Granada to Madrid - train vs. plane
 

Hi,

We're traveling to Granada in September for a few days before heading to Madrid. I know it's been asked before, but wanted to get a little more detail on the choice between flying or taking the train from Granada and Madrid. Besides the obvious question of which do you recommend, a few other questions that may help us with the decision:

- are Iberia flights out of Granada pretty reliable or are there lots of delays?

- Granada appears to have a farily small airport, so is it fair to assume we can get to the airport an hour before departure time and be fine?

- finally, we're unsure if we are carrying on or checking in bags. We should (hopefully) have 2 carry-on sized bags only, but any thoughts if Iberia is very strict on checkins? and is there long baggage waits at Madrid?

We're coming from NYC, and given the need to get through security, plus delays, flying out of LaGuardia or JFK can take a lot longer than expected. It looks like the Granada - Madrid train is ~4.5 hrs, so I'm guessing hotel to hotel is about 6 hrs. And the flight is ~1 hour, so I'm guessing door to door ~3.5 hrs, assuming no delays (assuming centrally located hotels)?

We unfortunately have limited time in Spain so 4-5 hours can make a difference for us - any thoughts on any of the above would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I would advice you to go by plane as Granada has no high-speed train but Granada Airport has good connections with Madrid and other Spanish cities.

From what I remember, the airport in Granada is quite a long way from the town.
Not sure about the train station.
How long you will have to wait for luggage is unpredictable, to state the obvious.
If you are at the Madrid airport already and have a good connection, it make sense to fly.
As for delays...we had some Iberia flights delayed AND some on time.

If you are staying in Madrid first, you can get a hotel minutes from the train station.

The flights are reliable. Traveling by train is fine, but flying is a lot quicker as you have already determined. You'll need to be at the airport about 60 minutes before departure in order to check in, pick up your boarding pass and clear security, allow about 30 minutes. You will not be able to check in at one of the ticket kiosks.

They typically close the gate 10 minutes before departure, but the Granada airport is small and finding the gate is easy.

The taxi to the Granada airport should be less than €30 from central Granada, the airport bus is far cheaper. The taxi into the center of Madrid from the airport should not exceed €30 on the worst day. We usually pay from €23 to €27 (including the airport surcharge) to and from our hotel in the Salamanca district.

If you are flying to Granada from Madrid, the Granada flight departs from T4. If you already have a boarding pass when you arrive, then catching your flight isn't a problem. It you need to check in and pick up the boarding pass, then you should allow at least a 60 minutes to get through the line at check in. The checkin process at Madrid Barajas can be confusing for some.

Thanks ellalauren, danon and Robert2533, these are all very helpful. We were leaning toward flying but then it turns out that on Saturday there is only one flight from Granada to Madrid, leaving early afternoon (on Friday there are 5 flights). Given we'd like to arrive in Madrid mid day, we may end up taking the train, which leaves at 9am. It sounds like the train, while not high speed, is nice and comfortable and takes you to the city centers, so a pretty good option. Thanks again

I took a motor coach bus from Granada to Madrid. Nice bus with an attendant. Reasonable price, too.