Province of Almería: Nature and Mediterranean Authenticity
A practical guide to planning your arrival in southern Spain: air, rail and sea connections from Europe and other international destinations.
How to Get There and Get Around: plane, train, boat, coach and car
The first question to resolve for your trip to southern Spain is precisely how to get to Andalusia, as this autonomous community offers a range of transport options.
In the following lines, we explain all the options. You have plenty to choose from!
Contents
How to Get to Andalusia by Plane
Andalusia is very well served when it comes to airports. It has six commercial airports, which handle more than 30 million passengers each year and are served by numerous airlines, connecting the region with many destinations across Spain, Europe, Africa, North America and Asia, among others.
Four of these airports are domestic (Córdoba, Jerez de la Frontera, Granada and Almería), while the other two are international (Seville and Málaga). The domestic airports are restricted to regional or EU travel, as they do not have customs facilities, whereas the international airports are authorised for travellers from outside the EU.
If you need more information about connected destinations and the airlines operating at each airport, you can visit the relevant provincial page.
How to Get There by Train
How to get to Andalusia by train is particularly relevant if you are travelling from elsewhere in Spain. High-speed trains (AVE) are well established in the region. In fact, Spain’s first high-speed line was the Madrid–Seville route, which has been operating at full capacity ever since. This same line stops in Córdoba, making the city one of the main gateways to Andalusia from Spain’s capital.
Other cities you can reach by high-speed train include Málaga and Granada, the latter via a recently inaugurated line. Other intermediate towns with AVE stations are Puente Genil, Loja and Antequera, and in the future the network is expected to extend to other parts of the region, such as Almería or Cádiz.
- Madrid – Ciudad Real – Puertollano – Córdoba – Antequera Santa Ana – Loja – Granada
- Barcelona – Camp de Tarragona – Lleida – Zaragoza – Córdoba – Puente Genil Herrera – Antequera Santa Ana – Granada
- Madrid – Ciudad Real – Puertollano – Córdoba – Seville
- Madrid – Córdoba – Puente Genil Herrera – Antequera Santa Ana – Málaga
- Barcelona – Camp de Tarragona – Zaragoza – Córdoba – Puente Genil Herrera – Antequera Santa Ana – Málaga
- Barcelona – Camp Tarragona – Lleida – Zaragoza – Ciudad Real – Puertollano – Córdoba – Seville
- Valencia – Cuenca – Ciudad Real – Puertollano – Córdoba – Seville
How to Get There by Boat
If you enjoy travelling by sea, you can also reach Andalusia this way. This autonomous community is home to some of Spain’s most important ports, with regular ferry services and private cruises operating along Atlantic and Mediterranean routes. The following stand out:
- Port of Algeciras (Cádiz): the busiest in Spain, mainly thanks to its numerous routes to/from North Africa and the Canary Islands
- Port of Málaga: the second most important on the peninsula for cruise traffic
- Port of Almería
- Port of Cádiz
- Port of Motril
- Port of Huelva
How to Get There by Road
How to Get to Andalusia by Coach
In Spain, travelling by coach is generally cheaper than travelling by train or plane. It is also more versatile than these modes of transport, reaching many towns that other services do not. For this reason, all large and medium-sized cities have their own bus station, as do many relatively small towns located along major road routes.
This makes it much easier to deal with something as basic as getting to Andalusia from neighbouring regions such as Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha or Murcia. In addition, this option is also very suitable for entering the region from the west, from neighbouring Portugal: some routes depart from cities such as Faro or Lisbon, stop along the way in places such as Évora and Huelva, and end the journey in Seville.
How to Get There by Private Car
Andalusia has an efficient motorway network, much of it free of charge and some sections tolled. Free motorways use the A- designation, while toll roads begin with AP-. With that in mind, these are the main motorways entering this autonomous community from other Spanish regions or from Portugal:
- A-4/E-05, which enters the province of Jaén from Ciudad Real and, originally, from Madrid, continuing on to Córdoba, Seville and Cádiz. It is famous for its natural passage through the Despeñaperros Natural Park in Jaén.
- A-92N, which comes from Murcia and enters the province of Almería via Vélez-Rubio, continuing towards Granada
- A-7/E-15, coming from Murcia and Spain’s eastern Mediterranean coast, enters Almería via Huércal-Overa (Almería) and continues along the Costa Tropical and the Costa del Sol (Málaga)
- AP-7: several tolled sections running parallel to the A-7
- A-49/E-1: coming from southern Portugal, it enters the province of Huelva via Ayamonte and continues towards Huelva and Seville
- A-66/E-803: the Ruta de la Plata motorway, coming from Extremadura, ends in Seville
In addition, there are important national roads that also serve as entry points for many travellers and, for this reason, are included on this page dedicated to how to get to Andalusia. These include the N-432, N-433, N-630, N-420 and N-322, among others.
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