AVE train Toledo to Madrid
 

We are leaving for our vacation in spain on October 5th. I have made most of our reservations. I wanted to know if we need to make our train reservation ahead for the AVE from Toledo to Madrid we will be traveling on the 19th which is a thursday we will have just arrived in Toledo on the 18th and I am not sure what time to make the reservations for. I was thinking i wanted to spend the day than go around 5 or so. Should i make my reservations or can i wait until that day and get a ticket there are 4 of us traveling together.
Calli

I do not think you'll have ticket problems on that date, but to be sure, you can go to the train station (near the Puente de Alcantara, where you can start walking up the hill if you are in that mood) and buy your tickets.

i would take a few minutes to buy the tickets at the madrid airport renfe ticket booth when you arrive.

it can take a long time at tran stations sometimes.

or pay the 5 euro fee and have a travel agent do it.

lincasanova,
I did not know there was a renfe booking office at Barajas. Where is it located? And thanks for a valuable info!

josele,
The Renfe office is downstairs in Terminal 1, and it opens at 8 a.m. There's never a line!

calli,
If you're flying in to Terminal 1, I would purchase the Toledo-Madrid upon arrival. If you arrive at Terminal 4, you would have to take the shuttle bus that leaves every 3 min. and transfer to Terminal 1 to purchase at the Renfe office, as Renfe doesn't have a booth in Terminal 4. If you're driving straight to Toledo from Terminal 4, I would purchase the tickets at the Toledo train station in advance before settling in to your hotel since you need 4 tickets.
Or as lin says, travel agencies sell Renfe tickets with a modest service charge.

maribel
We will be arriving in Barcelona on the 13th from having spent a week in Italy on the 15th we fly to Seville where we will be renting a car to go to Granada and then driving to Toledo and droping off the car to take the AVE to Madrid. We will be flying out of Madrid a few day later. Should i get my tickets here in the states before we leave or can i just get them that day?

calli,
Now I understand. If I were making your trip, I would purchase the Toledo-Madrid tickets beforehand on the TIKNET system at www.renfe.es I always purchase mine thru TIKNET.

If you're a first time user, you'll need to register on TIKNET first before purchasing your tixs for the AV Media Distanca Toledo-Madrid train. Once purchased, you'll need to take the print out with your locator # (localizador) and the same c.c. you used for your purchase (this is extremely important!!-learned the hard way) to pick up your tickets at any train station in Spain.

There isn't a Renfe office at the Barcelona airport.
If you're picking up your rental car for the drive to Granada at the Santa Justa rail station in Seville, you could pick the tickets up there.

Once you've authenticated your "identity" on the TIKNET system by picking up tickets in Spain, you can then purchase any number of subsequent tickets on the Renfe site using your customer code and print them out.
The printing out feature is not available for first time users of TIKNET.

Maribel, i am trying to register to get my tickets. I have a couple of questions It asks "name" than "first name" than "second name" what does it mean by "name"? Also it asks for ID I tried my passport number and it would not let me put in the whole number what other ID might they be asking for? I could not find any explanation on the site. I feel quite dumb I usually do not have trouble with things like this.
Calli

calli,
Just use your passport number and drop the last digit or use your driver's license # and drop. It doesn't matter.

First write your given name then your last name and leave the second last name blank. Spaniards use 2 last names, first the father's, then the mother's.

OR - you can take the bus. They run often, are cheap and take only a little over an hour.

This is a question for Maribel. We are renting a car on the way out of Madrid to go on a road trip. We're headed for Salamanca first. I want to rent the car in an area away from the middle of Madrid but easy to get to by metro. We will drop the car off in Granada on our way to Sevilla where we'll stay one week before flying to Barcelona Any suggestions where we could pick up the car?

Re: AVE Toledo-Madrid - aren't there still normal regional trains on this route where you can just get on after buying your ticket. Or are they all AVE trains now? If not i'd just hop the regional train that only took about an hour and may be much cheaper and no hassling with reservations, etc.

Or is AVE the only way now and you need a reservation before boarding?

Thanks for my clarification.

PalenqueBob,
They are all AV Media Distancia trains now.
You can see the timetable on www.renfe.es
The trip actually takes a bit under 30 min., and the fare is only 8,30 euros, which is why I don't recommend the bus anymore.

Hi pjoneslake,
First I need to know your car rental agency to help you. If you're headed to Salamanca, it makes sense to pick up at the furthest northwest location in the city that you can reach by metro. We always try to pick up in Madrid at the furtherest point in the city on our exit route towards our destination for ease of getting out of town quickly. You want to spend as little time possible driving in Madrid. And you'll want to avoid at all costs picking up in the very congested Gran Vía or Plaza de España areas.
So, just let me know what agency you're using.

I don´t know what time are you planning to travel from Toledo.

One of my friends is from Toledo, and when her mum wants to come visiting her in Madrid, she tries to avoid the early morning trains, because they have become extremely popular with commuters. Price and time has made people think about living in Toledo and working in Madrid ...

Book early, and you won´t have problems.

Cova

Maribel,
Thank you for your help I got my tickets We leave today.
Calli

Have a great trip!

The www.renfe.es site, in response to my inquiry about train trips from Madrid to Toledo in early July indicates no direct route. I thought this was a fairly quick and simple trip.

Am I missing something? Are there direct and speedy trips between Madrid and Toledo?

Carol L

Oooops - just figured it out. The train website doesn't allow for ticket information more than 60 days out...
Carol L

What happens if you need to change your departure time after you have purchased your ticket? Can you get a refund or credit toward a different time?