Solo in Alicante: the Tardeo and Tapas Bars
Nobody in Alicante blinks at a solo diner pulling up a stool at a market counter on a Saturday afternoon, because half the city is doing exactly the same thing during the tardeo.
The Saturday tardeo, on your own
Alicante is the acknowledged home of the tardeo, the local habit of socializing in daylight rather than waiting for night. It starts around 13:00 to 14:00 at Plaza 25 de Mayo behind Mercado Central, where outdoor terraces fill with vermouth, draft cañas and small plates of marinated olives and marcona almonds; striking up conversation at a shared bar counter here is entirely normal, not an imposition. By 16:00 to 17:00 the crowd shifts down pedestrian Calle Castaños and the surrounding streets, where terraces play music in broad daylight and wind down by around 21:00, well before anything resembling a late night starts. It is a genuinely solo-friendly ritual, not a bar crawl you have to be talked into. If you would rather have a guide narrate the market stalls than wing it alone, a small-group food and tapas tour covers ten stops without requiring a travel companion.
The climb up Mount Benacantil, alone
Starting from Plaza del Carmen, the quiet stone stairways of Barrio de Santa Cruz climb through whitewashed alleys into the terraced pines of Parque de La Ereta, with benches under Aleppo pines for a solo break before the final push to the castle ramparts. It is a calmer route than following a tour group up the same mountain, and it costs nothing beyond the optional €2.70 lift back down through the tunnel if your legs are done climbing.
The TRAM, at your own pace
The TRAM d’Alacant makes solo day-hopping along the coast genuinely easy: Line 4 reaches Cabo de las Huertas and its quieter coves, Line 1 reaches Villajoyosa’s painted houses for €2.80, and Line 1 continuing to Line 9 reaches Altea for an afternoon of solo gallery browsing over coffee. None of this requires booking anything in advance, though a 2-hour walking tour with a local guide is a fair way to orient yourself on day one before striking out alone.
Eating alone, properly
Solo dining at a bar counter is the norm here, not the exception. Mercado Central’s stalls serve grilled cuttlefish and garlic prawns to anyone willing to stand at the counter; Bar Manero on Calle Médico Manero Mollà runs a similar counter format built around Iberian ham and tinned seafood, and El Portal Taberna & Wines on Calle Bilbao pairs an extensive wine-by-the-glass list with market-led small plates late into the night.
Skip the wooded paths around Castillo de San Fernando on Mount Tossal after dark; the city center, Explanada and Santa Cruz stay genuinely safe at night, but that particular park empties out and loses its lighting once the sun goes down. For a group version of the same market and cooking traditions, see our day trips guide for how the same city works with company along for the ride.