The idea of a staycation is no new concept: weekend breaks and bank holidays have been catering to the desire for passport-free getaways for years.  But can I have the same holiday, doing the same things, for largely the same price? Let’s break it down. It’s early November: London is grey and miserable and Spain was a happy 20 degrees with sun and a light breeze.  From the outset Spain’s in the lead. A painful tube journey, two hour flight and many security checks later, I landed in Alicante, Spain.

The purpose of this getaway?  To relax. Eat good food (yum), sleep well (zzz) and drink lots of cocktails (responsibly).  To do all of these things, I had a luxury hotel for the first two nights before saving money and downgrading for the last two, my hotels were on the front (next to food and drink aplenty) and I found cheaper spas which I could keep on going back to.

I still did all things Spanish: I ate seafood paella and tapas, discovered a burning passion for potato and ham croquettes, drank my fair share of sangria, had a siesta every afternoon and enjoyed the ability to go out without a million layers.  The group I was with were golfers, so while they practiced their putting I drove golf buggies around while topping up my tan for winter.

When I didn’t want to follow 3 men around a large field with holes in, I went to the spa.  For 12 euros I had the whole place to myself, with steam room, sauna, two hydrothermal showers, and himalayan pink salt wall, pool and four water jets, it was quite some experience for a tenner.

This gallery are all photos taken by me of the food, drinks, views and experiences I had.  As a short getaway, I kept my holiday to relax instead of being a tourist, and came back feeling refreshed and ready to go back to work. 

Tune in to the next part to see if London can live up to the ‘stay don’t stray!’ hype.

Words and gallery: Eleanor Smith