We are off to Bilbao from Madrid on aug 6th and we leave san sebastian to return to Madrid on the 24th. We have a car in the interim. When we are in Bilbao, we want to to Guernica to which we will also use the train. Thanks for any help.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
If you need one of the high speed trains, for example AVE, it's required to book reservations in advance.
Also, there are two train stations in Madrid, know which one you need to go to. There has been a continuing problem with the ticket machines (unmanned machines) at Spain train stations not accepting American credit cards, but if that happens you can get in line and buy tickets from a person.
Posted by
Washington DC
28104 posts
Don't worry about the trip to Guernica. That's Euskotren, and I don't think there are discounts for advance purchase or assigned seats. You can buy the tickets shortly before departure. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure there's a way to buy those tickets before you get to the Basque Country.
For the long-distance trips you might save a modest amount of money by buying in advance, and you won't need to worry that the train you want to take is sold out. There seem to be limited good connections between Madrid and Bilbao.
A bigger issue, to my mind, is that buying long-distance tickets in person at Madrid's Atocha Station is ludicrously time-consuming if you for some reason cannot use the vending machines--which would be the case if you had senior-discount cards or a credit card the machines did not like.
If you decide to buy the long-distance tickets before leaving home, you may find it easier to use loco2.com rather than Renfe's website, which can be flaky about some US credit cards and is prone to switching from English to Spanish midway through the transaction. Loco2 (so far) doesn't charge extra for tickets or have a service charge. RailEurope sometimes doesn't offer tickets for all the trains.
Posted by
OP
100 posts
Thanks a lot