Alicante - tips re flights
 

Looking at a mid June flight to Alicante, Spain .My friend has a summer home there he rents out and we plan to go. I am in the Washington, DC area and am finding the prices I have found searching for airfare very high. I am willing to fly out of a nearby location even. Any suggestions? Thanks

We often go to spend a week or so in Campello (Alicante); but we don't fly. Talgo (Renfe) from Madrid takes less than 4-hours. Cousin often takes MotorCoach (Bus) for ease of transfer.

Buy a Christmas Lottery ticket while you're there. Winning tickets for the past several years were sold in Elche and then in Campello.

When I am going from the US to Alicante I usually arrive to Madrid and take the train to Alicante, as nedsireland says. However, if you are new to Spain and don't want to do such a daunting trip, I would recommend getting from DC to London, then going London-Alicante on a different carrier.

Try:
http://tinyurl.com/qtkvc
to find some flights. Ryanair services Alicante, but I don't know from which airport.

Though it would take longer, getting from the airport to the train station in Barcelona is easier than in Madrid, as the Aerobus or the train take you right to it. So, that is also an option and a bonus is that the Alicante train station is a lot more accessible than the airport.

When in mid-June are you traveling. From the 21-24 Alicante has the Hogueras de San Juan, which is a local festival where everything pretty much shuts down except for the bars and some restaurants. It is a lot of fun (I will be there this year!), but it is hard to get in and out of the city then. So, buy quick. I know that train tickets from BCN to Alicante are almost gone, as I just bought mine and there were only 2 time slots open.

miz,
I hope your dates do coincide with the Hogueras de San Juan celebration, but as laclaire says, if you do fly into Madrid or BCN, book those train or bus tickets ASAP!
The bus service from Madrid to Alicante is Enatcar, a division of Alsa.
See schedule/prices at www.enatcar.com

London service to Alicante:
from Heathrow- BMI
from Luton-easyJet and others
from Gatwick-easyJet and others
from Stanstead-easyJet

Or you can fly London-Valencia on Ryan Air and train down.

If you are going to be there during the hogueras, there are a few things you should do.

1) do the walking tour of the Hogueras sculptures before they are burned.

2) take pictures of the beautiful Bellezas del foc (girls dressed up in traditional garments)

3) Go out dancing in the streets all night long at least once (head for the Barrio, though. . . Hanoii, La Botellita, El coscorrón (for a mojito. . . this place is an institution) and anywhere else that looks fun (they all do).

4) Eat a paella at a caseta (if you are there from the 22-25 I can actually hook you up).

5) Watch the palmera fireworks at midnight.

miz,
Another way of searching what airlines fly into a particular Spain airport is to check the official
www.aena.es site.

I selected Alicante, clicked on "destinos" and found that the other carriers from Gatwick are GB and Monarch.
From Stanstead you have non-stop flights on Air Berlin as well.
From Luton, Monarch as well

Good luck in your airfare search!

Hi miz and laclaire,
I just read in El Viajero, travel section of www.elpais.es that Vueling will start a daily flight from BCN to Alicante on June 2.

Pues, ¡gracias a Dios! I go to Alicante from BCN all the time and though I love the train ride, I would be so happy to just catch a flight, particularly since vueling will let you take a bike on the flight (if you dismantle it) and Renfe won't unless it is a regional train.

So, miz, you could get to BCN from Dulles (I seem to remember a direct flight, but check on that), then head out to Alicante.

hi laclaire,
Thought you'd like that info :)

From Phildadelphia, there's a new US Air non-stop to BCN.

Maribel- way to make a day! I just wrote to papá and he said "entonces, ¿cómo aprovecharás del viaje para recuperarte de la resaca?" We always joke about that because it seems like every time I get on a long train ride, it is the morning after a long long night.