🇪🇸 Same-country drive · Spain
Driving from Alicante to Palma
Essential road trip guide for the route from Alicante to Palma de Mallorca, including motorway tips and ferry crossing advice.
- Drive time
- 7h 22m
- Distance
- 352 km
- Same day?
- Yes, doable
- under 8 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €41
- petrol · diesel ≈ €36
- Tolls
- ≈ €32
- per-km
- EV charging
- Unknown
- not yet surveyed
On this page
Route map
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
7h 22m
352 km · €41 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
352 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
No direct service
Our coach data (FlixBus + BlaBlaCar) doesn't list a direct service for this pair. National operators (e.g., National Express in the UK, Eurolines feeders) may still cover it — check their site directly.
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on April 25, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
You depart Alicante via the A-70, merging quickly onto the AP-7 coastal corridor as you head north through the dense suburban sprawl of the Costa Blanca. The drive toward the port is straightforward but demands vigilance for the constant flow of holiday traffic merging from local beach towns. You will eventually peel off toward the Dénia or Valencia ferry terminals, where the highway pace shifts from the steady 120 km/h cruising limit to the slow, precise navigation required for boarding a car ferry. Ensure you have your ferry booking reference ready well before reaching the port gates, as the transition from high-speed motorway to the ferry queue can be abrupt and poorly signposted during peak summer months. Once aboard the vessel for the crossing to Mallorca, you trade the asphalt of the AP-7 for the Mediterranean. Remember that Spanish motorways are toll-based, so keep a payment card handy, though many former toll sections have been integrated into the free network; always check the overhead gantries to confirm your lane choice. While Spain maintains a uniform speed limit and traffic code, the transition onto the island of Mallorca requires a different mindset. Palma is a restricted city with an extensive low-emission zone, so plan your parking in the periphery if you are not staying in a hotel with guaranteed garage access. Coastal winds can affect the handling of high-sided vehicles on the open motorway near the sea, particularly near the Alicante hinterlands. If you are making this trip in mid-summer, expect extreme heat that stresses cooling systems; monitor your temperature gauge before and after the ferry transit. There is no need for a vignette here, but stay aware of the strict 0.5 BAC limit and heavy enforcement of speed cameras around tunnels and interchanges on the approach to the coast. Once you dock in Palma, the road infrastructure is excellent, but the narrow historic streets of the city center are best avoided in favor of the wider ring roads.
Route highlights
- The transition from the AP-7 motorway to the port terminal in Dénia or Alicante
- The ferry boarding process for vehicle transport to the Balearic Islands
- The coastal scenery along the Costa Blanca motorway corridors
- Navigating the Palma ring road upon arrival in Mallorca
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Consider splitting over two days
Technically a one-day drive, but it is a slog. Splitting overnight halfway makes it a much better trip and lets you see the middle, not just the endpoints.
A natural overnight stop near the halfway point: Ondara (es).
- Distance:
- 352 km
- Duration:
- 7h 22m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Javea 🇪🇸 es
≈117 km≈ 27.7 km detour from the main route
-
Santa Eulària des Riu 🇪🇸 es
≈234 km≈ 7.6 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Tolls on motorways in ES
Budget for motorway tolls — France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge per-km, Croatia and Greece by section. Contactless cards work almost everywhere; have one loaded.
Long rural stretch on Palma - Eivissa
Plan for about 130 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Long rural stretch on Dénia - Sant Antoni de Portmany
Plan for about 106 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla now run ZBE low-emission zones
Must knowSpain's Zonas de Bajas Emisiones (ZBE) cover central Madrid (24/7), Barcelona inside the Rondes (weekdays 7:00–20:00), Sevilla, Valencia and a growing list. Foreign plates need to register at the city portal in advance — your Euro emission class determines whether you get in. Without registration, cameras log entry and the fine reaches your home address.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Most Spanish tolls were abolished in 2024
TipThe AP-1, AP-7 (Bilbao stretch) and most of the Mediterranean coast highways are now toll-free. A handful remain: AP-9 (Galicia), AP-66 (León–Asturias), Catalonia's C-32/C-16 tunnel approach. Spain is no longer a high-toll country for cars — your fuel + a few specific bridge fees is the realistic budget.
Driving rules & habits
Plan your stops, not just your finish time
UsefulOSRM gives you free-flow drive time. Realistic add: 10% on motorway-heavy routes, 25% if you're crossing two cities. Eat at off-peak hours (11:30 lunch, 18:00 dinner) — service-area queues at noon kill 20 minutes. EU fatigue research is consistent: 15-minute break every 2 hours, full 45-minute break before 6 hours. The drive between hours 7 and 9 is where avoidable accidents cluster.
Fuel stations
Off-motorway stations close late evening
TipSpanish provincial fuel stations often close 22:00–07:00, especially in the south. Motorway services (Cepsa, Repsol on the autovía) run 24/7. If you're routing through an Andalusian backroad, fuel before sunset and don't bank on a small-town pump.
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
AP-7 Autopista de la Mediterrània / Autopista del Mediterráneo65 km
-
A-70 —10 km
-
CV-725 carretera d'Ondara a Dénia5 km
-
Ma-1 Avinguda de Gabriel Roca2 km
-
EI-600 —2 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Rural-road drive — narrow roads, small towns, patience required.
- Motorway
- 27%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 73%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Challenging
Long day with at least one complicating factor. Split into two days or share the driving.
- Long drive: 7h 22m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- About 236 km on non-motorway roads where speeds and conditions vary.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €41
26.4 L × €1.54 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €36
21.1 L × €1.72 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €39
62 kWh × €0.64 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €32
- ES — €0.09/km on the motorway network (≈ 352 km in-country ≈ €32) Toll-free on the A-network; charged only on AP roads.
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-11.
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇪🇸 Alicante
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
18°
9°
|
17°
9°
|
20°
11°
|
21°
13°
|
23°
16°
|
28°
21°
|
30°
24°
|
31°
24°
|
27°
21°
|
25°
18°
|
22°
13°
|
18°
9°
|
| 9mm | 16mm | 56mm | 16mm | 37mm | 14mm | 11mm | 13mm | 47mm | 61mm | 5mm | 30mm |
hot mild cold
🇪🇸 Palma
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
16°
9°
|
16°
8°
|
18°
11°
|
21°
12°
|
24°
15°
|
29°
20°
|
32°
23°
|
32°
23°
|
28°
20°
|
25°
18°
|
20°
13°
|
16°
9°
|
| 35mm | 68mm | 76mm | 42mm | 53mm | 37mm | 16mm | 34mm | 62mm | 42mm | 51mm | 34mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Palma
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Fri 22
☀️
27° / 18°
—
-
Sat 23
☀️
28° / 16°
—
-
Sun 24
☀️
29° / 17°
—
-
Mon 25
☀️
29° / 17°
—
-
Tue 26
☀️
29° / 19°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 43 manoeuvres
- Plaça de l'Ajuntament
- Carrer de Jovellanos 0.3 km
- Avinguda de Dénia
- Avinguda de Dénia 0.8 km
- — 0.3 km
- (A-70) 10 km
- Autopista de la Mediterrània / Autopista del Mediterráneo (AP-7) 65 km
- (R-7) 0.2 km
- — 0.6 km
- carretera d'Ondara a Dénia (CV-725) 5 km
- avinguda de Dénia a Ondara (CV-725)
- avinguda de Dénia a Ondara (CV-725)
- avinguda de Dénia a Ondara (CV-725)
- Avinguda de València
- Avinguda de València
- Avinguda Miguel Hernández
- Plaça de Benidorm
- —
- —
- Dénia - Sant Antoni de Portmany 106 km
- Passeig de la Mar
- Avinguda de Portmany (EI-600)
- Avinguda de Portmany (EI-600)
- Avinguda de Portmany (EI-600)
- (EI-600)
- (EI-600)
- (EI-600) 2 km
- (EI-600)
- (EI-600)
- (EI-600)
- Carretera de Sant Antoni de Portmany (EI-600)
- Avinguda de Sant Antoni de Portmany (EI-600)
- Avinguda de la Pau (EI-10)
- —
- Passeig de Joan Carles I
- Carrer d'Iboshim
- Carrer d'Iboshim
- Palma - Eivissa 130 km
- —
- —
- Avinguda de Gabriel Roca (Ma-1) 2 km
- Plaça de la Reina
- Carrer de la Cadena
Frequently asked
Do I need a vignette to drive on Spanish motorways?
No, Spain does not use a vignette system. Motorways are either free or operated as toll roads where you pay based on the distance traveled.
Is the ferry crossing included in the drive time?
The duration provided is an estimate; ensure you consult your ferry operator's schedule, as you must arrive at the port well in advance for check-in and vehicle loading.
Are there low-emission zones in Palma?
Yes, Palma has implemented restricted zones to reduce traffic congestion and emissions in the historic center. Check local signs or your accommodation provider for access permits if you are staying in the old town.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.