Spain transportation
 

Sorry for the many questions I am posting!
Another question is about transportation between Madrid and Barcelona, or vice versa.
Should we use train or plane? Which is cheaper, as I find train tickets are expensive and prices not clear on site.
If you suggest trains in which area in Barcelona and in Madrid should we stay to be close to train stations?
Finally, if we are planing to visit paris after Spain, would it be better to go from Madrid or from Barcelona ?

Thanks in advance

Which is cheaper, as I find train tickets are expensive and prices not clear on site.>

What site - www.renfe.com is the Spanish Railways site with discounted tickets if you book far enough in advance and with those tickets it will be cheaper than flying and only take about 3.5 hours or so - check www.seat61.com for tips and help with deciphering the www.renfe.com site - for general info on Spanish and European trains check these informative sites - www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Finally, if we are planing to visit paris after Spain, would it be better to go from Madrid or from Barcelona ?>

Well of course it depends on what other Spanish places you are going to - which are on your wish list?

Thanks for the train sites PalenQ sent, I will check though I think, that I won't be able to reserve train tickets in advance from my country Egypt.

I will be only visiting Madrid, Barcelona and Must start with Salamanca.

Thanks for your reply

Salamanca is served by regional trains - no need to pre-book and no need to pre-book on Barcelona-Madrid either if you want to pay full fare only if you want to pay a lot less. And I think you can book online from anywhere in the world. Again check www.seat61.cxom for helpful tips. and there are others here more informed on this than me that I will hope will respond (about getting the often fickle www.renfe.com sites to work.

Thanks a lot PalenQ for your help.

I doubt if many people on here know how it works from Egypt, though. Some websites just will not accept payment from certain countries (or CCs from them, if there is such a thing nowadays as an Egyptian bank). However, Renfe does accept payment through Paypal, maybe you can have a Paypal account?

The cheapest tourist fare from Madrid to Barcelona in advance will be about 43-50 euro. The prices seem very clear to me on renfe.com, if you don't understand them, not sure why. I think some explanations are only in Spanish, maybe that's the problem? I can read Spanish so don't notice.

For Barcelona, trains would leave from Barcelona Sants, I believe, which is sort of on the west side of the city (I think, maybe SW, my directions are off a little for Barcelona). But it has a metro stop, so wouldn't be that hard to get to from any place close to a metro stop. If you wanted to be on that direct metro line, you could stay in a hotel near the Hospital Clinic metro stop in Eixemple on the blue line, or near Liceu or placa Catalunya on the blue line (or Drassanes near the maritime museum, but I don't think there are a lot of hotels around there).

Madrid - Barcelona is 2h 30mins with the high speed AVE train, city center to city center. The Atocha station in Madrid is very close to the heart of the city Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Santa Ana triangle, 10-15 mins walking or a 5-7€ taxi drive.
http://www.spain.info/en/lugares-int...as_letras.html
http://www.gomadrid.com/sights/plaza-santa-ana.html

The Sants station in Barcelona is a little further away from the heart of the city around Placa de Catalunya etc. Abundance of public transport options around Sants/Plaça d'Espanya, and taxis are everywhere and cheap, but expect some 10-12€ from Sants to Placa Catalunya.

But the Sants area is in itself a very good option. Some of the best restaurants and tapas bars in town are close. Tickets is tapas from heaven, very fun, affordable for what you get and now ranked among the 50 best restaurants in the world. http://www.barcelonabook.com/tickets...estaurant.html

Bodega 1900: http://www.yelp.com/biz/bodega-1900-barcelona

Rias de Galicia: http://www.riasdegalicia.com/

Espai Cru: http://www.riasdegalicia.com/

Nikkei restaurant Pakta: http://www.barcelonabook.com/pakta-restaurant.html

Sants is also very close to the local atmosphere Poble Sec district with one of the most fun tapas bar and cafe scenes in town: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...to-bodega.html
http://www.timeout.com/barcelona/things-to-do/montjuic

Two of my favourite restaurants in Barcelona are in Poble Sec, traditional La Perla (lunch only) and old school and rock'n roll Xemei.
La Perla: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Catalonia.html
Xemei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lvcjtoh0tU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URRlEVRrWxM

Last, but definitely not least, Sants is at the foot of Montjuic (Jewish mountain) with the castle on top (spectacular views of the city and the sea), world class museums, great theaters, 1992 olympic sports arenas and lots of greens. http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...-montjuic.html

The castle on top: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...-montjuic.html

The fabulous Miró center: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...joan-miro.html

The Catalan National Arts museum: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...catalunya.html

The so called theater city at the foot of Montjuic: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/...el-teatre.html

And Sants is not that far from the more touristy areas of Las Ramblas and the Gothic quarter.

I am really grateful to every member of this site for your quick and helpful suggestions and advice. I am sure that I will benefit a lot.

Thanks again and Regards from Cairo

By the way Christina you are right most of the http://renfe.com/ is in Spanish, that's why I couldn't understand except a small part that was in English!

Here is Renfe in English: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

The blue metro line from Sants goes to Diagonal stop,
there are numerous hotels nearby.