Help with Airport Distances!
Feb 20th, 2006, 04:34 PM
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Help with Airport Distances!
We are just starting to plan our first trip to Spain. We are starting in Alicante. Can someone please tell me which is the closest airport and how much time it would take to drive there? Also, if the closest airport is not Melaga, how long would it take to drive from there?
Feb 20th, 2006, 08:08 PM
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There are airports all over Spain, and Málaga is really far from Alicante (think something like 8 hours driving). If you are looking for major airports, Valencia is not far, and even Madrid is closer than Málaga.
The Alicante airport is pretty small, but it is international and gets in flights from London, Stockholm, Oslo, Frankfurt, etc. Also, car rentals there are accessible and pretty straightforward. Where will you stay in Alicante? Parking there is terrible, so if you can avoid renting the car until you leave the city, do so. Unless you are staying in the Albufereta area, or possibly San Juan, which has more parking.
Good for you all going to Alicante! I love it there and go back a few times a year. Feel free to e-mail me for any advice,
Claire
The Alicante airport is pretty small, but it is international and gets in flights from London, Stockholm, Oslo, Frankfurt, etc. Also, car rentals there are accessible and pretty straightforward. Where will you stay in Alicante? Parking there is terrible, so if you can avoid renting the car until you leave the city, do so. Unless you are staying in the Albufereta area, or possibly San Juan, which has more parking.
Good for you all going to Alicante! I love it there and go back a few times a year. Feel free to e-mail me for any advice,
Claire
Feb 21st, 2006, 09:03 AM
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Thank you both - I had no idea there was an airport in Alicante. I will look at that. Claire - thanks for the great info. We have never been to Spain and we were just asked to join friends at their timeshare. So I have til Sept. to find out as much as I can. We are staying at a timeshare for the first week and then moving on to Melaga to a different timeshare for the second week. We hope to use these as bases to see some of both areas. I still don't know much about the country. If you are serious about the email questions, I may take you up on this as I'm making my plans. Thanks for being so helpful!
Feb 21st, 2006, 09:35 AM
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I have done the trip by air between Alicante and Malaga and have always had to go through Madrid, which is a pain, but I don't think that there are currently any national airlines that do it directly.
Where are the timeshares? I would be surprised if the one in Alicante is in the city. Normally they are in the province (Urbanova, Altet, Santa Pola, San Juan, etc) but not on any local bus lines. In which case, taking the C6 from the airport to the city might not be the best idea. If you are in Urbanova or Santa Pola, a taxi from the airport would be cheaper than one from the city.
I am, indeed, serious about the e-mails, so don't hesitate.
Claire
Where are the timeshares? I would be surprised if the one in Alicante is in the city. Normally they are in the province (Urbanova, Altet, Santa Pola, San Juan, etc) but not on any local bus lines. In which case, taking the C6 from the airport to the city might not be the best idea. If you are in Urbanova or Santa Pola, a taxi from the airport would be cheaper than one from the city.
I am, indeed, serious about the e-mails, so don't hesitate.
Claire
Feb 21st, 2006, 05:27 PM
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Hi Claire:
The first timeshare is the Alfaz Paradise Club. The description says "between Benidorm and Altea" and the address shows "Alfaz Del PI Playa". Not sure what any of that means yet. The second is the MacDonald Villicana - looks nicer than the first. The address is listed as Malaga, but the description says 10 km. from Puerto Banus. Again, not sure what that means yet. I really don't know how we are going to get around yet - I think we want to have a car if possible. But it looks like the drive from our first timeshare to our second is rather daunting. Were the flights between Alicante and Melaga reasonably priced? By the way, do you live in Spain?
The first timeshare is the Alfaz Paradise Club. The description says "between Benidorm and Altea" and the address shows "Alfaz Del PI Playa". Not sure what any of that means yet. The second is the MacDonald Villicana - looks nicer than the first. The address is listed as Malaga, but the description says 10 km. from Puerto Banus. Again, not sure what that means yet. I really don't know how we are going to get around yet - I think we want to have a car if possible. But it looks like the drive from our first timeshare to our second is rather daunting. Were the flights between Alicante and Melaga reasonably priced? By the way, do you live in Spain?
Feb 22nd, 2006, 07:17 AM
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OK, here goes:
Alicante:
You are quite far from the city of Alicante, and there is very little transportation to take you where you are going. A taxi will be really expensive (more expensive than renting a car, probably). You could take the C6 bus to Alicante, then walk el Postiguet (the main beach) or take the tram to the Trenet station and take that to Alfaz (stop: Ventorrillo) but with luggage, it will be a schlep. I say rent your car at the airport and get a good map. You will probably end up taking the coastal highway to Alfaz del Pi, and I am sure the timeshare will be able to give you detailed directions in English.
Malaga:
Puerto Banus is very near to Marbella, not Malaga (though it is in the Malaga province) so what you will want to do there is either rent a car at the airport or take the airport bus to Puerto Banus, then a taxi from there (unless the timeshare does airport pickup, which is possible).
It really depends on what you are wanting to do in each place. If you just want to stick to the beaches, then find your way to the timeshares and forget the rest.
In Alicante, you have the trenet which can get you pretty much anywhere along the coast between Alicante and Benidorm. Using that (I have many times), you can get into Alicante, visit Altea (a favorite town of mine), and explore other beaches (Amerador, which is before you reach Alicante, is a beautiful white-rock beach).
In Malaga you have buses and though I have never used the local trains, I hear they exist. However, all are centered on Malaga and you are over 30 minutes away from that by car. So, if you are just interested in Marbella, you will be fine without a car.
Basically, without a car your problem with be moving from your timeshare to other forms of transportation, as you will have to always use taxis, which can be daunting and very expensive. Find out how much car rentals are and see if that would work better for you. It certainly offers more freedom.
It is a long drive between the two indeed, and airfare depends on the time of travel. September does not tend to be expensive, but you never know. You can look at vueling.com and rumbo.es for good fares. I love rumbo and use it most of the time. El Corte Ingles (a department store) also does reservations on-line. If there are 4 of you, driving might just be cheaper, but do you want to drive that much?
Have you booked your arrival and departure cities? If you can arrive in Alicante and leave from Malaga, that is idea, however, you could also arrive in Malaga (a wider-served airport) then round-trip it to Alicante and back.
I move back to Spain (Barcelona) in April. I went to high school in Alicante and visit my host family there as much as possible. I spend every August in Malaga dancing. So, perhaps you will see me around. In September I will be in Alicante as my host mom and I will leave from there to go down to Morocco on a girls' vacation.
Claire
Alicante:
You are quite far from the city of Alicante, and there is very little transportation to take you where you are going. A taxi will be really expensive (more expensive than renting a car, probably). You could take the C6 bus to Alicante, then walk el Postiguet (the main beach) or take the tram to the Trenet station and take that to Alfaz (stop: Ventorrillo) but with luggage, it will be a schlep. I say rent your car at the airport and get a good map. You will probably end up taking the coastal highway to Alfaz del Pi, and I am sure the timeshare will be able to give you detailed directions in English.
Malaga:
Puerto Banus is very near to Marbella, not Malaga (though it is in the Malaga province) so what you will want to do there is either rent a car at the airport or take the airport bus to Puerto Banus, then a taxi from there (unless the timeshare does airport pickup, which is possible).
It really depends on what you are wanting to do in each place. If you just want to stick to the beaches, then find your way to the timeshares and forget the rest.
In Alicante, you have the trenet which can get you pretty much anywhere along the coast between Alicante and Benidorm. Using that (I have many times), you can get into Alicante, visit Altea (a favorite town of mine), and explore other beaches (Amerador, which is before you reach Alicante, is a beautiful white-rock beach).
In Malaga you have buses and though I have never used the local trains, I hear they exist. However, all are centered on Malaga and you are over 30 minutes away from that by car. So, if you are just interested in Marbella, you will be fine without a car.
Basically, without a car your problem with be moving from your timeshare to other forms of transportation, as you will have to always use taxis, which can be daunting and very expensive. Find out how much car rentals are and see if that would work better for you. It certainly offers more freedom.
It is a long drive between the two indeed, and airfare depends on the time of travel. September does not tend to be expensive, but you never know. You can look at vueling.com and rumbo.es for good fares. I love rumbo and use it most of the time. El Corte Ingles (a department store) also does reservations on-line. If there are 4 of you, driving might just be cheaper, but do you want to drive that much?
Have you booked your arrival and departure cities? If you can arrive in Alicante and leave from Malaga, that is idea, however, you could also arrive in Malaga (a wider-served airport) then round-trip it to Alicante and back.
I move back to Spain (Barcelona) in April. I went to high school in Alicante and visit my host family there as much as possible. I spend every August in Malaga dancing. So, perhaps you will see me around. In September I will be in Alicante as my host mom and I will leave from there to go down to Morocco on a girls' vacation.
Claire
Feb 22nd, 2006, 11:15 AM
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Hi Claire:
Wow, that is great information. We have not booked our flights yet, but the timeshares are booked. The basic plan so far is to start in Alicante - we have the timeshare there for a week. I think we will probably beach a little, but also pick some nice towns that we can drive to and just explore. Thanks for the suggestions. We will probably get a car at the airport and drive to the timeshare. Since we are from Niagara Falls Canada, we have a long flight to Spain - trying to take busses and trains after that could be miserable. Although, never having driven in Spain - we could be in for more of a hassle than we know! I guess that's what husbands are for - we'll let them drive!
When we get to the second time share, we would also like to have a car, as there are some towns that our friends want to go see (Ronda comes to mind.)(They have been to Spain once before.) Again the timeshare will be a base and most of what we do will be day trips. And of course, a little beaching! I am going to look into flying between the areas and getting a car at each area. I still have to talk to our friends about this, but hopefully we can get something reasonable. Thanks for the websites for flights - I will definitely check them out.
When we booked this trip, the sites that we picked were not really researched - our friends wanted to use their timeshares and these two resorts are the one that came up with availability. They looked nice, so they booked them. Luckily, they look like they are both in pretty good areas, (I hope!)
So, where do we go dancing in Malaga? Also my husband is very excited about tapas. Any good places in these areas? I notice lots of threads about tapas bars - whats good and whats not. By the way, what is a trenet?
Thanks....Chris
Wow, that is great information. We have not booked our flights yet, but the timeshares are booked. The basic plan so far is to start in Alicante - we have the timeshare there for a week. I think we will probably beach a little, but also pick some nice towns that we can drive to and just explore. Thanks for the suggestions. We will probably get a car at the airport and drive to the timeshare. Since we are from Niagara Falls Canada, we have a long flight to Spain - trying to take busses and trains after that could be miserable. Although, never having driven in Spain - we could be in for more of a hassle than we know! I guess that's what husbands are for - we'll let them drive!
When we get to the second time share, we would also like to have a car, as there are some towns that our friends want to go see (Ronda comes to mind.)(They have been to Spain once before.) Again the timeshare will be a base and most of what we do will be day trips. And of course, a little beaching! I am going to look into flying between the areas and getting a car at each area. I still have to talk to our friends about this, but hopefully we can get something reasonable. Thanks for the websites for flights - I will definitely check them out.
When we booked this trip, the sites that we picked were not really researched - our friends wanted to use their timeshares and these two resorts are the one that came up with availability. They looked nice, so they booked them. Luckily, they look like they are both in pretty good areas, (I hope!)
So, where do we go dancing in Malaga? Also my husband is very excited about tapas. Any good places in these areas? I notice lots of threads about tapas bars - whats good and whats not. By the way, what is a trenet?
Thanks....Chris
Feb 22nd, 2006, 11:44 AM
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Dancing in Malaga- Malaga does not lack nightlife. In Pedregalejo (you can take a bus from downtown Malaga's Alameda Principal. . . it is a neighborhood) there are tons of clubs. In downtown you have Fraggle Rock, White Lounge, and Warhol (all near Plaza Uncibay). I always enjoy White Lounge, but that is because it is hip hop and I love dancing to it.
There are a few flamenco places that put on music, but I never know their names. You will have to e-mail me in August and I can be more comprehensive, as I will be there.
Tapas in Malaga- do a search for this, but in Plaza Uncibay there are some nice places with outside seating. You can also get good ones in la Plaza de la Merced and by the Cathedral. Again, I can tell you more in August. . .
Trenet- tren= train, et= suffix denoting small. The trenet is a small train that goes from Alicante to Denia (all within the province of Alicante) along the coast. 3 hours to travel a relatively short distance, but totally worth it for the views. It is part of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) and not RENFE (Spain's national railroad system). As there is a trenet stop right behind my house(in la albufereta), I use it to go out at night.
Claire
There are a few flamenco places that put on music, but I never know their names. You will have to e-mail me in August and I can be more comprehensive, as I will be there.
Tapas in Malaga- do a search for this, but in Plaza Uncibay there are some nice places with outside seating. You can also get good ones in la Plaza de la Merced and by the Cathedral. Again, I can tell you more in August. . .
Trenet- tren= train, et= suffix denoting small. The trenet is a small train that goes from Alicante to Denia (all within the province of Alicante) along the coast. 3 hours to travel a relatively short distance, but totally worth it for the views. It is part of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) and not RENFE (Spain's national railroad system). As there is a trenet stop right behind my house(in la albufereta), I use it to go out at night.
Claire
