You can hardly imagine traveling to Spain without visiting Barcelona. Beach vacation at the popular Alicante resort of Costa Brava tourist region will add a few juicy strokes to the Spanish tourist palette. Alicante is a city that is 537 km apart and can be reached by a traveler from Barcelona to Alicante:
- by airplane;
- by train;
- by bus;
- by car.
Airplane
During the day, the Vueling and Iberia airlines operate 5 flights from the Barcelona El Prat airport to Alicante, evenly distributed in time from 6:55 a.m. to 10:55 p.m. Tickets purchased in advance on the websites of these airlines will be cheaper than those purchased at the ticket offices. The approximate cost is 50-80 EUR. The ticket for the first morning flight is close to the lower limit of the price range, and for Sundays – to the upper limit. Tickets can be selected and purchased on the website.
Planes from Barcelona will arrive in 1 hour and 15 minutes at El Altet Alicante Airport, close to the city. It takes 20 minutes to get to Alicante directly to the city by shuttle bus.
If your flight to Alicante is preceded by a stay in Barcelona, you will need to get to Alicante airport in advance. This is best done by taking the R2 Nord train, which runs every half hour from the Passeig de Gràcia train station to El Prat airport’s T2 terminal. Travel time is 24 minutes, ticket price – 3,5 EUR. The exact timetable is available on the website.
Train
Electric trains between Barcelona and Alicante Alacant-Terminal run from 7:10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. They spend 5-6 hours on the road. Departure – from Barcelona train stations – Sants (4 km from the airport) or Franca in the Old Town.
If a trip to Alicante is planned without a stopover in Barcelona, you need to get to the train station from the airport. To do this, after receiving your luggage at El Prat airport, you need to find a signboard with a train image and go to the nearby railway station by signs. In the ticket booth on the way you will need to buy a ticket for 3.5 EUR in the form of a magnetic card, which will have to be inserted into the turnstile of the railway platform.
The name of the trains is Cercanillas, they run from 6: 00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Barselona Sants station is the third stop (it will be displayed on the electronic board of the wagon). The magnetic card is also used when leaving the wagon, so it must be saved until the end of the journey. The alternative to the train is a taxi, the driver of which has to say “Estasio Sanns” and the cost is much higher – 25 EUR.
The trains belong to the Renfe railway company. Tickets to the second class wagon (Turista) cost 50-60 EUR, and the first one (Preferente) costs 70-90 EUR. Passengers can save a lot of money by buying tickets not at the ticket offices, especially just before the trip, but on the company’s website, where you can often take advantage of preferential offers.
Bus
Bus services between Barcelona and Alicante Estación Bus are provided by Alsa. Up to ten flights are scheduled daily with Barcelona Estación Nord. Buses run between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. This significant time variation is directly related to the cost of the ticket purchased. Cheap tickets are used on free roads, while relatively expensive tickets are used on toll roads.
The purchase of bus tickets in Spain is “visible”. The company’s website or the bus terminal is displayed a scheme of the salon, and the future passenger can choose, for example, a seat by the window.
Car
Motorists or travel companies may prefer to rent a car. The approximate cost of daily rent is 30-45 EUR. If the rental period exceeds three days, discounts come into effect. You can choose a convenient option for renting on the website.
A rented car can be returned to a car company in any other city. The cost of petrol in Spain is 1.3 EUR per liter. The trip will require a little more than 40 liters, which will cost 50 EUR.
Motorists usually use navigators or pre-determine routes on the Internet. From Barcelona to Alicante are E-15 and FZ-7 highways. Time on the road will be 5-6 hours.
Conclusion
As the distance from Barcelona to Alicante is quite significant, air travel, even with the inclusion of pre-flight procedures retains the status of the fastest way to travel. From the point of view of convenience, the train is a serious competitor.
