Alicante in 48 hours, hour by hour

Forty-eight hours in Alicante. Use them well and you leave having read the whole city. Two long meals, two sunsets, two afternoons on the beach, one climb to the castle, several coffees at marble counters. This is our itinerary, the one we send by WhatsApp to the guests who ask us "what shall we do this weekend?".

Friday

19:47 · arrival

You've just landed. If you came by plane, you take the C-6 bus to the centre (25-35 min, €3.85, 24 hours) or a taxi (15 min, €19-21). If you came by train, you leave Renfe and walk six minutes. You arrive at Alirena, key in the code at the entrance, go up to your room, drop your suitcase. You freshen up in 15 minutes.

20:30 · slow tapas crawl along Castaños

You head out along Doctor Sapena towards the centre. In five minutes you're on Castaños street, the bar zone. Plan: three stops in two hours. Start at Bar Manolín (gilda and a beer, €2.80). Carry on at 21:15 at Casa Federica (anchovies in vinegar, €4). Close the first round at 22:00 at Bodega de Fermín (clams marinière and a vermouth).

22:30 · night walk along the Explanada

Fifteen minutes on foot to the Explanada de España. Four hundred metres of palm trees and paving with the three-dimensional mosaic, far fewer people than during the day. If you fancy sitting down, in the harbour area (not on the Explanada itself, that's pricey) there are cheap terraces. At 23:30 you walk back to Alirena. Twelve minutes.

Saturday

8:30 · breakfast in the neighbourhood

You go down to Bar La Mahonesa, on Doctor Sapena itself (a minute on foot). Toast with tomato and olive oil, white coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice. €4.50. You read the paper at the counter.

10:00 · Central Market

Four minutes on foot. You go in through the main entrance on Alfonso X El Sabio. Go up to the fish floor first (a spectacle), then down to the bar area for a vermouth at 11:30. The gilda from any counter in the market is decent.

13:00 · rice

Booked two days in advance. Recommendations: Pópuli Bistró if you want a long table and a sit-down meal, Nou Manolín if you prefer the counter. Arroz del senyoret (peeled-seafood rice) for two, a starter (grilled baby cuttlefish or garden tomato), a chilled white, a cortado at the end. Between €60 and €90 for two. The complete guide to Alicante rice.

16:00 · siesta or beach

If the rice has set you up nicely, a short siesta at Alirena. If you want to keep going, you go down to the Postiguet beach (12 minutes on foot). There's afternoon light until 19:00 and the water is lovely and warm. Bring a cap.

19:30 · up to the castle

You take the Postiguet lift (€2.70 return) and go up to the Santa Bárbara Castle. The light falls over the harbour between 20:00 and 20:45 (in summer). The photos always come out. Bring a light jacket: there's a cool breeze.

21:30 · dinner

You come down and head towards the Calle Mayor area or the Barrio. Recommendations for a Saturday night: a light dinner (good tapas at Casa Roma or a white-tablecloth dinner at Trastevere). Book ahead. Reckon on €25-35 per person.

23:30 · a drink

If you're up for it, you go up to the Barrio (the drinks zone, 4 minutes on foot). If you prefer calm, a beer on a terrace in Plaza Gabriel Miró. You sit under the ficus trees in a square with warm light.

Sunday

9:30 · brunch at El Café del Mercado

Plaza 25 de Mayo. Strong coffee, a freshly made tortilla sandwich. Fewer people than on Saturday: on Sunday the market is closed but the cafés outside are open.

11:00 · Barrio de la Santa Cruz

You go up to the white alleys of the Barrio. Fifteen minutes strolling up, hand-painted façades, cats, flowerpots. If you want to keep climbing, it connects with the castle path (another hour on foot).

13:30 · fried fish at the harbour

You go down to the fishing harbour (10 min on foot from Alirena). Restaurant La Casa de Juana or Marisquería Restregón: fried fish (pescaíto frito), grilled cuttlefish, Alicante salad with tuna and mojama (salt-cured tuna). €25-35 per person. The terraces look out over the marina.

15:30 · final stroll along the Concha del Postiguet

An hour walking along the seafront promenade after lunch. If you can still manage it, a quick swim. If not, coffee on a terrace, watching people go by.

17:00 · back to Alirena

You pick up your suitcase. If your transport leaves after 18:00, there's room at the entrance to leave luggage until 21:00.

18:00 · departure

You head out the door. You key the entrance one last time (it locks itself once closed). On your way to the airport or the station. You've eaten rice, you've swum, you've climbed the castle and you've had vermouth with soda. That's forty-eight hours well used.

Variations

If it rains

Plan B: on Saturday morning, the MARQ instead of the Market (indoors, €3 entry). Central Market at midday (covered). Swap the climb to the castle for a coffee in one of the cafés in the Barrio. A film at Panoramis if you fancy the cinema.

If you come with friends

Change: Saturday dinner at a big tapas table (8 people, El Buen Comer), out to the Barrio after midnight. On Sunday get up later, brunch at 11:00.

If you come with kids

Swap the castle at sunset for a morning up there (fewer people). Add a little tourist boat around the harbour on Saturday morning (€12). Dinner earlier, 20:30.