We were surprised at the ticket cost to Seville from Madrid. Should we book our tickets from the States? And can you get non-smoking assigned seats?

I really want to stop in Cordova and am wondering if it would be too hard luggage wise with my 75 year old mother-in-law?

Thanks,

Tam

The AVE trains have three classes: turista, preferente and club. The latter two are more spacious and an airline-type meal is included. There is also a snack bar which is open to all. The journey is not very long, around two and a half hours. When you book, you will have specified seats, so you need to ask for smoking or non-smoking when you book. At Cordoba the station was newly built for the AVE trains; I think there are ramps and lifts from the platforms, and luggage lockers if you want to store luggage while you visit the city (I was there last Christmas).

TamT,

Geoff gives a good description of Turista vs. Preferente.

The spanish railway's web site
www.renfe.es
has all the information you need and allows you to book tickets online (DON'T book through RailEurope) which you can pick up when you get to Spain (they even have a ticket counter right in Madrid airport).

Hope this helps,
Andre

Thanks Geoff and Andre!

TandT,
We've taken the AVE in both tourist and preferente (first) class. The preferente cars are quieter, as there are fewer passengers, with only 3 seats across, and you're served either breakfast, a snack or dinner at your seat. We took the late afternoon train from Córdoba back to Madrid in April and were served a "snack", choice of sandwich or pastry tray and unlimited beverages-all the wine or liquers we could drink. But this was totally wasted on us, as we had just had a wonderful, leisurely lunch at El Caballo Rojo.
Is it worth the difference in cost for only 2 1/2 hrs.? To us, not really.

About the stop in Córdoba:
We've done this several times, and most recently when we had far, far too much luggage. I urge you to make sure you have PLENTY of euro coins on hand before getting on the AVE. We needed 1 euro coins for the luggage carts in Córdoba (no change machines) to take our luggage up the moving ramp to the luggage lockers right above the AVE tracks, to the left of the terminal. And the lockers require EXACT change, and there's no attendant or change machine. We ran out of change, so I ran into the terminal and grabbed a cup of coffee in the cafetería.
Lockers come in 3 sizes.
Small: 2,4 euros
Medium: 3
Large: 4,5
We used the largest ones, 1 per person, to store all our bags. After putting your coins and luggage in, you're given a thin folded receipt, which has the code # printed on the inside (hard to read) that you'll need to retrive your luggage.
After storing our luggage, we grabbed a taxi to take us directly to the Mezquita, which opens at 10.

Hope this helps.

Dear Maribel,

Thank you so much for your reply. You should be a paid consultant for all the help and information you bestow.

If you don't mind my asking --- "Do you live in Europe?"

TamT,
You're very welcome. I live in Europe only in the summer; I'm an educator in the US 9 months of the year. I spend my summers in Spain, which is my first love, and where I have family.

I am wondering how long I can leave it in the locker for. I have two large suitcases. I plan to go to Cordoba early in the morning, leave my bags at the station. Spend the night at the Hotel Conquistador then take off the next morning by train to sevilla. Do you think I should just take my bags with me?

If you're spending the night at the Hotel Conquistador, simply take your bags with you.