Arriving at El Altet Alicante airport there are several "road" options to get to Benidorm, by which I mean transfer/shuttle bus, private transfer or car hire - it must be one of the few main airports which is not served by a railway link. Last year more than 38,000 travellers used the TRAM AVE to get to Benidorm from Alicante and of that figure, 70% (27,000) was between June and September - peak holiday time.

For those choosing that option it is not an easy journey though - the tram station, Luceros is located some 300 metres from the railway station in the middle of Alicante city centre and no-where near the bus station, which is down by the port.... so realistically you need to take a taxi to get there. The journey time is 1 hour and 12 minutes with 28 stops - nearly half the time it takes to get to Madrid on the new high speed line!

Familiar site on N332 for those going to Benidorm

The tourism department of Benidorm have been trying, up until now unsuccessfully, to petition both the Government and AVE to provide a direct express link from Alicante city centre to Benidorm, the epicentre of tourism of the Costa Blanca and an incredibly vital source of income for the region. Maybe it should be the Mayors New Year resolution to increase pressure - it won´t do him any harm considering that the elections are in 2015!

I wonder whether perhaps someone in power has a relative that is a taxi driver therefore not too much in favour of the idea!

First site of Benidorm ....

Well with the new series of Benidorm about to hit our screens tonight - ITV 9pm, the resort will once again experience a surge in bookings. We ran an online poll and asked the question "Has the ITV Benidorm series persuaded you to come here on holiday" and 62% of readers of this blog said yes! It certainly has done wonders for tourism and long may it continue.