We cannot take care of your travel and lodging for you, but we think the following options might be good.

Travel

Ground (greener) transportation

The best options to travel to Cartagena from other European countries (except, obviously, from Portugal, when you would travel east not west and south) with a green pledge is to take an international train through Barcelona. If you are also on a budget, you can take a coach directly to Cartagena with Eurolines or to Barcelona with Flixbus and then switch to a train to Cartagena with RENFE, the Spanish national railway company.

Approximate road distances to Cartagena

FROM	Km
Barcelona	625
Madrid	450
Málaga	400
Valencia	275
Alicante	125
Alicante airport	120
Murcia	50
Murcia airport	35

Flights

Madrid and Barcelona

You can reach Cartagena through a flight to Madrid or Barcelona, and then take a direct RENFE train to Cartagena from Atocha station (Madrid) or Sants Station (Barcelona). You can also take a bus to Cartagena from both airports.

Murcia

You can fly directly to the international Murcia airport of Corvera (RMU), but only from Belgium (Antwerp –ANR; Ostend –OST), Ireland (Dublin –DUB), Morocco (Casablanca –CMN; Oujda –OUD), Spain (Gran Canaria –LPA; Vigo –VGO), and the United Kingdom (Birmingham –BHX; London –LGW; Manchester –MAN). From there, you can take a bus to Cartagena. A taxi cab will cost ca. 60 € and will take ca. half an hour. This may be an option when the ride is shared.

Alicante

Perhaps the easiest and cheapest option is to fly to the airport of Alicante-Elche (ALC) and then take a bus. You will find directly flights from:

Austria Vienna –FRI

Belgium Antwerp –ANR; Brussels –BRU, CRL; Liege –LGG; Ostend-Bruges –OST

Bulgaria Sophia –SOF

Denmark Billund –BLL; Copenhagen –CPH

Finland Helsinki –HEL

France Marseille –MRS; Paris –BVA, CDG; Toulouse –TLS

Germany Baden Baden-Karlsruhe –FKB; Bremen –BRE; Cologne/Bonn –CGN; Dusseldorf –DUS, NRN; Frankfurt –FRA, HHN; Hamburg –HAM; Memmingen –FMM; Munich –MUC

Hungary Budapest –BUD

Ireland Cork –ORK; Dublin –DUB; Shannon –SNN; Keflavik –KEF

Italy Milan –MXP, BGY; Rome –FCO; Treviso –MIL, TSF

Lithuania Kaunas –KUN

Morocco Fes –FES; Marrakesh –RAK; Tetouan –TTU

The Netherlands Amsterdam –AMS; Eindhoven –EIN; Maastricht –mst; Rotterdam –RTM

Norway Bergen –BGO; Oslo –OSL, TRF; Stavanger –SVG; Trondheim –TRD

Poland Krakow –KRK; Gdansk –GDN; Lodz –LCJ; Poznan –POZ; Warsaw –WAW, WMI; Wroclaw –WRO

Portugal Lisbon –LIS; Porto –OPO

Spain Asturias –OVD; Barcelona –BCN; Bilbao –BIO; Gran Canaria –LPA; Lanzarote –ACE; Madrid –MAD; Mallorca –PMI; Santiago –SCQ; Seville –SVQ; Tenerife –TFN; Vitoria –VIT

Romania Bucharest –OTP; Cluj Napoca –CLJ

Sweden Stockholm –RNA; Gothenburg –GOT

Switzerland Basel –BSL; Geneva –GVA; Zurich –ZRH

United Kingdom Aberdeen –ABZ; Belfast –BFS; Birmingham –BHX; Bournemouth –BOH; Bristol –BRS; Cardiff –CWL; Durham –MME; East midlands –EMA; Edinburgh –EDI; Exeter –EXT; Glasgow –GLA, PIK; Leeds –LBA; Liverpool –LPL; London –LGW, LTN, STN; Manchester –MAN.

Travelling directly from the Alicante Airport to Cartagena by bus takes about three hours because you will stop 16 times along the way to the Cartagena bus terminal, which is the endstation. More info, here. You can also take a bus to Murcia and take another one or a train to Cartagena. If you want to reach your destination faster, you can rent a car and drive south on toll highway AP7.

Lodging

If you are interested in sharing a room or an appartment, we can put you in contact with other registered students willing to do the same. Our responsibility is limited to helping you link with other summer schoool attendees.

Pensión Balcones Azules
This is a guesthouse or bead & breakfast right downtown Cartagena. It has 24-hour front desk, luggage storage. All 13 rooms have air conditioning, flat-screen TVs, and complimentary Wi-Fi. You can walk to Augusteum Museum, to the city hall and, most importantly, to the summer school’s location at UPTC. Parking (surcharge) is available on site. Calle Balcones Azules 12 +34 968 50 00 42

Loop Inn
This hostel has 47 wheelchair friendly, non-smoking rooms with air conditioning, microwave and complimentary Wi-Fi. Weekly housekeeping only. Breakfast to go is available for a fee. Rooftop terrace and washing machine. Only a few rooms have private bathrooms. It is centrally located, steps from Punic Walls of Cartagena and about a 10-minute walk from the Roman Theater. It is close to the summer school’s location at UPTC. There is a 24-hour shuttle to and from the Murcia airport for a fee. Calle San Crispín 34 +34 868 45 17 60 +34 868 45 17 58

Hotel Los habaneros
This hotel has 73 non-smoking, air conditioned rooms with free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TV along with a mini-bar and a hair dryer in the private bathroom. Rooftop terrace, bike rental and tablet computers in the hall area. Buffet breakfast served in the restaurant. The Cartagena bus and train stations are 5 minutes away. Opposite the tourist office and next to the Punic wall, and also near the summer school’s location at UPTC facilities. Calle San Diego 60 +34 968 50 52 50