Madrid to Barcelona - Train or Plane?

Old Mar 28th, 2013, 09:06 AM
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Madrid to Barcelona - Train or Plane?

We are planning a long weekend in Barcelona, but will be flying in and out of Madrid (frequent flyer miles!). We will spend one night in Madrid the night before our flight home.
Are we better off flying between Madrid and Barcelona or taking the high speed train?
It looks to me as though we would need to come into Atocha to get the train to Barcelona.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Thank you for your help.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 09:14 AM
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train stations are in the middle of both cities... the train ride is 3 hours. Unless you are already at the airport, I would take a train.
Get the tickets for the train well ahead of time for discount rates .
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 09:51 AM
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>

No.

This is a price issue because the transit time is about the same if you take the fast train (if not, plane takes about 3/5th as long. You need to track the prices of the train and compare with Vueling, which is the main cheapo Spanish airline. If you're staying for a weekend in Barca and can keep most of your stuff in your hotel/apartment/etc in Madrid, you could take carry-on only luggage and not incur extra baggage fees on Vueling, which would probably make the cost far less.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 09:57 AM
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"This is a price issue.."
Not for everyone. For some of us it is the time and convenience issue.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 10:10 AM
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Thank you for your responses. I should clarify: we are flying into Madrid and going straight to Barcelona, returning to Madrid for 1 night the night before we fly home.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 10:27 AM
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as i said, if you are already at the airport and can find a flight departing to Barcelona close to you arrival - take it.
If you are returning to Madrid and staying at the airport
hotel for the night, then flying may be better.
if you are staying in central Madrid for the night, the train
would be my choice.
The train is often more expensive ( unless one gets discount tickets)but there a numerous options in a day.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 12:42 PM
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Not too close to arrival .. because.. does one ever know when one is going to arrive? Pre-paid trains AND planes fares down the drain if late.

This is a hard one. I would be more tempted to buy a much later train ticket and if I got in on time and had time to spare, I'd leave my luggage at Atocha "consigna" and walk over to the Thyssen Museum to take a look or visit their café. I frequently do that on my return from the states if I have traveled by train to Madrid.

The Atocha tran station itself is very nice with a man-made garden/jungle inside.

There is a 5E bus just outside each terminal that goes straight to Atocha with only a couple stops. No worries about luggage on the metro.
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 10:44 AM
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Well, if we want to fly from Madrid to Barcelona, and our U.S. flight is due into Madrid at 7:25 a.m., what is a safe departure time to book for plane to BCN?
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 11:02 AM
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Since it will be an unprotected ticket if you miss the flight, judge accordingly. I'm not good at these situations so I'll let someone else advise you. I, personally, would probably rent a car as there are very little drop off fees in Spain and stop at a beautiful parador outside Madrid so I could get on with my trip as soon as I landed, whenever that was.

I love this place..

http://www.parador.es/en/parador-de-siguenza

also with the car you could stop and see Zaragoza or leave the car THERE and take the train from there.. it can really be a nice trip, if you don't mind driving of course.

No matter what flight you buy it seems you will have to hope you get in on time or don't have a huge delay somehow, weather or technical. I would say at least 4 hours.. all with the understanding it may be a loss.. I guess you just have to hope all goes OK. I don't know if trip insurance covers these kinds of losses when there is an excessive delay.
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 12:39 PM
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Vueling also got flexible airfares.
You can go from Madrid to BCN for €150 and re-book without extra costs if you don't make the planned connecting flight.
It's not exactly a bargain, but pretty good value for not being restricted to specific flights if you are willing to fork over that much money.
As your luggage (probably) won't get checked through, you'd have to go landside to re-check. If you plan to travel with carry-on only, check if size/weight matches the airline's restrictions. All in all not too convenient. But probably still more convenient than trekking from Barajas to Atocha to catch an AVE train there.
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 01:05 PM
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Check Vueling flights....times and conditions.
Since you have to go through the passport control, pick up you luggage and check in again (perhaps at a different terminal) you do need several hours ( I would say 3 hours minimum ,if your flight is on time).
The other option is to take a bus( 40min) or a taxi - 35euros) to Atocha and hop on the train.
Metro is clumsy because of changes.
Check RENFE for train times and cost....

If you are lending on terminal 4 there is a train ( cercania) to Atocha for several euros.
Takes about 1/2 hour.
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 03:16 PM
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P.S.
Either option will not get you to central Barcelona until the afternoon.
If you have never been to Madrid- a great city- you might consider
staying that day and night in Madrid ( near Atocha)
taking the earliest train to Barcelona( six in the morning)
By 9:30 you can be in your hotel in Barcelona...
That gives you two days in Barcelona..
To return to Madrid, you can take a very late flight and stay near the airport.
Just a thought...
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Old Mar 29th, 2013, 05:48 PM
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If you are doing 4 trips on trains then when you arrive in Madrid, go to the Renfe office and buy the pass and get on next possible train. This way it won't matter what time you arrive.

163E for four trips .
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 08:44 AM
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We have decided to fly from Madrid to Barcelona, but take the fast train back to Madrid. Do I need to book the train tix from the U.S. or is this something I can arrange when we get to Barcelona. thanks again.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 09:02 AM
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I can, of course, buy train tickets in Spain.

It seems to me it would have made more sense to book a flight into Barcelona to begin with. I don't understand why one would book a flight to Madrid if you really wanted to be in Barcelona.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 12:21 PM
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They were Frequent flier miles and probably nothing available to Barcelona, therefore this is next best solution.
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