In February 2022, I went on a solo holiday to Spain for 7 nights. I had annual leave to use up before the end of the holiday year and I wanted to get away for a few days and relax.
The holiday cost me less than £400 in total, including flights, accommodation and spending money. Here’s how I did it, and some of the things I did while I was there. Prices quoted in pounds for things I did in Spain have been converted from euros.
Parking
My work is close to the airport so I drove to the office, left the car there, and walked to the nearby bus stop where the airport bus stops. It cost £2 for the short journey to the airport. Once through security, I headed to WHSmith to get a meal deal (less than £5).
Flights
I bagged a real bargain booking directly with Ryanair: £14.99 each way from Scotland to Alicante. Getting this price meant I didn’t pay for any of the many extras they tried to sell me, including a higher luggage allowance. I could only take on board a bag measuring 40x25x20cm. To give you an idea of what that looks like, here’s the bag I took (click photos to enlarge):
I was treated to some amazing views as I flew over Spain:
Accommodation
After booking the flights, I turned to finding somewhere to stay. I initially tried to find an entire place to stay for the whole week and narrowed it down to several places that were central. But while I was doing that, disaster struck and people booked them. The only places left available for the whole week were considerably more expensive, so I had to get a little creative and book two separate places.
Airbnb 1
A top (fifth) floor flat with no lift, a well-equipped kitchen, and a terrace with a view overlooking the nearby Santa Barbara Castle.
And how did I manage on so few clothes?
The cupboard on the terrace had a washing machine and the warm Spanish weather made it easy to dry my clothes. When I was doing my research on Airbnb before booking, I made sure I only included places with a washing machine.
6 nights cost me £205.31, or just over £34 a night. The washing machine allowed me to fly hand luggage only, as I mentioned, and having a fridge freezer, microwave, cooker and dining table meant that I could buy food cheaply from supermarkets instead of eating out all the time. If my partner had been with me, we would have eaten out more, but she’s a teacher so couldn’t get the time off work. She also has higher standards than I do when it comes to food (as you’ll find out in the food section), and I’ll be in trouble for writing that. The things I do for this blog…
Airbnb 2
I checked out of the flat by posting the keys through the mailbox allocated to it on the ground floor at 12 pm and off I went to Taco Bell to have some food and pass the time before I could go to the flat I was staying in for my last night. This was the most expensive meal I had at £7.89 (really pushing the boat out!) and it included a bottomless drink. I spent a little over an hour having my food and refilling my drink a few times before I headed to the new flat. The strategy of refilling my drink seemed great while I was sitting in Taco Bell, but later on, after peeing for what felt like the hundredth time, it didn’t seem so clever.
Usually, when I’m booking somewhere on Airbnb, I book the entire place. Since this was only for one night it was cheap, and it was extremely close to the bus stop for the airport bus, I went for a private room in a flat. I arrived and received the tour from the Spanish lady who owned the flat and it turned out that she knew just enough English to cover explaining the basics. This didn’t turn out to be a problem as I left to go to Lidl and buy some food and didn’t see her again during my stay.
The room was quite spacious and had a tiny balcony, but on the downside, it was cold at night and was situated on the corner of a very busy intersection on a Saturday night, so I didn’t get much sleep. I could hear every vehicle, siren, horn, conversation, shout, and drunken singing. It only cost £22.49, so it was worth it for one night.
Food
Most of the food I had was from Lidl – there were three nearby, all within walking distance. That walking distance never seems a problem when it’s in the Spanish sunshine rather than the British cold and rain. There were lots of small fruit shops, and I found several large indoor markets. I also discovered that Poundland, a discount retailer we have in the UK, was in Alicante but had been rebranded as Dealz.
I’m easily pleased when it comes to food on holiday, and I’m more than happy to have cheap supermarket food.
Touristy Things
Alicante
I spent most of my time here. The terrace on the roof of my first flat was a nice place to relax and read a book on my Kindle. I saw so many cool places and sights through a little research online and using my own two feet:
Santa Barbara Castle was free to get in and offered brilliant views over Alicante. I went during the day and I returned at sunset on a different day. I was very fortunate to have a view of the castle from the terrace of the flat I was staying in as it looked great lit up at night.
Crazy thick trees, a harbour, Explanada de España (a mosaic walk), streets with ornately decorated buildings, a huge indoor market, a beach, and old churches, there was no shortage of things to see and do.
Elche
Elche is a small city about 15-20 miles away from Alicante. I got the train there (for £2.71) and explored the nearby park, Palmeral de Elche, which is full of very tall palm trees. I then moved on to Basílica de Santa Maria, a church where you can climb all the way to the roof and experience some brilliant views of the city. If I remember correctly, it cost a couple of euros to get in. After soaking up the rooftop views for a while, I made my way to Jardín Artístico Nacional Huerto Del Cura, a historic garden that has UNESCO World Heritage designation and is Europe’s only palm forest, costing £5.08 to get in. There was an audio self-guided tour and the jewel in the crown is the imperial palm tree, an enormous palm tree with seven trunks branching off the main one.
After all this walking about, I’d worked up an appetite and intended to find a cafe or restaurant. I walked back into the centre of town and stumbled across a supermarket (by now you know I love a supermarket). I had a look and discovered that they had freshly baked baguettes, so I had one of those along with a few other items and a drink. It cost £2.05 and I was able to sit on a bench in a big plaza outside the supermarket in the sunshine. Glorious. I did say I was easily pleased.
Altea / Benidorm
Beauty and the beast…
I took a tram to Benidorm, taking in some fantastic scenery along the coast en route, changed platforms and continued to the picture-perfect town of Altea. I’d done some research online on where to go in and around Alicante and this had looked promising. It turned out to be a stunning place, with a gorgeous, quiet beach, a vibrant town, and some breathtaking mountains in the distance. There aren’t any tourist attractions as such, it’s just a beautiful place to stroll around and soak up the views.
In the afternoon, I got the tram back to Benidorm and explored the area. My impressions of Benidorm were that it was a little Britain, full of tourists and cafes, restaurants, and gift shops catering to that crowd. Compared to Altea, it felt much more run down and unappealing. After a couple of hours of exploring I was more than ready to jump back on the tram and get back to Alicante.
On my last day, I was up very early and walked the short distance to the bus stop where I caught the airport bus, which cost €3.85 / £3.25. Not all buses in Spain have contactless payment on board, but the airport bus is one that does, making it simple for me to pay using my phone.
Once I landed in Scotland and had recovered from the shock of the cold wind buffeting me as I stepped off the plane, I got the airport bus for £2 and then retrieved my car.
Travel Insurance
I took out a single trip policy that cost £5.90 through Compare the Market, and that also meant that I qualified for a year of Meerkat Movies and Meerkat Meals.
There you have it. Obviously, not everyone can get a week’s holiday for so little, especially if you have kids. But I hope this post shows you what can be done if you’re willing to be flexible, do your research, and do things differently from most people!