I'd forget about using the Rail Pass in Spain and opt to book my tickets at Renfe.com ahead of time, saving a little money.

Thanks for your response Robert. Do you think it would still be worth buying the global pass in that case?

I think, like many others on travel forums everyday, you should read this - http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#Should - starting with the subject of the bold type.

I have already read it, thanks anyway.

Not all trains have first class cars and the price difference isn't huge. That being said, I loved 1st class train travel. More space, fewer people. On one of our trips, my late husband and I bought a 1st class pass for our 2-week trip to Italy. We visited 14 towns in 14 days! It was so easy to run to the station of our base city, chose where what we wanted to see that morning, afternoon or entire day and hop on the train.

Did we overpay? Probably. Was it worth it terms of convenience? Absolutely. We were too green to know that some trains require reservations, btw, so I don't know if we ever goofed. Only one conductor ever really looked at our tickets and he just shook his head and left us alone.

On a subsequent trip we trained from Barcelona to Montpellier to Nice to Paris. Bought our tickets in each town when we "landed" or a couple of days in advance of the next leg of our trip. From Barcelona, Spain to France, the train left from a different station than the main one. Make sure to pay attention to that.

I can't help with overnight train or trip back but I agree about avoiding backtracking if possible. Can any other Fodorites help here?

I hate to be negative but 2 nights Sevilla, 2 nights Madrid and 2 nights Barcelona is barely enough in each city to just arrive and do a cursory view of the top sights. This would be exhausting for even the fastest travelers. You could easily spend 6 nights in each of these places.

Hi TDudette,

Thanks for your response. Wow, 14 towns in 14 days ... must have been quite a trip

We have frequented trains across Europe but never on a pass and never having crossed borders. I must admit, the first class pass is sooo tempting but we have also considered the second class due to the different systems. The convenience of a global pass is what made the decision. Having read stories of people waiting in queues watching their train leave, oh dear, not us!

Thanks for the info on the Barcelona-Spain run. I know there are some new lines running from Summer so hopefully it will be easier. I did actually think they mostly ran from Sants so I will definitely be making further enquiries.

Hi Cathy, Yes, 2 nights in each city isn't ideal is it really. Spain is not a holiday as such; I will mostly be collecting data for my dissertation rather than seeing the sights this time around We've already agreed that we perhaps won't sleep much until we get to Agde.

Looks like I have to wait for the summer timetable to book the sleepers.

Also consider having a credit card that works in the ticket machines if you don't use the pass. We used our U.S. Visa card in Italy on one visit but in Paris on the next, our card wouldn't work. Please see various threads about the "chip" technology needed for unmanned things. Another reason to have that pass, eh?

I think the different station to France is a function of the different rail guage sizes--the other station or train addresses this?

Some of our trips were 1/2 day so our trip wasn't as frantic as it seems. Our bases were Venice, Verona, Pisa and Rome. We had the best time.