Spain: bus or train?
 

Hi! My friend and I will be travelling to Spain in a few days and would appreciate some advice from more experience travellers. The rough itinerary is Madrid, Seville and then Barcelona. Working with a student's budget, is it better/easier to travel by bus or train between the cities? Thanks for any advice!

Have travelled Madrid to Seville (and then to Portugal and back to Madrid) and would note that M to S would be a long bus ride with not a lot of scenery. There is a terrific fast train which we used but you pay a premium. <BR> <BR>

Fong, <BR>It is less expensive but certianly more time-consuming to travel your itinerary by bus. Example: the high-velocity AVE train from Madrid to Seville takes only 2 and a half hours-the cost, between 8,200-9,700 pts. tourist class, depending on whether you travel at peak ("llano") or non-peak ("valle") hours. An 8 hour bus trip you could do for under 3,000 pts, but you would sacrifice considersable time, and the AVE is a treat. Your least expensive option from Seville to Barcelona would be a 12 and a half hour trip on the Intercity train for 6,700 pts. tourist class. Tickets on the Talgo (11 hours) go for 8,800 and the overnight "hotel train", the Antonio Machado (again 11 hours) will cost you 9,600. While decidedly more costly, the trains really are your best and certainly easiest option. If you need the specific train schedules, you can find them at www.renfe.es. <BR>Hope this helps you to decide.

Fong, <BR>Here's the bottomline: the buses are great for views, and the trains are not terribly expensive. So I'd suggest you take buses during the day and the train at night (that way, you save on hotel costs, too). <BR>So, take the bus for day-trips (Madrid-Toledo-Madrid, Sevilla-Granada-Sevilla, etc) and the overnight train from Sevilla to Barcelona. <BR>The Madrid-Sevilla bit might be tricky. It's just a tad too long for a bus, even though it offers some spectacular scenery. I'd say take an early morning train (ordinary, not superfast) from Madrid -- that way, you see the sights on the way and arrive at around noon. <BR>Hope that helps, <BR>Cheers <BR>Bobby

We are spending 2 weeks in Spain. We will spend on average 2 days per city. We are undecided on train vs. bus travel, but we will not be driving, so I am not sure if it will be difficult to get to off the beaten path type of places. I was hoping to do some of them as day type trips from the bigger cities - assuming there are busses going to the smaller areas.

Dpon't get locked into a &quot;Train&quot; or &quot;bus&quot; mindset. No matter where w=you want to go, there is a way to do it. Figure out where you want to go, ask the locals and go for it. The busses are super and hit just about anywhere you want to go. Trains are comfortable but unfortunately go only where there are tracks. If you are wanting to out in the &quot;boonies&quot; you can't really plan it out in detail until you get there.

'Long Haul' buses are restroom-equipped and will usually stop an hour for lunch if it's that time. I took an overnight Socibus/Secorbus Madrid-Sevilla that made a 15-minute 'smoke stop' to avoid any of the passengers throwing a 'nicotine fit.' <BR><BR>Yes, the AVE and Talgo are nice, but it costs a lot to take the train. You might consider buying a 'SpainPass' or an 'IberiaPass' for your long distance travel and use MotorCoach for daytrips. You would have to pay a supplement on AVE and pay for your reservations on Talgos. So like lweber I think a 'mix' of Bus &amp; Train might be better for you.