Airport transfer

Will be  expensive. A hire car would probably be half the cost of a return taxi. Have you considered this option

Public transport is easy to get to Gandia then a bus or cab, a cab from the airport will be over 100 euros most likely. Another option would be to try blabla cars.

Thank you so much for your reply. Having never driven on the continent I think I would be a bit nervous 😩

Thanks 👍

Hi there,

My name is Sean and I like you was intending to travel down to Olivia to have a look at some properties but in June. However due to obvious reasons  i have had to put this off.

Did you resolve any issues regarding transport from Alicante to Olivia? 

Like you I have not driven in Europe and was hoping to travel down by cab. However reading  some of your responses to your enquiry , it sounds like it's rather expensive. 

Have you had any other ideas when the travel ban is lifted completely as to how you will get to Olivia ?

                              Kind regards, Sean.

Join one of the local Facebook groups as, pre-coronavirus, members often posted when they were driving to/from the airports & offering lifts if they had the space.

Hi

You will find it VERY limiting if you do not have your own car so why not bite the bullet and have a go. That way you can explore all the lovely villages and beaches around Gandia and Oliva, and get a real feel for the area.  Most of us find driving in Spain is much easier than in the UK as, away from the bigger towns and cities, the roads are quieter and you can often get great deals on hire cars. I would recommend hiring a small car from Alicante airport (use a search company like AutoEurope to get the best deal). Then also buy a satnav before you come with Spain on it, and a good map of the region (such as the Marco Polo map of Costa Blanca). Also,as the worst bit is getting out of the airport/starting your journey, and often satnavs take a while to start working at airports, print out the instructions to get to your hotel/first destination from https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/  and memorise the first few steps so you do not need to rely on the satnav.  (Note that the roads from Alicante airport are easier to navigate than those from Valencia so it is best to fly there for your first time).

Finally, rather than pay the rip off insurance charges of the hire care companies, I would strongly advise you take out a top up fully comprehensive insurance for the car. That way if you do have a small accident you will be covered. We use 'Direct Car Excess Insurance' but there are several others. The only downside of this is that you need to have enough spare capacity of your credit card for the hire car company to block the 'deposit' they hold, which is often about 1,500€.

Good luck.

Thank you for all this helpful information. I shall certainly take this into consideration . 

Have you lived in Oliva long and do you like it ?

I'm also investigating a bus from Valencia Airport to Oliva. Thank you. 

                  Kind regards, Sean.

Hi Sean

If you flying into Valencia and really do not want to drive I would recommend that you can catch a train into Valencia (there is a station in the airport) and then get a train to Gandia. You can then get a taxi or a bus from Gandia. 

We live in a village about 20 minutes inland from Oliva and bought our house 5 years ago.  Both Oliva and Gandia are lovely but property is much cheaper a little further inland. Plus we wanted to be in a Spanish village rather than a large town as we wanted to meet locals and feel that is much easier in smaller places. Our town/village has all the essential amenities (doctors, pharmacy, supermarkets, post office, restaurants & bars etc) but we couldn't live there without a car. We would miss out on so much. (The only bus from our village is  once a day to Gandia).

If you aren't going to drive, or at least have a  motorcycle, scooter or bicycles you are going to need to be very careful about where you choose to buy and think about what sort of lifestyle you want. Perhaps someone else who manages without a car can advise you about areas with good buses,  my guess is that will limit you to Oliva, Gandia and places very close to them. (Don't trust the estate agents to be honest about it - as in the UK they aren't always 100% truthful  and things change - our village used to have more buses but they were cut and for a few years there were none at all).