ana222

I am planning a trip to Spain (Madrid, Granada, Seville) in may. We are planning to take the AVE train from Seville to Madrid and not sure if we should buy tickets in advance or wait till we get to Spain (or even wait till we get to the train station in Seville). Any suggessions?
Thank you!

tcl

Hi ana222! We'll be doing the same trip in May too! We'll be purchasing the AVE tickets online and buying the other tickets once we get there. There's a message on www.renfe.com that asks any new user to "tiknet" (their online ticket system) to show ID and CC at one of the ticket offices before you can buy other tickets online. Make sure you bring the same CC that you bought the tickets with. I've heard that you can probably buy the tickets there, but seats might be limited (depending on the time of year). We rather play it safe and purchase it ahead of time.

ana222

thank you, tcl!
Just curious, what's your plan in Spain?

weber6560

The only time I have ever had a space problem on the AVE was when, one May, I unwittingly arrived the Friday before Mothers Day. It was packed.

ana222

I'll be taking the AVE train on my 7th day in Spain. So getting it on my first day in Spain (in Madrid) shouldn't be a problem.

thank you!

tcl

ana222,
We're staying in Madrid first (4 days), flying down to Granada (2 days), taking a regional train to Sevilla (4 days), then taking the AVE to Cordoba (1 day) and finally finishing up our Spanish tour with the AVE back to Madrid. FYI, I just read on www.madridman.com that you should make reservations for your seats on the AVE. Wouldn't it be funny if we ran into each other at one of the cities?

kaudrey

ana - Since you don't need it until your 7th day, you can wait until you get there. There is a RENFE office at the airport in Madrid, if you want to buy them when you first arrive.

Karen

ana222

Karen- that's what I will do- thanks! and thank you again for the Seville file!

tcl - it would be something! If you read Karen's report - it seems like not an unusual thing- running into someone from the forum.
My husband and I arrive to Madrid on 5/29 in the morning, staying at Wellington Hotel, drive to Jaen on the 6/1, stay at Parador de Jaen (St. Catalina), then drive to Granada- one night there at Hotel Casa del Capitel, then drive to Ronda for one night- staying at San Gabriel, finally Seville- one night (no reservation yet!), then back to Madrid, one night at NH Nacional and back to NY on the 6/6
Your plans sound great. It's a longer trip and you'll be doing less driving.

tcl

ana:
I guess we won't run into each other then because we're going in the beginning of May. I'm hoping we'll get to see the inside of the Palacio Real before they close it off for royal wedding. Have a great time on your trip!

ana222

When is the Royal Wedding??
Oh, well- will be my luck.
I hope you had a great trip also ( with all the files and research
May be I'll get to read about your trip on the board!

tcl

Hi Ana! Actually you're the lucky one because I think they'll reopen the palace after the wedding on May 22. The rumor is that the palace will be closed from May 4-26 (this is from a hostal owner in Madrid). We arrive the afternoon of the 2nd, so we have to make our way over to the palace the next day (if it's still opened). I'll try to post a trip report after I return.

jodicook

tcl - your thread interested me greatly!! thanks for all the good info. my boyfriend and i are going to spain at the end of may/beginning of june! can you please let me know how you are flying down to granada and with what carrier? how much are the flights? also, where are the best places to find information about the trains? if you guys could let me know this info - i would greatly appreciate it!

thanks!

tcl

Hi jodicook!

Our flight from Madrid to Granada will be on Iberia (http://www.iberia.com/OneToOne/gateway_es.jsp). The total including all taxes and service fees was about 42 euro per person. The website for trains in Spain is http://www.renfe.es/. If you plan on buying the tickets online, you need to register first by clicking on "Tiknet" in the upper right hand corner. There's a button to translate the page to English once you get to Tiknet. Hope this helps you.