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Travelling To Spain - The Spanish Regional Travel Guide
By Rhiannon Williamson, Thu Dec 8th
Up to 60 million visitors travel to Spain every year to delightin the country’s 315 sunny days and its rich and diverse historyand culture. As a result the Spanish government spend millionsof Euros per year on the travel and transport infrastructure toservice the country’s growing population and its ever growingnumbers of visitors. Therefore Spain has to be one of the easiest and most affordableof the world’s popular destinations in terms of itsaccessibility - particularly from the UK and Northern America.For example there are cheap flights available from all Britishairports to main and regional airports across Spain daily anddirect flights from the main Spanish hubs to the US daily. As analternative for British and European travellers there arefantastic countrywide train, coach and ferry links and greataccess for those who prefer to travel by car. This article breaks down the main Spanish travel options byregion.
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Northern Spain – The easiest way to access this region isby plane from one of the main UK airports flying directly toBilbao or from the US to Malaga with transfer to Bilbao. It’spossible to connect with Iberia flights for connections acrossthe North and throughout Spain. Alsa and Eurolines havesophisticated coach networks and it’s possible to travel all theway across Europe to Bilbao or San Sebastian and then pick uplocal coaches or rail connections. You can also sail from the UKport of Plymouth to Santander with Brittany Ferries, or youcould take the P & O route from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Castile and La Rioja – The cheapest way to access theseregions is possibly to fly to one of the main Spanish hubs –Barcelona, Bilbao or Madrid for example, and then either driveor get connecting flights. You can connect with Iberia forflights to Logrona in La Rioja or Valladolid in Castile.Castile, Rioja and Navarre are serviced by an excellent roadnetwork which makes getting around simple and again, Alsacoaches will connect you with major and minor destinationsacross the regions and the entire country. Aragon, Navarre and the Pyrenees – As these regions areeasily accessible by car or coach from Madrid it may be best toget a cheap flight to Madrid and then drive the E90 to the heartof the region. You could consider getting a connecting flight toZaragoza in the middle of the region which is a good jumping offpoint for explorations in this stunning part of Spain.Alternatively access to this region can be made by rail orcoach. Eurolines coaches will connect you with Pamplona orZaragoza; Eurostar rail will take you from the UK to Paris andfrom Paris you can catch an overnight high speed rail link toMadrid…from Madrid the options are varied, from local rail andcoach connections, car hire, and local flight connections withIberia. Costa Brava and Costa Dorada – As we move east to thebeautiful Northern Catalonian coastal regions of the Costa Bravaand Costa Dorada, so accessibility increases. Barcelona airportis the main airport for these regions and it welcomes cheap UKand US flights. You can then connect to Girona in the CostaBrava region or Reus in the Costa Dorada region. Barcelonaitself has an underground train network for access throughoutthe city, and if you want to travel further afield the Spanishrail service RENFE has many mainline and local servicesservicing both regions. The main coastal road in Costa Brava isthe A7, with the A2 taking you west away from Barcelona and theC32 taking you south from Barcelona into the Costa Dorada.Barcelona has a port with ferry services to Genoa, Rome,Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. Central Spain and Madrid – Central Spain’s main airportis Madrid and it welcomes direct flights from all the major UKand US airports and some of the smaller ones as well. As Madridis such a major city you can imagine it acts as an importanttravel hub for the whole of Spain. Coach and rail networks andmain auto routes all radiate from the city. Madrid has two mainstations with trains departing for regional and internationaldestinations, and the city has an underground metro system aswell. Costa del Azahar – The main travel hub of this region isValencia with the city’s airport enjoying direct UK flights. Toaccess the rest of the region you can take advantage of theRENFE services from Valencia or enjoy the city via the FGV tramsand underground trains. If you want to travel from the coast toMadrid take the N430 and A3; to explore the coast take the A7.Again, Eurolines coaches operate connections to towns and citiesin this region including Valencia, Sagunt and Vinaros. And lastbut not least, Valencia is a port city and has ferries runningacross the Mediterranean with destinations including Malta,Ibiza, Italy etc. Costa Blanca – Most visitors for this region enter viaAlicante airport. With the Costa Brava well serviced by roadsand Alicante airport offering great car hire opportunities manypeople prefer to access the rest of the region by road, thoughRENFE, Eurolines and Alsa offer excellent rail and coachalternatives. Costa Calida – Murcia is the main airport for thisregion, though Alicante airport is also accessible affordingvisitors and residents an extra opportunity and advantage. FromMurcia there are a number of major train services includingdirect links to Madrid. In terms of roads, again the CostaCalida is a region with an excellent network of major roads androutes: the N340 runs from Alicante through Murcia to the Costadel Sol, the A7 hugs the coast and local, national andinternational coach lines service the area. In the port town ofCartagena a passenger terminal was built in 2003 which nowserves as a destination for some of the major cruise liners ontheir way to and from destinations around France, Greece and theBlack Sea Coast. Costa de Almeria – You’re spoilt for choice when it comesto airports serving this region, you can fly to Alicante orMurcia and travel by road or rail into the region or you can flydirect to Almeria airport. The cheapest flights are often toAlicante. RENFE have mainline train services from Almeria to thecity of Granada, Eurolines, Alsa and Enatcar all offer coachservices across Costa de Almeria. The major routes in the regionare the N340 which runs from Costa Calida through the town ofAlmeria and on south to the Costa del Sol, the A92 whichconnects with Granada and the A348 which connects Almeria withthe Alpujarras. In terms of sea access, Transmediterranea haveferries from the port of Almeria to Northern Africa. Costa del Sol and Andalucia – If you can’t get a flightto this region of Spain you must be doing something wrong – ormaybe just hoping to travel during peak season! The main airportis Malaga and nearly every single airline you can think of fliesfrom almost every single UK and US airport you can think of! Ifyou can’t get a flight and you’re in the UK you might considerdriving to the Costa del Sol! In which case your best bet wouldbe to sail from Plymouth to Santander or from Portsmouth toBilbao and then travel the 900 or so kilometres south. If youstart off in Bilbao you’ll need the A68 and A1 to Burgos, orfrom Santander take the N623 to Burgos – then from Burgos travelvia the N1 to Madrid. From Madrid head to Granada, from Granadahead for Malaga…phew! Alternatively get a Euroline coach all theway from the UK to Estepona or Malaga or travel from Paris onthe fast night train to Madrid and connect with the AVE fasttrain to Cordoba which in turn connects up with regional Costadel Sol services. Costa de la Luz and Gibraltar – You can either fly toGibraltar or Jerez in the region or make use of the many cheapflights to Spain that land in Malaga. There are ferry servicesbetween Tarifa and Algeciras in Spain and Tangiers in Morocco,bus and rail services across Europe and through Spain to theCosta de la Luz and strong road links with the E15 servingGibraltar from the mainland. Whatever your final destination you should be able to find cheapflights to some of Spain’s main airports and then use local andregional travel services to access your destination of choice;as I hope I’ve shown, the whole of Spain is incredibly easilyaccessible. About the author:Rhiannon Williamson is the publisher of http://www.shelteroffshore.com/ - the online resource for investment property abroad,offshore investing and living overseas articles. Click thefollowing link for Spanishproperty and moving to Spain articles, guides & resources. | 