Tourist’s £44 day journey to Malaga – armed with simply passport and eight sausage rolls
Aleksander Sikora, from Farnham, Surrey, spent £32 on return flights to Spain, while he spent £11 for a day’s parking at London Gatwick Airport and £1 on sausage rolls
He said the views were the ‘best thing’
A savvy holidaymaker flew to Malaga for a day by the seaside for only £44 – taking just his passport, water bottle and a pack of sausage rolls.
Aleksander Sikora, 41, fancied escaping rainy England for a day so searched online for budget flights. The dad-of-two snapped up £32 return flights to Malaga, Spain, and set off on January 31 from London Gatwick Airport on his day off.
He spent the day wandering around the nearby town of Guadalmar, strolling along the beach and enjoying sun and 19C heat. With a plan to keep the day trip as affordable as possible, he brought his own fuel – an essential eight-pack of sausage rolls from Lidl.
He also took a water bottle to refill throughout the day. After five hours wandering around, soaking up the sun and snapping shots on his drone, he walked back to the airport. He managed to make it home by 8:30pm.
And the entire trip cost under £50 – after paying just £11 for a day’s parking at Gatwick and £1 on his sausage rolls for sustenance.
Aleksander, a retail employee trainer from Farnham, Surrey, said: “I told myself when I booked the flights that I wanted to keep my costs to the minimum. I bought some sausage rolls and a bottle of water from Lidl the day before, and just ate and drank those in the day.
“It was a totally different atmosphere to the UK – it got up to 19C and there wasn’t one drop of rain. I just spent the whole day exploring a beautiful seaside spot – I did lots of steps but it was so relaxing.
“The views were the best thing. The south of Spain is just amazing.”
Aleksander, who is originally from Silesia, Poland, booked the flights around a month before the trip after scouring budget airline sites to catch a bargain. The savvy globetrotter paid £11 for parking at Gatwick, so he could complete the hour-long drive from and to Farnham on the day, and avoid needing to stay the night in London.
He woke up at 3am for his 6:50am WizzAir flight, and arrived in Malaga by around 10am. His backpack contained his water, snacks, and passport alongside his drone to snap pictures and videos of the sights.
The sunseeker spent the day wandering around the seaside town of Guadalmar, within walking distance of the airport, soaking up the sun and picturesque views.
He also looked around Plaza Mayor shopping mall, which has a series of art installations inside to enjoy.
He said: “I was just exploring for the day. I just walked around the area, I wanted to see something new. I even passed a nudist beach. Although the water was too cold even for them to swim in.”
The sunseeker walked around nine miles in total for the day, but found the day so relaxing and enjoyable that he felt “refreshed.” He wandered back to the airport before his 4:50pm flight with Vueling, and was back at Gatwick for 7:30pm.
He said: “After a day in the sun, the best thing was when the pilot announced there was heavy rain back in the UK. I knew then that I hadn’t wasted the day. Everything was perfect.”
An hour later, he was back at home and said he was left feeling relaxed and fulfilled from the trip.
He added: “I recommend everyone does this kind of day trip at least once in their life. It must be the cheapest way to spend time abroad.”
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