Car hire Benidorm

Car Rental Benidorm

We have the expertise to help you arrange the perfect car hire itinerary for your time in Benidorm. 

Log on to Carhirespain.net to find the most competitive rates for an airport or in town pick up. You can also arrange a one-way drop-off or unlimited mileage policy to suit your Spanish holiday plans.

We offer the greatest possible savings on rental cars of all makes and models. Explore Benidorm and the Costa Blanca in your own time and on your own terms with Carhirespain.net.   

Benidorm

Benidorm is located on the Costa Blanca, around 40 minutes from Alicante and Alicante Airport, the nearest international travel connection.  

The cost of the airport transfer alone justifies your first days hire car payment.

From Benidorm, you have easy access to the rest of the Mediterranean coast. Alicante. Torrevieja, Cartagena and all points in between are little more than an hour’s drive away. 

There are advantages to being on the mainland rather than limited to an island.

Benidorm led the cutting edge of the holiday package tour phenomenon to the Costa Blanca with its tower blocks arranged along the sand. The resort has a reputation of being more English than Blackpool, but with the sun, and, to an extent, it is justified.

There are areas of Benidorm where you are as likely to hear English rather Spanish spoken. It is, in part, the sense of familiarity that Benidorm inspires which has led to the resorts ever-increasing popularity. Benidorm is nothing if not accessible to any traveller, no matter their age or experience.

Benidorm’s nightlife and party scene need no real description. The town is notorious for naughty nightlife, and you will have no trouble finding satisfaction after dark if that is what you seek. From English pubs to superclubs, Benidorm will keep you busy well into the morning.

The other side of Benidorm

But to limit Benidorm to this narrow definition is to miss the greater picture. Benidorm is more sophisticated than you might expect and is growing more so as each day passes.

To rediscover the town’s Spanish charm, you need to go no farther than the cobbled streets of Benidorm’s Old Town. Here you can also enjoy the local tapas and paella in a more traditional atmosphere. This is where you will find the locals and Spanish tourists.

Get away from the high rises, and you can visit the Plaza de Toro or Aiguera Park with its Romanesque auditoriums at each end. The indoor market is teeming with local delicacies at prices that would make your grocer at home cry. The outdoor market is just as spectacular an experience. Here the fresh fruits and produce are laid out artistically and also look mouthwateringly good.

There is so much to explore around Benidorm that all you need to do is strike out from the city in either direction and you are reminded, if you ever forgot, that you are in Spain — on the Mediterranean no less. 

The fish and chips are just a bonus. 

What to see in Benidorm with a hire car

There really is no end to the potential for exploration in and around the city. It doesn’t matter if culture and nature are your thing or you just want to keep the family entertained. Here are some suggestions in and around town that you can visit easily in your hire car.

Levante Beach

Levante beach is probably what most folks think of when asked to imagine Benidorm. To be honest, it is pretty impressive.  Levante is all about towering high-rises above a golden strip of sand dotted with blue parasols on the vivid Mediterranean sea.

The beach is of a good enough size that even in the thick of summer you can usually grab a piece of sand to call your own.  Just sit a ways back from the waterline and enjoy the show.

Once you have had your fill of the water, there are endless pubs and restaurants at the feet of the highrises. There is something here for every taste.

Poniente

Poniente is to the other end of Levante and is strikingly different in its atmosphere. You see the same highrises when you are not staring out at the blue Med, but from the opposite angle.

This is a quieter more family-style beach — one end heads away from the city.It also has a series of boardwalks, allowing people and wheel chars to get down to the beach with ease.

Both Poniente and Levant have very moderate surf, but at Poniente, you should be a little more cautious. This is because there can be undertows and currents that might challenge weak swimmers.

Terra Mítica

If your hire car came with a family to keep entertained, fear not, Benidorm has you covered. Try visiting Terra Mítica, one of the largest theme parks in Spain. Because ancient civilisations inspire it, there may even be some educational value in the trip.

Three specifically themed areas honour Rome, Egypt and Greece, and they are all loaded with rides and other amusements. Check out the  Magnus Colossus, a massive traditional wooden roller coaster on a kilometre long track. The smallest of you may have to sit that out though.

Throughout the park, you will see street shows and dramatic historical enactments.

Once you have had your fill of the ancient world, Iberia park is next door, on the same day pass. Iberia park is a water park with a Spanish historical theme. One day here with the kids guarantees you a peaceful evening. They will sleep in the hire car on the way back to the hotel.

Sierra Helada

If you have had your share of Benidorm’s urban beaches, and an amusement park is not your deal, Sierra Halada may be what you seek. Just outside the city in your hire car Is a huge natural park covering a large chunk of beautiful coastline.

To trade the high rises for high cliffs, bring some water and decent shoes. You will be hiking along a rugged limestone path through the indigenous Aleppo pines.

Once at Sierra Helada you can choose your route, either take the paved road to the Albir Lighthouse or the more challenging path to the radio masts 300 meters above sea level.

Day trips from Benidorm with a hire car

Park of the beauty of a hire car when you are on holiday is the freedom to explore without really having a plan. With a hire car in Benidorm, you aren’t bound to anyone else’s schedules or agendas. With that in mind here are few places out of the city you can easily reach.

Aitana Safari Park

If you have children or are just fascinated with animals, Aitana Safari park is a great short trip out of Benidorm in a hire car. It is 40km inland, and you can be there in under 1 hour’s drive.

Once you are there, you can observe animals from five continents in their accurately reproduced natural habitats in the Sierra de Aitana mountains.

Aitana is a cage-free animal park. The animals are instead free to roam their enclosures and move freely around the park. Monkeys elephants, zebras, ostriches, giraffes, and camels here co-exist in a realistic habitat. In another area, the predators play, and you can see lions, tigers, wolves, and panthers.

 The Jungle from your hire car

You can enjoy it all from within your hire car. The route snakes through the park and different enclosures along a 7km path. You can also do it on foot, along protected walkways but you may get a better look at the animals from your car.

If you do decide to do the walking tour, one bonus is the tour through the territory where some of the smaller animals and cubs of some of the larger beasts roam free. 

You will get the chance to interact with racoons, handle a boa and even get up close and personal with a lion cub if you are lucky.

If you opt for the car tour and decide to engage a guide, you are allowed to get out of the car in some areas to get closer to the animals. For the most part, it is best practice to stay in the hire car with the windows shut, especially in the predators’ enclosures.

Villajoyosa

Villajoyosa (yup, the Village of Joy) is a Mediterranean treasure and one of the most lovingly preserved and maintained old towns of Valencia. And, best of all, it is only 20 min (13.6 KM) in your hire car from Benidorm.

Villajoyosa is an old sailing and market town, and its seafront is characterised by three parallel streets leading down to the sea. This lovely old village is renowned for its cheerfully painted houses. The palette here is truly joyful with its vibrant pinks, blues greens and reds all jumbled together like jellybeans.

The old town in VIllajoyosa 

The maze of streets and alleys run through the old town past landmark buildings, ancient Roman ruins and medieval walls that belie the town’s extensive history. The Iglesia-Fortaleza de la Asunción is one of three fortress churches in Alicante and has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest.

The oldest parts of the city date back as far as the bronze age of Iberia, but it was not until Roman times that Villajoyosa became important economically. The ruins of Allon are in the heart of the old town and well worth visiting.

Roman Ruins of Villajoyosa

The Roman city of Allon, declared in 74 A.C., became the capital of the region. One of its legacies is a Roman baths complex in excellent condition. You can see the different pools of cold and hot water, the drainage and pipe system, and even the rooms of the slaves who kept the baths running. There are also three necropolises on site.

After the Ruins of Allon, what better way to return to the present that the Fábrica de Chocolates Valor factory in a 19th-century house. Here you can learn a little while sampling the local wares.

Once you have had your fill of chocolate, its time for a swim, the 250m Bol Nou Beach is only 2 kilometres from town.  The cliff around this Blue Flag beach creates a strong cooling breeze year-round.

Finally, no day to Villajoyosa would be complete without an evening stroll along the Promenade. This lovely seaside walk has plenty of terraces, bars and restaurants and is a lively place to watch the sunset, especially in summer.

Plan for a full day in Villajoyosa, with your hire car waiting you will want to stay as long as you can.  

Guadalest

No visit to the Costa Blanca is complete without a trip to historical Guadalest. This fortified village, sitting dangerously atop mountain top, looks out onto the highest peaks in the province.

Guadalest is just over 30 minutes from Benidorm in a hire car. Head up into the mountains around 23 km away. It is a scenic drive through the Mediterranean coast’s arid interior.

The village of Guadalest dates back over 1000 years and is steeped in history, from the prison and dungeon built in the 12th century to the old washing house used by the local women.

Guadalest’s Time Machine

The town is tiny with only 200 inhabitants, but it leaves a lasting impression. Stop to see the iconic castle, which you enter through the portal de San Jose, a 15-foot tunnel, and admire the mountain views of the striking reservoir. The reservoir is functional as well as beautiful — it provides water to Benidorm and the surrounding towns.

The tunnel is like a time machine, taking you back to the cobbled streets of the small square,  a school and also an old jailhouse. The restored house of the Orduna family is a meticulously faithful representation of life in Guadalest in the 14 and 1500’s. 

The white bell tower of Penon de la Alcala rises up delicately perched on the steep pinnacles of the mountainside.

The Moors built the castle over 1,300 years ago. In 1609 King Felipe the third ordered all the Moors to be expelled after an uprising which saw them chased from Spain.

The castle was abandoned in 1848 after an unexplained powder keg explosion caused major damage.