It’s one of the world’s best-known horse racing festivals with elite jockeys and enthusiastic punters enjoying four days of action-packed sport.
But fans are saving thousands of pounds by choosing to watch the Cheltenham Festival in the Benidorm sunshine while enjoying pints for just €1 each.
The cheap and cheerful resort is already one of the most popular holiday spots for Brits with an average year-round temperature of 19C and 300 days of sunshine.
And it is now becoming increasingly popular to visit during Cheltenham as tourists watch the racing on big screens at outdoor bars while wearing fancy dress.
They can also save a fortune on travel, tickets, drinks and accommodation – with hotels in Benidorm costing from just £20 a night, up to £140 for the best resorts.
An average five-night stay at Cheltenham for the festival is £2,503, which is 200 per cent more than the week before and 211 percent more than the week after.
The figures, combined from Booking.com and Airbnb data, also found the cheapest option was a private double room in a house 15 miles from the racecourse at £234.
The analysis by Better Collective for MyBettingSites.co.uk also found the cheapest option on Airbnb was a private double room in a house 15 miles from the site for £234, while the most expensive option was a private room 1.5 miles away for £6,385.
British tourists enjoy the sunshine in Benidorm (left) while racegoers attend Cheltenham (right)
Holidaymakers in fancy dress in Benidorm (left) while Cheltenham Festival continues (right)
Cheltenham is charging nearly £8 for a pint of Guinness, with a glass of win costing almost £10
In Benidorm one bar is offering six bottles of beer for just €10 (£8.40) – that’s £1.40 a bottle
The lowest price on Booking.com was an apartment 15 miles away for £667 while the most expensive was a six-bedroom house two miles from the racecourse for £17,870.
The cheapest tickets for the Cheltenham Festival cost from £48 a day for the Guinness Grandstand, or £100 to £118 for its Club enclosure.
While most venues in Benidorm are free to enter, some bars now charge punters up to €15 (£13) for an all-day seat.
Another big saving in Benidorm can be made on drinks, with a pint of Guinness at Cheltenham costing £7.80 or £7.40 for the non-alcoholic version.
A glass of wine at Cheltenham is £9.70, while a 330ml premium lager can is £7.40, soft drinks are priced at £3.10 and sparkling or still water costs £2.50.
In Benidorm, one of the main attractions for Brits is the famously cheap beer – with a pint costing about £2, although it can be as little as €1 (85p) in some bars. Others sell six bottles of beer for €10 (£8.40), which equates to £1.40 a bottle.
The cost of travel is likely to be around the same, with flights from London to Benidorm starting from as little as £44 return when flying from Stansted to Alicante with Ryanair – although this does not include the price of transfers either end.
Those getting the train to Cheltenham will pay £71 for a super-off-peak return from London Paddington on Great Western Railway – although their tickets could be cheaper if booked in advance – plus a £15 taxi to the racecourse.
But those choosing to drive must pay £40 for parking for the full festival or £12.50 per day.
In Benidorm this week, Graham White, 39, a service technician from Glasgow, told The Times that he went to Cheltenham two years ago but has now decided to swap it for the Spanish coast.
He said: ‘I’m never going back. I was suited and booted but it’s too posh, too snobby. I’d rather be here, soaking up the sun with a few drinks and having craic with the lads.’
And Nathan Jones, 34, from Leeds, told the newspaper: ‘At Cheltenham, you’ve got your travel, your accommodation, your entry, and then your spending while you’re there.
Friends Stephen Peters, 46, and Keith Harris, 52, from Edinburgh, in the Planet Benidorm bar
Friends from Middlesbrough watch a horse race at ‘Tiki City’ in Benidorm, dressed as jockeys
This eatery in Benidorm is offering burgers for €4, kebabs for €6 and chicken nuggets for €6
‘Two nights accommodation for two of us was about £700. The travel alone was £120 and your entry was £50 at the cheapest rate. Choosing four nights in Benidorm has saved us over £500.’
And British tourist Steve Cramgle, 59, added: ‘If you go to Cheltenham, you pay £8 for a pint. That’s certainly not the case here, is it?’
The Telegraph also spoke to holidaymakers visiting Benidorm from the UK such as Paul Berry, who said: ‘It’s an amazing place to go. Cheap drinks. The sun. It’s just amazing, mate.’
Another called Kevin, who lives in Exeter, was wearing a jockey outfit for fancy dress and said: ‘I’m roasting. If my next horse wins I’m going in the pool.’
He added: ‘It’s £110 to get in and £150 on the train. We’re staying in a lovely hotel here which we paid £150 for and the flight was £67.’
Racing fans enjoy the thrills of Cheltenham Festival while watching on holiday in Benidorm
Pubs and bars in Benidorm are putting Cheltenham Festival on the big screen for tourists
Racing fans watch racing at Cheltenham Festival while enjoying a beer on holiday in Benidorm
Meanwhile Sara Puigcerver, head of marketing for the Marina Bar, told the newspaper: ‘The summer of Benidorm starts now, with the races.’
Back in Gloucestershire, festival attendances are falling with punters citing the ever-increasing cost of accommodation, tickets, travel and food and drink for not going this year.
The smallest Cheltenham Festival crowd since 1993 was recorded yesterday, with just 41,949 spectators at the track.
This was down by almost 5,000 from last year and came after Tuesday’s crowd had dropped from 60,181 from 55,498, reported BBC Sport.
Attendance for the Wednesday in 2022 was nearly 65,000 – with this year’s total the lowest since 40,662 on the second day of the festival 32 years ago.
The meeting was extended from three days to four in 2005.
A view of the course during the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival today
Racegoers in Irish fancy dress throw their hats into the air on day three of Cheltenham today
Racegoers react during the BetMGM Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham yesterday
Racecourse chief executive Guy Lavender has acknowledged attendances will be down this year, saying: ‘The decline is not catastrophic but nor are we seeing growing attendances.’
And ITV Racing presenter Ed Chamberlin wrote in the Mail today: ‘More people came through the doors 12 months ago for the Tuesday and Wednesday but I came away from them as deflated as I had been about the Festival in a long time.
‘It led me to compare Cheltenham to Manchester United on these pages and warn about the danger of complacency.
‘There is no doubt that Cheltenham’s hierarchy had started taking things for granted and it came back to haunt them when we ended up broadcasting pictures on ITV of issues such as spectators’ vehicles being towed out of swamp-like car parks.
‘Perhaps the experiences of 2024 have led some people to stay away but I’m confident they will be returning soon from what I have seen in the last 48 hours.’
