maomao

When we visit Spain in September, we will be travelling by train. We have so many train rides (14 to be exact), I had to create spread sheet to keep them straight. I would love to hear recommendations on snacks that are easy to eat on the train. Whether it's sugary or savoury, all suggestion are welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks!

BigRuss

Fried marcona almonds. Usually available fried in olive oil with rosemary and sea salt.

Valor chocolates work too.

Aduchamp1

Cheeses
Bread
Tortilla Espanol

Para llevar (par-ah yea-VAR) means to go
bocadillo is a sandwhich, (booc-a-DEE-yo)

CathyM

Wow - 14 train rides.....I hope you have a long trip planned as I've never done this many train rides in a single trip.

My favorite train snack is a good old bocadillo con jamon....along with a nice glass of wine

Aduchamp1

Yes, 14 train trips is a lot. Is this the Johnny Cash tour of Spain?

Robert2533

I take it you're not traveling Preferente on any of these trains. AVEs and ALVIAs have a bar car where you can purchase a few limited items, but as CathyM recommends, you can take along you own bocadillos and buy your beverages on the train if it has a bar. If not, then bring your own.

maomao

Lol, not quite but yes I have spent a lot of time planning already and will be spending a lot more. We are planning on spending 4 days in Portugal and 14 days in Spain and for those who are curious to see how I arrived at 14 rides:

1. Lisbon - Sintra
2. Sintra - Lisbon
3. Lisbon - Madrid
4. Madrid - Segovia
5. Segovia - Madrid
6. Madrid - Toledo
7. Toledo - Madrid
8. Madrid - Valencia
9. Valencia - Madrid
10. Madrid - Seville
11. Seville - Cordoba
12. Cordoba - Seville
13. Seville - Granada
14. Granada - Barcelona

justineparis

So you are only spending basically one day at each place???YIKES .. you must have incredible stamina and a short attention span,, lol

CathyM

So, 14 days for Madrid (3/daytrips - Toledo, Segovia,& Valencia), Sevilla (w/daytrip to Cordoba), Granada and Barcelona!

I'd seriously reconsider and not worry about snacks on the train rides. At this frantic pace you'll probably be sleeping on the train. In the beginning I planned some pretty fast paced trips (which I later wish I had slowed down) but never anything this fast.

I'd consider flying between Granada and Barcelona. You can usually get inexpensive air fares that will save you the time.

TonyBishop

8. Madrid - Valencia
9. Valencia - Madrid
10. Madrid - Seville

I accept that you like to take trains and moving on each day. Nonetheless, I will just point out that there is an AVE (high speed train) from Valencia to Seville. It runs every day except Sundays and the journey takes 3 hr 50 min.

As for the rest of your itinerary, I agree with justineparis and CathyM who, it has to be said, were both being just a little bit too polite.

BigRuss

Sheeyoot. I'd cut 4 and 5 - no need to see Segovia and Toledo. Toledo is far better.

The trip from Lisbon to Madrid - is it an overnight? Does it stop in Salamanca? Salamanca is a great town and far more worthy of a stop than Segovia, especially if it's en route on one of your journeys.

And trust me on the marconas.

Robert2533

You can fly between Lisbon and Madrid in one hour and it's less expensive than taking the train.

lincasanova

the granada train passes through valencia on its way to barcelona.

TonyBishop

"The trip from Lisbon to Madrid - is it an overnight?"
BigRuss, there is just one direct train a day from Lisbon to Madrid and, yes, it is an overnight sleeper (Trenhotel). Unfortunately*, it does not go via Salamanca.

N.B. *Maybe I should have written "fortunately" simply because of the rest of the itinerary.

chapla

Reminds me of the movie "If it's Tuesday this must be Belgium"..............

Aduchamp1

Just eliminate every other train.

danon

What train travelers sometimes don't count on is not only the time one spends on the train, but the time one needs to get to the train station, find the right track , sometimes go to security first, then get from the train station at your destination to the center of town ( Toledo and Segovia come to mind)

Robert2533

Taking the train is much simpler than flying. Security, what there is, is quite fast. Finding the right track is always interesting, you actually have to pay attention to what is being posted on the reader board if your Spanish is a little lacking...

chapla

Very few train stations are actually in town so you need to know which bus to get to/from there!
Robert2533,you are right about the reader board!The train's final destination is listed and so you have to be aware of your stop because they don't wait that long at the station.Many times the train cars are very specific because at some point the train will split and continue on to different destinations!

maomao

Thanks for everybody's feedback. I do realize we are going to have a quite busy and hectic trip but because of the time constraint we have to plan the schedule this way. We have other fast paced trips together and felt that we're ok with the pace. We are flexible with our itinerary. If we are really exhausted, we will forego some of the day trips and just rest.

We are taking two overnight train: Lisbon-Madrid and Granada-Barcelona. We weighted the pros and cons about overnight train vs. flying but thought it's easier and more convenience to travel by train.