Seeking Advice on Transportation Options for Trip to Madrid / Toledo (?)+ Cordoba/Seville + Granada

Posted by Julie R. on 02/04/17 10:39 AM

i’m planning my first trip to Spain. I’ll be traveling with my husband (he and I are older parents) and our 15 son. I have a couple of questions about transportation in Spain, and a Q about Toledo.

We would like to spend about 9 nights in the second half of June with my main focus on Seville/ Cordoba and Granada. We’d like to spend about 3 - 4 nights in Seville/Cordoba and 2-3 nights in Granada.

Based upon great advice from this community, I’m setting Barcelona aside for another trip, and will probably fly to Madrid (from Washington Dulles).

If we fly into Madrid, should we stay the first night in Toledo or Madrid? We’re flying in from D.C.

After one night (Madrid or Toledo), we’ll go to Cordoba/Seville. Should we take the high speed train or drive? A reason to drive would be to spend a night in Toledo. But the train is much better for us for long drives. So I guess one question here is how easy is it to train to Toledo and then train down to Cordoba / Seville?

If we travel by train, when we arrive in Seville/Cordoba, should we rent a car to drive about the 3 or 4 nights we are there, and then drive over to Granda? If Granada is 4 hours approx. my husband is fine with the drive, we can stop along the way. Or should we take train / public transportation in this region?

When we leave Granada we plan to go back to Madrid for 1 or 2 nights before flying home. I’m assuming high speed train, but is flying a reasonable option?

Many thanks for the advice. Julie

Posted by Carol

Atlanta, GA, USA

02/04/17 11:30 AM

2749 posts

Sevilla is an old city with tiny winding roads (at least in the area you want to tour.). A car is going to be useless and a lot of hotels don't even have parking. I'd wait and rent one on your way out of town to Granada.

The rest of your trip is best by train. Yes you have to come back to Madrid from Toledo to go to Sevilla but it's still easier and probably faster than driving.

Posted by Julie R. OP

02/04/17 12:08 PM

16 posts

When we stay in Seville/Cordoba I'm not sure which one we'll stay in, or even if between, but I'm wondering is transportation available to get around between the two places fairly easily w/out a car? Thanks.

Posted by Harold

New York, NY, USA

02/04/17 01:47 PM

11294 posts

Between Seville and Cordoba the train works very well. There are Avant trains, which are as fast as the AVE (90 minutes) but much cheaper.

From either Seville or Cordoba to Granada, you can take a train or a bus. Buses in Spain are much nicer than Greyhound in the US; you get a reserved seat. The bus from Cordoba to Granada takes about 3 hours.

As Carol said, the train from Toledo only goes to Madrid Atocha station; you then change in Madrid for all other destinations in Spain. However, the train for Cordoba and Seville (on the same train line), also leaves from Atocha. Atocha has trains leaving from two levels, and to get on high speed trains you have to go through security (not as onerous as at the airport; your bags are x-rayed and your tickets are checked, but you don't go through a metal detector). If you are arriving at one level and departing from the other, you don't have to leave the secured area; instead, ask for the elevator between the departures lounges on the two different levels (it's outside the lounge, near the high numbered tracks).

For getting back to Madrid from Granada, you can fly or take the train. Right now, they are working on the high speed train connection to Granada. So, you take a bus from in front of the Granada train station to Antequerra, where you change to the train to Madrid (it's all run by the train company and all coordinated). Even with the need for this change, it may still be easier than flying, particularly when you figure in the time and money it takes to get from the airports to the center (particularly on the Madrid end). Look at Skyscanner for flights https://www.skyscanner.com/ and Bahn for train schedules http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, and compare.

I find Bahn (German rail) easier to use for schedules than Renfe (Spanish rail), but you will need Renfe for prices http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html. You will also need the tutorial from Tripadvisor if you want to buy advance tickets at a substantial discount (and to be assured of a ride, since some trains can sell out) https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187514-c80518/Madrid:Spain:Buying.Renfe.Tickets.Online.html