We are looking at traveling to Spain for two weeks in the fall. We would like to visit Barcelona, Seville, and Madrid. Is it better to purchase the eurail Spain pass for three to five days or purchase separate tickets for each leg of the trip? The pass states that it is good for the “national rail network” and I am unsure if the pass will cover the direct trains or exactly what that means. Thank you for your help in advance!
Posted by
Chicago
7837 posts
Is it better to purchase the eurail Spain pass for three to five days or purchase separate tickets for each leg of the trip?
No. Just buy the tickets piecemeal 90 to 120 days in advance and you will save money.
Barcelona to Madrid and Madrid to Seville or vice versa.
This is a good primer on rail travel
https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm
Posted by
Washington DC
27109 posts
It is quite likely that buying individual tickets will be considerably cheaper, assuming you plan to lock down you itinerary by the time tickets for your travel period go on sale or not too long thereafter.
You can explore point-to-point rail fares on the Renfe website. Tickets for you travel dates probably won't be on sale for awhile, but you can look at the schedules now (choose the correct day of the week) and see what is currently available for the end of May.
You'll save some money on rail fares by flying into Barcelona, traveling to Madrid, then traveling to Seville and flying home from there. However, you may find airfare back from Seville much more costly than returning from Madrid.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Passes cover basically all trains, certainly between the cities you mention, but you also need a separate seat reservation to go with the pass. See https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/spain-rail-passes for more detail.