In this section: Car Hire | By Air | By Ferry | By Train

Car Hire

We generally recommend that you hire a car when you are with us so that you can take full advantage of what the region has to offer and to give yourself maximum flexibility during your stay. 

There are many car hire firms that serve the areas we are in.  Check with any of the travel websites for details.

If you'd rather not hire a car

For the Moorish Farmhouse, we are able to arrange personal pick-ups from Malaga or Granada airport. These typically cost about €80 though if we are able to arrange shared journeys then the cost is lowered. There is also a bus service from Malaga airport to Orgiva each afternoon which is a very nice journey.

The Hacienda is more isolated but we are usually able to arrange a small number of pick-ups at Malaga airport, depending on the precise timing of flights, etc. These typically cost €50 and are available on a first-come-first-served basis, so please check with us if they are still available.

 

By Air

Moorish Farmhouse, Las Alpujarras, Spain
	The area’s main international airport is Malaga which is well-served by many budget and scheduled airlines in the U.K, and which is about a two hour drive from Las Alpujarras.  For example:
		B.A.	London Gatwick, London Heathrow
		bmibaby	East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester
		easyjet	London Stansted, London Gatwick, Luton, East Midlands, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow
		flybe	Southampton, Exeter, Norwich
		flyMonarch	London Gatwick
		Ryanair	Dublin

There are a number of smaller airports in Spain served by the budget airlines in the U.K.  These are slightly closer to Las Alpujarras, typically about a one hour drive.  For example:
	Granada
		Ryanair	Liverpool, East Midlands, London Stansted
		flyMonarch	London Gatwick
	Almeria
		Easyjet	London Stansted, London Gatwick
		Ryanair	London Stansted, Dublin
		flyMonarch	Luton

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Hacienda, Pueblos Blancos, Spain
	The area’s main international airport is Malaga which is well-served by many budget and scheduled airlines in the U.K and which is about a two hour drive from the Hacienda.  For example:
		B.A.	London Gatwick, London Heathrow
		bmibaby	East Midlands, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester
		easyjet	London Stansted, London Gatwick, Luton, East Midlands, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow
		flybe	Southampton, Exeter, Norwich
		flyMonarch	London Gatwick
		Ryanair	Dublin

There are a number of smaller airports served by the budget airlines in the U.K.  These are slightly closer to the Hacienda, typically about a one hour drive.  For example:
	Seville
		Ryanair	Liverpool, East Midlands, London Stansted
	Jerez-Cadiz
		flyMonarch	Manchester

 

By Ferry / Own Car

It is not impossible to travel to our breaks in your own car but in most cases this will involve a journey lasting several days.  This could be a very nice trip though (traffic levels permitting).  The following is a very brief overview of the methods you might use, with the estimated journey time.  This timing mainly depends on how long you wish to drive for in a single day and whether your ferry crossing is overnight or not.

Take the car ferry from Plymouth or Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao, then drive across Spain via Madrid, a drive of about 10 hours

Estimated journey time – 2/3 days (2 nights on the ferry)

Take the car ferry to Northern France.  Drive down through western France via Nantes and Bordeaux towards Toulouse, then across to Perpignan, and down the east coast of Spain, via Barcelona and Valencia
                                   
This is actually a really nice trip in its own right and is the way that Jonathan and Linda travel to Southern Spain.

Estimated journey time – 2/3 days

 

By Train / Car Hire

Travel by train is definitely a possibility and can be an extremely nice journey in its own right.  In contrast to the U.K., continental Europe’s rail network is sickeningly efficient as well as being eerily cheap, reliable and with a much lower environmental impact. 

And it would certainly be quicker than the ferry/own car alternative

A good starting place is Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com) which offers a wide range of rail journeys around Europe as well as loads of different rail passes.  For instance, a pass for five days’ travel in a 10 day period covering 29 countries currently costs about £179.  For 10 days’ travel over a 22 day period, the cost is currently £259.   These passes can then to used to construct your journey.  Or you could try InterRail (www.interrail.com) for similar pages.

In respect of our breaks, the following routes might work

You could try London to Paris by Eurostar (www.eurostar.com) followed by Paris to Madrid via the overnight “Francisco de Goya”.  (See www.spanish-rail.co.uk and select the Elipsos service - current cost is £188 return).  Note that this service leaves from the Gare d’Austerlitz in Paris while the Eurostar arrives at Gare du Nord, so a short hop on the metro or a taxi is needed.

From Madrid you can either hire a car and drive to us from there or perhaps continue on the Madrid-Seville train and hire a car there instead.