Booking train travel in Spain from Australia
 

Hi everyone, We are needing to book trains from Jerez to Barcelona at the end of October. I am currently in Australia and would like to be able to book the trains needed for this journey before we leave here for our European adventure on August 10, but I'm having problems working out the best way to do this. Can anyone suggest the best way, and best website to use to find and book this train travel? I don't want it to cost me a huge amount if it can be avoided and would probably prefer an overnight train so we could have the day in Barcelona before we fly out early the next morning for Australia.
Thanks in advance for your help.

If you can't make your reservations on Renfe.com, then you can use Petrabax.com. You will have to wait until the routes are listed before being able to make your reservations.

Bookings open 60 days or in some cases 90 days before departure.

Book with Renfe.com or if you have any payment problems, www.petrabax.com/renfe

It will only book direct trains, so you may need to book Jerez-Seville then Seville-Barcelona, or Jerez-Madrid, Madrid-Barcelona.

Play around with it now to see how it works and see what route seems best.

You'll get cheap promo fares if you pre-book, much more expensive Flexible fares if you leave it till the last minute, just as with planes.

Preferente includes a tray meal with wine, coffee and liqueurs, and access to the Sala Club lounge in Madrid or Seville, so if you can stretch to that, it's great.

You'll see some great scenery too - a lovely way to travel.

I suppose Man in seat 61 has not added a link to his great website for fear of spamming the forum. But I can add it.
http://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.h..._www.renfe.com
This is the best guide on the web. With precise information (no waffle) and screen shots too.

Thank so much!! Very helpful advice. I'd tried renfe but was having no end of difficulty - hopefully now I can navigate it a bit better.