KarenWoo

Bedar, progol, and Kimhe, thank you so much!!! I printed out the page from the link that Progol included, and it says "Please note that the bus replacement service continues to appear as a train journey in Loco2 search results." This is true! I was surprised when all of you mentioned the train is still not running from Granada. On the website, it appears that it is still running. So that affects a lot of places, such as getting from Granada to Madrid. I assume there is bus transportation from Granada to Madrid. I will check this out on ALSA. The bus sounds like a good alternative, especially at half the price of the train.

progol

I believe there is some confusion here - the bus simply replaces the part of the train trip between Granada and Antequera because of construction.

If you book a train ride to or from Granada that passes through Antequera (Granada to Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Algeciras, and Almeria are affected), the journey between Granada and Antequera ONLY will be by bus. The trains will go to/from Antequera from any of the above places. You do not have to book the bus ride; it's part of the total train trip. Does this make sense?

In the case of Cordoba to Granada, the bus is clearly much quicker and is very comfortable.

KarenWoo

Progol, thank you for taking the time to respond. I do understand what you are saying - that the bus is only from Granada to Antequera, or Antequera to Granada, and we would take the train from Cordoba to Antequera, or Antequera to Madrid, depending on where we are going. I think I wasn't clear in my previous post.

Our tentative itinerary right now is:
Marseilles to Madrid - either by train or plane
Madrid to Seville - by train
Seville to Cordoba - by train
Cordoba to Granada - by ALSA bus
Granada to Madrid - by ALSA bus

We might try to spend one night in Toledo if we have the time, and/or one night in Ronda.

The Spain part of our trip will be the first two weeks of October, so I suppose there is the possibility the train station in Granada will be open and operating by then. However, after reading what you have to say about the bus, and going on to ALSA's website and checking out prices, we might want to take the bus for those two trips regardless, to save some money. It sounds like the bus was a very pleasant experience for you. It is more enticing to use the bus for those two legs because it is direct, whereas taking the train from Cordoba to Granada, or Granada to Madrid requires changing trains in Antequera.

Thank you!

KarenWoo

Progol,
I printed out your trip report, and highlighted places we want to visit. I like your style. It is very helpful to read about a person's impressions of a place, what it looks like, etc.

Was the train from Malaga to Madrid a non-stop train? How long was the train ride? We might add Malaga to our itinerary.

yestravel

Just so you know, all the details in your TR are still helpful. Interesting how you spent your time in Malaga. We spent very little time at the beach/harbor area. I had to laugh at your feelings as trips come to an end. Sometimes I really have to push myself to sightsee and feel guilty. I couldn’t agree more that ending in a big city is all the more difficult.
Thanks again for a great report.