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| How to get there | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Airports, Airlines and Ferries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Easyjet Airline Flights to Malaga from Bristol, East Midlands, Gatwick, Liverpool, Luton and Stanstead Airports.
Monarch Airline Flights to Gibraltar from Luton Airport. BMI baby Airline Flights to Malaga from East Midlands and Cardiff Airports. Eurotunnel Book on-line for special offers on crossing to Calais. P&O Ferries Details of crossings to Northern France and Bilbao. We are members of the travellers club and may be able to offer a discounted crossing. Brittany Ferries Details of crossings to Northern France and Santander. Luton Airport Booking your car-parking in advance is cheaper and more convenient than using the long term car parks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Car Rental from Malaga Airport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Car Jet Check here for easy to book, good value rental cars that can be collected from the airport. We have used this service several times, and this is definitely the best value and least hassle way to hire a car. Note that all the prices include full insurance, so you don't even have to worry about parking scrapes Rega Mallorca They meet you at the airport, so you save quite a bit of time. But their web-site and on-line booking system is diabolical, so you will need to persevere. Easy Rent-a-Car Can be good value if you like the Mercedes A Class, but you do have quite a long walk from the airport building to collect and return the car, and the mileage surcharge can be expensive. Helle Hollis We can also recommend this car rental company for reasonable prices with newish cars. You do have to take their complementary minibus to pick up the car, though. For full directions to the apartment, see Apartment Welcome Pack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxis from Malaga Airport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A taxi will cost approximately 64 Euros each way, tip about 3 Euros.
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| Buses from Malaga Airport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It is possible to take a bus from Malaga airport, there is a regular service to Marbella from the airport, and you would be able to change there for Estepona, but it is likely to be a long and tiring journey especially with luggage (it is 83Km from Malaga to Estepona). Exact times to Marbella are: 06.15, 08.15, 10.00, 11.45, 13.45, 15.30, 17.30, 19.15, 21.00, 23.00 The cost is 4.18 Euros per person each way, and the journey takes 45 minutes. I can't find any info on the bus service from Marbella to Estepona, other than the times, these times are to Estepona Centre ( you will need to take a taxi for the short trip to Costa Natura): 06.40, 07.10, 07.30, 07.50, 08.20, 08.40, 09.10, 09.40, 10.00, 10.45, 11.15, 11.35, 12.05, 12.35, 12.55, 13.25, 13.55, 14.15, 14.40, 15.15, 15.35, 16.00, 16.35, 16.55, 17.20, 17.55, 18.15, 18.55, 19.30, 19.55, 20.15, 20.50, 21.15, 21.35, 22.10, 22.30 These times are to Costa Natura: 08.15, 11.30, 15.15, 18.10, *20.15 (*Sundays only) I would imagine you are looking at another 30 minute bus journey from Marbella to Estepona, and perhaps another 5 Euros. If you do take the bus, bear in mind you do not want the centre of Estepona, you need the N340, just west of Estepona, and we would appreciate any feedback, as we have never taken this route. . Don't rely on the times, treat them as a guide only. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Road through France and Spain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From Bilboa In October 2001 we travelled to Costa Natura by ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao. The ferry crossing is scheduled to take 25 hours, but was in fact 29 hours due to bad weather - we caught the tail end of a hurricane from the Carribbean. Due to the weather a number of facilities on board had to be closed, such as the swimming pool, tapas bar and the shop (at least for a while). After leaving the ferry we drove to Toledo just south of Madrid for our overnight stop. We stayed in the state owned Parador de Toledo overlooking the beautiful old city (once the capital). The view from our room was amazing and the meal, as always, in the Paradors was superb. On the return journey we decided to travel overnight to Bilbao. On arriving early at the port, having had a very good journey north, we found that there was a problem with the ferry, and the sailing was going to be delayed for quite sometime. We eventually set off about 5 hours late. Before leaving we had really been looking forward to relaxing on the ferry with nothing to do, but despite good books to read, we rapidly became bored. We realise that we were unlucky with the crossings and that many people prefer this way to cross, but we decided that next time we would drive down through France. Approximate costings are:
From Northern France We drove to Costa Natura via the Eurotunnel in September 2002, and thoughly enjoyed the journey. We had three overnight stops on the way down, and two stops on the way back. This allowed us to visit places en-route, for example Biarritz in South West France and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The building itself is worth a visit even if you are not a fan of modern art. The lunch in the cafeteria is excellent value and we would definitely recommend it. We also managed to have almost a full day in the capital city of Madrid . On the return journey we stopped overnight in Haro in the Rioja region and manged to buy some excellent quality Rioja, at what seemed to us like silly prices, directly from the bodegas. For our last night we stayed at a 'Logis de France' hotel just outside Orleans. This hotel, the L'Escale du Port Arthur is somewhere we would happily stay again, the half board option is great value and the meal was delicious - one of the best we have had for a long time. The driving time to/from Calais makes it the ideal place to start or end the holiday. Approximate costings are:
Next year we are planning a route stopping overnight in Cordoba, and then we really must get some more of that excellent Rioja ..... |
