Spanish Trains

Spanish trains are terrific. Reliable, fast, comfortable. During a recent trip to Spain, we went from Madrid to Sevilla, then to Garanda, then back to Madrid without problem.

I highly recommend that you visit the website called www.Seat61.com. It's very useful for getting to know the Spanish train system.

Good luck.

It is your imagination! The very top line - Search is a 24 pt type, slightly blued box. Pretty obvious. Trains in Spain run about like everywhere else. On time the vast majority but can get delay by weather, maybe maintenance on the weekend, etc. If going directly from Madrid to Granada then the train is the better option.

'How long ahead of time should one buy a train ticket?' - If your dates are fixed. Promptly if your money matters, for very large discounts.
Bus is with www.alsa.es
I would not know what you want from 'better'.

The Madrid-Granada line is not the high-speed AVE line yet, but still the train is clean, quiet and convenient. Trains run on time except for unforeseen issues/accidents or scheduled track work.

Spanish trains offer a significant discount for advanced purchase. Try and book 60-90 days in advance to assure getting a discount, but often they are available even closer to your dates (there are only so many discounted tickets available for each train).

The Spanish rail site renfe is notorious to navigate and understand, and even harder to use a US credit card. But take some time to figure it out, consult the tripadvisor Spain forum thread on renfe and use the Paypal option for payment.

If the search function was a bear it would have bit me. :-)

Thanks for all the good advice. I have secured tickets though not early enough to get the best deal. Live and learn.

The bus and the train are equally good. I think the train station in Madrid may be somewhat more accessible than the bus station. I chose the train because the time schedule worked better for me . . . from Granada to Madrid.

You folks are making look like a champ! My American friends think I must have been born a European.

Don't be afraid of the bus system in Spain. The Spanish rail system is not as extensive as in other parts of Europe. As a result, there is an excellent and really cheap bus system that sometimes is faster than the train. The bus station in Madrid is conveniently located.

Trains are reliable and comfortable. They can be expensive if you don't plan, and book, ahead.

I like the bus system because it's always cheap, reliable, and you can always find a seat without advance booking. I book the afternoon/night before but that's not even necessary.

See my recent posts about purchasing train tickets for some insight on that process.