🇪🇸 Same-country drive · Spain
Driving from Bilbao to Alicante
- Drive time
- 8h 34m
- Distance
- 773 km
- Same day?
- Long day
- under 12 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €112
- petrol · diesel ≈ €90
- Tolls
- ≈ €70
- per-km
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 23 of 76 ≥50 kW
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Avoids motorways
+2h 46m- Distance:
- 793 km (+19 km)
- Duration:
- 11h 20m
Via: N-234 · N-330 · N-111 · A-2124
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.
8h 34m
773 km · €112 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
773 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.
2h 11m
from €40
See details ↓
7h 44m
RENFE OPERADORA · Renfe Cercanias
See details ↓
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: Teruel (es).
- Distance:
- 773 km
- Duration:
- 8h 34m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Lardero 🇪🇸 es
≈129 km≈ 4.5 km detour from the main route
-
Tauste 🇪🇸 es
≈258 km≈ 12.3 km detour from the main route
-
Teruel 🇪🇸 es
≈515 km≈ 36.7 km detour from the main route
-
Ayora 🇪🇸 es
≈644 km≈ 11.4 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 N-330
Plan for about 76 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Long rural stretch on N-330 Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza
Plan for about 33 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-68 —293 km
-
N-330 Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza185 km
-
A-23 Autovía Mudéjar159 km
-
A-31 Autovía de Alicante91 km
-
N-3 —10 km
-
Z-40 Cuarto Cinturón de Zaragoza5 km
-
N-420 Carretera Córdoba a Tarragona por Cuenca4 km
-
N-234 Carretera Sagunto a Burgos3 km
-
Z-40; A-2 Autovía del Nordeste3 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Mixed motorway + secondary — varied pace, some scenic stretches.
- Motorway
- 70%
- Secondary
- 27%
- Other / rural
- 3%
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: 8h 34m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- About 176 km on non-motorway roads where speeds and conditions vary.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 16 m
- Highest point
- 1,048 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 1,985 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 1,993 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €112
58 L × €1.94 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €90
46.4 L × €1.93 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €87
135 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
≈ €70
- ES — €0.09/km on the motorway network (≈ 773 km in-country ≈ €70) Toll-free on the A-network; charged only on AP roads.
Prices last refreshed 2026-09-28.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
EV charging
23 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Tudela C.C. — Tudela 400 kW
- E.S. Bardenas — Tudela 300 kW
- Parking Guggenheim 180 kW
- E.S. Petronor (Norte) 180 kW
- E.S. Petronor (Sur) 180 kW
- E.S. Q8 Cascante — Cascante 180 kW
- Paseo Uribitarte 3 (Zunder) — Bilbao 150 kW
- Elcano 9 (Zunder) — Bilbao 150 kW
- Parking - La Alhóndiga — Bilbao 120 kW
- Tudefrigo Electrolinera — Tudela 120 kW
- BP Bilbao (Zunder) 100 kW
- Decathlon Tudela — Tudela 60 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇪🇸 Bilbao
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14°
6°
|
15°
6°
|
17°
8°
|
19°
9°
|
20°
11°
|
25°
16°
|
25°
17°
|
27°
17°
|
24°
15°
|
23°
13°
|
17°
10°
|
14°
7°
|
| 163mm | 99mm | 99mm | 79mm | 89mm | 53mm | 42mm | 50mm | 97mm | 128mm | 161mm | 119mm |
hot mild cold
🇪🇸 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
Next 5 days at Alicante
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 11
☀️
19° / 19°
—
-
Mon 12
☀️
26° / 18°
—
-
Tue 13
☀️
25° / 19°
—
-
Wed 14
☀️
25° / 18°
0.5mm
-
Thu 15
🌧️
25° / 19°
1.3mm
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 42 manoeuvres
- Ibañez de Bilbao kalea 0.3 km
- — 0.2 km
- Bilboko hegoaldeko ingurabidea (BI-10) 0.3 km
- (AP-68) 293 km
- Autovía del Ebro (AP-68) 0.3 km
- — 0.4 km
- — 0.7 km
- — 0.2 km
- Autovía del Nordeste (Z-40; A-2) 3 km
- Cuarto Cinturón de Zaragoza (Z-40) 5 km
- — 0.9 km
- Autovía Mudéjar (A-23) 159 km
- Carretera Córdoba a Tarragona por Cuenca (N-420)
- Carretera Córdoba a Tarragona por Cuenca (N-420) 4 km
- Carretera Sagunto a Burgos (N-234) 3 km
- (N-330)
- (N-330) 4 km
- —
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 9 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 11 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 5 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 33 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 9 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 16 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330) 23 km
- (N-3) 0.1 km
- (N-3) 3 km
- —
- (N-3) 0.2 km
- (N-3) 4 km
- (N-3)
- (N-3) 2 km
- (N-3)
- Calle Camino del Pontón
- (N-330) 76 km
- Carretera de Alicante a Francia por Zaragoza (N-330)
- —
- Autovía de Alicante (A-31) 46 km
- Autovía de Alicante (A-31) 45 km
- — 0.5 km
- Carrer de Mèxic
- Plaça de l'Ajuntament
By plane from Bilbao to Alicante
Indicative travel time on a non-stop flight, based on great-circle distance, average commercial cruise speed (850 km/h), and a 90-minute allowance for taxi, security, and boarding.
- Total time
- 2h 11m
- Door-to-door from :from airport.
- In the air
- 41 min
- At ~850 km/h cruise speed.
- On the ground
- 90 min
- Taxi + security + boarding (typical short-haul).
- Route
- BIO → ALC
- 584 km great-circle.
Indicative fare: from €40 — fares vary by season, day of week, and how far ahead you book. Always check the airline or a meta-search before planning around this number.
Show flight path on map
Estimate-only. We don't pull live schedules or fares for flights — see the methodology page for how this number is computed.
Air travel emits roughly 5–10× the CO₂ per passenger-km of rail for the same distance.
By train from Bilbao to Alicante
Fastest cross-border rail itinerary from the public Transitous planner. Times reflect a typical Monday-morning departure on the next available service-day.
- Fastest journey
- 7h 44m
- 5 changes
- Lead operator
- RENFE OPERADORA
- + 1 more
- Alternatives
- 5
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- MD 18014
- AVE 05792
- AVANT 09217
All operators across alternatives
- RENFE OPERADORA
- Renfe Cercanias
Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).
Show route on map
Routing via the public Transitous OTP planner (community-run MOTIS instance). Cached 24 hours; verify on the operator's site before booking.
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, OpenTopoData SRTM 30m for elevation, and Open Charge Map for EV charging stations. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.