Quality of buses in spain

We take the bus more frequently in Spain than anywhere else in part because the train system is not as extensive as in other European countries and buses can be more convenient. The buses were always great and had WCs. Small but not designed for 300 lb people. My cousin, an ex 49er lineman, would have a hard time. It is not as comfortable as the train because you cannot move around but the ride is decent. Much better than anything in the US.

It’s a 3 hour bus ride. You may consider that long distance, but the bus company may not. I had this same concern traveling with my family. If a WC is a must, then your best bet is a train or plane, where there are several available. Even if the bus has one, you run the risk of it not being operational.

The Alsa buses are solid; they have one toilet at the backdoor. We used them Seville to Granada and Granada to Malaga and Barcelona to Zaragoza. They did make rest stops where passengers get off to buy snacks, smoke, stretch etc.

I have taken a lot of buses in Spain, but not a bus between Seville and Granada. While all the buses have been comfortable, it was unusual to have access to a toilet on the bus. Fewer than half the buses I took had toilets. Many of those toilets were kept locked, so they might as well not have been there.

Europeans will tell you drivers are supposed to get a break every 2 hours (?) or something like that, so there should be a stop along the way if a trip is scheduled to take 3 hours. (The smokers will want a break even if no one cares about a toilet.) However, I feel compelled to mention that the bus I took from Granada to Valencia (an all-day trip) in 2019 made just one comfort stop, and that was quite early in the trip, not near the midpoint. The bus had departed late, and I assume the driver was under pressure to make up time. Once I realized the driver was going to violate his work rules, I resorted to (literally) running to the toilet at a couple of stops that were just long enough to pick up new passengers. I was a bit concerned he'd just leave me if I wasn't back on the bus by the time the new passengers were settled.

Thank you all for answering and giving me food for thought. After reading more about the buses it leaves me more puzzled. I would have no problem taking the train WC or not but one of the ladies has major physical issues and needs to have a WC near by.

I want to go by train but then again the times are almost miserable. Maybe driving it ourselves is a better solution. Has anyone driven from Granada to Seville, is it doable?

I haven't driven in Europe, but many, many people drive between Granada and Seville because they want to take the opportunity to see one or more of the white villages. You'd need to research your pick-up and drop-off options carefully. Seville is a large city; I'm sure driving into the central core of the city is bit hair-raising. I know that there's an area of Granada where you cannot drive; my hotel happened to be within that area. So you must not blithely get into a car and point it toward Seville with no planning.

There is another option. You could hire a driver to do the work while the four of you relax. I do not know how much that would cost. Certainly it will not be really cheap. There's a company called MyDayTrip that connects travelers to transportation providers. You'd have the option of a drive straight from Granada to Seville (with comfort stops as necessary, I assume) or a trip with one or more short sightseeing interludes. I have not used MyDayTrip, but I think a few people on this forum have, and I haven't seen a complaint. https://mydaytrip.com/ is the website.

It stands to reason that working through a middleman (MyDayTrip) will cause you to pay a bit extra for the drive. Some poking around on the internet might turn up the names of some companies you could contact directly for quotes.

In case you are not aware, car-rental rates are sky-high now, just about everywhere. The rental-car companies sold off their fleets back in 2000 and seem to be struggling to acquire replacement vehicles. You might want to research the cost of a car rental so you have a standard by which to compare the cost of a driver.

In your situation I'd give this serious consideration. If you want to consider a sightseeing stop along the way, you might come back here and ask for people's opinions. The white villages vary in size, and if any of you have mobility challenges, you might want to stop at one of the smaller ones--though the amount of deviation from the direct driving route would probably affect your cost.

Common bus lines are Avanza, Alsa, and Arriva-- there are even more within the regions. Can't help you with advice on when to buy them-- I'm not sure if the buses sell out or not but I've never had a problem buying tickets when I just show up. If your travel plans are more or less set, it can't hurt to buy in advance.

Nightlife in Spain usually ends around 6 or 7 AM, so don't be surprised if you see a lot of people making their way home before 8AM when you are arriving to a city :) but most businesses don't open until 9 or later. But if your first stop is a hostel, most of them have 24 hour check in as far as I know.

Also, check out RyanAir-- sometimes (I'm not joking or exaggerating) sometimes their flights are cheaper than a bus ticket. Depending on how much luggage you are traveling with, it might be a really good option for you. I flew from Santiago to Madrid for 22 euro, which was cheaper than the 50 euro bus ticket I could have bought for an 8 hour overnight bus (cost for one way).

Hope this helps a little! Good luck on your trip and have fun! Spain is the best.

When are you going and where are you looking for train tickets? And why are they miserable? Train connections between Granada and Seville are certainly not perfect and could be better, but I did a quick search and found several connections that I would not call miserable.

Also, check out RyanAir

Between Seville and Granada? You must be joking.

Can you be more specific about the date you want to travel from Granada to Sevilla?

I did some checking on the Renfe website and found a variety of options for the journey from Granada to Sevilla-Santa-Justa on a variety of dates.

To me the best choice was taking an AVANT train. Those take about 2.5 hours and make several stops, but you don’t have to change trains. It's more expensive than an AVANT-MD, but that takes longer and you do have to change trains.

Note this slightly edited description for 31 May:

13.18--15.45. 2 h. 27 min.

AVANT Journey details

Train AVANT - 08525

Journey type Train with stops

Travel time 2 h. 27 min. between Granada and Sevilla-santa Justa

Route
Station Arrival Departure

Prestaciones.

Sin Restauración.

Telephone Reservation.

Toilet for people with Reduced Mobility.

Seating for people with Reduced Mobility.

Train with Accessibility for all.

Leaving at 13:18 doesn't sound miserable to me. The other AVANT departure times of 06:38 (😴 way too early) and 17:20 (arriving at 19:53) wouldn't be as good IMHO.

Go to https://www.renfe.com/es/en to search for your date.

1. Put Granada in the From box.
   
2. Put Sevilla in the To box and choose SANTA-JUSTA from the list.
3. Click on the first date box and choose your date from the calendar by clicking on Accept.
4. Click on the Return arrow above the first date box. The arrow will spin.
5. Click on the One-way only box that appears at the bottom of the screen (at least on my tablet).
6. Click on the Search for a ticket box. The results will come out sorted by Departure time and will include the basic details of departure time, arrival time, type of train journey and price.
7. Select your option by clicking on the price.
8. Scroll down and click on Journey details to see something like I posted above. It may be fun to choose one of the more complicated options just to see how much easier taking an AVANT train would be.

Other tips:

If the language falls back into Spanish and you're not fluent, click on the globe in the top right corner (on my tablet) to choose English, again.

Discounts for Over 60's: https://www.renfe.com/es/en/viajar/prepare-your-trip/descuentos/mayores-de-60

I took a look at the group option. It starts at 4, but appears to be only for longer distance journeys. Here's the link if you want to explore it: https://www.renfe.com/es/en/viajar/prepare-your-trip/descuentos/grupos/grupos-de-4-a-9

There's lots more info to explore on the Renfe website. I hope this helps you with the planning of your train journey(s).

A big thank you to all for responding. Lo, thanks for your recommendation I went onto Reinfe's sight but apparently on the day I need to travel July 26 there are only three trains. Two go out at the same time, which, as you mentioned is too early, the other is too late for us.

The car is a great idea but because there are 4 of ladies we have too much luggage to even rent a car. It would have to be a mini van which would cost too much an throw our budget off.

At this stage the bus is looking good to me. Does anyone know if there is a way I can find out for sure if there will be a usable WC on the bus. I am ok to chance no WC but one of the ladies cannot.

Thanks again, Elizabeth

There are WC on the bus and yes by the back door which is in the middle of the bus. Hard to find as you can not really see the door, but it is on the ramp out of the door. I was not able to find it until I saw somebody use it. You can buy tickets for the bus on line and they are very inexpensive. I'm 63 I always need a WC! J

Does anyone know if there is a way I can find out for sure if there will be a usable WC on the bus.

I understand that the trains which come up are not convenient, and I understand that for at least one member of the group having a WC nearby is critical.

I am not convinced that by the time you travel that missing train which you like won't reappear. I notice that it is only committed to the 11h of June. On the 12th of June much of Europe has a train timetable change. Most of the trains often remain the same, but they have to be reloaded into the computer to be able to be sold.

At this point some have been and others not yet, for whatever reason. I'd be surprised that they would drop a train for the high travel season.

If you check back you may well find it mysteriously reappear. If so, you are all taken care of.

You'll certainly know in a couple of weeks as the 12th nears.

Regarding the highlighted question above, realize that although the intercity coaches that you are looking at have a built-in WC, it is very small, and there is only one of it. I don't think anybody can guarantee that the coach you board will have a usable WC, or that it will remain usable for the full journey. Problems happen, machinery can break, people can accidentally break or block the facility, and your friend may not be the only person in a similar position.

Toilets can break on trains too - decades of working UK and US ones tells me that - but at least the train has one in each or most coaches on the train. If one fails, use another. And it will be much bigger, and much nicer.

We all have to make compromises. It is difficult to know which way to decide often. I'm hoping to provide more information to help a considered decision.

Full disclosure - I am a stockholder in the company running ALSA buses.

I will repeat what I posted earlier: Sometimes there is a toilet on a bus but it is kept locked. If not having an accessible toilet is a deal-breaker, a bus is just not the way to go. The fact that some folks have had usable toilets on their buses is no guarantee that the specific bus you take will have one. A few years ago I was stuck on an otherwise-nice Italian bus without air conditioning for about 8 hours. That certainly wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.

My thanks to all who have taken their time to respond.

Nigel, I so appreciate your letting me know about the new schedule on June 12th. I can certainly wait until then and hopefully they will have a train late morning or early afternoon that will work for all of us. Best of all as you stated if one WC is closed there are others just a coach or two away. Knowing that in itself is a source of great relief, I was becoming so disillusioned with the whole train vs busses that I was ready to cancel out on going to Granada, but now I'm hopeful and looking forward to it again.

I am so appreciative to all for your guys input. I have a greater understanding and idea about trains and busses.
Thanks, Elizabeth

What Nigel said.

I took a look today and the schedule I referred to with the afternoon AVANT train is loaded through July 18th, just about 60 days from today. It may indeed not be available until after June 12th, but antsy me would check daily to see if the schedule is updated sooner than that. 😉