adminYou land at Alicante at half past ten at night. The plane was delayed, the toddler is asleep on your shoulder, and you have four cases and a strong opinion about never doing this again. Somewhere beyond passport control is Benidorm, 45 minutes down the AP-7, and three entirely different ways of getting there — each with its own price, its own compromises, and its own particular way of testing your patience.
I have done all three more times than I can count, in every combination of weather, luggage and mood. Here is what each one actually involves, not what the booking sites would have you believe.
The quick answer
If you are travelling light, watching the budget and arriving at a sensible hour, take the ALSA bus. If there are several of you with cases, or you land at 2am, book a private transfer in advance and skip the guesswork entirely. The shared shuttle and the airport taxi rank sit somewhere in between, and which one suits you depends mostly on how much you value your time over your euros.
Option one: the ALSA service bus
ALSA runs the public coach route between Alicante-Elche Airport and Benidorm, and it is the option most regulars end up using once they know it exists. There are more than thirty departures a day, from the first bus around 7am to a late service around 11pm, and the journey takes roughly 45 minutes to Benidorm bus station, with a stop at Avenida de Europa as well.
Price: from around €8 to €15 one way per person, cheaper if you book online in advance rather than paying the driver.
- Pros: by far the cheapest option; frequent, so you are rarely waiting long; one item of luggage up to 20kg travels free; wheelchair-adapted seating available with 36 hours’ notice; drops you in the centre of town, walkable to most hotels in the Old Town and along the front.
- Cons: you queue for tickets and board like everyone else on the flight; no help with cases up the steps; the bus stop at the far end may still be a walk, taxi ride, or tram hop from your actual hotel; not much fun with small children, heavy luggage, or at 1am after a delayed flight.
Option two: the shared shuttle
Shared shuttles sit between the bus and a private taxi. You book a seat in advance through one of the transfer platforms, and a minibus collects several parties from the airport and drops each off at their hotel in turn — which is the whole appeal and the whole catch in one sentence.
Price: roughly €7 to €16 per person one way, so a family of four might pay somewhere between €30 and €60 for the group.
- Pros: cheaper than a private taxi; door-to-door in theory, so no lugging cases from a bus stop; bookable in advance so you know the price before you fly; a reasonable middle ground for solo travellers and couples on a budget.
- Cons: “door-to-door” means everyone else’s door too — journeys that should take 45 minutes can stretch to 75 or 90 with several drop-offs before yours; you have no control over the route or the order; if the flight ahead of yours in the pooling system is delayed, you wait with it.
Option three: the taxi
There are, in effect, two taxi options, and they are not the same thing at all.
The official rank at the airport has fixed reference fares to Benidorm, generally landing somewhere between €70 and €90 for the car (not per person), rising towards €100–€120 for a larger or executive vehicle. You simply walk out, join the queue, and go — no booking, no app, no WhatsApp message, just whichever driver is next in line.
A pre-booked private transfer, arranged in advance with a local operator, tends to work out cheaper than hailing a taxi on the rank — typically €48 to €95 for the car, again for up to four passengers, with a fixed price agreed before you fly and a driver who already has your flight number and is watching for delays.
- Pros: fastest and least effortful option by some distance; no shared stops, no shuttle queue, no walk with cases; a pre-booked transfer gives you a fixed price and a driver waiting with your name on a sign, which matters rather more than it sounds like it should when you have been travelling since 4am; good for late arrivals, large families, or anyone who has simply had enough of airports for one day.
- Cons: the most expensive way to make the trip, at least on paper; the rank price can vary depending on the driver and time of day, since it is not always as fixed as the signage suggests; you do need to book a private transfer ahead of time to get the better price — turning up and hoping rarely works out cheaper than the rank.
This is the option we point readers towards when comfort and certainty matter more than shaving off a few euros, and it is also why MyTransfers, our transfer partner here at the Bulletin, offers exactly this: private, door-to-door transfers from Alicante Airport to Benidorm with a fixed price agreed up front, no sharing the car with strangers, and a WhatsApp number (+34 638 140 332) you can actually message if your flight is delayed. It will not be the cheapest number on this page, but for anyone landing late, travelling with young children, or simply wanting the whole thing sorted before they leave home, it removes most of the reasons the other options go wrong.
How the three compare
| Method | Typical price | Journey time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALSA service bus | €8–€15 per person | ~45 minutes | Light packers, budget trips, daytime arrivals |
| Shared shuttle | €7–€16 per person | 45–90 minutes | Solo travellers and couples wanting door-to-door on a budget |
| Airport rank taxi | €70–€90 per car | ~45 minutes | Those who would rather not book anything in advance |
| Pre-booked private transfer | €48–€95 per car | ~45 minutes | Families, late flights, and anyone who wants a fixed price and a driver waiting |
Prices are correct as of July 2026 and will move about with the season — always check the current fare before you book, particularly in the height of summer.
The honest verdict
None of these is the wrong choice. The bus is the sensible one if you are travelling light and do not mind a bit of queueing. The shared shuttle is a fair compromise if you are alone or as a couple and the budget matters more than the clock. The rank taxi is there for whenever you simply cannot be bothered to plan ahead. And a pre-booked private transfer, whether with MyTransfers or another local operator, is the one to choose when you land at midnight with three children, four cases, and absolutely no appetite for working out where the bus stop is.
Whichever you choose, you will be on the seafront with a drink in your hand within the hour. That, at least, is not in question.
