Best site to buy train tickets in Spain

For Seville to Madrid try the this new company that runs trains https://iryo.eu/en/home and then RENFE; if your card doesn't work try trainline then rail Europe.

The problem with RENFE is that they never follow a set schedule on when train tickets are available for sale for particular route. Sometimes it is 3 months sometimes two weeks etc. So for Seville to Madrid RENFE competitor Iryo is better as long your card works.
There is no direct train from Toledo to Cordoba, meaning you have to backtrack to Madrid change trains and then on to Cordoba.

we used Trainline for tickets when we were in Spain this spring (took trains from Bilbao to Segovia, Segovia to Toledo via Madrid, and back to Madrid). Super easy to use, no glitches, app was easy to navigate. As opposed to Renfe, whose website is difficult, glitchy and pretty much inoperable. IMO. Now, Trainline does have to wait for Renfe to release tickets, and sometimes that might be 90 days out, and sometimes it might be 30 days out, who knows. But great app, would use again for sure.

Hi, Tlaforest. I’m on the October 27 Andalucia tour and bought my train tickets through Renfe. A poster on this forum had suggested that using PayPal to pay avoids the frequently encountered credit card issues, and that worked for me.

Do yourself a favor and use Iryo to travel between Madrid and Sevilla. https://iryo.eu/en/home Great new Italian trains, low cost, buy tickets directly on their website. We have taken Iryo, Ouigo, Avlo (low cost RENFE), and AVE (RENFE) and Iryo is our favorite.

There are 2 high speed train stations in Madrid. Atocha and Chamartin. The trains to Sevilla appear to leave from Atocha.

I just bought my tickets in the train stations. Whenever I travel in France, Spain, or Italy, I try to buy all my train tickets as soon as I arrive in country. But I might buy online this time just to be more sure.

For train lines RENFE has been the main one, but I think there are 3-4 different train companies now.

Atocha station in Madrid is the main hub going to Barcelona, Cordoba (onto Sevilla), etc.

As someone mentioned, the Toledo line is a separate line than the one from Madrid to Cordoba, so you have to backtrack. If you loo at a map you assume that Toledo is on the way, but no. This kind of thing happens in other places too, so it works better as a day trip from Madrid.

When we were in Spain this past April I purchased high speed train tickets from Barcelona to Madrid. I used Iryo.eu which I found very user friendly and had no issues. There weren't any booking fees like with trainline and omio since I booked directly with Iryo.
When my daughter purchased high speed train tickets from Madrid to Sevilla and back she tried to use Renfe.com as well as Renfe.es . She was unable to purchase directly from Renfe. She was directed to Spainrail.com and Railclick.com both times. She purchased from Railclick and when I tried to change the return ticket we were told that there was no record of us purchasing tickets. Eventually this was straightened out.
Having traveled with both companies, I felt that the experience traveling with Iryo was much nicer. The train was newer and seemed cleaner.

There are now essentially four high-speed train companies operating in Spain: Renfe is the national train company in Spain which is run by the government of Spain; Avlo is Renfe’s budget train company division with its sole route running between Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona; IRYO is an Italian-based company which uses Trenitalia’s stylish Frecciarosa high-speed train called the “Red Arrow.” IRYO’s main routes are between Madrid and Barcelona, Madrid and Cordoba/Seville and between Madrid and Valencia/Alicante.
Ouigo Espana is the Spanish version of the French SNCF budget train company called Ouigo.

So, basically there is the Spanish national train company RENFE and its budget spinoff company, AVLO.
The private Italian train company giving Renfe a run for its money in the Spanish high-speed train market is IRYO.
And the budget spinoff from SNCF—France’s national train company— is called OUIGO ESPANA.
Renfe and Iryo both run trains for your itinerary: from Madrid to Cordoba/ Seville and Seville to Madrid.

To get an overview of train ticket prices and schedules of these different train companies, it’s quicker to visit the websites of train ticket agencies which sell all four of the train companies tickets, because then you can see how competitive prices are and how frequently trains run on a route. www.TheTrainline.com and www.Omio.com are two user-friendly sites that will let you see the big picture and compare train ticket prices of competing train companies. These companies earn income from advertising, marketing contracts and commissions on the tickets they sell. Sometimes the mark-up on tickets is zero and. you will be able to buy it for the same price as on the train company’s own website. In some instances, the mark-up can be substantial. But, in general. the commission earned on a train ticket sold by The Trainline
is about 2%-5% above what Renfe or Iryo or Ouigo Espana would sell the ticket for.

The better deals on tickets are found at the time train tickets first go on sale in advance. In Spain, if there are any guidelines with regard to when a train ticket for September 1, 2024 will go on sale— the guidelines are not observed and the answer is the ticket might be for sale 90 days in advance or June 1, or it could be on August 1. Or August 14. The truth is nobody knows when Renfe will release tix through its website to be sold. IRYO will sell its train tickets 9 months in advance of the train’s departure time.

Thanks so much everyone! Lots of great advice that I will put to good use. Also contemplating taking an Uber or taxi back and forth from Madrid to Toledo hotels and back to train station to save us some time.
Happy travels all!

My personal experience with Spanish trains is that, at present, they are the best in Europe. I think you will enjoy the experience.

@tiaforest: A 36-minute high-speed Avant train run by Renfe from Madrid Atocha to Toledo and vice versa costs US $16.12 per adult ( or CAD $44 for two adults) from The Trainline. It costs CAD $22 to buy the ticket directly from Renfe. A taxi between Madrid and Toledo takes about 50-60 minutes and costs about €100 ( CAD $154 each way). The cost of an Uber ride varies by the time it’s needed, but averages about CAD $123 each way.
So, the train takes less time and costs much less even after factoring in the time and cost of metro/bus rides getting to and from the train stations.
To reach Cordoba from Toledo, you must return to Madrid Atocha and transfer to a high-speed IRYO or RENFE train traveling from Madrid Atocha to Cordoba.

Thanks Kenko! I came to the same conclusion. The tickets for early October have not been released yet (I was worried they were sold out) but now having read various posts I think they have not been released. That is a much better deal and we will take those quick trains! Much appreciated!
T

Update, we searched for trips on trainline site to find best price then used Iryo site to book for best price. Very easy, credit card or PayPal option, they assign you a seat for free but we wanted to sit facing the train direction so that was an additional 5 euros per seat. We did notice a big difference traveling on a Sunday vs a week day (15 euros per seat cheaper during the week) if you have flexibility, you can potentially save more. Use the free iryo app to easily to view and manage tickets. Enjoy!