Should we rent a car or rely on trains or planes to travel through Spain?
Nov 24th, 2011, 04:05 PM
#1
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Should we rent a car or rely on trains or planes to travel through Spain?
My husband and I will be traveling through Spain for 10 days in February while our daughter is in Barcelona for her junior year abroad. We will be traveling mainly to Madrid, Sevilla, Toledo,and Granada.
Nov 24th, 2011, 04:18 PM
#2
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Train is very easy to use. Get your tickets
right at the international airport. There are two RENFE
ticket ooices, I believe, right at the Madrid airport.
Have your schedules mapped out before hand so you
save time with the ticket agent. The trains are
very comfortable.
Pat
right at the international airport. There are two RENFE
ticket ooices, I believe, right at the Madrid airport.
Have your schedules mapped out before hand so you
save time with the ticket agent. The trains are
very comfortable.
Pat
Nov 24th, 2011, 04:34 PM
#3
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None of the distances are far enough to require planes sunless you are going from Seville up to BArcelona. We always drive - but if you prefer not to (and you have very limited time and stops - train probably makes more sense.
Nov 24th, 2011, 06:55 PM
#4
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When we went last April we trained from Madrid to Toledo to Cordoba to Sevilla- all very easy to do by train. However, if you want to spend any time in southern Spain outside of Sevilla, i.e. the white hill towns, you really need a car. We picked one up as we left Sevilla, spent a few days driving through various villages (Arcos, Ronda, etc.) all the way to Granada, where we dropped it at the train station on our way into town. From Granada we flew on Vueling to Barcelona, in the interest of saving time. This itinerary (2 weeks)worked really well for us.
Nov 25th, 2011, 12:16 AM
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A hire car is wasted and a burden in any city.
If only the cities mentioned (and I doubt you have time for much else, if you wish to do any justice to these cities).
Barcelona to Madrid by train.
Madrid to Toledo and return to Madrid by train, as a day trip.
Madrid to Seville by train.
Seville to Granada by train or bus.
You do not say where you fly out of the country, so Granada to Madrid by train or flight Granada to Barcelona.
For train - http://www.renfe.com/ and read how to use the site and find large discounts likely available by pre-purchase - concise guide - http://tiny.cc/0gpnv If necessary, guide covering all known troubles - http://tiny.cc/5ynb6
Bus - http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa
If only the cities mentioned (and I doubt you have time for much else, if you wish to do any justice to these cities).
Barcelona to Madrid by train.
Madrid to Toledo and return to Madrid by train, as a day trip.
Madrid to Seville by train.
Seville to Granada by train or bus.
You do not say where you fly out of the country, so Granada to Madrid by train or flight Granada to Barcelona.
For train - http://www.renfe.com/ and read how to use the site and find large discounts likely available by pre-purchase - concise guide - http://tiny.cc/0gpnv If necessary, guide covering all known troubles - http://tiny.cc/5ynb6
Bus - http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa
Nov 25th, 2011, 02:22 AM
#7
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seat61.com/spain AVE trains easy nice fast my fav...
Car is nice more expensive a liability big parking
charges in big cities so train for me...
always fly skyscanner.net booked in advance the really
long legs Vueling.com cheap in that area but many others.
Happy Planning...
Car is nice more expensive a liability big parking
charges in big cities so train for me...
always fly skyscanner.net booked in advance the really
long legs Vueling.com cheap in that area but many others.
Happy Planning...
Nov 25th, 2011, 06:57 AM
#9
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With only 10 days and 4 major destinations on your wish list (Madrid, Sevilla, Toledo and Granada), I would stick with traveling by train, but you'll need to plan your days carefully to get the most out of them and not spend nearly half of your time just traveling between destinations.
Nov 25th, 2011, 07:02 AM
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I'm with Robert2533 - you've got an ambitious itinerary and a car won't be of any benefit. It will take longer to drive versus take the train between Madrid & Sevilla and also you loose time navigating through a new city and parking. The advantage of having a car is the ability to have flexibility in exploring the area but you don't really have the time in your itinerary for this anyways.
