Driving in Spain is easy.

Ignore all other road users and traffic signals. Put the loud pedal to the floor and head south. Torrevieja is about a 40 minute drive.

Seriously .Getting onto the N332 from the airport car park can be confusing, just remember to get well over to the right as soon as you get out of the car park, follow the signs for Alicante, which is north .then watch for the signs to Cartegena which is the direction that you want.
From there it is one straight road, which will give you time to adapt to driving on the right (which incidentally, is the proper place to drive).

Do not expect drivers here to give signals when they intend to turn, do not worry too much if the car behind seems too close. Also, do not expect any consideration when waiting to emerge from turnings (and give no favours in return the guy driving behind you will not be prepared for you slowing down to allow traffic to merge, etc). You do not have to stop for pedestrians waiting at crossings, only when they are actually walking on them.

This may sound a little daunting, but it is the way that it's done here. If you doubt your own abilities, or your ability to quickly adapt, do not put yourself and others at risk.

Thousands of people do it every year! the road from the airport to torrevieja isn't bad at all. You'll need good directions to actually find the urbanisation you want though. I wouldn't worry about it I'm sure you'll be fine.

Why is driving on the right the proper place to drive? Do you just mean in Spain and the rest of mainland Europe? I think people in the 58 countries where driving is on the left would disagree.

the road from the airport to torrevieja isn't bad at all

The road from the airport to Torrevieja is the N332 and acclaimed as being the most dangerous in Spain. Mainly due to the high level of accidents at Cabo Roig, which is just south of Torrevieja.

Local News

If you are unsure of your own abilities then you are relying on the good sense of other road users for your safety.

That is unwise.

It is also rather selfish to put others at risk for the sake of saving a few pounds on an airport transfer.

It's not half as bad as Oly Daze makes it sound! The worst bit is actually getting out of the airport as it's not particularly clear who has the right of way at the various junctions. It's very important to familiarize yourself with the controls of the car before you move, the last thing you want to be doing is trying to find the light switch when you should be concentrating on the traffic. Sitting on the "wrong" side of the car and changing gear with your right hand is surprisingly easy. Most road signs are pretty much the same as ours and outside Benidorm the drivers aren't too bad, they like blowing horns but unlike here it's not a sign of them being angry, they are just noisy people! The reason they don't pull back to let you filter into traffic is because they expect you to just force your way in. They don't get annoyed when you do it and they expect you not to get annoyed when they do it to you. The one warning I will give is to be very careful if it's raining. The Spanish do NOT know how to drive in the wet!

If you look at the aerial photo on Google Earth the car hire pick up is the set of buildings with the striped roofs at 38.17.18.00N 0.33.26.00W. You drive anticlockwise out of it and then north across the road, then swing round to the left to join the road. You can probably track your whole journey on there, give you some idea what to expect!

Thank you everyone for your kind help and explanations. They are greatly appreciated from you all.

Mora

It's not half as bad as Oly Daze makes it sound

Yes it is, local residents just south of Torrevieja (where most of the urbanizations are situated) have had protests and petitioned for traffic calming measures, increased police presence and additional crossings. The last wave of protest was after one of our school buses was forced over an embankment by an oncoming driver who forgot what the 'other side of the road' was. Five children dead, if I remember correctly. It happened at the Salinas exit, on the N332 at Torrevieja.

The worst bit is actually getting out of the airport as it's not particularly clear who has the right of way at the various junctions.

You come out of the airport onto a one way road.

they like blowing horns but unlike here it's not a sign of them being angry, they are just noisy people!

Not that I have noticed, but there again, I only live here.

The reason they don't pull back to let you filter into traffic is because they expect you to just force your way in. They don't get annoyed when you do it and they expect you not to get annoyed when they do it to you.

False and unsound advice to a nervous driver.

The Spanish do NOT know how to drive in the wet!

True, we are all stupid. We just love to educate ourselves by watching and admiring the British drivers.

We like to see holiday makers coming here; we also like them to get home in the normal way, and not as cargo in a wooden box.

The roads around Torrevieja are dangerous. I, my friends and family use them every day. This is not the place to come and practice your continental driving techniques.

We've stopped hiring cars when we come on holiday, we've had to many near misses and it's soooo stressful, not what you need on holiday!

Don't ya just love it when someone goes through your postings line by line giving you the benefit of their infinite wisdom
My turn.
Yes, you come onto a one way road out of the airport, but not until you have crossed about three junctions inside the airport. These are not well marked and the taxi drivers are not particularly patient with car hire drivers trying to work out how to get out of the airport.
By "not half as bad" I meant driving, not the N332. The N332 has a very high accident rate, mainly because it is a VERY busy road. The stretch at Cabo Roig is particularly bad because people have to cross it, and elderly English holidaymakers looking the wrong way and then stepping out into traffic cause accidents wherever they do it.
If you check the news reports (I think it was last summer) you'll find out that the coach crash was caused by a drunk driver hitting the coach while trying to overtake it, nothing to do with any of us holiday drivers forgetting which side to drive on.
Maybe you should write to the carhire companies and explain your concerns, since obviously they don't realise how much of a risk they are taking by letting us out in their shiny new cars, or maybe they actually realise that, if you are reasonably careful, driving in Spain is no worse than many other countries. I'd certainly rather drive on the "wrong side of the road" in Spain than drive in Ireland.

This topic is enough to put anyone off driving abroad

Whatever you decide Jomajjo,be careful, have fun. Hope your sister enjoys the surprise.

Cazzmickntom

I have only ever driven abroad once and that was on a small Greek Island....I enjoyed the experience and the freedom the car gave me, but I agree, reading this topic, it HAS put me off ever thinking about driving a car in Spain. What with all the other warnings on here about Car Bandits etc etc.....seems to be a very stressful option.....my car will stay here in the UK and I will use Foriegn Transportation.....taxis, buses etc. There is no way I'm hiring a car from reading all of the above.

I'm surprised there is not a Driving School here in the UK that teaches you how to drive on the 'other' side of the road.....I don't agree with calling it the 'wrong' side of the road....who are we Brits to say driving on the left hand side of the road is the right way? But no, a school or something where you can drive a left hand drive vehicle on the right hand side of the road.....even a simulator or something? Just to prepare you if you want to drive a car abroad where they drive on the opposite side of the road.

Hiring a car in a foreign country where they drive on the opposite side of the road with no advance preparation or practice in a strange car that you are not used to, on roads you have never driven on before, with signs you might not understand, and Car Bandits waiting to pounce on you unsuspectantaly, and local drivers who may be very impatient towards you is 'an accident waiting to happen' in my humble opinion.

Not only that, but how many Brits who opt to hire a car abroad, are aware of local practices and customs and laws which are not the same as the UK? The need to carry a High Visibility Jacket for example in your car? How many Brits pack such an item in their luggage? Do the Car Hire Companies provide them? What about if you wear glasses....I understand its a legal reqirement to have a spare pair on your person? But how many holidaymakers do their research?

I agree, I want to return from my holiday the same way I went on it, ie as a passenger in the cabin and not as a dead body in the cargo hold.

Whilst on your hols let someone else do the driving for you so you can sit back and relax and enjoy your hols to the full. Cut out the stress of driving and leave your Drivers License at home.

BHIC, the point is that it's not stressful. Sitting in a traffic jam in the rain in England, twenty minutes late for a meeting is stressful. Driving around the mountains on empty roads in a brand new car with nice cool air conditioning and strange music coming out of the radio is FUN! After you've been a few times you realise that there just isn't that much to do in Benidorm during the day but there's a whole different country out there - Spain!

Colin,

You are right.
Had I been asked about driving around mountain roads in Spain my reply to the person that started this thread would have been totally different. As it would have been if asked about driving through the center of Barcelona etc.

However, as I understood the question, it was specifically about driving from Alicante to Torrevieja, and I feel that I have covered that subject already.

BHIC, the point is that it's not stressful. Sitting in a traffic jam in the rain in England, twenty minutes late for a meeting is stressful. Driving around the mountains on empty roads in a brand new car with nice cool air conditioning and strange music coming out of the radio is FUN! After you've been a few times you realise that there just isn't that much to do in Benidorm during the day but there's a whole different country out there - Spain!

That is a valid point, but personally I would find getting to used to a strange car, finding where all the controls are located, getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road with traffic 'undertaking' me, trying to work out what certain road markings meant and what road signs were telling me to do or not to do......VERY stressful. Plus there is LOADS to do in Benidorm.....thats why I keep going back there.

As the original poster said, they wanted to drive on a main road from one city to other, not sight see around the delights of the Spanish Countryside.

I can explore the countryside inland in the comfort of a tour bus.

I think that Moira (jemajo) has had the information she requires, so it's probably best to allow this one to close now.

David

Hi everyone, i know this topic has been covered and I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who replied to my question re the above. I would just like to tell you all that my sister and I did hire a car from the airport to go and visit my sister for her birthday. We are both careful drivers, and found the experience brilliant. We had no problems what-so-ever with the driving and didnt get tooted at once!!!! She had a really great surprise and it was good to see her. We had a brilliant weekend.

Thanks again everyone.

Moira

Thanks for the update Moira, which I have merged with this original (now closed) topic. Glad to hear it all went well.

David