My family and I are flying out of Madrid at the end of our trip to Spain and I am trying to figure out if I need to book train tickets in advance from Segovia. I've read that trains are pretty frequent from Segovia to Madrid. We are spending Good Friday night in Segovia and returning to Madrid to stay one more night (Saturday) before our departure. Am I safe to wait and buy them at the station? I don't want to commit us to leaving Segovia earlier than we are ready to leave by booking train tickets now, though I recognize with the holiday that it could limit availability. Appreciate any suggestions!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23297 posts
Our experience with train travel in most of Europe is that trains are frequent with lots of seats. And the other issue, option, in Spain is the excellent bus system. The train system in Spain is not as developed (going everywhere) as in many other countries so an excellent (and very cheap) bus system has evolved. We use more buses in Spain than trains. I see no need for advance reservations for the trains in Spain.
Posted by
Washington DC
27187 posts
What you could do is check renfe.com every few days for the date on which you'd be returning to Madrid. Don't worry unless you see trains starting to sell out. I have no idea whether Saturday night could make trains popular. I've definitely seen a lot of full trains on the Madrid-Cordoba-Seville line, and Rick warns that trains returning to Madrid from Toledo sell out rather often; he recommends buying the return ticket ahead of time. I don't recall reading any such comments about Segovia.
For this coming Saturday, I see a 6:43 PM regional-train departure from Segovia that would get you back to Madrid at 8:34 PM. That's much, much slower than the express trains, but Spain's dinner hour being what it is, you certainly wouldn't miss dinner. That train doesn't have assigned seats, so it cannot possibly sell out. Better still, it costs only Є6.85. A last-minute purchase of a ticket for one of the express trains could cost several multiples of that amount (though it might not; I see some decent prices still available for some of the trains on Tuesday).
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Sample of one: I took a day trip to Segovia on a weekday in November. Bought tickets online the night before. I booked a later, flexible ticket for the return, and when I didn't need the extra time (crappy weather limited my lingering), I changed it for an earlier train immediately prior to boarding.
So, maybe book the flexible ticket now for the later train—you'd have a secure option and can change if you want/need to. I paid just a couple/few euro more for the flexible ticket.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7570 posts
Rick warns that trains returning to Madrid from Toledo sell out rather often; he recommends buying the return ticket ahead of time. I don't recall reading any such comments about Segovia.
Should not be an issue with Segovia. Toledo is on its own "commuter" line, dead ends at Toledo, so trains can be limited, especially with a tourist crush. Segovia is on a main line that includes both regional and fast trains, so lots of trains from other places stop in Segovia as well, on their way to Madrid.