Will be travelling in Spain late Sept./early October. We are planning 2 day trips by train - Madrid to Toledo and Seville to Cordoba. My question is whether I should book our train tickets ahead of time (i.e. now) or whether we should be able to get our tickets at the stations the morning of our departures. Thanks.
Posted by
Paris
7304 posts
For Toledo, there is no need to prebook. The price does not change and there is good availability even on the same day.
This said, it would make your life easier to buy online the night before so as not to deal with ticket machines at the station. The station in Madrid is Atocha.
For Cordoba, there are 3 types of trains:
- slower, cheaper "MD", still fast enough for a day trip. They do not sell out, no need to book early
- faster Avant, same type of train as the ones to Toledo, typically does not sell out, but I would buy the day before for convenience
- marginally faster still AVE, but way more expensive and does sell out. I would not use those for Sevilla-Cordoba
So, in a nutshell: I would not buy now, but I would not buy at the station either. Buying the day before is easier.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2029 posts
Actually, I am in Madrid at the moment and the return train we were on last night from Toledo to Madrid was completely sold out. I advise pre-booking train tix online at www.TheTrainline.com or at Petrabax.
For Seville to Cordoba check www.IRYO.com and The Trainline. There is nothing to be gained except disappointment by waiting to buy your train tix in Spain.
Have a great Trip!
Posted by
Washington DC
28100 posts
Rick has been warning about sold-out trains on the Toledo line (especially the return segment) for many years. I wouldn't wait until the day of travel myself. For day trips, you really don't want to lose 1 or 2 hours (or more), nor do you want to have to scramble and switch to a bus which is a lot slower.
I have seen many, many "Full Train" notifications on the Madrid-Seville route, which passes through Cordoba. Since AVANTs are usually a lot less expensive than AVEs if you don't buy much ahead of time, and the travel time isn't much longer, I don't see why the AVEs would be more likely to sell out; I'd expect the reverse. There are only two full trains for today and tomorrow heading to Cordoba, and they are both mid-afternoon AVANTs.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
For Toledo, I’d do the night before, at least. Renfe’s app is easier than the website. Those tickets are (or two years ago were) flexible, so I’d buy a later return, and maybe charge it to earlier, if you wrap up more quickly.
Sevilla/Cordoba I’d also book the night before, just to have it out of the way. One more renfe option is the Avlo, their low-cost high-speed train. OuiGo and Iryo also serve the route, so there’s loads of capacity on that line.