I am planning a very tight one week trip to Spain and I would like to spend a night in Toledeo and then go directly to Sevilla. Is it possible to do this without going 'back' to Madrid? In a response to a previous post of mine Nedsireland suggested that this was possible if I traveled from Toledo to Cuidad Real and then from there I could take the AVE to Sevilla. I have been looking into this and while I can see the AVE route from Cuidad Real to Sevilla, I cannot find transportation from Toledo to Cuidad Realon the Renfe website. Perhaps I am not looking in the correct place? Susan

i wasn't aware that the AVE trains from Madrid stopped anywhere but in Cordova on the way to Seville but I could be wrong.

I think you may have to go back to Madrid or plan your trip to Toledo on another day.

Intrepid1 - on the Renfe site I did confirm that I can take the AVE from Cuidad Real to Sevilla. But how do I get to Cuidad Real from Toledo? And if it is not an easy connection, then this idea of mine does not work and Toledo will have to be a day trip from Madrid.

Susan: I've been following your posts but haven't said anything since all I know is what comes off of RENFE, and you already know this info. But maybe it will help if we think it through together.

As you know, RENFE says it's all of 35 minutes on the Alta Velocidad between Toledo and Madrid, which might explain why they don't bother running a line from Toledo direct to Ciudad Real: they're using Madrid as a 'hub' in much the same way as airlines use hubs. In other words, just because it appears to make geographical sense to have air or fast train service from a given city to another one doesn't necessarily mean it makes economic sense for the airline or train company to do so.

In a nutshell, I'd grab the fast train route via Madrid, even if geographically it looks longer. You could look into bus routes between Toledo and Ciudad Real, but given that you have a fairly tight itinerary as I recall, I wouldn't bother.

There is indeed AVE service from Ciudad Real to Sevilla . However to go from Toledo to Ciudad Real by train you would have to go back to Madrid.

Maybe Nedsireland meant to go to Ciudad Real from Toledo by bus? I found a website that lists Ciudad Real as serviced by bus from Toledo but I can't find the schedules. I suggest that you contact your hotel in Toledo and ask them if they can find out this info for you.

Their bus system is excellent and cheap. Try that.