Travel to Alicante
Flying to Alicante
Airlines operating direct flights to Alicante from the UK include easyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, Monarch and Jet2.com. May to October are the peak travel times to Alicante when the weather is hot. If you're looking for cheap flights to Alicante, prepare to fly in the winter and spring when it's less crowded.
Flight times
From London - 2 hours 30 minutes; Los Angeles - 15 hours (including stopover); New York - 11 hours (including stopover); Toronto - 13 hours (including stopover); Sydney - 29 hours (including stopovers).
Travel by road
In Alicante, traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years. Speed limits are 120kph (75mph) on motorways, 100kph (62mph) on dual carriageways, 90kph (56mph) on roads outside built-up areas and 50kph (31mph) within towns, unless otherwise stated. A valid driving licence and third-party insurance are required to drive in Spain. National licences from EU countries are accepted, although drivers are advised to obtain an International Driving Permit. A Green Card is strongly recommended for all visitors, although it is not compulsory if bringing your car from another EU country.
Emergency breakdown services
Real Automóvil Club de España (RACE) (tel: +34 902 112 222).
Routes
The A-31 connects Alicante with Madrid. The A-7 connects Alicante with Valencia to the north and continues south to Murcia and beyond. The AP-7 is a toll motorway linking Alicante with the Valencian coast, Catalonia and the south of Spain.
Coaches
Eurolines (tel: +34 96 512 1455; www.eurolines.es) operates from Alicante's bus station, Muelle Poniente, linking Alicante to many other parts of Spain and also to destinations in Morocco and Europe. Alsa (tel: +34 902 422 242; www.alsa.es) also operates out of the same station, with routes throughout the rest of Spain in addition to services to other European cities.
Time to city
From Benidorm - 40 minutes; Murcia - 1 hour; Valencia - 2 hours; Madrid - 4 hours.
Travel by Rail
Services
Estación de Tren de Alicante, Avenida Salamanca 1, is the city's main railway station. Alicante has good rail links to Madrid (Ave and Alvia trains) and Barcelona (Euromed trains). Other trains, such as the Talgo, link Alicante with Asturias, Castilla, the Basque Country, Valencia and Montpellier (France. If travelling from the UK, you can take trains from London to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, and Barcelona to Alicante.
Operators
The Spanish rail network is operated by RENFE (tel: +34 902 320 320; www.renfe.com).
Journey times
From Valencia - 1 hour 35 minutes; Barcelona - 5 hours; Madrid - 2 hours 20 minutes; Cartagena - 2 hours 10 minutes.
Travel by boat
The Port of Alicante (www.puertoalicante.com) is located at the end of the A-31 motorway and serves cruise ships, passenger ferries and commercial boats.
Ferry operators
Algérie Ferries (tel: +213 21 644 374; www.algerieferries.com) runs overnight sailings from Alicante to the Algerian cities of Algiers and Oran.
