Travelling To Spain The Spanish Regional Travel Guide

Up to 60 million visitors travel to Spain every year to delight
in the country\'s 315 sunny days and its rich and diverse history
and culture. As a result the Spanish government spend millions
of Euros per year on the travel and transport infrastructure to
service the country\'s growing population and its ever growing
numbers of visitors.

Therefore Spain has to be one of the easiest and most affordable
of the world\'s popular destinations in terms of its
accessibility - particularly from the UK and Northern America.
For example there are cheap flights available from all British
airports to main and regional airports across Spain daily and
direct flights from the main Spanish hubs to the US daily. As an
alternative for British and European travellers there are
fantastic countrywide train, coach and ferry links and great
access for those who prefer to travel by car.

This article breaks down the main Spanish travel options by
region.

Northern Spain - The easiest way to access this region is
by plane from one of the main UK airports flying directly to
Bilbao or from the US to Malaga with transfer to Bilbao. It\'s
possible to connect with Iberia flights for connections across
the North and throughout Spain. Alsa and Eurolines have
sophisticated coach networks and it\'s possible to travel all the
way across Europe to Bilbao or San Sebastian and then pick up
local coaches or rail connections. You can also sail from the UK
port of Plymouth to Santander with Brittany Ferries, or you
could take the P & O route from Portsmouth to Bilbao.

Castile and La Rioja - The cheapest way to access these
regions is possibly to fly to one of the main Spanish hubs -
Barcelona, Bilbao or Madrid for example, and then either drive
or get connecting flights. You can connect with Iberia for
flights to Logrona in La Rioja or Valladolid in Castile.
Castile, Rioja and Navarre are serviced by an excellent road
network which makes getting around simple and again, Alsa
coaches will connect you with major and minor destinations
across the regions and the entire country.

Aragon, Navarre and the Pyrenees - As these regions are
easily accessible by car or coach from Madrid it may be best to
get a cheap flight to Madrid and then drive the E90 to the heart
of the region. You could consider getting a connecting flight to
Zaragoza in the middle of the region which is a good jumping off
point for explorations in this stunning part of Spain.
Alternatively access to this region can be made by rail or
coach. Eurolines coaches will connect you with Pamplona or
Zaragoza; Eurostar rail will take you from the UK to Paris and
from Paris you can catch an overnight high speed rail link to
Madridfrom Madrid the options are varied, from local rail and
coach connections, car hire, and local flight connections with
Iberia.

Costa Brava and Costa Dorada - As we move east to the
beautiful Northern Catalonian coastal regions of the Costa Brava
and Costa Dorada, so accessibility increases. Barcelona airport
is the main airport for these regions and it welcomes cheap UK
and US flights. You can then connect to Girona in the Costa
Brava region or Reus in the Costa Dorada region. Barcelona
itself has an underground train network for access throughout
the city, and if you want to travel further afield the Spanish
rail service RENFE has many mainline and local services
servicing both regions. The main coastal road in Costa Brava is
the A7, with the A2 taking you west away from Barcelona and the
C32 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 airport
is Madrid and it welcomes direct flights from all the major UK
and US airports and some of the smaller ones as well. As Madrid
is such a major city you can imagine it acts as an important
travel hub for the whole of Spain. Coach and rail networks and
main auto routes all radiate from the city. Madrid has two main
stations with trains departing for regional and international
destinations, and the city has an underground metro system as
well.

Costa del Azahar - The main travel hub of this region is
Valencia with the city\'s airport enjoying direct UK flights. To
access the rest of the region you can take advantage of the
RENFE services from Valencia or enjoy the city via the FGV trams
and underground trains. If you want to travel from the coast to
Madrid take the N430 and A3; to explore the coast take the A7.
Again, Eurolines coaches operate connections to towns and cities
in this region including Valencia, Sagunt and Vinaros. And last
but not least, Valencia is a port city and has ferries running
across the Mediterranean with destinations including Malta,
Ibiza, Italy etc.

Costa Blanca - Most visitors for this region enter via
Alicante airport. With the Costa Brava well serviced by roads
and Alicante airport offering great car hire opportunities many
people prefer to access the rest of the region by road, though
RENFE, Eurolines and Alsa offer excellent rail and coach
alternatives.

Costa Calida - Murcia is the main airport for this
region, though Alicante airport is also accessible affording
visitors and residents an extra opportunity and advantage. From
Murcia there are a number of major train services including
direct links to Madrid. In terms of roads, again the Costa
Calida is a region with an excellent network of major roads and
routes: the N340 runs from Alicante through Murcia to the Costa
del Sol, the A7 hugs the coast and local, national and
international coach lines service the area. In the port town of
Cartagena a passenger terminal was built in 2003 which now
serves as a destination for some of the major cruise liners on
their way to and from destinations around France, Greece and the
Black Sea Coast.

Costa de Almeria - You\'re spoilt for choice when it comes
to airports serving this region, you can fly to Alicante or
Murcia and travel by road or rail into the region or you can fly
direct to Almeria airport. The cheapest flights are often to
Alicante. RENFE have mainline train services from Almeria to the
city of Granada, Eurolines, Alsa and Enatcar all offer coach
services across Costa de Almeria. The major routes in the region
are the N340 which runs from Costa Calida through the town of
Almeria and on south to the Costa del Sol, the A92 which
connects with Granada and the A348 which connects Almeria with
the Alpujarras. In terms of sea access, Transmediterranea have
ferries from the port of Almeria to Northern Africa.

Costa del Sol and Andalucia - If you can\'t get a flight
to this region of Spain you must be doing something wrong - or
maybe just hoping to travel during peak season! The main airport
is Malaga and nearly every single airline you can think of flies
from almost every single UK and US airport you can think of! If
you can\'t get a flight and you\'re in the UK you might consider
driving to the Costa del Sol! In which case your best bet would
be to sail from Plymouth to Santander or from Portsmouth to
Bilbao and then travel the 900 or so kilometres south. If you
start off in Bilbao you\'ll need the A68 and A1 to Burgos, or
from Santander take the N623 to Burgos - then from Burgos travel
via the N1 to Madrid. From Madrid head to Granada, from Granada
head for Malagaphew! Alternatively get a Euroline coach all the
way from the UK to Estepona or Malaga or travel from Paris on
the fast night train to Madrid and connect with the AVE fast
train to Cordoba which in turn connects up with regional Costa
del Sol services.

Costa de la Luz and Gibraltar - You can either fly to
Gibraltar or Jerez in the region or make use of the many cheap
flights to Spain that land in Malaga. There are ferry services
between Tarifa and Algeciras in Spain and Tangiers in Morocco,
bus and rail services across Europe and through Spain to the
Costa de la Luz and strong road links with the E15 serving
Gibraltar from the mainland.

Whatever your final destination you should be able to find cheap
flights to some of Spain\'s main airports and then use local and
regional travel services to access your destination of choice;
as I hope I\'ve shown, the whole of Spain is incredibly easily
accessible.