Looking for information on the best way to travel from Bilbao to Barcelona. We were hoping to take the train. Is there a reliable site for buying train tickets? If there is a better way, like flying, is there a preferred and reliable that is recommended?
Thanks!
There are both trains and buses. Either option takes around 4 hours 40 minutes. I have just finished booking all our buses and trains for Spain and used the Trainline app as it let me compare buses and trains over the same routes.
The main train company is Renfe.com and the main long distance bus company is Alsa.com. You can easily book directly with them. For our trip I booked buses directly with Alsa, but booked my trains using Trainline as on some of our routes there are competitors to Renfe and Trainline showed me all my options.
If you book your trains well in advance you will get a significant discount. Buses seem to be the same price regardless of when you book.
You could also fly if you want to.
Looks like a 7 hour train
Renfe.com
Or a 1 hour flight
Vueling
What do you mean by the "best" way? The fastest? The most scenic? The most leisurely?
Just off the top of my head flying would be the quickest way.
The train can get quite convoluted and time consuming as it's not direct.
My personal preference is with a car, as there are several interesting stops along the way that merit a few days to make the journey.
It’s a 7h train ride: https://www.renfe.com/es/en and departs Bilbao at 3:20p arriving in Barcelona at 10:20. You can also fly nonstop on Vueling for less than $100. Pack light and do laundry so you can keep the cost down in case you need to check a bag.
AussieNomad
Where do you see a 4 hr 40 min train?
Just curious
Where do you see a 4 hr 40 min train?
Just curious
I just checked and renfe.com shows two ALVIA high speed trains a day from Bilbao Abando to Madrid-Chamartin that take 4 hrs 28 mins. One leaves Bilbao at 7:00am and one leaves at 5:35pm. I looked at a weekday, so maybe they don't run on weekends.
I can also see these trains using the Trainline app.
There are many ALSA buses throughout the day that take between 4 hrs 15 mins and 5 hours.
OP wants to travel from Bilbao to Barcelona ;)
OP wants to travel from Bilbao to Barcelona ;)
Oops!
One excuse is that I have less than a week until I leave and am in overwhelmed, "have I booked everything I need to have booked before I leave" panic mode and totally misread the original post.
My preferred excuse is that I just like to help fellow travellers by telling them all the possible places in Spain that they might enjoy. :)
I’m with Carlos. Rent a car and stop at the myriad of interesting places along the route.
As a Bilbao native, I´d take the plane. Bus ride or train ride soon leaves the green, mountainous Basque Country and enters into a flat, dry terrain for most of the time, with uninteresting sights.
Thank you, everyone. I should clarify that by "best way" I probably meant the preferred way, or perhaps a way that is bucket-list worthy. I should have also mentioned that I'll have already travelled from Barcelona to Bilbao with stops along with way. That leg of the trip will be with a tour and then I'll be on my own for transportation. A train ride sounded leisurely and perhaps relaxing although the described terrain doesn't sound too enticing.
