FLIGHTS TO SPAIN

Can anyone share their experiences of flying to Madrid with me?  We are a family of 4 and are looking to fly out in August.  Prices for flights from Heathrow to Madrdid look quite cost effective.  Just wondered if anyone else had flown to Madrd and driven to Condado de Alhama - how long it takes, etc. Otherwise, can anyone suggest cheapest options of getting out to Spain in August?

Some friends of ours are flying into Madrid this summer and taking a train up to Alicante where they will pick up a hire car.  I can ask them for further details if you like.  We are driving because we are staying for 3 weeks.  Prices for a 7 seater were £1100 + !!! and flights upwards of £1000 for 6 of us!!  Driving will cost us half the price and probably 2 days but will be worth it i'm sure.

I recently looked at the option of summer flights to Madrid for my son and girlfriend, as they had time on their hands, and a tight budget [ bloody students ] There are several buses and trains a day, linking Madrid with Murcia, and from Murcia you can get to Alhama by train. Just Google Madrid - Murcia trains / buses for more details

Hi Guys

Our friends from garden 2 Los naranjos did that last summer and said that it was not a bad way of doing it. It took about 4 hours to drive down from memory. The only thing that was a negative was the cost of car hire. From Madrid it was much higher than Alicante or San javier airports and therefore almost negated the cost to flying to the usual airports. Check the cost for car hire first to make sure you don't get tucked up at that end.

Cheers

Jay & Lisa

I live about 20 minutes away from you guys in the UK. Like  yourselves we are out in August. I booked up in January which I have found as a general rule to be cheaper than holding out for cheaper possibilities. I have paid  for 2 adults, 2 children £359 on flights and £268 on car hire. Both done with Ryanair. Dont think that is too bad for a 2 week stay. Have found car hire cheaper since however with DOYOUSPAIN.  Havnt tried the Madrid route yet but probably will next year or later on this year.I realise this may not be cheaper but I like the idea of a night or two in Madrid and a slow time drive down to the CDA.

Hi Sarah,

We fly regularly to Madrid with Iberia as it's often by far the cheapest option for us from Belgium. I think we've done it 4 or 5 times now, and we're doing it again next month and in the summer. It's just over 400km to CdA and takes about 4 hours to drive. It's not a bad drive at all, motorway all the way and generally not busy. With sat nav it's easy. Generally the car hire from Madrid is cheaper than Alicante or St Javier, and the cars are nomally a lot newer (and cleaner). Basically a much more professional service. Another good point is that you pick up and return the car with a full tank - in other words you don't get ripped off with the 'return empty' policy you normally get at Alicante and St Javier. 

The only main disadvantage is if you have a morning return flight. We normally stay overnight at an airport hotel - there are many very good hotals near the airport and they're extremely cheap. We can recommend some we've stayed in, if you're interested.

Due to cost of flights etc we are doing exactly that this year and flying to Madrid rather than Alicante.

As I have 3 kids in tow and we'll be travelling from around 11am  I'm sure we will need to stop for refreshments along the route. Is there any where any one can recomend rather than a service station somewhere areound half way to eat regain a little sanity before the final push to CdA?

Brett