We will be leaving our Cordoba Airbnb on Wednesday October 5 this year and tentatively planned to take the 1:56 - 3:38 pm train to Granada, but it recites “not available to buy” when I search on Trainline for that day and for each day before for several weeks back into September. Is this because they have not released tickets for this regularly scheduled train yet?
Actually, a 1:06 - 2:55 pm train appears during late September and back several weeks which we would prefer, but the 1:06 train does not even appear on the schedule on October 5th. Is it likely the 1:56 and the 1:06 trains will pop up on the schedule over the next few weeks?
Just trying to buy our tickets 45-60 days out to get the best price.
Thanks in advance for any help
Posted by
240 posts
I suggest that you stop looking at Trainline and go to the Renfe website. It shows some trains for that day but not at the time you specified. I remember having a similar issue with train booking and other options did come up as the date was closer. The current price seems very high. You could take a bus--it's much cheaper and less than 3 hours. We mostly used trains but took an Alsa bus from Seville to Granada. It was fine.
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
2380 posts
We took the ALSA buses several times while in Andalucia: from Cordoba to Granada, and then from Granada to Malaga. They were wonderful. Clean, comfortable, air conditioned, and on time. It's worth checking out ALSA. They might even have a better schedule than the trains.
Posted by
below Canada / above Mexico
371 posts
As kmkwoo wrote, the ALSA bus (https://www.alsa.com/en ) is another option. We had a surprisingly pleasant experience riding it from Granada to Cordoba in 2023; we even took the time to find the driver after disembarking to thank him. From our trip report:
Sep 7 (Thu): Departed Granada on an ALSA bus at noon; arrived Cordoba at 2:40pm. This bus ride was an unexpected delight. We had planned to travel by train, but (due to rail construction) the bus schedule worked better for us. Seated in the second row on the right side, we were rewarded with good views to the front and the side. It was a blissfully relaxing ride that wound through mildly rugged terrain among rolling hills covered by endless olive groves, with an occasional picturesque village crowned by a church and/or ruined Moorish castle.
Posted by
OP
Franklin, Tennessee
244 posts
While awaiting some replies to my pst, I checked options and found Alsa and its’ multiple options on our scheduled day. We intend to look at it further including a YouTube video or two so we can better assess a bus option. we had to travel a few times in Ireland by bus and were pleasantly surprised. We each have medium size bags which we check through on an airplane and they will be put in the bus under compartment. We will each have a small roll behind bag that fit under an airplane seat which might not fit overhead in a bus but it appears we can just add them as an option to our bus ticket.
We also plan to travel from Toledo to Salamanca; Salamanca to Cordoba and Hranada to Madrid so I will check out bus options there too.