Jávea lies on the eastern coast of Spain in the autonomous region of the Comunitat Valenciana. It sits almost equidistant between the provincial capitals of Alicante and Valencia and both cities are about an hour away by car.
Both cities are served by international airports. Alicante-Elche (ALC) is the main arrival point for the Costa Blanca with good transfer options to the holiday resorts such as Benidorm, Calp and, of course, Jávea. Valencia-Manises (VLC) is a quieter option to arrive in Spain but it does have more limited transfer options to the Costa Blanca.
Jávea is about 7/8 hours drive from Bilbao and 8/9 hours from Santander, the two northern port cities that are served by long ferry journeys from the southern coast of the United Kingdom. And for those wishing the drive through France, it is almost 1,800 kilometres from the French side of Eurotunnel and we would recommend an overnight stay somewhere in southern France.
Finally, although Jávea doesn’t have a railway station, it is possible to travel by train to within a short bus journey of our town.
TRAVELLING BY AIR
Alicante-Elche Airport
Alicante is the main arrival point for the Costa Blanca. It is the fifth busiest airport in Spain with over 13 million passengers passing through in 2022. Several major airlines fly in and out of Alicante-Elche including easyJet, Jet2.com, Norwegian Air International, Ryanair, TUI and Vueling with the busiest international routes during 2022 being from Manchester (361 flights), London-Gatwick (332), Amsterdam-Schiphol (210) and Bristol (209).
Self-Drive: All the major car hire companies have a presence at Alicante-Elche airport. There are a number of booths in the arrivals hall at which you can arrange or confirm your booking. Jávea is about a 90 minute drive using the A-7 motorway (which is now toll-free) to Junction 62 (Ondara | Dénia | Jávea / Xàbia) and then following the signs to Jávea / Xàbia. See the AENA website for more information. [External Link].
Bus Transfer: ALSA runs a shuttle service direct to Benidorm bus station where a connecting service can be taken to Jávea via Calp, Teulada and Benitachell. The single-journey price is 16,75 euros per adult and 11,80 euros per child (4-11years) (2023) and the journey can take between 2h15m and 4h15m, depending on the waiting time at Benidorm. At the bus station in Jávea, there is a taxi rank for onward travel to your accommodation. See ALSA website for more details. [External Link].
Beniconnect: The Costa Connect shuttle runs between the airport and Jávea, via Calp, Benissa, Moraira and Benitatchell and the single-journey cost is 27.00 euros (2023), taking just over an hour to reach us. There are several stops in Jávea: Hotel Pinosol, Saladar, Parking-Arenal, Quicksave Supermarket, Parador Nacional, Dolphin Roundabout (Port), McDonalds/EuroMarket, Silvasol (Old Town) and Restaurante Montgó. Beniconnect also offers other options including VIP transfer and large coaches for larger parties. See the Beniconnect website for more details. [External Link].
Taxi: A standard taxi fare – one way – can cost upwards of 100€; taxis can be found outside the arrival hall. There are also a number of private companies who operate between the airport and resorts along the Costa Blanca. You should make sure that they are legally registered to do so.
Valencia Airport
Valencia, also known as Manises Airport, is a more recent arrival point for the Costa Blanca, expanded in 2007 when Valencia hosted the America’s Cup and it is the quieter option for getting to Jávea, although this has it drawbacks in terms of transfer options. It is the tenth busiest airport in Spain with over 8.1 million passengers passing through in 2022. Several major airlines fly in and out of Valencia including easyJet, Ryanair and Vueling with the major routes being Amsterdam-Schiphol, Paris-Orly, London-Gatwick and Frankfurt.
Self-Drive: All the major car hire companies have a presence at Valencia airport. There are a number of booths in the arrivals hall at which you can arrange or confirm your booking. Jávea is about a 90 minute drive using the A-7 motorway (which is now toll-free) to Junction 62 (Ondara | Dénia | Jávea / Xàbia) and then following the signs to Jávea / Xàbia. See the AENA website for more information. [External Link].
Bus Transfer: ALSA runs a very limited shuttle service direct to Jávea bus station. The single-journey price is 17,15 euros per adult and 12,00 euros per child (4-11years) (2020) and the journey can take around 3h30m. At the bus station in Jávea, there is a taxi rank for onward travel to your accommodation. See the ALSA website for more details of bus routes and tariffs. [External Link].
An alternative is to catch the regular shuttle bus (Linea 150 Metrobus) into Valencia city centre (1,45 euros) and then a 25 minute walk or 5 minute taxi journey to Valencia bus station from where there are regular ALSA services direct to Jávea. The single-journey price is 12,45 euros per adult and 8,90 euros per child (2020) and the journey can take between 2-4 hours, depending on the service route. See the METRO VALENCIA website for more details on the L3 route from the airport into the city. [External Link].
Richard Welch has also suggested the following method which he has used. Take the L3 Metro-Valencia service from the airport to the Xàtiva stop in the heart of the city of Valencia and located right next to the València-Nord railway terminal (Ticket: 3,90 euros, 2020). From the railway station, take the C1 Renfe Cercanias service to Gandía (Ticket: 5,80 euros, 2020). From Gandía, take an ALSA coach to Xàbia. (Ticket: 4.70 euros, 2020). The total single-journey price is 14,40 euros (2020). Or you can take a taxi from Gandía which is not so expensive as taking it from the airport. See the RENFE website for more details on the C1 route to Gandía. [External Link].
Taxi: A standard taxi fare – one way – can cost upwards of 100€; taxis can be found outside the arrival hall. There are also a number of private companies who operate between the airport and resorts along the Costa Blanca. You should make sure that they are legally registered to do so.
TRAVELLING BY SEA
Brittany Ferries run three services to the northern coast of Spain – Portsmouth to Bilbao, Portsmouth to Santander and Plymouth to Santander. Check the Brittany Ferries website for more information. [External link].
Bilbao: Jávea is about 750 kilometres from Bilbao via Zaragoza and Valencia, taking about 8–9 hours.
Santander: Jávea is about 830 kilometres from Santander via Zaragoza and Valencia, taking about 9-10 hours.
If you want to break the journey with an overnight stop, we recommend the historic town of Daroca as a nice overnight stop which is almost midway between the northern coast and the Costa Blanca.
TRAVELLING BY RAIL
It’s quite possible to travel from the United Kingdom to Jávea / Xàbia by train – though not quite all the way as our town doesn’t have a rail link but certainly to within a short coach trip of our lovely resort. An excellent resource is ‘The Man in Seat Sixty-One…’ [External Link] which describes the recommended route in detail which uses the Eurostar connection between London and Paris before transferring to the Trenhotel service to Barcelona. From the Catalan capital, there is an option of the cheaper regional express to Valencia or the faster, but more expensive, Euromed service. From the city of Valencia, there is a regular coach service that passes through Jávea / Xàbia.