Mistakes everyone makes in Alicante
Rice at night, the castle in the wind and a pass that does not work
- Rice
- At lunch
- C-6
- City passes are not valid
- 24 June
- The castle is closed
Alicante forgives most mistakes, but a few of them cost an afternoon. Almost all come from treating it like another Spanish beach town, when its calendar is set by rice at noon, a castle that shuts for weather and a bus that ignores your city pass. Each of the six below comes with what it costs and what to do instead.
Ordering rice at dinner
Rice is a lunch dish here, cooked in the middle of the day. When it appears on an evening menu, guides read it as a warning sign. The better move is to book a table at Nou Manolín, on Calle Villegas and open since 1971, or at Piripi on Avenida Óscar Esplá, open since 1994, for around noon. Both are full at weekends. Rice for two in a mid-range place runs €30–50, and dinner itself starts around 20.30, so the evening belongs to tapas.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
The castle with no fallback for wind
Strong wind and an orange weather warning from AEMET both close the castle, and the official tourism office has posted notices for each. The lift can also stop: it was shut from 12 to 16 January 2026 while the machinery was modernised. A climb planned for the last hour of a windy day can end at a locked gate, with the lift fare of €2.70 unspent and the whole afternoon gone. The path on foot closes with the castle, so it is no insurance. Keep the market, the Santa Cruz streets and the MARQ museum as the fallback, and leave the castle for the next day.
A city pass on the C-6
The airport bus has its own tariff, and the city tram and bus tickets do not work on it. You pay the driver, in cash or by card, about €4.70 for the ride. The bus runs around the clock from the ground floor of the terminal, at the stop marked Bus Alicante C-6, and it calls at Puerta del Mar, MARQ-Castillo, Mercado-El Sabio, Luceros and the bus station, so you can get off close to your door. The taxi rank stands in front of the arrivals hall and the meter decides the fare, so the bus is the cheaper choice for almost everyone.
Sleeping on Calle Castaños
Calle Castaños is the bar street of El Centro, and a room above it is loud at weekends. The old town around Santa Cruz and the quarter by the market are the calmer choices. Choose the room on a side street, or in San Juan if the beach matters more than the nights.
A day trip with no fallback
The boat to Tabarca is cancelled when the weather turns, and a day built around it falls apart without warning. Decide in the morning. Elche by train takes about 30 minutes in any weather, so keep it as the second plan and the palm grove costs you nothing but a change of platform.
The Hogueras without a booking
The week around 24 June is when the city is at its fullest. The programme is public, and the castle is closed that day, so book a bed early and plan the evening in the streets. The mascletà went off at 14.00 on Plaza de los Luceros in the 2025 programme, and the cremà follows at midnight.
- Keep an eye on your bag on Postiguet, where pickpockets work the beach.
- A taxi from the airport runs on the meter, and the bus costs a fraction of it.
- The Mercado Central trades in the morning and is shut on Sundays.
- The mascletà fires at 14.00 on Luceros, so lunch near the square is a noisy affair.
- On 24 June the castle is closed, lift or no lift.
Where to next
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Alicante
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What is the biggest mistake visitors make in Alicante?
Rice at dinner is the cheapest mistake to fix. The costly one is planning the whole afternoon around the castle on a day when wind or a weather warning closes it.
Do you need a car in Alicante?
No. The Explanada, the Santa Cruz streets, the castle with its lift and Postiguet are all reached on foot. The C-6 bus, the tram and the train cover the rest. A car only makes sense for Guadalest.
Ready for Alicante?
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