Yostwl

Hi, Everyone.

We arrive from the USA at Madrid's Barajas Airport at 7:15 AM on March 31. We will have only carryon bags. If we take a taxi, what time can we reasonably expect to arrive at Atocha train station in Madrid? We hope to have purchased our train tickets online before departing the USA, so how much time should it take after we arrive at the train station to find and get to the platform for our train to Sevilla? We know some very basic Spanish (e.g., where, how far, when, how much, etc.). Thanks in advance.

CathyM

You could probably make it to the 10 a.m. easy but I'd be safe and reserve the 11 a.m. just to make sure. You'll be arriving in the middle of Holy Week one day before Maudy Thursday, the biggest day of the year in Sevilla. If you miss your train you'll really be in a rut so I'd rather wait an hour than take the chance and miss it. You'll definately want to reserve the seats far in advance as the trains will sell out.

If you've never visited Sevilla during Semana Santa you are in for a truly incredible experience. It will be crowded but I think it's worth it just to witness the pagentry and emotion. If you don't already have hotel reservations, please get them soon.

Robert2533

As CathyM has already noted, you shouldn't have any problem getting to the station in around 40 minutes on a busy Monday morning, but I would allow at least 1 hour travel time because of the commuter traffic heading into the city. A 10:00 am train is possible, but I would give myself a little more time just to be sure.

If your flight does arrive on-time, you can expect to take 30 minutes or longer to get through passport control and clear customs, even with carry-ons, depending where on the plane you will be sitting and how many other flights are arriving at the same time. Lines at passport control can be long at times.

Finding a taxi isn't a problem. They will be a long line of them waiting outside of the arrivals terminal.

You'll have to go through security at Atocha station. Expect a line during Holy Week.

They usually wait until 20 minutes before departure to announce which track your train will be on, so keep alert.

lincasanova

Unless you are getting highy reduced tickets.. and the loss would be far less, you do know that if you miss your train you do not receive any compensation.

NEDSIRELAND

I flew Continental EWR-MAD and it was almost 2 hours late arriving at Barajas: I had a connecting flight to Santiago and had scheduled a 3-hour 'window' between arrival and departure. I should have missed that connection but since it was a domestic flight, Air Europa held it at the gate for me.
Late International arrivals cause havoc with Immigration & Customs, and even the Baggage Handlers. All three may even have to reschedule theit 'break times' to deal with the situation; and they don't like that!

So, I normally wouldn't recommend locking yourself into any scheduled morning departure! It's Holy Week! Availability might play into your plans. Later AVE's might be even more crowded as people head to Sevilla for the big Processions.

There ain't no easy answer to your question. Given my experiences, I'd suggest a Puerta de Atocha departure around noon

lincasanova

i would get an early afternoon train .. in which case if you do arrive early you could always see the fee to change to an earlier ( if available)one.. and if you are late.. you will be more than happy to have done that.

You could check bags at atocha,walk over to reina sofia or the thyssen museums for an hour or two, getting a bite to eat there during any exaggerated wait time.

Yostwl

Thanks, everyone! We do have accomodations in Sevilla. And I think we might make it an early afternoon train with the option to visit one of the museums if we get to the train station early.

Thanks again.

CathyM

Just make sure if you have a hotel in central Sevilla that you arrive BEFORE the processionals start that day. Otherwise it could be very tricky trying to get to your hotel with thousands of people and a processional potentially blocking your hotel. I found this out the hard way one year

Paul1950

Thanks for the tip, CathyM. If it looks like a problem, maybe we'll just check our luggage at the train station when we arrive and join the crowds.