Barcelona to granada using the ave
 

I'm going to barcelonafor 3 days on May 17th and wanted to find out if I can then take the train from barcelona to granada or do I have to go to Malaga? how long will it take and how much...help

Monica <BR> <BR>Check out www.renfe.es the Spanish Rail Site. <BR> <BR>You will find out that there are 2 trains that go direct to Granada. Both take approx. 12 hours to do the trip. One is a daytime trip, leaving at 8am, while the other leaves at 8pm and has sleeping accomodation on board. There are 2 other trains that go to Malaga from Barcelona but they don't appear to go through Granada. The AVE ONLY runs from Madrid-Sevilla. The other high speed trains in Spain (although they don't reach the speed of the the AVE, nor have the comfort either, are the "Talgo's". <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. <BR> <BR>David

Thank you so much Dave. I will check out the renfe site. Would you recommend going to Granada or Malaga from Barcelona?

Monica <BR> <BR>I haven't been to Malaga, but Granada is another thing. I suggest that you look at: <BR> <BR>http://www.granada.org/turismo/Data/INGLES/fset2.html <BR> <BR>to get a better idea of Granada, and any of these for Andalucia in general: <BR> <BR>http://www.andalucia.org/Web/enghomepage.jsp <BR>http://www.andalucia.com/ <BR>http://www.andalunet.com/index_english.htm <BR>http://travelinginspain.com/ <BR> <BR>If you are considering Madrid then: <BR> <BR>www.madridman.com <BR> <BR>is a good site to look at as well. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps <BR> <BR>David

We went to Spain last year and we found it was a better deal flying from Barcelona to Granada (I believe it was a 2 hr flight) than taking the train (which was a 12 hr trip). Maybe you may want to consider this option.

We took the night train from Granada to Barcelona - 10pm - 8am. But we were disappointed to learn (early on) that it was a Second Class ONLY train -- yes, there were sleeping accommodations, if you want to share with 4-5 others in bunks. We made the mistake of thinking that, like other night train travel we've experienced, there would be private sleeping compartments. Renfe's site is good but was difficult to decipher. But eventually it was confirmed by Renfe and other Fodorites that we would be sleeping in our seats. It wasn't too bad, but I like the little 2person compartments, and will arrange my itinerary better next time. I think the Seville-Barcelona train has them.

Thank you Coleen, I guess I need to look into it further. I certainly wasn't looking into bunking with 4 or 5 other people. I've done that before and I never got any sleep. <BR>