante as below:
1) Go to the beach
I know, it is so obvious, but you can spend many hours at the beach. There is even a mini gym, well a few weights and exercise machines. You can also rent out a paddle boat for the afternoon. The beach is big enough that it did not get that crowded (in September) and there are couple of restaurants where you can grab a bite to eat.
2) Visit the Castle
Do this if you are feeling energetic. I go to the gym a lot and even after climbing up the stairs here, I was a bit worn out. It took about 30 minutes to walk up to the top of the mountain with beautiful views of the coast.
3) Eat Out
There is a huge choice of places to eat in Alicante, but just beware of getting ripped off. A friend and I went to a pizza place which was really greasy and fatty, most disappointed especially as it was quite expensive. We then went to the barrio area to ” ” and for two steaks and a drink it was 21 euros.
This restaurant is situated in the Barrio area of Alicante and is at the more expensive end of the dinner range. The waiters are very attentive. I shared the walnut and apple salad with a friend and had the chicken for mains. We also had a cup of gaspachio and bread with the meal. There are generous portions and so I didn’t need dessert.
Sale and Peppe
On my last night, i went out to this restaurant with people from my class. It was really good. I had a calzone salame. I had one drink and it was 11 euros total.
4) Explore the bars and clubs
For a small town, Alicante has a lot of bars and clubs. Even if you visited just one bar for every drink you had, you would struggle to see them all in one night. Here are a few I sampled
Lizarran
Wednesdays is credit crunch night which means all drinks and tapas are only one euro each. What a bargain, so I certainly took advantage of that. Lizarran is on the Avenida Rambla, just opposite the Rambla hotel.
Astronomo bar
This bar was right in the heart of the Barrio district. It is outside, set in a garden with trees and leaves giving much needed shade during the day. This was one of the most expensive bars, it cost 11 euros for one vodka and fanta and one beer.
In the square just outside of my hotel- Hotel Rambla, there were two very nice bars, 26 Lounge bar and Bar Soho.
The prices in Alicante are very reasonable. I paid just over 5 euros for 2 coronas or as they say here, two coronitas. Bar Soho also serves breakfast and I took a waffle with nutella and an orange juice for 5 euros. The square is surrounded by fig trees which means it is always in the shade, great for having a few casual drinks during the day.
5) Shopping
The Avenida Maisonnave has a number of shops, Zara, Mango, Sefora as well as the department store El Corte Ingles which are all open until 10pm. There are also little boutiques selling souvenirs along tha Explanda de España. These tend to open in the late afternoon, so I would wait to go shopping after the siesta. In Spain shops are shut on Sundays, so make sure you get everything you want during the week, although the Open car, a supermarket on the Avenida Alfonso was open on Sundays.
