granada
 

we are travelling to spain in feb. sfo-madrid, stay one night and then travel to granada. what is the quickest and cheapest? air, train, or bus? also, best way to get air from granada to barcelona? there will be 3 of us travelling.

There are no high speed trains to Granada so if you want the fastest way you would want to fly, both into and out of Granada. I can't remember what airline I used from Granada to Barcelona but it was around $200 for a one way ticket purchasing the day before travel. It was a regional Spanish airline so do a search on google and you will find options.

Granada<BR>Tu tierra esta llena<BR>de lindas mujeres<BR>de sangre de sol.

Consider this--While a plan might be the fastest way to get from Madrid to Granada, airport to airport, you must take into account:1) it's 30 minutes by taxi from downtown Madrid to the airport/ 2) you need to get to the airport at least 1 or 1 1/2 hours ahead of time; 3) flights can be delayed; 4) once in Granada, you have to get into town, which will be another half hour. All things considered, you might want to check on bus and train schedules. Both are available online. Also, the cost of flying would be much greater. Granada to Barcelona is a different matter--try Air Europa or Spantex flights, cheaper than many others.

The only airline that has a non-stop direct flight from Granada to Barcelona is Iberia. The flight is 75 minutes. The one way cost fluctuates only slightly, and the cost is 207 Euro during the week. On Thursday, on Iberia's website, the airline puts a limited number of seats on sale for the upcoming weekend, and you can get e-tickets.<BR><BR>Someone once mentioned taking the train from Granada to Malaga, and flying from Malaga, as the fares are cheaper, but when I researched this, I didn't find any non-stop flights, nor did I find the fare to be less.<BR><BR>You don't mention whether or not you are going to Seville. If you do, then I suggest you take the AVE from Madrid to Seville, spend a couple of days there and then take the train from Seville to Granada. The AVE from Madrid to Seville is 2.5 hours.<BR><BR>For schedules and pricing for the trains, check out the site www.renfe.es. You can obtain the information in English and also book online.

You are about to encounter the Achille's heel of traveling in Spain - namely, that the flights from Madrid to Granada leave either early in the morning (too early for a direct transfer from your overseas flight) or late in the afternoon, when you are exhausted. So, a stop in Madrid is more or less required. <BR><BR>The train is slow but more scenic; the bus is faster and cheaper. Either of these add 5 hours or more of traveling. Having taken all three, I must say the airflight is well worth the extra money. You are stuck with Iberia, but try to get all your tickets at one time, and you can save a bit.<BR><BR>If you are flexible, you might consider flying SFO through MAD to Barcelona, then backtracking by flying BCN-GRX and GRX-MAD. The flight times are more workable.

There's an 11:25AM plane from Madrid to Granada arriving 12:25.<BR><BR>I believe most flights from the US would arrive in time to catch that flight.<BR>

I took the overnight tren hotel from Granada to Barcelona on 11/22/02. I was surprised by how easy this trip was, and I highly recommend it. We chose the train because the off-season flights all had stop-overs, turning what is a quick flight in high season into a very long trip in the off-season (4 hours). The train leaves Granada's very small train station at 10 pm and arrives in Barcelona at 10 am. So, we didn't feel like we lost any time due to travel. We booked a first class sleeping car which is lockable from the inside and has a sink ($319 for the two of us). I was surprised to have slept well, late actually -- the conductor woke us up at 9 a.m. This option turned-out to be less expensive than the flights, plus it saved us from paying for another night in a hotel.<BR>Definitely book in advance, even in the off-season.

Take the train! It is fun to socialize with the locals and other tourists in the bar/tapas area. Also the scenery is gorgeous. the train has large windows and you can't see anything from a plane window. Just a thought. Maybe take the train down and flight returning when you are feeling to burnt out on all the traveling.