From Málaga to Huelva

Hi guys!

Some of you are asking for the different options from Málaga to Huelva, then here we go!

OPTION A: Through Seville
Take a bus from the airport to the bus/train station.
In Málaga, the train station is just in front of the bus station, so you don´t have to worry about it.

Once in the station, choose train or bus:
- Train: There are two kind of trains to Sevilla: Avant (43,50€ - 1h55m) or MD (22,10€ - 2h35m).
Remember that you can got up to 25% of discount in trains with your youth card.
During weekdays, the trains between Malaga and Sevilla start at 06:45 and finish at 20:15.
For more details, check RENFE web.

Once in Sevilla - Santa Justa, take a train to Huelva (11,20€ - 1h25m) or a bus (7.92€ - 1h15m).
If you want to take the bus, you have to go to Plaza de armas bus station, using a taxi or Sevilla city buses.

- Bus: You can take a bus from Malaga to Sevilla with the company Alsa. There are two kind of buses: Normal - Eurobus (16,84€ - 2h45m) or Supra Economy (21,34€ - 2h45m).
Supra Economy is more comfortable, that´s why is more expensive.

Once in Sevilla, just take a bus to Huelva with the company Damas.

OPTION B: Through Córdoba.

Take a bus from the airport to the bus/train station.
In Málaga, the train station is just in front of the bus station, so you don´t have to worry about it.

Once in the station, choose train or bus:
- Train. There are two kind of trains: AVE (45,40€ - 50 minutes) or Avant (25,20€ - 1h05m.). Remember that you can get discount with the youth card, and, if you buy the ticket in advance (at least 15 days before) you can find the web or star fare, with, sometimes, more than 50% off.
Trains between Malaga and Córdoba run from 06:15 till 20:30.

Once in Córdoba train station, take a train to Huelva, that may stop in Sevilla.
There are just a few trains available, and the cheapest price is 37,10€.

- Bus. Take a bus from Malaga to Cordoba with the company Alsa. (2h30m - 4h00 depending on the bus - 13,58€).
Once in Cordoba bus station, take a bus to Huelva with the company Socibus (8,75€ - 2h30m).
Just 2 or 3 buses are running per day.

From Madrid Airport to Huelva: Different ways to travel

Since a lot of people are flying to Madrid, and most of them are asking, I am going to write about the possibilities, prices and offers available from our capital to Huelva.

A) BY TRAIN
Trains in Spain are fast and comfortable, but quite expensive if you don´t get any special offer.
To reach Huelva by train, follow these instructions:

- From Barajas Airport take the metro (line 8) untill Nuevos Ministerios. There, change to line 10, and go to Tribunal. Finally, take the line 1 to Atocha (train station).
From Atocha Station, there are a lot of trains everyday to Seville, most of them are AVE trains (high speed, 2h30m).
The standar price is 83.30€ BUT you can get important DISCOUNTS.
With the European Youth Card, you will get 25% off, and if you book in advance (minimum 15 days before), you have different fares:
- WEB FARE: 50% or more discount.
- STAR FARE: 30% discount.
- TABLE FARE: Perfect if you are 3 or 4 travelling, you can book the 4 ppl table and pay 20-35€ each.
Check the timetables, prices and offers in http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

Here, you can see the different prices.

B) BY BUS

There is a low-cost bus company called Socibus, that offer really good prices from Madrid (Airport or Méndez Álvaro Station) and they have several departures everyday.

They offer wi-fi in their buses, but they take 8 hours, and is more uncomfortable than train, but yes, is cheaper.

The one-way ticket cost 24€, and you can have discount with your European Youth card, but it´s not possible to get it on internet.

I recommend you to book at least one day before, cause this buses are often fully booked, and you may have to wait at the station for the next one.

To go by bus you have 2 options:

The first one is to buy a ticket from Barajas (airport) to Huelva, and you will go straight to the bus station in town.

The negative thing is that just 2 or 3 buses are departing from Barajas per day, so if the hours are not convinience, you should check the second option, a bus from Madrid (Méndez Álvaro station) to Huelva.

Check prices and schedule here: http://www.socibus.es/index.jsp

To reach the station follow the instructions below:

- From Barajas airport take the metro (line 8) untill Nuevos Ministerios. Once there, take the line 6 till Méndez Álvaro and you will find the station there.

European Youth card to get discount in trains and some buses.

C) By plane.

You can fly from Madrid to Sevilla with Iberia Express from 34€ one way.

Check schedules and prices here: http://www.iberiaexpress.com/en/

The trip will take 1h - 1h15m.

Mobile phone in Spain

Hello again!!

Today, Id like to talk a little bit about the telephone companies in Spain, so you can have an idea.

Here we have expensive companies if you compare with most of European countries, and if you want to call, you have to pay 0.15€ + VAT just to start the conference.

The normal price for a national SMS is also 0.15€ + VAT, and the price per minute depends on the company and the offer.

Fortunately, in the last years we are getting cheaper prices thanks to the new "low cost" companies.
Here you can find 4 big companies, with their own red, they are Movistar, Vodafone, Orange and Yoigo.
Also you can find a lot of virtual companies like Simyo, Pepephone, Carrefour movil, Lebara, Dia Movil, Amena, Jazztel Movil...

In Huelva, most of erasmus students have Yoigo, since they have quite good prices for the clients who use prepaid cards, like 0.08€/min and 0.08€/sms, and you can have unlimited internet on your phone paying 8€ per month.

It is maybe a good option cause they have physical shops where you can buy the sim card and a phone if you need one, but you can also check the other virtual companies and order a sim card and a cell phone by internet.

We also have plans where you pay, for example 30€ and you can use unlimited internet and make unlimited calls with your phone, and some others when you pay 10, 15 or 20€ and you get, for example 350 minutes per month to call.
Unfortunately, these plans are just available for the people who select the "pay monthly" services.

Curiosities about appartments in Huelva

I have been thinking about what else should I write here, and maybe there are some things in the appartments that will be strange o new for you.

For example, to take a shower.
Here, some appartment have gas instalation, and some others electrical heaters, but more than 70% of flat Id say, have our friend "la bombona" (gas bottle).

For some people this thing is really strange at the beggining, and some erasmus think that its dangerous or annoying, but be prepared, because probably you will have this kind of bottle in your appartment.

I reccommend you to buy always two, so if one it´s finished, you can change it and have more hot water.

After that, you can call to order a new one, or go to the petrol station with your empty bottle to change it.
The price for one is, right now, 15,53€.

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Another thing that is not that common in most of Europe in to have a blind.

Well, I have to say I missed them on my erasmus, cause I don´t like to have light in my room at 08:00am :P

With Spanish blinds you don´t have to worry about it, so you can sleep longer after the parties!

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Money exchange in Huelva

Since Huelva is not a really touristic town, and most of the people use euro, we don´t have exchange offices, so could be difficult for you to find a place to change dollars, zloty...

You can do it most of banks, but you will need to have an account there, so if you need to exchange money, the best option is to go to Hipercor, a mall close to the city center, where you will just need your passport.

How to reach Huelva

Huelva is a city between two International airports: Sevilla and Faro (Portugal), but if you have both options, Id recommend you to fly to Sevilla, because the city is well connected to Huelva, so you don´t have to wait so long to come here.

Faro doesn´t have as many buses as Sevilla, so sometimes you have to wait for hours or take a taxi, that is more expensive.

If you are flying to Madrid, as many people do, the cheapest option to reach Huelva is by bus, using Socibus, but you can travel also by train, more comfortable but more expensive.
There is a high speed line between Madrid and Sevilla, or you can take the standard train to Huelva.
For prices and schedule, check the web Renfe. 
The bus take around 8 hours from Madrid to Huelva, and the train, if you take the high speed line to Sevilla, will take around 3h30m.


The train could be also a good option if you are flying to Malaga or Seville.

Accommodation in Huelva

Find accommodation in Huelva is quite easy, and 90% of international students get a room in 1-3 days, so don´t worry about it.

To rent a room or a flat, I reccommend you to go to the International Office and ask to the people of ESN Huelva, they will give you a list with a lot of flats or rooms available, and they even will call to the owners if you can´t speak Spanish, so it will be easier. Note that all ESN Staff are volunteer, so they are not going to charge you any money for it.

Another issue about accommodation is, what to do the first night or if Im going to Huelva during the weekend??.
Well, the best option is to book a hostel / hotel for 2 nights.
The cheapest options that you can find are Hostal Calvo, nothing special but right in the city center, really cheap and clean, Albergue Inturjoven, with breakfast included and really good services, Hotel Marina, close to the campus El Carmen but a little bit more expensive, or Hotel Costa de la Luz, also with breakfast included.

You can check prices and availability clicking in the links.

Intercity buses in Huelva

Huelva has a main bus station, close to the city center and la merced, and people usually call it "Damas".

Most of buses routes are operated by the company Damas with services to the beach, Huelva´s villages and towns, Sevilla or Badajoz.

You can also check Socibus, a cheaper company with services to Madrid and Córdoba.

If you want to go to Portugal, the companies are Damas and Eva, and the prices of course depend on where do you want to go.

With the student card (TUO) you can get discount in Damas, and in Socibus you can get special prices with the European Youth Card (>26).

With Socibus for example is possible to get the tickets online, but you can´t get discounts there, so if you have your card, it´s better to go to the station if you can.

You can read more about services and prices clicking on Socibus, Damas or Eva.

P.S. There are also services available from and to Romania.

City Buses in Huelva

Huelva is not very big, so you can go by foot everywhere, but sometimes you have to walk for 40-50 minutes, so if you want you can use the public transportation system.

We don´t have metro or tram, but we have 9 lines of citybus and taxis.

Taxis are available 24 hours, and you can find them in several taxi stops around the city or order one by telephone.
A taxi in Huelva usually cost between 4€ and 8€, being more expensive during the night or in public holiday.

Most of buses start around 06:30 and finish around 23:00, so there are no buses during the night.
The prices are:
- Single ticket: 0.90€
- Bonobus: 0.53€ (you can buy your bonobus in most of kiosks or tobacco shops, paying 5.30€ for 10 trips).
- Student bus card. If you use the bus a lot, that´s your best solution. You can get your student bus card at EMTUSA (in the main city bus station), and you will pay 13€ per month (unlimited rides).

You can find more information and timetables, in Spanish and English in that page: http://www.emtusahuelva.es/pagina.aspx?id=27

University of Huelva

The University of Huelva (UHU) is a public University and it has 3 different campus, located in Huelva and La Rábida (Palos de la Fronteria).
These campus are:

Campus "El Carmen"
It´s located close to the main entrance of Huelva, and it´s the biggest one. There you can find the faculties of Education sciences, humanities, the law school, work sciences, experimental sciences, nursery school... as well as the central library, several canteens, the pedagogical museum, the international office, the SACU, CARUH, an informatic systems building, and some other important buildings.

If you are going to study in El Carmen and you would like to live close, the most popular areas are Los Rosales, Isla Chica, Nuevo Parque and Fuentepiña, located between 5 and 20 minutes by foot from there.
If you decided to live in the city center or in another area, there are several buses that link the campus with these areas from 07:00 till 23:00 approximately.

Campus "La Merced"
Its located in Plaza de la Merced, close to the city center and the cathedral.
Actually its not a campus, its just the bussines and tourism school, where most of erasmus students have their lessons.

If you are going to study in La Merced, you can rent a flat in La Merced, Molino de la Vega or in the city center.

Campus "La Rábida"
Its located outside the city, in Palos de la Frontera municipality (8km from Huelva), so you have to take a bus.

If you are going to study there, its better to rent a flat close to the bus station, that is close to the city center and La Merced.

Prices in Huelva

With this post you can have an idea about the prices for students. Huelva is a cheap city, and find accommodation here its quite easy.

- Room in a shared flat: 140-180€/month
- Bills (water, electricity and gas): 20-40€/month
- Internet: 8-15€/mes (per person)
- Gym: 15-60€/month
- City Bus: 0.90€ with single ticket, 0.53€ with bonobus or 13€ per month with your student card.
- Rent a bike at the university: 20€/semester (limited number of bikes!!!)
- Entrance to clubs: 0-10€ (usually, 0€).
- Long drinks: 3-7€
- Shots: 0,50-2€
- Beer / Soft drink: 0,80-2€
- Tapas: 0,80-3€
- Cinema ticket: 5.30-9.30€
- Menu at the university: 4.50-5.50€ (including bread, drink and dessert).
- Photocopies: 0.02-0.10€

That´s all. If you need something else, you can leave a comment ;).

Welcome to Huelva / Bienvenido a Huelva

Hi guys!

If you are reading this article, probably you are going to be an international student in Huelva soon, and probably you didn´t choose our city as your first destination, so you don´t know what´s going on here...

Maybe you choose this city because you want to live by the sea, improve your Spanish skills, or live in a tropical area in the south of Spain that it´s always warm and sunny, so you can go to the beach in December or January.


Well, first thing that you need to know, there is NO beach in Huelva (a lot of people don´t know that), so you need to go to Punta Umbría, Mazagón or another town to see the sea. Huelva has a port, but that´s all.
Fortunately, there is one bus to the beach every hour (sometimes even every 30 minutes), and it cost around 2€ (1,50€ with the student card).

About the Spanish language, maybe Andalussia is not the best part to learn if you just know standard Spanish.
We speak fast, we use different words and we cut the sentences, so sometimes could be difficult for you to understand the people, however, the andalussian Spanish is really nice, and if you can understand it, you will be able to understand everybody in every single part of Spain.
If you just speak English or another language, note that here almost nobody can speak and understand English, so try to learn some basic spanish sentences before your arrival.

Finally, and really important... Huelva IT IS COLD in winter. Here we don´t have snow, and the temperature is never in minus, but sometimes we have 7-8º and high humidity, so please, bring your jackets with you!.