Night Train from Barcelona to Granada? Or fly?

Night train?... there's none to my knowledge. Night trains ceased to operate several years ago for most itineraries, these days I believe there are only a few "remainders" that will soon enough cease to operate as well.

The trains to Malaga are day high-speed trains, departing from 6am to 5pm and the journey takes 6h. As per class, albeit business class ("preferente") does exist in some trains, it's a waste of money -or an egocentric trip, whatever suits you best :)- since regular class is as comfy as any good aeroplane. This is regular class (aka "turista") in a high-speed train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id3XvlpH1eQ

Regarding airlines, well... not gonna start an argument here, everybody seems to have an opinion on one's favourite (or hated) airline :))... yet I have to say Vueling is one of the best low-cost airlines in the continent -not my saying, but recent polls at European level. It belongs to the group AIG (BritishAirways and Iberia, the former state airlines of Great Britain and of Spain) and it flies a modern fleet of Airbus planes to a large number of destinations. Unfortunately, with the Internet, these days it's very easy to flame out a bad review without any further consideration but those of us that have flown this and other companies for years know that Vueling, much like the hated RyanAir or EasyJet, are.... overall... quite decent low-cost carriers... despite "this or that".

Most night trains where driven out of business because of the discount airlines and high speed daily trains. Not a big fan of short airline hops when a train is available. Our bench mark is about five, six hours of train travel before a short hop of an airline begins to make sense. You actual time wasted flying is a lot more than an hour thirty. Remember the actual air time has to including getting to and from the airport, check-in, security reviews and the general hassle of flying.

We are flying on Vueling from Barcelona to Granada. There is no overnight train (only day - I actually think it is 7 hours) and construction on the line near or leading to Granada. The construction would cause you to first stop in Antequera and bus in to Granada. It's a no brainer to fly, even with the reviews. Be careful when you book and pay attention fee details and baggage allowances.

Thank you all so much for your input. I am still researching but heavily leaning towards flying.

The only problem is the 2 options on the day I want to fly (September 28) are either very early (7:20 a.m.--yawning already, as to be safe I think we need to be at Barcelona airport 2 hours in advance of our flight) or, a bit later in the day then I'd like (5:05 p.m., getting us to Granada after 6:30 p.m.) meaning less time in Granada that day --but a good 1/2 day plus more in Barcelona. We do have 2 nights in Granada.

If we stay in Barcelona only 3 nights instead of 4 and fly out the day before on September 27, there is a 10:20 a.m. flight that day that would be much saner than the 7:20 a,.m. option. But I'm not sure only 3 nights in Barcelona is enough, because it includes our day of arrival which can be a very foggy day. I like 4 nights better.

Thoughts? Sacrifice sleep and retain 4 nights in Barcelona and gain more time in Granada? or do only 3 nights in Barcelona, get to Granada by 11:50 a.m. (gaining a 1/2 day there) but lose a day in Barcelona?

You could get a later flight on 28 Sep if you chose to travel via Madrid with Iberia.
IB2725 / Dep BCN 09:30 / Arr MAD 10:55
IB546 / Dep MAD 11:40 / Arr GRX 12:45

If it was me though I would get the late afternoon direct flight with Vueling. Plan an intense single day in Granada on the 29th - morning to Alhambra, afternoon to Albaicin and Cathedral.

Nah, to fly to Malaga on a Thursday you can get by being at the airport just an hour in advance.

Anyhow, I personally think it's a no-brainer, four days in Barcelona is not nearly enough anyway, so here you have it. But again, I'm probably biased, ain't I? :)

Suzanne,where did you get the 14-hour idea? Night trains are an obsolete product that used to serve the backpacker class tourist would do anything to save one night's hostel fee. Forget about it.

You can't expect reviews of an airline that competes on price to be as good as "real" airlines. How about the vague urban legends about robberies, sleeping gas, and abductions during night train trips? As the expression goes, there is no such thing as a "free lunch."

You were very wise to save time and money with open-jaw international flights. When we were young, poor, and working we often had to live with a 14-day vacation. Maybe you can travel with less time pressure in the future. Perhaps posting your full itinerary will produce some concrete suggestions.

... "serve the backpacker class tourist" :)).... you're obviously unaware that the world doesn't revolve around tourists.

Thanks again for all the good input--much appreciated.

David, I try to avoid connections with flying when possible....I do appreciate the info on the later flight, but I think that we should still have enough time in Granada with the 2 nights, and could make up for that "lost" first day by spending more time there on our departure day, given that we are renting a car in Granada and driving to Ronda, and would have no fixed train or bus time schedules to follow.
And Enric, I so agree about time in Barcelona--more is better!

Tim, FYI I must have read some much older posts that indicated night trains were an option--and one of them must have indicated a 14 hour time span (due to multiple stops I assume (?) Anyway, I did post our full 14-day itinerary under a different topic title initially, which I now have revised a bit--currently is as follows:
Fly into Barcelona (4 nights)
Fly to Granada (2 nights)
Drive to Ronda (1 night)
Drive to Arcos (1 night)
Drive to Sevilla, drop off car (2 nights Sevilla)
AVE train to Cordoba en route to Madrid, spend day in Cordoba, AVE onto Madrid
Madrid (4 nights, with day trip to Toledo)
Fly out of Madrid.

David you had suggested 3 nights in Sevilla, which I liked, but I have opted for an extra night in Madrid as there is so much to do there. Thank you again for the suggestions--it helps to process all of this with seasoned travelers!

I would then suggest more fine tuning based on a late arrival in to Ronda, and just a single night stay planned. Add a second night, at the expense of your overnight in Arcos.

September
28/pm Fly to Granada (2 nights)

29 Visit Alhambra

30/am Granada
30/pm Pick up car. Drive to Ronda (2 nights)

October
01/am Ronda
01/pm Visit Grazalema or Zahara (??)

02/am Drive to Arcos
02/pm Drive to Sevilla (2 nights) Drop off car

03 Sevilla

04/am AVE train to Cordoba to visit Mezquita
04/pm AVE train to Madrid (4 nights)

David your suggestion to do 2 nights in Ronda and eliminate the night in Arcos would reduce 2 one-nighters in a row in Andalucia, so I really like that. And a day trip to Grazlema and Zahara from Ronda instead of Arcos is something I hadn't thought of. It looks like the drive from Ronda to Arcos is 1.25 hours and then 1.5 hours on to Sevilla. Broken up with a few hours in Arcos, that's not too bad.

I appreciate your advice in minimizing the one-night stays! the itinerary is getting better! Hope 2 nights in Sevilla instead of 3 is enough, with our day trip to Cordoba en route to Madrid.....I really like having the 4 nights in Madrid at the end before we fly out.

So appreciate everyone's suggestions!

The danger with an intense schedule is that something may spill over into the time allocated for another place. Hence the need for some clever thinking and to make the schedule just a little bit rigid.

Agreed! One last question re: flight to Granada.

Some have advised that I secure my Alhambra ticket date before booking the flight from Barcelona to Granda. This makes perfect sense if planning closer to the trip time, but our trip isn't until end of September/October 2017 so it's a ways off. My plan is to to purchase the Alhambra tix the earliest I can (3 months in advance) for the date I want (Friday, 9/29). In the meantime, I could book the BCN flight to Granada soon, so as to be sure to get the 5:50 p.m. departure flight I want, and get the Alhambra tickets after, assuming that the Alhambra availability for the date I want (Friday, 9/29) would not be a problem since purchasing 3 months in advance.

I worry that the flight options (direct on Vueling) will start evaporating if I wait to purchase until 3 months prior to our trip. Any experience with this? Right now there are two flights for the 5:05 pm time slot.....

I think the advice to secure Alhambra tix first up is more pertinent (love that word) when your travel is imminent (love that word too).

Yes isn't language wonderful (says the former English teacher :). To clarify, you are agreeing that to purchase plane tix first --soon-- followed by Alhambra tix would be okay given lead time available?

Believe it or not I'm still pondering the 2 night stay in Sevilla with 4 nights in Madrid, versus 3 nights in Sevilla and 3 nights in Madrid (which we fly out of )
Can't decide! Help please from seasoned travelers!

Suzanne:

You are in same dilemma I am in!

We are doing almost the exact same thing, but in late August instead. We have pretty much decided to fly from Barcelona to Granada, spend one night in Granada, then head straight to Seville. Spend 3 nights in Seville and take day trips to Cordoba, Ronda, Arcos, Jerez (exact itinerary still undecided), then take train to Madrid for rest of trip and fly home.

We checked getting Alhambra tickets before we booked the flight, but you can't even book tickets that far in advance, at least for the tours. I don't think getting a ticket will be a problem, as I look at the Alhambra ticket calendar now, and I see availability for tickets right now for May, which tells me that they don't sell out months in advance.

From what I've read, you can only get Alhambra tickets 3 months in advance. Which is what I plan to do, first day they are available.

My question now is still the same: 2 nights Sevilla, 4 nights Madrid (flying out to USA at 11:30 a.m. on 5th day) or 3 nights Sevilla, 3 nights Madrid?

We booked our flights tonight from Barcelone to Granada on our earlier itinerary and I'm glad we did. Never too soon--4 seats available for the time we wanted for 09/28/17 (we just needed 2 seats). Vuerling airlines (it may come up as Iberia--parent airline apparently)

Does this help? I'm so undecided about the number of nights in Sevilla vs. Madrid. Have planned so far to do Cordoba en route to Madrid via the AVE train......making it a day trip en route to Madrid, giving us an extra night here, vs. return to Sevilla for another night. ARRRGh. Nice problems to have!

Rizell,

As I re-read your post, it seems that you had already booked your flight to Granada...and therefore did not need my superfluous airline advice about that...sorry! :)

We booked our flight today from Barcelona to Granada, and assume we will get Alhambra tickets.

So it will be one night in Granada, then 3 nights in Seville, then 3 nights in Madrid.
I think it will be easier to do Cordoba with a home base in Seville, rather than a quick trip when travelling to Madrid. When I have done that in the past, it always feels rushed, especially if you are adhering to a train schedule.

We flew from Barcelona to Granada because the train was sold out on the day we needed to go. We had tickets for the Alhambra that limited our flexibiliza

Our Vueling flight was fine and it was not a very long flight.

Thank you for the input! This is a great forum!

Just wanted to not only thank you for asking this question but all the great answers. My family and I are doing this same trip beginning July 9 with the same flight to Granada on Vueling and it is good to see that we will survive our hour and a half flight! I decided at the last minute to train to Seville from Granada rather than skip Seville all together. We are staying there two nights. I also decide to stop in Cordoba to visit the Mezquita rather than stay the night because I agree there is too much in Madrid to see and do. While not everyone will agree this is our first trip to Spain and we may not come back so certain things are must sees for us. Thanks again everyone!