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Madrid to Seville - Plane or Train?

Posted by on

Opinions please..... I am concerned that the 2 1/2 hours (possibly 2 3/4 hour) transfer time is not enough time for Option A. I'm leaning towards Option C, but it would be nice to have more time in Seville.

Option A: Fly to Seville
Our Flight KLM 6126, arrives in Madrid in Terminal 1 at 9:00. 86% of the time it is on time or 15 minutes early.
The non-stop Iberian flight is at 11:30 in Terminal 4, next flight is at 4:00 pm. No other airlines have non-stops. Cost $260

Option B: Train to Seville via Cordoba
The train departs Madrid Atocha station at 11:30, arrives Cordoba at 1:20, another one at 2:30 arriving 4:17. Cost to Cordoba is $162, then at 7:30 PM arriving in Seville Santa Justa at 8:15 pm cost is $54 for a total is $216. (Earlier one is at 3:25, arriving Seville at 4:10)

Option C: Train to Seville Direct
Train straight to Seville at 2 PM, arriving at 4:30 cost is $198. No problems with connections, plenty of time to make train and it arrives in Seville in daylight so we could easily walk to hotel.

Posted by
23267 posts

Personally I would opt for C BUT that is primarily because I like trains and would find that a relaxing option. I would be OK with option A but it does carry a risk.

Posted by
1216 posts

Hi Cindy. Just curious as to your date of travel and where you are looking for train info. The train info you mention seems surprising to me in terms of cost and frequency. I am looking on the official train company site renfe.com for a random date of December 6 and am seeing hourly afternoon direct trains from Madrid to Seville, no need to connect in Cordoba, prices from 53 to 76 Euros, nowhere near the $198 you mention. Enjoy your trip!

Posted by
5211 posts

Cindy,
I don't know which website you're using to check train schedules, but when I check Renfe.com, Spain's Railway company, there are multiple trains traveling from Córdoba to Sevilla other than the time you mentioned above. The prices I see are also different.
I used tomorrow's date for reference.

I'm not sure if you're planning to visit Córdoba en-route to Sevilla or if you just want to get to Sevilla as soon as possible.
If you have the time, I'd encourage you to visit Córdoba, for a few hours or stay at least an overnight, before heading to Sevilla.

If you have time constrains and wish to travel directly to Sevilla, then you may be able to take the AVE departing from Puerta de Atocha at 12:00 ( arrives to Sevilla at 14:30) for about €105.60 ( Preferente- 1st class), if you don't like this price then you can take the later train departing at 13:00 for €76.30 (Turista- 2nd class).

Keep in mind that you need to travel from the airport to Puerta de Atocha's station and this takes around 25 minutes, then you'll transfer to the AVE train to Sevilla.

On our last trip to Spain, we took the Cercanías C-1 line (commuter train) from terminal 4.
We purchased our AVE train tickets at the airport's Renfe office (Terminal 4), and the AVE ticket included a free Cercanías ticket, known as "Combinado Cercanías".

When will you be traveling?

Have a wonderful trip!

P.S. If you decide to stop over in Córdoba en-route to Sevilla; there are multiple trains departing from Córdoba and you can travel on an AVANT train for as little as €20.80 per person.

Edit to add...
If you or your partner are over the age of 60, you can get discounted tickets by getting the Tarjeta Dorada card for €6.

Posted by
4 posts

Bob, We will be traveling on December 15th. I just thought a stop over in Cordoba for four hours might be nice but now I'm thinking that getting to Seville is our best bet. The prices are for two people, sorry I should have been clearer on my details. Flying would be the best use of time but with 2 1/2 hour transfer window we'd be taking a risk.

Posted by
4 posts

Priscilla, I took your link for Renfe.com but for my date of December 15,2017, I got only one option to Seville. I did not see an AVE train at 12:00. That would be perfect.

Posted by
5211 posts

Cindy,
I just checked your dates also. The reason that the train schedules are not available for December 15th is because the winter train schedules for 2017 will be changing on Sunday 10 December.
Most schedules stay the same though (check December 11th, for example) so you can keep checking for your dates to become available.

Posted by
5211 posts

Cindy,

Some folk here like to book their tickets on Trainline.eu because I've read that it's more user friendly than Renfe.

I don't have any experience with Trainline, because I've always booked directly on the Renfe website without any issues.

Keep in mind that if you book via Renfe, it's best to pay with PayPal.

Here's a helpful article on booking Renfe tickets online

Posted by
3245 posts

Personally, I'm a loco2.com girl for booking trains in Europe. I would book a refundable ticket on the 2:00/1400 train and check on December 10th for the noon departure.

Posted by
440 posts

Option C city to city no airport hassle and no hassle travelling to and from airports.

Posted by
597 posts

Direct train. It's only about 3 hours and you don't have to worry about luggage fees.

Posted by
28 posts

We (4 adults) are planning a trip in april 2018 and looking at AVE train from Seville to Madrid. I think OPTION C is best. You could check out taking a day trip from Seville to Cordoba if that is something you would like to see, that is what we are thinking of doing. hope this helps. have a great trip! : )

Posted by
38 posts

I would agree with Option C. The trains are great in Spain. I am planning a trip in April/May and also looking at different options. It can be frustrating because the schedules are only accurate about 60 days in advance. One decision we made was to travel without checked baggage. Less frustration and more time ...
Cordoba is well worth a day trip if you have time when you are in Seville.

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