Hi, I need to travel from salobrena spain to madrid via bus on 16th september.
May I know the answers to the following questions,
1. Is travelling via night bus from salobrena to madrid is safe ( i,e road travel in the night to reach madrid early morning)
2. Shall I buy ticket online or tickets are easily avalable on the spot at the kiosk or bus station office before departure.
3. Is this journey scenic? If such is the case I may cancel my plan to travel in the night and rather take an early morning bus. Are early morning buses avalible on this route.
Best regards'
Dr. Khurram
You can find the ALSA bus schedule here. Bus service is more frequent than I was expecting. The first departure is at 6:30 AM; the last, at 10:35 PM. I don't know of any reason to think the night buses are unsafe (other than that there are probably more accidents at night because drivers are tired), but check on the "Itinerary" link to see the detailed schedule. I think you'll always have to change buses once, in the middle of the night, which won't make for the most restful trip.
The night buses are cheap (under 23 euros), but there's considerable variation in the cost of daytime buses. Also note that the termination point of the trips varies. You'll need to take a look at a map of Madrid and figure out how you'll get from the end of the bus trip to wherever you're heading. There will probably be a Metro station at the end of the bus trip, so check that option first.
I've never bought a bus ticket online. I normally buy right before my trip, but you could also buy a day or two ahead at the Salobrena bus station. You're traveling on a Friday toward the big city, so I think it's possible some of the buses could sell out.
You could probably also buy your ticket at a different bus station as long as it has an ALSA ticket counter. Note that it's unpredictable how long you'll be in line at the ticket counter, so don't show up at the last minute. And in smaller cities (I'm guessing Salobrena is quite small), the ticket counter will probably only be open shortly before a bus is due to depart. I was able to use my US credit card to buy ALSA tickets from their vending machines, but I don't know that you'll find one in a small city like Salobrena.
thanks acraven, I really appreciate your response
I'm just wondering...
Since you'll be so close to Granada, have you considered taking the bus to Granada (before heading to Madrid)?
After an overnight in Granada, where you can visit the amazing Alhambra, you can travel to Córdoba via bus or train( or travel to Madrid from Granada)
Once you reach Córdoba, where you can visit the beautiful Mezquita, you can take the high speed train (AVE or ALVIA) to Madrid.
Just a thought...