Hi everyone,
I will be flying into Barcelona airport, with my husband, from the U.S.A. this August and arriving at 11:30 am if there are no delays. I am wanting to take an AVE train to Madrid the day I arrive.
Would I be able to make it on time to Sants train station for a 2 pm train connection?
Or is it possible to not buy a train ticket ahead of time and just buy one when I get there?
PLEASE HELP. All recommendations are welcome.
P.S. recommendations for things to do in Madrid, Barcelona, and Ibiza as an extra all welcome too. Thanks.
Thanks in advance.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
You have no control over whether your plane in BCN is going to be on time, so you need to hedge your bet re when you will actually get to the train station. The downtown main train station is some distance from the airport in the burbs.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
I was in Madrid and Barcelona about a month ago, and I relied on Rick's Barcelona and Madrid guidebooks. The Spain guidebook is a thousand pages, but you can get separate smaller guidebooks for Barcelona and Madrid, lightening your load. He's got it all described in those.
Posted by
Salt Lake City, UT (Previous Seattle, WA)
315 posts
Get the Renfe app, you will be able to buy a ticket the day of arrival.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thanks everyone. The app is a great idea.
Is it better to stay in Barcelona and catch a train to Madrid another day? It seems that will take away the stress. I hadn't considered that before.
Posted by
Barcelona + Sweden
4180 posts
Hi, I would recommend you just buy the AVE ticket at Sants once you get there, so that you will not risk missing your train. There are many daily departures for the AVE to Madrid, like every hour. It should not be too difficult to do it all on the same day. There is a train the goes directly from terminal 2 at el Prat airport to Sants station, takes about 20 min.
Posted by
Washington DC
28090 posts
Carlos's plan is the efficient way to handle it. To see how much that efficiency is going to cost you, go to renfe.com and price an AVE ticket from Barcelona to Madrid for today or tomorrow. Assume you'll pay the highest price you see. Now price the ticket for your actual Day 2. The cost difference is the price you pay for not having to check into Barcelona hotels twice on this trip--which is definitely worth something. A second benefit is that moving on to Madrid on Day 1 allows you to accomplish something very useful on Day 1 so you don't have to waste time doing that on a day when you aren't jetlagged.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
That is helpful. It seems that I might be able to make it on time to the train station with 3 hours in between.
Waiting to buy the train tickets the day off is looking to be very expensive. I would rather not have to do that just because of the price. :(
I'm still struggling to decide. I'm wanting to take the risk and just book a train ticket for 2:30 pm the day of arrival or traveling another day.
Posted by
Alpharetta, Ga, USA
277 posts
Just always remember, it doesn't happen a "lot", but always possible. We spent 2 hours on a ground hold at JFK about 3 weeks ago. My daughter spent 11 Plus hours on the ground at Goose Bay in January - and never made it to her destination. These are extremes, but be prepared to lose the value of your advance discount train tickets w/o complaining.