My daughter will be taking a summer class that will finish in Granada, Spain. She will be free to depart on May 27th, and her flight is out of Madrid on May 28th at 12:30pm. In looking at Rail Europe, it appears that the only direct train from Granada to Madrid does not leave until 6 in the evening and does not arrive in Madrid until around 11pm. We are urban people, but I am not thrilled about her having to get from the train station to a hotel that time of night in a country where her command of the language is only mediocre. There are loads of trains at various times all day from Cordoba or Seville to Madrid; the question is how to get from Granada to one of those cities? The Rail Europe site shows only evening trains from Granada to those cities as well. Are there local trains? Do they need to be booked in advance? Thank you in advance for any ideas you may have.
Help with transit options in Spain
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Do not look at rail europe. Go to the Spanish rail website: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html. You will get more choices and better prices. If you have more questions, go to the expert on rail travel : http://www.seat61.com/
Don't use the Rail Europe site for timetables. Use either Bahn.com for Germany and central Europe, or the countries national rail site;
www.renfe.com, for Spain, shows 3 departures for Madrid on May 27;
Train / Route Departure Arrival Duration Prices Facilities Accessibility
09219 ALTARIA 09.10 13.35 4 h. 25 min. Query and Buy See See
99291 MD 15.15 21.22 6 h. 07 min. Query and Buy See See
09237 ALTARIA 18.05 22.44 4 h. 39 min. Query and Buy See See
The 3:15 is the cheapest,at 38.40 Euros and it arrives at Chamartin station. The faster two are about 68.4 Euros and arrive Atocha.
You can book from the Renfe site (usually) - some people have had problems with N. American credit cards being accepted. I don't know if that is still the case. But I guess your daughter could by one at any time right in Granada.
Unless you have a specific hotel in mind for her, she can get one extremely close either of the stations, possibly even connected to them.
Many thanks jkbritt and Aramis! Fodorites never disappoint.
You can book the train at Petrabax.com, the official rep for Renfe in North America. You will also be able to download the tickets.
she could also fly if you do not find a train schedule you like. www.rumbo.es
Sleep at airport hotel with free shuttle or take 5E bus downtown to her hotel if her flight doesn´t leave too early.
Ten Alsa buses every day from Granada to Córdoba from early morning (closer to Granada than Sevilla, and Córdoba is also closer to Madrid), and then it's only 1h 40 mins with the high speed AVE train to Madrid. No problem to just turn up at the bus station, but you could also buy tickets online:
http://www.alsa.es/en
... but of course the easiest thing will be to take the morning train (9.10) directly to Madrid as Aramis suggests...
The lowest fare for the 09:10 train, Granada-Madrid, on Renfe.com, is €27,35 (if available at that price) and $45 at Petrabax.com. The afternoon train, the ALTARIA 09237, is not yet available.
As kimhe notes, the morning train would be the best option, getting your daughter into Atocha station at 1:35, in time for lunch after checking into her hotel. The NH National, which is only a few minutes walk from the station, has a rate of €90,10 on the 27th. She can take the airport bus from Atocha station the next morning (www.emtmadrid.es/lineaAeropuerto/index.html).
Again, Fodorites ride to the rescue. Robert2533 thanks for hotel suggestion. NH Nacional sounds perfect for daughter's needs. This thread contains all the info we needed to get her from Granada to her flight home. Many, many thanks.