Jade15

My friend and I are heading to Spain in June, and were thinking about taking an overnight train to get from Madrid to Barcelona. I went to the Renfe website, and there are two different trains: Costa Brava and Trenhotel. I am confused about the types of seats available and the prices!

For the Costa Brava prices (in euros), it lists "Tourist-35, 1st-46,50, Bunk Beds-44". Then there is a pull down menu which says "See Bed Prices" and this gives me prices for only the Deluxe Double & Individual. The Trenhotel lists prices for the same categories (Tourist, 1st) and has the same pull-down menu ("See Bed Prices&quot but lists many more options (Tourist, 1st, Deluxe).

Does this mean that the Tourst/1st/Bunk Beds are not actual...beds, since they are not listed in the pull-down "beds" menu? If I buy one of these tickets (as they are cheaper), what will I be getting? Any suggestions on what I should be buying?

Any help you may give would be greatly appreciated! This forum seems to be the most helpful out of all the ones I've seen. (I apologize if this issue's been addressed in another post; I ran a quick search for it and didn't find what I was looking for!)

jd_dallas

I'm sorry that I don't know the answer to your question. We took one of the overnight trains from Madrid to Barcelona about 4 years ago, and it was very pleasant. Our cabin had two beds that were large enough for me (6') but wouldn't have been long enough for someone much taller.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the details of the reservation. If you don't find an answer here, it might be worthwhile to call Renfe (I believe that we reserved by phone) or use a travel agent.

Good luck.

Robert2533

The Costa Brava is a daily train, the Estrella, which offers tourist class (35 euros/pp) and 1st class (46,50 euros/pp) seating, as well as bunk beds available to everyone at 44 euros pp. It also offers 1st class sleeping compartments at 109,50 for an individual and 77,50 pp for a private double compartment. A 1st class ticket required for these compartments.

The Trenhotel runs only six days a week and offers tourist class (41,40 euros pp) and 1st class (55 euros pp). It offers tourist, 1st and deluxe private sleeping compartments. It also has a restaurant as well as a Cafeteria Service, a complementary drink, Newspapers and luggage check-in.

Both trains can be booked by phone, but not on-line.

Jade15

Thank you for your posts. Since this is an overnight train, I'm thinking that a BunkBed on the Costa Brava would be the best option. It's cheaper than any of the other bed prices and probably (I hope?) more comfortable for a night than regular tourist or 1st class seating. (Did I get that correct?)

Would you recommended calling to book ahead for a night train? Or can we just arrive in Madrid and purchase our tickets from the station a couple days before we leave for Barcelona? Both of us speak vaguely decent Spanish, so we aren't worried too much about communication, but I don't know how popular the trains are during the summer (we'd be travelling on a Monday or Tuesday night)...

Robert2533

If you can call ahead and make your reservations, then do it and save yourself any problems. Remember to carry the credit card you made your reservations with. For some reason they need to see it. If you don't have it, then no ticket. a passport and other identification doesn't seem to matter.

Jade15

Thanks again. When I make a reservation with Renfe, do they immediately charge my credit card? The only reason I had hoped to be able to purchase train tickets in Spain was so that I could avoid the lovely 3% surcharges my credit card takes when I charge anything in a foreign currency...

billy_boy

Why can't you just make an advanced reservation?

How can you be sure that you can get the favorable Euro-Dollar exchange rate when you pay your train fare in Spain as against biting the bullet with the 3% surcharge and guaranteeing a couple of beds to sleep on?