My wife and i will stop on a cruise at Alicante April 19, 2023 scheduled to arrive at 8:00 hr and scheduled to depart 16:00 hr. Could we make this visit on our own without renting a car, or would a private/small group guide be more appropriate? We've done a bit of research on Alcoy and learned April is the month of a large [?] festival commemorating the Battle of Alcoy in 1275 when Saint George assisted in the defeat of the Moorish hoards lead by Al Azraq. I ran across the significance of April quite by accident. Will a visit to Alcoy be difficult to arrange or a guide difficult to find for April, even with it being 4 months in the future?
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Mid-Atlantic area
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Alcoy is an hour’s drive from the port of Alicante. In and of itself, it should be an easy drive on the A7 if you rented a car. Taking a bus would be 105 minutes each way. No matter how you get there that would leave you 6 hours at most (4.5 if taking the bus) if you were the first off the ship and last ones on and the ship moors on time. The other consideration is ensuring you allow sufficient time to return back to the ship. Unless you go to Alcoy on a ship’s tour, the ship won’t wait for you if you’re late returning.
A quick search shows there are daily busses running from 06:15-21:00, from the Alicante bus station. I saw no trains. Of those you could only possibly take the 10am to give you time in Alcoy. The return bus would be at 1pm to get you back before the ship’s departure. If the return bus is cancelled or late, you could miss the boat, literally. I’ll suggest you check into possible tours or the rental car option. Personally, I’d skip it and enjoy the 8 hours in Alicante.