Costa Blanca Transfers and Car Hire: Alicante and Murcia

If you are booked into one resort and plan to stay put, a transfer is usually enough. Package holidays include the run from the airport, and Costa Blanca airport transfers from Alicante are short to the nearer towns: Santa Pola and Alicante city are both around 9 minutes away, El Campello about 19. Benidorm is the busiest resort on the coast, and its beaches, Platja de Llevant and Platja de Ponent, plus Terra Mítica, Aqualandia and Mundomar, keep plenty of families happy without a car.

The case for hiring grows the more of the coast you want to see. Torrevieja sits roughly 42 miles from the middle of the Costa Blanca and Dénia about 32 miles in the other direction, so the two ends are a proper drive apart. Santa Bárbara Castle and the Archaeological Museum in Alicante, Penyal d'Ifac Natural Park and platja de la Fustera in Calp, the Castell de Dénia and El Montgó Natural Park, and the fortress at Santa Pola are spread along that stretch, and stringing several together is far simpler with your own wheels.

Many travellers split the difference: they book Costa Blanca transfers car hire combinations, taking the package transfer on arrival and hiring a car for just a few days mid-stay from a resort desk.

Alicante (ALC) is the natural pick-up point for most of the coast. It has direct flights from the UK and puts you 9 minutes from Santa Pola and Alicante, 19 from El Campello and 31 from Torrevieja, which makes it the sensible choice for Benidorm, Altea, Calp, Jávea, Moraira and Dénia further north too.

Murcia (RMU) suits anyone staying at the southern end. It also has direct UK flights and reaches Torrevieja in about 38 minutes, though Santa Pola is nearer 58 minutes and Alicante around 73. If you are comparing car hire Costa Blanca south options, check both airports against your flight times. The same applies if you are searching for car hire in Villamartin or hire cars for La Zenia: enter your arrival airport and dates in the comparison and the live results show what is on offer.

For general Costa Blanca car hire away from the airports, the larger towns such as Alicante and Benidorm are the obvious places to look for a desk if you only want a car for part of your stay.

Much of your driving will follow the coast between resorts, but two of the most rewarding stops rise well above sea level. El Montgó Natural Park is a mountain above Dénia, and the Penyal d'Ifac in Calp is a rock headland, so expect slower, twistier roads and limited parking near trailheads. Arriving early helps on both counts.

Summer heat matters behind the wheel. July averages a high of 31°C in Benidorm and August 30°C, so a car parked in the sun becomes an oven quickly; look for shade and keep water in the car. Rain is rare in high summer, with just 5mm in July, but May and September are the wettest months at around 50mm or more, which can make roads slick after a dry spell.

Dénia also has a ferry port, with Ibiza about 71 miles away by sea. If you fancy taking a hire car across, check the rental terms first, as many agreements restrict ferry travel.

Choose a full-to-full fuel policy where you can: you collect the car with a full tank and return it full, paying only for what you use. Read the excess figure carefully too, and decide before you travel whether you want excess cover, as buying it at the desk can be a rushed decision after a flight.

Families should book child seats at the same time as the car rather than assuming the desk will have one spare, particularly in the summer school holidays when demand across Benidorm, Alicante and Torrevieja is at its peak. Booking early for July and August, and for the busy weeks around Easter and half-term, gives you more choice of car size.

The comparison on this page shows live car hire prices, alongside package deals, hotel prices and tours and tickets, so you can weigh a hire car against a transfer in one place.