Any recommendations o. The best and safest way to get back from Madrid to Barcelona?
I will be starting a tour out of Barcelona, but then moving with the tour group to Madrid. However, my flight will leave out of Barcelona so I have to get back.
Wondering if anyone knows a good way to get back Train, flight?
The train is the way to go. It will whisk you from the center of Madrid to the center of Barcelona in about 2-1/2 hours. The ticket will be cheaper if bought way in advance, but don't make the purchase until you're certain of the date and time you want to go back to Barcelona. I'd wan't to be there the night before the flight home, myself.
In the future, consider buying a multi-city ticket rather than a round-trip ticket to avoid having to return to your point of origin at the end of the trip. Multi-city tickets often cost no more than round-trip tickets. (This varies from airport to airport.)
A flight will be 1 hour and 20 minutes in the air. That doesn’t include check in and security screening time, of course. Flights on Iberia or Vueling airlines start at €25 for Madrid to Barcelona.
According to the Rome2Rio site... A train is 3 hrs 12 minutes ($64 - $130 for fares) and a flight is 3 hrs 22 minutes ($36 - $112 for fares), presumably from the time you walk into the airport to the time you walk out of the other one... Lots of departure times for both modes of transportation. I'm a train guy...
Take the train. 2 hours and 45 minutes from central Madrid to central Barcelona. New operator Iryo, https://iryo.eu has tickets starting €18.
The train will be much more interesting than the flight, but it looks like either would work. If your flight out of Barcelona is later in the day, you could probably do the Madrid-Barcelona flight that morning and just transfer at the airport. But with the train, I agree with acraven that going the day before is safer.
Rome2Rio is often incorrect about travel times, frequencies and fares all over Europe. It's pretty good about whether there is train service, or bus service, and where one might possibly need to transfer. For the critical nitty-gritty details, you need to go to the website of the appropriate rail or bus company.
If it’s just for the matter of catching the flight, I’d look at changing ticket to leave from Madrid.
What time does your flight depart from Barcelona?
We have often utilized the AVE train to travel between these cities. However, if you have time to catch an early morning flight from Madrid to Barcelona and transfer to your international flight than staying with the same mode of transport may be easier.
Thank you, everyone, so much for your responses. I think I have the necessary arrangements. Can’t wait to get to Spain. It’s three months away, but emotionally I think I’m already there.
