Costa De Luz To Alicante Costa Blanca

On Fri Apr 28 22:46 , 'susan.laing' sent:

Hi gary

came across your website when looking for internal flights in spain & think you are the perfect solution to my questions!

i am hoping to fly into Gib in june - edinburgh/luton/gib - easyjet/monarch. that bit's fine.

I am staying with friends in San Pablo Buceita near Jimena de la Frontera BUT THEN i want to go on and stay with friends near Alicante............

I have tried so many different websites looking for internal flights from Malaga to Alicante but there doesn't seem to be any???

I know i can go by bus from Algeciras to Alicante ( approx 12hrs?) but i'd really rather fly or train. Have you any ideas for me? Surely there is an airline that does Malaga to Alicante?? I can get a lift to Malaga airport.


Or would do train from Algeciras, San Roque?? Any ideas????

look forward to your knowledgeable advice!

regards

susan

MY REPLY

Hi Susan

There are not any direct scheduled flights between Malaga and Alicante which seems mad but you can fly direct from Seville to Alicante. In fact Seville Airport is probably closer to where you are staying in Jimenez de la Frontera!

Iberia Airlines (www.iberia.es) have one DIRECT flight per day and about 20 others that involve changing at Madrid or Barcelona. The direct flight schedule varies each day but only takes an hour. Some days it leaves at 9am others 1315.

I also checked out direct flights between Jerez and Alicante but again there arent any and you have to change at Madrid or Barcelona.

I hope this helps and let us know how you get on and which route you ended up taking so we can let other people know in the future.

Regards

Gary

Buses From Spanish Airports

Sometimes I cant believe how much time and effort people put into passing on information about their travels so that other people can have a better holiday!

One of our regular visitors, Dave Bubier is a man who knows a lot about travelling through the various Spanish airports and has just sent me the following updates for bus routes at five of the airports.

I am now adding this information to the relevent pages within the main website.

A big thank you to Dave for all his work and if anyone else knows information that is not listed in my site please, please let me know.

Murcia Airport does have a regular bus connection to the centre, operated by Latbus (the local urban concessionaire) as their line 73. Fare is 7 Euro. Not sure of duration.

Valencia Airport - From 3rd Nov last a new direct line from Manises to the city centre is reported. It is worked by Transvia-Fernanbus and, so far as I can deduce, is additional to the loop services you already cite.

Malaga Airport - It appears that CTSA (Portillo) has an articulated bus running an internal free service (24/7) since March linking the terminals and parking areas amidst all the chaos of the current redevelopment. The vehicle is liveried for the airport authorities (Aena) and is under contract.

Madrid Airport - The new terminal 4 and its satellites are now linked by a 2.7km `People Mover` driverless train.

Coruna Airport - Although it does not add materially to the information you already have, it would appear that from this month an additional service from the airport to the city centre has been introduced. I would surmise that these are direct, non-stop, journeys as distinct from the existing, which are an extension of the urban net.

Malaga Airport To The Costa La Luz

On Wed Apr 26 8:18 , Yvonne sent:

Dear Gary,

I came across your website and was wondering if you had any ideas for someone that has already bought a ticket with Thompson Fly to travel to Malaga airport on 6th August. The problem is that they don't know how to get from Malaga airport to Costa Ballena which is very near Rota on the Costa de Luz. The traveller cannot drive, so hiring a car is out of the question.

I looked at the information re. bus timetables and there is only one bus a day that goes from Malaga to the City of Jerez which is the nearest big city. As the traveller's flight does not land at Malaga airport till 09:30am she would not arrive in time to get the bus that leaves Malaga at 08:15.

I'd be really grateful if you could suggest something. Do you know how much a taxi would cost? ... no doubt an arm and a leg! I don't know about trains either.

Anyway, I hope to hear from you when you have a spare moment.
Best regards
Yvonne

My Reply

Hi Yvonne

A taxi down to that area would cost them about €120 -€140 each way (80 pounds) with Shuttle Direct, (www.shuttledirect.com) who we recommend for all private transfers. You may need to call Shuttle Direct as Rotya is not on the list from Malaga Airport but Cadiz is, their number is Customer care telephone: (international +34) 902.33.46.33. The journey is about 260 kms!

The alternative is to get into Malaga Bus Station and get a bus to Cadiz which is only 50 kms from Rota. The buses run at 1200 and 1530, they take about 5 hours but cost just €20.12 per person eachway. They could them get a taxi into Rota which should cost them about €35.

If the miss the buses to Cadiz another option is to gwt the bus from Malaga to Algerciras which runs every 45minutes and then get a taxi from there but the taxi will be at least €60-70 from Algerciras!

Rota is not any easy place to get to and if they want a really easy journey they may be better off moving the Thomsonfly tickets to another holiday/flight and trying to fly direct into Jerez Airport with Ryanair from Stansted or into Seville from Stansted, Gatwick or Heathrow.

The links you need to see the bus timetables are below but it is best to check the times as they can change them at anytime but not change what they put on the internet!

http://www.ctsa-portillo.com/horarios.html

I hope this helps and let us know how they get on so that we can help out other travellers in the same boat!

Regards

Gary Ingram

Flying From Madrid To Palma

On Sat Apr 22 17:20 , 'Ruth' sent:

I would like to ask you some questions regarding going to Palma de Mallorca from Madrid. I live in Malta and there is no direct flights to this location. So I would like to know how to manage to travel from Madrid to Palma, and which is the most effective transport to use and the most cheaper?. I would greatly appreciate your earliest response and also give me some other information so that my holiday would be easy and effective.

Thanks

Ruth

My Reply


Hi Ruth

I have been away for a few days so sorry for the delay in coming back to you.

The easiest way to get to Palma from Madrid is to fly. The journey only takes about 1 hour and 30 mins and you can fly with either Iberia airlines or Spanair.

I just did a quick check with Iberia and there are about 5 flights per day and if you book early enough you can get the tickets for as little as €39 each way.

Here are the links for the airlines:

www.iberia.es (language selection top right of the screen)

www.spanair.com

Let us know how you get on so that we can help other travellers with the same requests

Good luck

Gary Ingram

Lost Property At Valencia Airport

On Wed Apr 26 12:01 , 'Arne' sent:

Hi
Please give me the mail adress to Valencia airport. I left my keys in the pass- control area.
Thanks
Arne

My reply

Hi Arne
The telephone number for Valencia Airport is: 0034 961 598 500

Good Luck

Gary Ingram

On Thu Apr 27 7:17 , 'Arne' sent:

Hi Gary
I left my kees the 20.04.06 at 09:00 in the security control at Valiecia Airport. It is 4 kees for the house linked to an automatic unit for opening the garage. I tried the telephonenumber but the communication is not god. Therefor I am free to ask if it is possible for you to phone the airport.
Thanks
Arne

My Reply

Hi Arne

Unfortunately we are unable to call the airport but you could try http://www.lingo-link.com/ who charge a small fee for translation and sorting out problems for people who dont speak Spanish.

I hope this helps you get you keys back.

Let us know how you get on so that we can help other people with the same problems.

Regards

Gary Ingram

Gibraltar Airport Car Hire For Spanish Tourists

We had this question in which must be a common one for travellers to and from Gib, I have added my thoughts but if anyone else has any other companies to recommend let us know.

On Thu Apr 20 0:20 , andrew kelly

Hi there Gary, Great website & most informative.
Looked through your Blog msgs but couldn't find an
answer to my question...which is as follows.

My partner & I are travelling from UK to Gibraltar
Airport & then on to Meliá Atlanterra Hotel,
Bahía de la Plata, s/n Zahara de los Atunes - Cádiz
& we would like to hire a car to get there.

After reading up on whats best to do, I understand
best policy is to walk across border from Gib Airport
into Spain....but where do we go from there?

I have also found a website www.crowncarhire.com & it
looks like they have a branch on spanish side near Gib
airport...(inside 'FOCONA public park')..would you
recommend Crown & how far is the walk from Airport to
car hire?
We would like to book carhire before we travel.


Many thanks in advance for any help.
Regards
Andy & Karen


Gary Ingram Wrote:
---------------------------------

Hi Andy,

Good question and I will add it to my blog when I get
back home from travelling.

Your hotel choice by the way is excellent, I am a
Melia Hotels fan!

We went to the Melia Atlanterra last year for a few
days with our baby daughter and had a great time, the
hotel is on a fantastic beach and the staff and
facilities are excellent!

Crown Car Hire are a big local (Costa Del Sol)
company, they have about 4000 cars at Malaga Airport
alone. The walk from the airport to the crown car hire
offices on the Spanish side is about 5-10 mins max if
it's where I think it is. 10 mins if there is a
passport queue, 5 mins if no queue.

The best thing to do is to ring up Crown and have a chat
with them, they will speak English. There prices arent
bad and seem to be in line with all the other car hire
companies.

I am not sure who else operates on the Spanish side at
Gib so I have made a mental note to find out next
time I am there.


Hope you have a great time and if you if you fancy
exploring Jerez is about 30 mins from where you are
staying and Seville about 1 hour and 15 mins. Both are
worth a visit but both close down in the afternoon
between 1330 and 1700

Let us know how you get on

Regards

Gary

Andy wrote:

Thanks Gary for prompt response, you are a star.
Will drop you a line when we get back.
Cheers
Andy & Karen.

Reus Airport To Barcelona By Train

Hi Gary

Is this the sort of thing you can advise on, please.

We are flying next week (Wednesday) to Reus Airport via Ryanair from Liverpool. We rather fancy the train trip into Barcelona rather than coach. Do you know whether their is a regular bus from the airport to the train station, please. We have the train timetable for the Renfe.

thanks

Mike Sercombe

MY REPLY

Hi Mike


I was at Reus airport a few months ago and found the bus routes a little confusing, however I believe that...

From Reus Bus Station to Reus Airport there is a service run by the metropolitan transport system calling at the bus station, train station and the airport. The journey takes 10 minutes from the train station and 25 from the bus station. Timetables are related to flight timetables and tickets cost 2 euros.


If all else fails the taxi into Reus isnt that bad and you should be able to get into the train station for about €15.

Let me know how you get on so that we can pass your experience with other visitors

Hope that you have a good trip, I have also posted your question on our message board in case antone else knows more information.

I should also recommend that you check out the followinf website which is full or "real" info about Barcelona

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/

Regards

Gary Ingram

Passport Issues For Spain - Help Needed

Hi Gary

I would be grateful for your advice: a friend booked to travel to Lanzarote with flight only on Sunday and has just discovered that his passport will expire the day BEFORE his return flight. He has spoken to various offices in the UK and had some reassurance but has no way of knowing what might happen with Spanish immigration should he manage to get out of England! Would it be an issue?

Any advice gratefully received!

Best wishes

TeeJay

MY REPLY

Hi Teejay

I am really in the dark on this issue, immigration can be so fickle!!!

My immediate reaction is that the Spanish wont be that worried about him leaving with an expired passport and the issue is entry into the UK.

Below is a link to the UK Consulate in Spain and it lists lots of questions and answers and all contact numbers, addresses of the Embassies etc, you could try them

http://www.ukinspain.com/english/

You could also try adding your question to a few of the busier forums where many travellers share their thoughts, I would try....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

http://www.aardvarktravel.net/chat/

http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-forums

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/



I hope this helps and it would be great if you could share the outcome of the trip with me so that if the question comes up again I can help someone else!

Apologies for the delay but I am on holiday until 25th April and only checking emails once per day!

Regards



Gary Ingram


From Teejay 26th April 2006

Ola Gary, reply as promised!

My relative made his return trip to Lanzarote (with passport expiring day before return leg)almost unscathed!

1) he rang immingration at Manchester who advised that he check with his carrier (JMC) saying if they thought it was OK it wouldn't be a problem

2) he went to the JMC desk the day before he left and they said it wasn't a problem

3) at check in he was asked if he knew his passport was about to expire but let him through

4) no problem at passport control at Manchester, nodded through at the other end!

5) not mentioned on check-in return

6)at Manchester all passports were being checked and he was stopped and asked if he knew it had expired; he replied 'only just' and with a smile was told 'we'll let you in'

So there we are! Many thanks for your advice

Best wishes

Teejay

Baggage Strike at Alicante Airport

Can Anyone help with this?

Hello Gary,


Hope you can help today - as we are flying to Alicante tomorrow (good Friday) and I have looked all over the web - Is there a baggage strike at Alicante airport? I'm beginning to think its a rumour! If so, it will influence whether we just try and take Hand Luggage or not.

Hope you get back to me in time - Regards Jeanne (Jackson)


Hi Jeanne

Sorry for not coming back to you sooner and this may be too late but I think the baggage strike is just a rumour, I havent heard or read anything in the Spanish press.

It's holiday time here so I am only checking my emails once per day!

The best advice I can give is to ring Alicante Airport before you leave on 0034 966 919 000

Hope this helps and that you have a good trip

Regards


Gary

Monarch Flights To Gibraltar

Unfortunately Monarch have now cancelled their route between Manchester and Gibraltar blaming the Gibraltar Government for the high charges at the airport.

This means that there are no routes to Gibraltar from the North of England anymore!

Monarch have also announced that they are to expand the service at Blackpool Airport and over this coming winter (2006) they will be increasing the number of flights between Blackpool to Malaga to 3 per week.

The flights will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays.

Book direct at www.flymonarch.com

Spanish Football Teams - Nearest Airports

With many of our English Football players being signed up to play abroad, many people are becoming fans of those clubs for the players rather than the Club itself.

Add into this the number of Spanish and English teams playing competitive European Football and I though that a list of airports that are near to the various clubs would be of great assistance!

So, for all of you Spanish Football fans out there, I have listed all the Spanish Football Clubs with either their nearest airport or airports.

Alaves Football Club, Vitoria Airport

Nearest Airport – Vitoria served by Ryanair from Stansted

Closest Other Airports With Direct UK Flights – Bilbao Airport, Santander Airport

Athletic Football Club, Bilbao

Nearest Airport – Bilbao Airport

Closest Other Airports With Direct UK Flights – Vitoria Airport, Santander Airport

Athletico Football Club, Madrid

Nearest Airport – Madrid Airport

Barcelona Football Club, Barcelona

Nearest Airport – Barcelona Airport

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights – Girona Airport, Reus Airport

Betis Football Club, Sevilla

Seville Airport is the nearest airport. You could also fly into Jerez Airport which is about 1 hour drive away, Gibralter Airport which is about 2 hours drive, Faro Airport which is about 1 hour 30 minutes away.

Cadiz Football Club, Cadiz

Nearest Airport. Jerez Airport

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights: Malaga Airport, Seville Airport, Faro Airport, Gibraltar Airport

Celta Football Club, Vigo (Pontevedra)

Nearest Airport – Vigo (no direct UK flights)

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights: Santiago de Compostela Airport, La Coruna Airport

Deportivo Football Club, A Coruna

Nearest Airport – La Coruna Airport

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights – Santiago de Compostela Airport

Espanyol Football Club, Barcelona

Nearest Airport – Barcelona

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights – Reus Airport, Girona Airport

Getafe Football Club, Madrid

Nearest Airport - Madrid

Malaga Football Club, Malaga

Malaga Airport is the nearest Airport. However you could also fly to Granada Airport which is about 1 hour drive away. Gibralter Airport about 1 hour 45 minutes Seville Airport which is about 2 hours 30 minutes drive or Jerez Airport which is about 2 hours 30 minutes drive.

Mallorca Football Club, Palma De Mallorca

Nearest Airport – Palma de Mallorca Airport

Osasuna Football Club, Pamplona

Nearest Airport – Pamplona (no direct UK flights)

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights– Zaragoza, Bilbao, Vitoria

Real Madrid Football Club, Madrid

Nearest Airport - Madrid

Real Sociedad Football Club, San Sebastian

Nearest Airport – San Sebastian (no direct UK flights)

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights– Bilbao, Vitoria & Santander

Real Racing Football Club, Santander

Nearest Airport – Santander Airport

Other Airports With Direct UK Flights: Bilbao Airport, Vitoria Airport & Asturias Airport

Sevilla Football Club, Seville

Seville Airport is the nearest airport. You could also fly into Jerez Airport which is about 1 hour drive away, Gibralter Airport which is about 2 hours drive, Faro Airport which is about 1 hour 30 minutes away.

Valencia Football Club, Valencia

Nearest Airport: Valencia Airport

Other Airport With Direct UK Flights: Alicante Airport & Murcia Airport

Villarreal Football Club, Villarreal

Nearest Airport: Valencia Airport

Zaragoza Football Club, Zaragoza

Nearest Airport: Zaragoza Airport

Other Airport With Direct UK Flights: Reus Airport, Barcelona Airport & Girona Airport

Getting From Granada Airport To Malaga

Hi Gary

Is it possible to get from GRANADA AIRPORT TO MALAGA? If so do you know how
much this would cost?

Kind Regards

Vaishali

My Reply

Hi Vaishali

Sorry for taking a while to get back to you.

I found this very informative page about getting to and from Granada and Malaga

http://granadainfo.com/granadatravel.htm

In my opinion the easiest way is to drive (if you can)

Its about an hour journey, very easy road to drive and follow.

Good luck and let me know how it goes after your visit so we can pass your expierence on to other visitors to the site..

Regards

Gary

Spanish Airport Guide In Spanish!

We have finally put Spanish Airport Guide into Spanish!

As of today we have gone live with the main 30 airport pages and over the next few months we will be adding another 20-30 individual pages to each of 30 Airports.

By the end of the year we also hope to be fully operational in German!

¡Finalmente hemos traducido la Guia de Aeropuertos de España al español!

Desde hoy puedes acceder a información sobre los 30 aeropuertos
principales y en los próximos meses añadiremos entre 20 y 30 páginas
individuales de información por cada uno de los 30 aeropuertos.

¡Antes de fin de año también esperamos ser completamente operacionales en alemán!

Aeropuertos en España

New Airport For Antequera?

I have just read in the Sur in English that proposals have been made for the opening of a new Private airport in Antequera.

If it all goes to plan the new airport could be up and running by 2010 and the company that is heading up the project is confident that the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) will gives the go ahead for work on the airport to commence.

I must admit that I am a little bit skeptical about whether the area needs another airport. Antequera is between Malaga and Granada and within a 250 km radius there are Almeria Airport, Jerez Airport and Seville Airport.

The airports backers are however confident that there will be enough demand from passengers to provide the new airport with upto 2 million passengers per year by 2020. They say that even with the expansion work at Malaga Airport the Malaga is likely to become overcrowded again in the very near future and therefore Antequera will act as an overspill airport.

The other benefit is that a new high speed AVE Station is being built in Antequera in the very near future.

Hopefully the venture will come off and I look forward to adding Antequera Airport to my (growing) number of airports that I list in the main website.

Flyme Flights Sweden To Spain

Swedens low cost airline Flyme are offering direct low cost flights between Gothenberg and Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma over this summer.

There will:
flights to Alicante on Saturdays and Sundays
flights to Barcelona on Sundays
flights to Palma on Saturdays
flights to Malaga on Saturdays & Sundays

Demand for this new service is expected to be high so it's best to book these flights early!

You can book direct at www.flyme.se

Airports Covering North East Spain & South Western France

Through one of our partner sites, Languedoc Holiday Guide, we are now able to offer information and advice on the seven airports that cover the Languedoc area of France and maybe of interest to anyone travelling to North Eastern Spain!

For a holiday involving a trip to Spain and France you could fly into either Girona Airport, Reus Airport or Barcelona Airport and then travel into France before heading home from anyone of the following airports:

Avignon Airport, Carcassonne Airport, Montpellier Airport, Nimes Airport, Perpignan Airport, Rodez Airport or Toulouse Airport.

As a guide Perpignan Airport is only about an hour north of Girona and Montpellier Airport is about 3 hours to the north of Girona and 4 hours drive from Barcelona.

Ryanair Doncaster To Barcelona

Ryanair have announced a new route between Doncaster Sheffield and Barcelona.

The new route will have flights on offer for as little as £3.99 and will begin 12 th September this year.

They also announced extra flights to Dublin and another new route to Pisa in Italy. Ryanair believe that these new routes will bring more than 100,000 people to Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport.

Book direct at www.ryanair.com