What are the options in getting from Madrid to Grenada--bus, air, rail? I'd like to hear experiences or recommendations. Thanks

By air I would say as Madrid is thousands of miles from the island of Grenada.

P.S. Did you mean to type GRANADA?

OOPS, yes Granada.

NEDIRELAND suggested a couple of days ago a Bus company called Socibus.

Check out the following transport websites:
BUSES http://www.socibus.es/consulta/consulta.jsp

TRAINS http://www.softdoc.es/guia_madrid/tr...te/trenes.html

http://www.renfe.es/cercanias/madrid..._horarios.html

http://www.renfe.es/cercanias/madrid/rutas/index.html

http://www.talgo.com/htm/recorridosespana1.htm

http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/index.j...p;x=27&y=9

http://en.quiros.eresmas.net/SECCION...etranporte.htm

http://www.todotrenes.com/Fichas/ver....asp?Turismo=3

http://www.metromadrid.es/resources/...no/default.htm

http://www.munimadrid.es/Principal/c...rismo/10.html#

I've always drive while in Spain, this time (Nov trip) I will be relying on public transport. I'll share upon return.

If you are in a hurry, air is the answer. Other alternatives are the Talgo which is about 6 hours but if memory serves runs late in the day, and driving [ 5 hours and easy]. A trip that I thoroughly enjoyed was to take the AVE out of Atocha station in Madrid to Cordoba. Disembark and then take the milk run from there to Granada. It takes awhile and includes a change Boabidilla but it does get you in touch with the country very quickly.

I flew on Iberia from Madrid to Granada. Got a really cheap deal (32 euro rt). The flight was uneventful (about 1 hour). I was a bit surprised that they don't serve you any beverage or snack. Guess I got used to Southwest Airlines here.

I was in Granada two years ago and thre train ride left early in the morning, about a 5 hour trip more or less.

Make sure to eat before you leave the hotel, the station has limited menu especially early in the morning and you could only get snacks on the train. it was not a high speed and upgrading to first class was not worth the extra money, really.

if you are in a big hurry you could get to Bobadilla or Seville and take the high speed train from there.

I did a search on this recently and found this link, which you may find useful:

http://decsai.ugr.es/~casillas/genesys/travel.html

tcl, how did you get your cheap deal? I checked Iberia for the dates I wanted and the prices were all at least 100 Euros. Is there a secret?

Thanks.

111op:

Oops, I meant to say that the flight from Madrid to Granada was 32 euro EACH WAY. We left Granada by train. I got the fare online at Iberia.com. It was the "superdiscount fare" or something like that. I checked it for about a month and the fares did change a bit depending on the day I checked.

Hi tcl, thanks for getting back to me. I was referring to the one-way price as well. I guess I just never have the luck of getting the lowest fares. Oh well. Everything looks to be get least 100 Euros when I looked last week. Granted, it's very short notice as I'm looking for fares for travel next week.

Out of curiosity, tcl, when did you travel? I'm wondering if the season makes a difference, as someone else had pointed in a different thread.

Thanks again.

<b>111op</b>:
We traveled on May 6. I think I purchased our tickets in late February or March. Perhaps the cheap fare was a combination of a promotion Iberia was running and day of week we were traveling (Thurs).

100 euro each way seems steep. Hopefully you can find a cheaper fare. Good luck!