Susan

Can someone please tell me travel time & price for a single train ticket from Madrid to Sevilla? How difficult are the logistics of getting from airport to the train station in Madrid. OR would it be worth a more expensive plane ticket that includes more plane changes (from Seattle US) to fly direct into Sevilla?<BR><BR>I am helping a never-before-traveled coworker. Encouraging him to go visit his son who is on student exchange in Sevilla! Many thanks, happy travels.<BR>

aj

www.raileurope.com/us/rail/ave/index.htm<BR><BR><BR>This site may be of some help to you. Just type in the cities you are departing from and going to.

Dolby

Alternatively, you can look through the schedule and prices in the RENFE website: also in English.<BR>www.renfe.es It also lists the AVE trains that travel between Madrid and Seville. There are many trains going there per day. Very comfortable trains. I think there is discount for return tickets but I'm not sure. We made reservation by phone (see the web site) two days before we arrived in Madrid and pick up and paid for the tickets at the RENFE office right in the Madrid Barajas (spell?) airport. The reservation is only good for 48 hours meaning you have to pick them up before then but the departure date can be any day.<BR>Taxi is always an option from the airport. I remember one hostal website saying to expect around EUR20 from the airport to their hostal which is not too far from the train station. You may have to add a surcharge for lugguges. Hope this gives you some ball park figure to work with.

janet

We went to visit our daughter who was studying in Seville last January. I think it is much easier to travel by plane from Madrid to Seville. They're already at the airport and the flight is only an hour. Did you price the ticket as a roundtrip from Seattle to Seville? He'll have a wonderful time.

gratefully

Thanks all & especially Janet, who's "been there done that!".<BR><BR>RT Seattle/Sevilla was $250-500US more plus an extra plane transfer (i.e., 1-2 airports before even leaving the States). But since the train would add on ~150RT might be worth considering. OR price a seperate intercountry hop from Madrid by plane rather than train?<BR><BR>Again thanks for your guidance (I travel alot but have yet to get to Spain!).

cooter

I think the train is the best way to go. The exact cost for the AVE (very cool, very fast bullet train) is either 62.00 Euro per leg or 52.5 Euro per leg depending on the hour (tourist class), plus there is a 20% discount for buying a roundtrip ticket, with return up to 60 days after the first leg. An intercity roundtrip flight will be at least 200 Euro. As mentioned, there is a RENFE (Spanish Rail) counter at Barajas and I think (but have not done this) AVE tickets can be purchased on the internet (www.renfe.es). They can definetely be reserved by phone.<BR><BR>There are a couple of options for getting from the airport to Atocha (important note, Madrid has two main train stations, the AVE leaves from Atocha). The airport is now connected to the Nuevos Ministerios metro station via a short metro ride and you can take a local metro line to Atocha. It's the fastest way into the city. It's a bit of a pain with a lot of luggage, so a taxi (approx 25 Euro) may be better.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Maribel

Susan,<BR>Exactly what cooter said. I'd go with the train and enjoy the speedy, comfy ride.<BR><BR>Hi cooter, glad to see you're back. Hope you had a wonderful journey in Spain!

cooter

Maribel:<BR>Thanks, we had a great time. Covered a lot of ground, visited a lot of family and friends, and, as always, didn't get to see everything I would have liked. Already thinking about the next trip in the spring.