Hey there,
We're planning on going to Spain from Dec 27th till Jan 3rd. So far the trip consists of visiting Barcelona and Madrid. We will fly into Barcelona and then want to take the bus or train to Madrid and back. As it will be a holiday season I'd rather book the tickets in advance because we are both students and don't want to pay too much. But when I looked up the timetables they were only valid until Dec 9th. Does anybody know if there's gonna be change or how I can book the tickets for Dec 29th or so?

FYI in order to order tickets you'll have to register to use the Renfe Tiknet system.

I know it sounds crazy BUT both Iberia and Spanair compete heavily on this route with flights almost hourly.

And even BETTER..go to www.vueling.com and check THEIR prices..this is a budget airline which also flies the route. Right now the fares can be as low as 10 Euro O/W before taxes and fees.

Unless you cannot live with the airline luggage retsrictions I think you at least owe it to yourself to go to those airline websites and see what fares are offered (if only for comparison purposes). Sometimes if you book far enough out you can get very cheap fares

Tasja,
It's too early to book via Tiknet, via registration, on www.renfe.es You can usually book 2 months out (unless they're delayed in changing their Altaria-Alvia schedules, as was our case on the Alvia this summer), so that should give you plenty of lead time. Even a month in advance is plenty.

The train is much quicker than bus.
Quickest train currently is the Altaria, taking slightly under 5 hrs. The AVE currently only goes as far as Lleida.

Sometimes very cheap web fares are available on Vueling (37 euros with taxes) , Spanair, Air Madrid (as low as 37 euros but only Mon./Sat.), Air Europa, even Iberia-but not usually for peak holiday travel dates.
You need to check them all. They may be posted only a month or two in advance.
www.iberia.com
www.spanair.com
www.air-europa.com
www.vueling.com
www.air-madrid.com

i would suggest you check the fares to fly into barcelona and out of madrid to avoid backtracking with so little time you already have.

it would save you on the train/airfare in spain, and give you an extra day in madrid or barcelona.

Tasja,
I completely agree with lincasanova. I simply didn't read the "and back" in your post.

If you haven't already purchased your r.t. airfare to Spain, do would do exactly as she says.
The round trip train/bus or even plane ride doesn't leave you much time to enjoy either city.

They call it an 'air bridge:' Puente Aereo, and it's a highly competitive route; Iberia, Air Europa, SpanAir and Vueling have almost hourly flights. Air Madrid is a new one for me.

Unless you are planning to stop in Zaragoza, you're probably better off flying than taking the train or Bus.

Just to avoid some confusion,
the term "puente aereo" is the equivalent in Spanish to air shuttle, but Iberia's own "puente aereo" between Madrid-Barcelona is the most expensive option. It's designed for business types who can and do pay the walk up airfare. Planes depart throughtout the day every 15 min. to half hr. Round trip costs around 360 euros.

In addition to the "puente aereo" service, Iberia offers web fares MAD-BCN for as little as 18 euros plus taxes each way. A total of 140 euros including all taxes round trip.

Make that 78 euros r.t. for your dates on Iberia. (on the Spanish page) Not the perfect travel times but if one is flexible...
www.iberia.es

I'd bet that if you checked the RENFE website (@ http://www.RENFE.es ) every day this week you'll find you have another day of December travel information available to you. Seems they have a 3-month advance schedule for ticket sales and info so you should be able to wait until the end of THIS month to check prices/schedules for the end of December.

The bus company making this Barcelona-Madrid route is ALSA-ENATCAR (web: http://www.alsa.es/ ). Check their rates/schedule info if they have it posted yet.

For air travel, prepare yourself. During this holiday season your travel dates (every day of which is during the Christmas holiday) will be high no matter if you book in advance or not. Sorry!

Going by BUS would be the most economical way and it's rather comfortable too - but not nearly as comfortable as by train.

Saludos, MadridMan
--
Madrid, Spain, & MORE @ you-know-where!

Sorry, Maribel! Our family in Almeda de Osuna (Madrid) refers generically to Puente Aereo as any MAD-BCN shuttle service, not unlike the NE Corridor (DCA-PHL-LGA-BOS). Iberia may have introduced it but I don't think they have Copyrighted the name and several other Air Carriers have 'piggy backed' on the name.
BTW
Tasia: you can find Renfe Service on the Renfe website; but each MotorCoach Company publishes its own schedule. Try http://www.Alsa.es or
http://www.Continental-Auto.es for starters.

Maybe someone who is more familiar with which Companies are principal on that route will post it for you.

Tasja,
The Spanish railway, Renfe, Tiknet system allows you to purchase two months-60 days in advance.

As I mentioned above, that doesn;t always hold true in summer when they delay in finalize their Ave-Altaria-Alvia schedules.

Although the ALSA bus ride only costs 34,47 euros, it's a very long 7 1/2 hr. journey, that I wouldn''t recommend with the little time you have.

I suspect you've already purchased your r.t. Spain airfare and can't change to an arrival BCN, departure MAD, but that would be ideal.

If not, keep check those air fares 1 more time.
Spanair, for example, has 2 departures BCN-MAD on Dec. 29 for 19 euros, but they won't last long!

Thank you so much for your help. We chose to fly as I found a pretty cheap fare of 230 euros including the ticket from and to Germany where we wanted to depart from anyway. Our route will be Hamburg-barcelona-madrid-hamburg. That allows us to spend three nights in each city. Thanks alot!!