Coming by train
Yes, it does take longer than flying but traveling to Guhyaloka by train is not only possible, it is also surprisingly easy, enjoyable and doesn’t cost the earth. You find very detailed information, including how to book on the website Seat61.com.
| London St. Pancras | 10:26 Eurostar | Alicante | 13:55 EuroMed |
| Paris Nord arr. | 13:50 | Barcelona Sants arr. | 18:53 |
| Paris Lyon dep. | 14:54 TGV | Barcelona Sants dep. | 10:33 TGV |
| Barcelona Sants arr. | 21:25 | Paris Lyon arr. | 17:18 |
| Barcelona Sants dep. | 07:15 EuroMed | Paris Nord dep. | 19:13 Eurostar |
| Alicante | 12:15 | London St Pancras | 20:30 |
Times correct as of June 2023
This sample journey starts from about 200£ for the return journey. If at the time of booking you find it costs much more it might be worth buying an interrail ticket. The 30 day pass, including all reservation charges, comes out at around 400€ (or 334€ if you are under 28). This is a fixed price ticket that gives you four days of unlimited travel within any 30 day period, including the journey from anywhere in the UK.
At Alicante city centre (station ‘Luceros’), take tram L1 to Villajoyosa. Journey time on this very scenic route along the coast is approx. 1 hour and it costs 2.80€. Disembark at the station ‘Creueta’. You can check the timetable here.
If you are on solitary retreat, it is likely that we could pick you up from Benidorm or Villajoyosa and drop you off there as part of our weekly shopping trip. Shortly before your solitary retreat, we will be in contact with you about that.
Please let us know your arrival time at least a week in advance so that we can arrange for someone to be around to meet you.
Coming by car
Guhyaloka is located in a mountainous area, on a very rough and remote road, which is difficult to access by car. At the bottom of our road is a climbers’ refuge which is called ‘El Refugio’ (pronounced re-fyoo-hee-o), or ‘Font de L’Arc’ in the local language Valenciano. If you are arriving by car then we ask you to leave it at the Refugio whilst you are on retreat.
Instead of driving all the way through France you might wish to take the ferry from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Bilbao or Santander. Brittany Ferries runs this all-year luxury cruise which takes about 24 hours.
Taking the plane
The closest airport to Guhyaloka is at Alicante. Buses to Benidorm depart from level 2 of the airport. Tickets are 10€ and journey time is approx. 45 minutes. Buses leave on the hour every hour from 8am to 11pm. More info here.
From Benidorm bus station simply get a taxi to the ‘Refugio’. The taxi rank is to the left when you get off the bus, at the back of the bus station. The cost will be about 30€ and the journey takes 20-25 minutes.
The best way to get to Villajoyosa is taking bus C6 from the airport to Alicante city centre (station ‘Plaza de Los Luceros’, 3.85€), then taking the tram to Villajoyosa, as described above.
Of course you can also take a taxi directly from the airport to the ‘Refugio’. Expect to pay about 90€ for this one hour ride.
Carbon foorprint
Guhyaloka wishes to further engage in eco responsibility and reduce its carbon footprint.
Each airline company invites you to donate a small amount of money to offset the carbon footprint of the flight. We’d like you to donate that money to us to support our efforts to making Guhyaloka as sustainable and eco friendly as possible and using the natural resources we have (a lot of sun, a big forest and a small amount of annual rainfall) as best we can! Guhyaloka is completely off grid and already we have solar electrics and much of our heating is from wood from the forest.
To become more sustainable, we plan to:
1- Replace the gas bottles for heating water with solar panels;
2- Increase the capacity of the rainwater tank and build a new one to collect rainwater from the Library Hut and Yesso Huts;
3- Increase the number of solar panels for our electrical supply;
4- Purchase more environmentally friendly cleaning products and recycle where we can.
We propose that, rather than giving this airline carbon offset money that you give us 5 or 10£ or more if you wich per flight and we’ll use that money for the above projects. If you make this donation, just ad dit to your retreat payment and let us know how much you are donating to this project.