We are scheduled to arrive at the airport on May 21 at 7:55. We then are headed to Granada. do you believe that a bus or a train is the best way to go? It may well depend on schedules and I am challenged to find a good train schedule on Renfe. Rick Steves best of Spain mentions two trains a day with transfer to AVE in Malaga. Do you know how that is the accomplished and is that a good way to go?
Thanks
DPD
You should be able to buy train tickets from Madrid to Granada "BUT" because the station is being modernized (for the last 5-6 years) you will have to transfer to a coach bus at Antequerra for the last hour of your trip. The bus will take you to the train station (I believe) not the bus station. Everything flows smoothly since they've been doing this for years. Maybe by the time you have to travel the station will be operational (and hell would have frozen over). Train is a bit more relaxing since you can get up and walk around and there are more bathrooms available. Have fun!
seat61.com has info on Spanish trains - https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm#How_to_buy_train_tickets_for_Spain
Another option would be to use Iberia to fly since you are already at the airport. Might be less hassle.
DPD,
It may well depend on schedules and I am challenged to find a good train schedule on Renfe. Rick Steves best of Spain mentions two trains a day with transfer to AVE in Malaga.
You don't need to transfer in Malaga.
There are 4 trains a day running from Madrid (Puerta de Atocha) to Granada; at 7:20, 9:35, 14:35 & 17:35. The journey will take about 4 hours. As Nestor has explained, you will board an AVE train in Madrid, then transfer to a bus in Antequera. This bus (supplied by Renfe) will transport you to Granada's train station, which is closer to the city center than the train station.
It appears that Renfe has a promotional ticket for €30/person right now which is great deal, IMO.
You can see the train schedules here: Renfe.com
When you arrive to Barajas- Madrid Airport, you can take the C-1 or C-10 Cercanías train from Terminal 4 to Puerta de Atocha station.
You can also take the ALSA BUS from the Madrid Airport to Granada.
Did you book your Alhambra tickets already? The last time I checked, there weren't any tickets left for the month of May.
Enjoy your trip!
Thanks for the advice. I may check into air travel since I don’t know that I could make the 935 train and don’t want to wait until the next one. We found out in early March about how hard it was to get tickets and we did so for Alhambra
Bus schedules from Estacion Sur work well and the 5 hour trip may only cost 60 Euros for the three of us.
Would you purchase tickets ahead of time?
Also, six days later we plan to take a train from Malaga to Barcelona--would you purchase those tickets ahead of time?
Thanks,
You can potentially save a lot of money by buying the Malaga-Barcelona rail tickets now. The cheap ones (if any remain available for your travel date) will be non-refundable and non-changeable.
