firsttimetospain

I and my wife will spend 8 days in spain in mid oct. i will arrive at barcelona, plan to go to seville and lastly to madrid. I wish to know whether i should rent a car to go through the cities or buy a rail pass. I dont know if the charges of highway and fuel is expansive and will make car renting costly.

Somehow i prefer rail but i worry if i can get on the train i wish to. It is best if i can stay in barcelona one night and then take a train to seville by overnight train but there is only 1 train per day. May any one tell me is it hard to book the seats and if i can reserve the seat before i get to spain.

Thanks alot in advance.

Pegontheroad

Since you have only eight days, I'd suggest flying. Spanair has a really cheap flight. I love going by train in Spain, but that's a pretty long trip and I'm not sure what the scenery is like.

ben_haines_london

October is low season, and you can book the berth you want when you reach the continent, at any big railway station. You pay for booking in Barcelona or in a station other than Barcelona, at one set fare.

I expect you know that you leave Barcelona at 2100 and reach Seville at 0808. Whether the plane takes two hours or two minutes it cannot give more convenient times. The scenery is irrelevant: you will be asleep.

[email protected]

NEDSIRELAND

Spain is a very large country; and gasoline is very expensive: like 1-euro per litre. Roadway tolls can also be quite expensive. What I would do in your situation would be to buy a First Class 'Spain flexi-pass' (3-days rail & 2-days rental car, for example). That gives you the flexibility when in Sevilla to visit Jerez, Cadiz, Ronda, and other places in Andalucia. There's an Avis and several other car rental Agencies at Sevilla's estación Santa Justa.

'First Class' because the overnighter is 'Todo Preferente' (i.e., 'Turista' railpass is not acceptable on that train).

I have taken that 'All Preferente' Talgo Barcelona-Sevilla and it is a very comfortable ride. As soon as you arrive in Barcelona, proceed to the first Renfe Office and try to reserve a compartment on the overnighter (the compartments are for 2-adults: upper and lower and the seats are very nice). At Llobregat airport there's a commuter rail station (cross the elevated walkway). I'm not sure if there is a full-service Renfe ticket Office but if not, they can direct you. If they are fully booked for the night you arrive, book for the next night and enjoy Barcelona.
P.D.
There's a shop that I guess you would call a 'deli' in Barcelona Sants rail station. I bought the makings for sandwiches and some cold drinks there. Later, I was glad I did because I was in the last carriage, seven away from the Cafe-car.

TopMan

I love to travel by train in Spain but with so few days I suggest you look at the possibility of flying. Right now the one-way fare for two on Spanair between Barcelona to Seville is about 88€ plusnfees for TWO persons and that would be leaving on October 15th.
Go to www.Spanair.com to check out the prices for your particular dates.

One drawback might be the baggage weight restrictions...usually about 44# of checked luggage per person.

Good luck.

firsttimetospain

thank you very much for your all suggestion.

SharonNRayMc

Definitely take the AVE from Sevilla to Madrid. It is an amazing experience.

You can reserve train tickets on Renfe's web site before you go. There are plenty of discussions on how to do this right on this forum. Just do a search. Or, you can do it in Barcelona at a train station or the travel department of El Corte Ingles. I would not suggest driving because of how much of your trip time you would spend driving.

I think I would decide the trenhotel vs flying based on price and timeschedules. Like Ben Haines suggests, the times for the overnight train to Sevilla is at great times.
Ray and I did the same itinerary as you have proposed over 15 days. Trenhotel from Barcelona to Sevilla and AVE from Sevilla to Madrid. Click on my name and you'll find a very long, detailed trip report.

You have chosen wonderful destinations!

- Sharon

SharonNRayMc

ps. I see no advantage with a railpass. Buy the individual train tickets.
-Sharon

olga

There is a new lowcost airline from Cataluna, called Vueling . They have a new route Barcelona/Seville and it costs around 60 euros round trip. You can book it on the internet at www.vueling.com
The flight is one hour and 20 minutes and it goes straight to both major airports. The flights are in the morning both ways, so no funky hours.
Luggage restriction is 20 kilos -about 40 pounds?- per person.

buongiorno

My wife and I along with another couple took the overnight train from Barcelona to Sevilla about a year and a half ago and it worked out pretty well. The sleeper car had a bar and we had a bunch of drinks and then headed for our cabin. They are very tiny with bunk beds.

soccr

You may consider this too hectic, but one possibility is to go to Madrid first, then take the AVE to Seville and back (if your departing flight is from Madrid). It's such a rapid train that you can even take an early morning train (8 am) and put in a full day of sightseeing and get back by 10-11 pm. But if you want to stay in Seville overnight, and your time is so short, I'd recommend air-travel from Barcelona to Seville and then the AVE back to Madrid.

lincasanova

well.. here's for valencia which so FEW people mention, much to my dismay.

take first class euromed to valencia from barcelona, remembering you can use the VIP lounge once you are at station early waiting to board train. i am not sure about price, perhaps 55 euros/person includes unlimited drnk and a meal at meal times, nice snack otherwise.

then STAY in valencia two nights...
see the historic area, also the new science area and try to catch a glimpse of the america's cup regattas ..or the crews around town.
quite lively now.

then you can fly to sevilla if you do not want to drive 5 -6 hours to granada, sleeping there.. alhambra, etc..( no tolls depending on which way you go.) then on to sevilla from there.

high speed train AVE later to madrid.
i would spend more time in the places hardest to get back to (madrid is so accessible).. saving that for another trip.

all the small villages along the way whereever you would go by car are quite nice if you do a bit of research.