Alicante city is at the heart of the Spanish region of the same name on the Costa Blanca.

With 3,000 years of history behind it the city offers lots more than its seven kilometres of sandy beaches.

The Roman city of Lucentum was the predecessor of modern day Alicante, which developed after the Moorish invasion, protected from sea attacks by the presence of the city castle.

Despite its share of wars and conflicts, Alicante has developed as a flourishing sea trading centre.

In 1851 it was the first coastal city to be linked to Madrid by train, becoming the national capital's main seaport. Today Alicante is the second largest city in the Valencian community with a population of more than a quarter of a million.

Rows of palm trees and street cafes along the seafront promenade, the Paseo de la Explanada, is a sight synonymous with modern Alicante. The red, cream and black colours of the city are represented in intricate marble inlays of red, cream and black tiles on the esplanade. More than six-and-a-half million of the tiny tiles were laid in 1957, guaranteeing the walkway's future reputation as one of the most impressive in the whole of Spain.

I travelled with my friend Sam using the airport flyer bus service which got us to Bristol International Airport in plenty of time for our 9am flight. Check-in was smooth and a few hours later we had reset our watches and touched down in a warm but overcast Spain.

We caught the bus from the airport into downtown Alicante and after obtaining a map and advice from a local tourist information centre, we jumped on another bus to our hotel which was a 10-minute ride to the north of town.

Unfortunately, as we got off the bus a downpour started and we arrived at our hotel looking like a pair of drowned rats. Leaving a watermark at the check-in desk, where the receptionists told us they hoped it would be sunnier the next day, we dumped our bags in our room and dried off.

We took a taxi back into the centre of town and started to get our bearings. The beaches, naturally, were empty and so we dodged the showers by wandering in and out of the shops and cafes. The city is a sprawl of high rise buildings that come right up onto the sea front in the shadow of the rocky mountains to the north. We started with lunch at Cerveceria Agüela on Calle Serrano. It was strange to be back in a place where people smoked indoors, and even at the dinner table, but it was a great location to sample tapas and people watch. I had a delicious seafood salad and Sam had Manchego cheese salad.

The rain had not abated during our meal so we did what girls do best – we went shopping. Alicante has rows and rows of little boutiques as well as several branches of the massive El Cortes Ingles department store. Covering seven floors with a mini supermarket underground, it literally stocks everything from notebooks to ski equipment.

After a thick Spanish hot chocolate to warm us up, we noticed a large covered shopping centre midway between the city centre and our hotel – we headed straight for it. A hypermarket covered the ground floor along with more than 100 other smaller shops and a multi-screen cinema, the perfect place for a rainy day. We shopped until we dropped before finding a bite to eat, stocking up on the pocket-friendly Rioja, and eventually heading back to the hotel.

Next day it was a welcome relief to open the curtains and see sunny skies. We explored the area around our hotel and along the rocks towards the Albufereta beach to the north of our hotel and then made the most of the hotel buffet breakfast.

We then decided to take advantage of the warm weather and walked to the base of the Santa Barbara castle. It was a good hour's stroll to the tunnel where a lift takes visitors up 166 metres above sea level to Mount Benacantil. From the summit it was stunning, we could see the entire bay of Alicante, with its boats glistening on the marina.

Once we had soaked in the sights we took the lift back down and continued our walk into town. We bought some snacks for lunch and sat on the marina watching the world go by before going for a paddle in the stunning blue sea.

As we walked along the busy Postiguet beach it was hard to imagine a scene so different from the previous day. There were dozens of cafe bars and restaurants, many with terraces on the pavement but in the evening we chose to avoid the restaurants on the seafront and instead opted for ones on the network of back streets.

We eventually settled on Yale Restaurant and enjoyed chorizo and cheese washed down with a couple of glasses of wine.

The area was really buzzing by late evening with families gathering in the plazas to chat and play and the strains of a saxophone entertaining al fresco diners. It was lovely just to sit and soak up what felt like the true Spanish atmosphere before catching the last bus back up to the hotel for a nightcap.

Our three-day break ended on a Sunday and the 10.55am flight back to Bristol, so after an early breakfast we made our way back to the airport via the excellent bus network across the city. Again, check-in was smooth and we landed back home 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

● Liz Webster and friend travelled to Alicante courtesy of Bristol International Airport. EasyJet has two flights from Bristol daily. Return flights cost from £20 including taxes. For more information, prices and to book flights, visit www.easyjet.com.

● They stayed at the Albahia Hotel, Calle del Sol Naciente 6, 03016 Alicante, Spain, Tel: +34 96 515 59 79, Fax: +34 96 515 53 73 hotelalbahia@albahia.com www.albahia.com. A double room costs from 50 euro a night with breakfast eight euro per person. Promotional packages are available through the hotel website.

● Two Bristol Flyer bus services operate between Bristol city centre and Bristol International Airport at £9 return: www.bristolairport.co.uk.