A Night in Alicante

The Beach at Alicante, Spain

Why would we spend a single night in any place, let alone a Mediterranean resort destination like Alicante?

There was a simple practical reason: we had already booked a month’s lodging in Valencia, but the most affordable airfare to get to Manchester, England–our next stop–was out of Alicante rather than out of Valencia. Even adding train fares for the ninety minute ride from Valencia south to Alicante it was considerably cheaper. And while our departure time wasn’t exactly early in the morning (ten past noon, actually), we felt it would be a bit more leisurely travel if we left Valencia a day early and spent one night in Alicante.

The other reason for spending that single night in Alicante was simply to see what it was like. Who knows, maybe our next month in a Spanish Mediterranean town should be in Alicante?

The “Q-Bert” Tilework of Alicante’s Playa

Our original plan was to splurge a bit and stay that single night in the Melia hotel right on the water. When we had checked the rates on booking.com a month or so earlier, a night was looking to run us a fairly acceptable $150 a night, but by the time we got around to booking it a few weeks ago it had risen to $200 a night, a bit outside of our comfort zone. Instead we went for a budget option (at less than $60 a night) and tried a well-reviewed little B&B and hostal called La Milagrosa a couple of blocks off the beach. If you’re interested in our review of this hotel, check Castle de Santa Barbara, Standing Watch Over Alicante for Centuries

But you know what, it was ok. Sometimes you just have to take a nap. Still, it was a good afternoon. After our nap we headed out for a dinner of pizza (Lori), tapas (Chuck), and sangria (both). Rested, refreshed, and fed, we walked the playa, saw no less than four wedding parties, and happened across a wonderful presentation of traditional music & dance–ah, serendipity is sweet to us travelers! After that we took our shoes off and walked along the water’s edge before returning to our hotel and turning in early: tomorrow was a big day, and we knew that we’d come back to Alicante another time.