Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport to Benidorm

Three ways down the A-7

Benidorm is around 60 km north-east of the airport, and almost every route there runs up the A-7/AP-7 corridor behind Alicante, past El Campello and Villajoyosa. The drive itself takes 45–55 minutes. What changes from one option to the next is how close you get to your hotel and how much you pay per head. There are three realistic choices: the hourly Alsa coach to the bus station, the Beniconnect shared shuttle that works its way round the hotels, and a taxi or private car straight to the door.

The Alsa coach: hourly, under eight euros

Alsa line L520 (fare table CV 202, "Línea 1") runs non-stop from the airport to Benidorm for €7.99 a single. On weekdays the timetable shows departures from the airport every hour on the hour from 07:00 to 21:00, plus an extra at 11:30 and a late one at 23:00. At weekends and on public holidays the first bus is at 08:00, then hourly to 19:00, then a final 21:00. The coach reaches Benidorm bus station about 45 minutes after leaving and goes on to Avenida de Europa 8, near Levante beach, ten minutes later.

The bus bays are on Level 2, the departures floor, and not outside arrivals. Allow a few minutes to go upstairs and cross to the bays. Tickets are sold in the Alsa app, at the Alsa sales point and, where the service allows, on board. The standard fare includes one suitcase in the hold. One useful rule: if your flight is late and you miss the coach you booked, Alsa will move you to the next available service free of charge up to 12 hours later. The change is made at the airport sales point or by phone.

Benidorm bus station is on the inland side of town, not on the seafront. From there, most visitors take a local bus or a short taxi ride to the hotel.

Beniconnect: the hotel-door shuttle

Beniconnect is the operator most British holidaymakers find first. It is not a timetabled bus. It is a pre-booked shared shuttle that groups passengers by arrival time and drops them at "all official tourist accommodation or within walking distance" in Benidorm. The published drop list runs to dozens of points: apartment blocks, campsites such as Camping Benidorm and Villamar, and stops like the bus stop next to Hotel Servigroup Rialto. On the October 2026 booking page the standard shuttle starts at €13.00 per person. Express Connect, which makes fewer stops, starts at €19.95 per person. Beniconnect says the shuttle runs 24 hours a day, all year.

The trade-off is time. A shared minibus may wait for the next flight or stop at several hotels before yours, so the total trip can run well past an hour. For a couple on a budget arriving late, though, it removes the last-mile problem the Alsa coach leaves you with.

Taxis and private cars for a group of four

The official airport taxis (Radio Taxi Elche and Servitaxi Elche, white with a green stripe) use the meter. Welcome Pickups' own fare check (August 2026) comes to about €87 by day and €99 at night for Benidorm. Radio Taxi Elche's own site quotes pre-booked fares to Benidorm from €83. Tolls are not included. The regional interurban tariff for 2026 is €2.25 to start plus €1.46 per km, rising to €2.80 plus €1.68 on the special rate, which is why night trips cost more.

A booked private car costs about the same. Beniconnect lists private vehicles from €91.10, and hoppa from about £79 (roughly €90). The difference is certainty: one price agreed in advance, a car sized for your party, and child seats if you request them. Beniconnect points out that Spanish law requires child seats for infants in vehicles of up to eight seats. Shared between four adults, a private car comes to €22–25 each, not far off two Alsa tickets.

Landing after the last coach

The last Alsa departure is 23:00 on weekdays and 21:00 at weekends. After that, the choice is the Beniconnect shuttle (booked in advance), the taxi rank, or a pre-booked car. There is a fourth route worth knowing about: the C-6 bus runs to central Alicante 24 hours a day. In the daytime, a C-6 and the TRAM line 1 to Benidorm is a slow but very cheap alternative. Late at night it is not a sensible plan with luggage.

What regulars tend to learn

• Benidorm is long and thin. "Benidorm" on a ticket can mean a 30-minute walk from Rincón de Loix to Poniente, so check which drop-off is nearest your hotel.
• Saturdays in July and August bring the heaviest airport traffic of the week. Book coach seats and shuttles early on those days.
• For going home, Beniconnect emails a pickup time and point the day before. Reviewers on its own page mention being asked to be there ten minutes early.