Car rental on the Costa Blanca for the beaches from Denia to Torrevieja, the medieval town of Guadalest and the salt lakes at Santa Pola.
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Sample prices for a 7-day rental. Final price, deposit and terms are confirmed on Localrent.
No-deposit options
About a third of cars in Spain come with no deposit hold at pickup - look for the "No deposit" badge.
Full insurance
Zero-excess cover available on most cars - nothing taken from the deposit if something happens.
Airport & city pickup
Desks at the airport and in the city centre.
Free cancellation
Cancel free on most bookings, often up to 48 hours before pickup.
Most driving here is motorway between resorts plus the odd climb inland. Pick by group size and distance, not by looks.
Economy
Cheap to run and easy to park in busy resort towns. Fine for two people sticking to the coast.
Automatic
Easier on the hill roads behind Calpe and Altea. Automatics are limited in Spain, so book early.
7-seater & van
For families or two couples sharing, with room for luggage on the airport run.
Luxury
For the northern coast road around Moraira and Javea. Deposits run higher on premium groups.
The Costa Blanca runs roughly 200 km down the Alicante coast, from Denia in the north to the Orihuela Costa in the south. The resorts sit along one corridor - the AP-7 motorway and the older N-332 coast road - so a hire car is what lets you treat the whole strip as one trip instead of being tied to a bus timetable for each leg.
If you are staying in one resort and never leaving the beach, you can manage without a car. The value of car rental on the Costa Blanca is the day trips: a different beach each day, the hill towns inland, and the markets that move from town to town through the week.
Payment and deposit
When you book you pay only a small upfront amount - usually 15-20% of the hire cost. The rest is settled at the desk on pickup. The deposit in most cases is fully refundable, and about a third of cars in Spain are handed over with no deposit at all - those are marked in the results. If you only have a debit card, pick a no-deposit rate or a cash-deposit option: nothing gets frozen on your card.
The resorts are close together, so most drives are short. Rough driving times from the central coast:
Within reach
Each of those has its own page. Inland, the Guadalest valley and Elche with its palm grove are both under an hour from the coast and make easy half-day runs.
One local rule to know if you are driving into Alicante city. Alicante brought in a low-emission zone in January 2025, but it kept the restrictions to the Old Town that have been in place since 2011. The wider centre and Gran Via stay open to all vehicles.
For a hire car this rarely matters. Cars rented on the Costa Blanca are modern and carry a DGT environmental sticker, so a rental can drive into the centre with no extra paperwork. The Old Town streets that are barred are resident-only access points, not an emissions ban - avoid those and you are fine. Fines of up to EUR 200 target older, non-compliant cars, not yours.
Quick checks at pickup
Most car hire on the Costa Blanca starts at Alicante Airport (ALC), which has the widest choice and the cheapest rates. From there it is the A-70 and AP-7 north to Benidorm and Calpe, or the N-332 south to Torrevieja. To collect in a resort instead, local names include Goldcar and Centauro. Either way, an no-deposit rate with full cover built in avoids a deposit hold.
Spring (March to May) and autumn (late September into October) are the easiest times to drive - warm, quieter roads, and a sea still warm enough to swim in autumn. July and August are the peak: prices climb, automatics and 7-seaters go first, and the N-332 along the coast gets busy, so book several weeks ahead. Winter is the cheapest stretch, and a car still makes sense for the inland trips and the southern beaches once the crowds have gone.
Yes. Alicante's low-emission zone only restricts the Old Town, where some streets are resident-only access. The wider centre and Gran Via stay open to all vehicles, and cars rented in Spain carry the DGT sticker anyway.
Avoid the barred Old Town streets and you can drive in freely.
Benidorm is around 45 to 55 km north on the AP-7, Calpe about 80 km, and Torrevieja roughly 50 km south on the N-332.
Most resort drives from the airport take under an hour.
A credit card is not always required - it is needed to hold the security deposit. At pickup the supplier freezes the deposit amount on the card: the money is not charged and is released when you return the car undamaged.
Without a credit card you still have options: choose a cash-payment rate (the «Cash» filter option) or a no-deposit rate, and nothing is held.
The deposit is an amount the rental company holds as a guarantee for the car. Road fines or damage can be deducted from it.
If the car comes back without problems, the deposit is released in full. It is a temporary hold on your card, not a charge.
It depends on the car class and the supplier - you can see the exact amount on each car's card.
You can set a maximum deposit in the filter and the catalogue shows only matching offers. The lower you set it, the fewer cars remain.
Yes. To see cars with no deposit, use the «No deposit» filter option. There are also cars with a small deposit or cash payment.
Note that "no deposit" means no hold at pickup, not no booking payment - a small upfront amount is still taken when you book. If nothing suits, contact our support team.
The deposit is the amount frozen on your card at pickup and released when you return the car undamaged.
The excess is the part of any damage you pay yourself even with insurance - anything above it is covered by the insurer.
In practice, damage is taken from the deposit up to the excess, so the deposit is often set to match it. A full, zero-excess policy removes both: you do not pay for damage and the hold is usually waived.
Cover comes in levels:
You see the available rates on each car's card when booking.
If you would rather not depend on the deposit and excess, choose the full rate.
Yes, some cars can be paid in cash - use the «Cash» filter option.
You pay a small upfront amount by debit or credit card when booking (usually 15-20% of the total), and the rest in cash at pickup.
Yes, paying for the car with cryptocurrency is possible - contact our support team to arrange it.
Cross-border trips must be agreed with the supplier in advance. There may be a small service fee and extra insurance.
To see cars allowed across the border, use the filter option or contact our support team. Do not cross the border undeclared.
Yes. In the search, set a pick-up and a drop-off point - for example collect in Benidorm and return in Alicante or Valencia.
By default the car is returned to the same place you collected it.
Most are manual, as across Spain. Automatics cost more and sell out first, especially in summer, so book one early if you need it - it makes the hill roads behind Calpe and Altea easier.
You need a passport, a driving licence and the rental voucher - the voucher can be shown on your phone or tablet.
It states the final price with your chosen options and insurance, so the amount due at the desk will not change.
To hire through our rental companies you need at least 2 years of driving experience.
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Need to add something? Write to us at info@carhire-es.com