Transportation in Alicante - Alicante City Guide
Getting around in the capital, Alicante, is a matter of knowing what works for getting where. The following should get you on course.
Alicante City Guide - Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Useful Information
- Things to See and Do
- Where to Stay and Eat
- Getting Around
Getting There & Away
Air
Iberia, Spanair, Air Europa and Air Nostrum combine to provide daily domestic flights to Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza City. There are also a couple of flights a week to Bilbao and Tenerife. British Airways, SAS, Swiss, Aer Lingus, Easyjet, Go, Monarch, Condor and Air Berlin are some of the scheduled and chartered airlines serving many European centres.
Bus
Alicante's bus station (tel 96-513-07-00) is primarily served by Alsa Enatcar (tel 90-242-22-42, www.alsa.es). Ticket window 2 covers most destinations, including Murcia (1 hour, €4.28, up to 19 daily), Valencia (3 hours, €12.95, 13 daily), Almería (4½ hours, €17.11, five daily), Madrid (5 hours, €21.67, seven daily), Granada (5½ hours, €22.05, eight daily), Barcelona (9 hours, €32.46, 12 daily) and Sevilla (10 hours, €38.43, one daily, 11.45pm) via Cordoba.
Train
Destinations from the main train station, RENFE Estación de Madrid (tel 90-224-02-02, www.renfe.es), include Murcia (80 minutes, €4.80-€12.50, up to 23 daily), Valencia (1½ to 2¼ hours, €8.80-€21.50, up to 10 daily), Madrid (3½ to 4 hours, €29.50-€34, seven daily) and Barcelona (4½ to 5½ hours, €37-€41, eight daily). This is the main line for trains between Alicante - Madrid, Alicante - Murcia, and Alicante - Valencia.
The Estación de la Marina (tel 96-526-27-31) marks the southern terminus of the FGV train line which runs between coastal stops such as Alicante - Altea, Alicante - Benidorm, Alicante - Denia etc. Between 6am and 8pm, trains run up the Costa Blanca every hour to Altea (1½ hours, €3.65) via Benidorm (1¼ hours, €2.95). Every second hour they continue on to Denia (2¼ hours, €6.60) via Calpe (1¾ hours, €4.50). During the summer, weekend trains continue through the night. A free tram connects the station with Plaza Puerta Mar.
Getting Around
By far, the most efficient and pleasurable way to get around Alicante city is by foot. Your second best option is the extensive urban and suburban bus service operated by TAM (tel 96-514-09-36).
Getting to and from El Altet airport (12km south-west) is a breeze on Alcoyana-SuBús' (tel 96-526-84-00) bus No C6. Buses leave Plaza Puerta Mar in Alicante (€1.05) and the airport (€0.90) every 40 minutes. Other stops in Alicante include the Plaza de los Luceros, the bus station (C/Portugal 17) and Politécnico de Babel.
For up to date fare and scheduling information, check the official website, choosing 'aeropuerto' from the 'Lineas que Realiza...' dropdown menu.
Need a taxi? Call Tele Taxi (tel 96-510-16-11) or Radio Taxi (tel 96-591-01-23).
Alicante City Guide - Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Useful Information
- Things to See and Do
- Where to Stay and Eat
- Getting Around
More Information
Local Tourism Board
The website for Alicante's local tourist board has a lot of information, and it is worth checking out.
Other Sites
Spain.info's pages on Alicante are a must read, as is VirtualTourist.com's Alicante Travel Guide. Some other websites worth visiting include Jet2.com's Alicante city guide and Lonely Planet's Alicante city guide.
Spain.info also offers a quick and short little video of the main parts of Alicante: video of Alicante (1986kb).
A worthy read is provided by Robert Carlton (of Alicante Spain fame) over at Escape Artist, who invites us on "A Foot Walk Around Alicante", a guided tour/ walk around Alicante city.
For a complete set of links including the ones given above, Go Costa Blanca has an excellent collection of resources about the city of Alicante located in our resource section.