Alicante Transportation

Aeropuerto de Alicante - El Altet

IATA code: ALC

The new terminal is in operation since April 2011. There are national and international flights from/to the airport.

The airport is located 9 km southwest of Alicante and 10 km east of Elche, in a place called El Altet, in the municipality of Elche.

Connections
By bus
Bus to Alicante: see my tip
Bus to Elche: check www.subus.es, lines 1A and 1B
Bus to other cities: check www.alsa.es
http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa#capa_aeropuerto

Taxi: The service is provided by a taxi company of Elche. You can book a transfer through their web, but there are always taxis at the terminal. http://www.radiotaxielche.es/aeropuerto.asp

By car: there is easy acces from A-7 highway and also from national roads N-332 and N-340.

Parking: there is a big car parking in the airport. On the web you can calculate the price. There are also other car parkings around (see my tip).

Car rental: Nine car rental companies operate at the airport. See the airport website below.

Other facilities

There is a big shopping area in the new terminal. There are also cafes, restaurants etc.

What else can a traveller need? ATM, meeting rooms... desfibrillators (I hope you don't need them but just in case!)

More information on the airport:
http://www.aena-aeropuertos.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-Alicante/es/Inicio.html

The Alicante bus station has MOVED. I don't know exactly when this happened but all maps I took with me (and leaflets I picked up) show it at it's old possition. Ailana did mention this but the info got buried in her text.
Bus station now at:-
AVENIDA LORING
found at the coastal end of Avenida Oscar Espla coming down from the main train station.

Alicante is connected by bus to :
Madrid (Estación Sur): the direct bus takes 4 hours 35 minutes; stopping at Albacete it takes 5 hours 15 minutes.
Barcelona: the ride is at least 7 hours (only stopping in the main cities); longer if it stops in other towns.
Valencia: there are many buses every day, be careful because some of them stop at many towns and take almost 5 hours (the usual is less than 2 hours 30 minutes).
Murcia: The ride takes 1 hour, or 1 hour 10 minutes if the bus stops at the airport. Buses stopping at intermediate towns take 2 hours 30 minutes.

Check the web of Alsa (www.alsa.es) for schedules and prices. Go to “routes and schedules”. For long distance rides (eg Alicante – Madrid) type the origin and destination. For rides in the province or the region, select “regional services” and go to Alsa's regional services in Community of Valencia and Murcia.

The main lines connecting Alicante to other towns in the province are:
Campello - Villajoyosa – Benidorm – Alfaz del Pi - Altea – Calpe – Benisa – Teulada – Gata de Gorgos – Pedreguer - Denia

Elda – Petrel – Sax – Villena

Elche – Crevillente – Albatera – Granja de Rocamora – Cox – Callosa – Redovan – Orihuela

Monforte del Cid – Aspe – Novelda

Castalla – Tibi – Onil – Ibi – Alcoy – Jijona - Biar
This line is served by La Alcoyana: http://www.ibivirtual.com/web/transporte_publico.htm (+34) 965 130 104

There are other companies traveling to/from the Alicante bus station:
Bilman Bus: www.bilmanbus.es (+34) 965 920 693
La Agostense: (+34) 965 121 738
Costa Azul : http://www.costazul.net/ (+34) 965 924 660

The new bus station is at the port, at Muelle de Poniente.
Phone: (+34) 965 130 700
On the following link (web of Alicante municipality) you can see the destinations you can go from the Alicante bus station. Select "Transporte de viajeros">"Estación de autobuses".
http://www.alicante-ayto.es/trafico/home.html

If you have to go to the airport by car and don’t want to pay the airport parking fees (18.30 €/day, 14.65 from the fifth day) there are some companies that offer car parking near the airport, including transport to/from the terminal, for a reasonable price. They offer also good prices for long term parking.

Last time we flied we used Parking Express Alicante. We paid 28 € for one week. We were quite satisfied with the service. A minibus took us to the airport as soon as we arrived to the parking. When we returned we phoned them and the minibus picked us up in a few minutes.

Parking Express: http://www.parkingaeropuertoalicante.com/
Other parking sites:
http://www.aquacarparking.es/
http://www.umbrellaparking.com/
http://www.newparking.es/
http://www.openparking.es/
http://www.lowcostparking.es/
http://www.aupaparking.net/

During our trip to Campello we had a couple of grey days and used the brilliant tram service to get into Alicante for a look around. The service is run by F.G.V and runs up and down the coast; Denia, Alicante, Benidorm, Campello and elsewhere. Tickets machines are only available at the main / larger stations so you usually buy your ticket at a machine on the tram. We were travelling from Poble Espanyol, just outside Campello. As it was in the metropolitan area a one way ticket cost just 1.25 Euro per person and the same back again. It costs the same from Campello. There is a route map at each station showing the different lines. " lines run from between Alicante and Campello and 1 from Alicante to Poble Espanyol. The journey is between 25 and 30 minutes. The trams have security personnel on them but they seemed more than safe and very clean. An excellent and cheap way to get about. The line also runs past and stops at several beach locations.

Turibus is a hop on hop off bus that operates in Alicante.
An audio system is available in 5 different languages: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.
It works from March to December. The frequency is 60 minutes (20 minutes the days cruises dock at the port).
The price is 10 euro for adults, 7 euro for children and 5 euro for pensioners.
For further information:
http://www.alicanteturismo.com/adaptingContenidos/muestrausuario.asp?idnodo=9355&idioma=en&ididioma=2
On the web of SUBUS you can see a map with the route plotted: http://www.subus.es/

TAM (Transporte Alicante Metropolitano) is the system of public transport for Alicante area. It comprises urban buses, metropolitan buses and the tram system.

http://www.subus.es/

On the main page, select TAM. The web of TAM is quite helpful. You can find all the bus services provided by TAM as well as other bus services in the province.

There are links to:
- Mobilis card (a card you can use in Tram and buses; there are different ones: general use, schoolchildren, young people, retired…) and other travel cards and bonus.
- Alicante tourist card: it allows you to move all around Alicante by bus or tram, to use the Turibus and to have discounts in several shops and services.

Clicking on PLANO INTERACTIVO DE LÍNEAS a map will be displayed; on the same page all the lines are listed. Select one and the route will be plotted on the map.

On top of the webpage, on the right boxes you can select the line and a table with the route, frequencies and other information will be displayed.

Back on SUBUS main page, if you know the name of the bus stops you want to move to and from, click on Buscador de líneas.

SUBUS web also information of the bus services in other cities.

In case you need to go to the TAM offices, they are at Díaz Moreu Nº 6 (Rambla de Méndez Núñez with Av. Jaime II). Customer service department is open from Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00. Phone: 965 14 09 36. E-mail: tam@subus.es

The tram connects Alicante with Playa de San Juan, Playa de Muchavista, Campello and Benidorm. There are three stations at Alicante city: Luceros (under Plaza de los Luceros), Mercado (close to the central market) and MARQ (near the Archaeological Museum).
Line 3 departs from Plaza de los Luceros, stops at the Central Market and MARQ and goes to Venta Lanuza, beyond Campello, every 30 minutes. These trains stop at all the halts.
Line 1 makes the same route and continues to Benidorm. These trains stop only at the main stations.
Line 4 connects Alicante with San Juan beach.
A shuttle line (4L) connects the Postiguet beach (Puerta del Mar) with lines 1, 3 and 4 at Sangueta.
New lines are being built that will connect the city with San Vicente, the University and later on, the airport.

The tram is fast, clean and safe: you don't need to take the car and go into a traffic jam, look for parking, etc. Schedules during the summer are longer: the "tramnochador" circulates till late in the night.

Tickets can be bought at the ticket machines in the stations and in the trains. At the stations there are also counters in case you don’t manage to operate the machine.
If you are going to use the tram frequently there are some interesting choices to save money such as bonus and travel card. They can be bought at the stations and also at kiosks and tobacconists.

Mobilis card is a contactless smartcard that costs 2 €. You can buy it at the stations and charge it in the ticke machines, in kiosks and tobacconists. This card can also be used in the buses of the TAM (Transporte Alicante Metropolitano) network.
How to use the mobilis card? When you enter in the train touch the orange electronic reader with the card. If you take the tram in a station you must pass the ticket barrier where the electronic reader is. Then, you don’t have to touch again the reader in the train. In case you go out in a station, you also have to open the ticket barrier by touching the reader with the card, but don’t worry; a new travel won’t be deduced.
A mobilis card can be used by several people, touch the reader as many times as people are travelling.

For update information of schedules and fares check the web. English version is available, look for it at the bottom of the webpage.

All the stations, halts and trains are adapted for people with reduced mobility and for wheelchair users. Underground stations have escalators and are equipped with lifts.