Welcome to the start of my road trip in the south of Spain. This is one of the highlights of my trip! I will be travelling down the coast in 6 days, visiting numerous cute little towns and cities down the Costa del Sol. Besides the main few major cities like Malaga, Alicante and Valencia I will also check out some cute little towns and cities and will be sharing them in the next few posts. It is lovely to finally be able to check the Costa del Sol off my list of drives to do!

Sixt Spain Seville 

For my road trip in Spain, I rented my car from Sixt. I was considering offers from both Sixt and Europcar but Sixt had the better price and the location of Sixt is better with regards to returning the car. I will be staying at Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona and there is a Sixt outlet right there, this will make it super easy when returning the car. I rented the car for 6 days and we paid close to 780 Euros. The rental is expensive as we opted for full insurance coverage as well as a car upgrade to the X1 for 25 dollars a day extra. With car rental, remember to always check back constantly since usually the prices change and you can always rebook. I always get the pay later option. While there isn’t a clear-cut rule on whether you need an International Driving Permit, it is better to have one on hand. They are affordable and will cut out any unnecessary trouble. You can get one same day from your local Automobile Association. The staff at Sixt didn’t require it and told us it is only needed when getting checked by the police.

We got to Seville Santa Justa Station shortly after 8am via a cab and were politely welcomed in by the staff. The outlet is easy to find and you can find all the usual car rental companies here. The rental car is parked right outside the outlet. It took a while to register and the staff wasn’t good with recognition. A Platinum car upgrade isn’t offered. We departed Seville soon after conducting a brief check of the car and taking some videos of the car. I will recommend everyone who is renting a car to take some pictures and videos of the exterior before driving off, this will come in handy when there is a dispute.

Driving in South of Spain

The BMW X1 was a sweet ride and we enjoyed cruising around in it. Driving in Spain is in the opposite direction of Singapore. You should not have any issue getting used to it. Roads are well maintained and signs are clear. Speed limits vary, depending on whether you are on local roads or the highways. Spain motorways, usually known as Autovias are the highest category roads in the country. The speed is 120 km/hr. People do go faster than that but do take note of cameras.

Check out some of the amazing views we had on the drive! A car allows you to reach viewpoints that you will never visit without a ride.

Some roads require tolls, these can be paid by either cash or card! It is a dream come true to drive on the Costa del Sol. It is one of the most amazing road trips to take. The views are spectacular and you will have the opportunity to visit some of the best towns and cities along the coast. Over the next 6 days, we drove to Vejer de la Frontera, Tarifa, Estepona which is the most southern point of mainland europe, Malaga, Nerja, Frigiliana, Adra, Alicante and Valencia. I will be sharing my thoughts on these towns and cities soon.

Parking

I did not face any trouble looking for parking during my time in Spain you can either park on the street or look for parking facilities. They are usually available in the city centre and you can expect to pay around 1-2 euros an hour. Some of the street parking is free.

If you are looking for overnight parking, the charges are around 15 – 20 Euros a night. Do check with your hotel, some of them might have a collaboration and charge you a cheaper rate. When I stayed at AC Malaga Hotel, they had a cheaper rate with the parking just across the road. If you are visiting some factory outlet or shopping mall, they usually have free parking or complimentary parking if you spend above a certain amount.

Petrol 

From my experience during the period petrol is around 1.40 Euros per litre. This is of course the prices back in December. Most places accept both cards and cash. It does pay to search on google and online for the cheapest prices in the neighbourhood. Some websites even show live prices. I managed to find a spot near Valencia that charge just 1.279 Euros when the usual petrol station is going around 1.379 Euros. The prices can range pretty drastic between different petrol stations. For the period of our rental, we spent a total of 120 Euros on petrol! I will say that the X1 is pretty fuel-efficient, considering that we drove a total of 1500 KM over 6 days.

Conclusion

If you can swing it, the car is a good way to get around, especially along the coast and the south of Spain. In stark contrast to the rest of Europe, I feel that the rail network is not that well built and it might be difficult to rely on it to get around. The bus is the better option than trains but it will still be slower than driving around. Renting a car is still your best bet especially if you want to visit the small towns and cities. Stay tuned for me to share the small little towns and cities that I visited.