Toledo Madrid Barcelona- train travel?

Rail Europe does not currently offer Renfe's advance-discount tickets online, although they may have them by the end of this month. Currently, you can book discounts through www.Renfe.es with a lot of patience and trying their PayPal option (not US credit card) or another US agency that works more easily is www.petrabax.com/renfe. The cheapest rates go on sale about 2 months in advance of your travel date. There is not much difference between Club class (Premier) and Preferente (Comfort); the more expensive option includes parking at the train station, access to a conference room on the train, and other benefits that you don't need.

Remember that the Madrid-Barcelona AVE trip takes only 2.5 hours each way, and the connection to Toledo even less. I think that continuing to Toledo in one day makes sense, to minimize hotel moves.

I travel at least once per year Madrid to Toledo...25 minutes, and about 15 euros or so round trip. Tourist class...Your ticket will have the car number and seat number printed on them. Two days and one night will be good. I recommend the Posada de Manolo Hostal, adjacent to the cathederal..Great location and este.ablishment. Fantastic continental breakfast overlooking the cathedral as well.

Last fall I traveled from Madrid to Barcelona, about 50 euros (or maybe less) one way, tourist class. 2 and 1/2 hours. there is a snack car on the train. Two or three five minutes stops on the way. No need to pay extra. On both trains the seats are spacious, the comfort is enjoyable. There is a snack car on both trains to Toledo an Barcelona.

From the Barajas Airport (Madrid) to the Atocha Train Station you can take the Airport express bus, about five euors and 25 minutes. It picks you up in front of the airport terminal and delivers you to the train station. There are restaurants, etc. in the station where you can grab a bite to eat and get off your feet for a while.

Thank you HJ and Laura- your advice is helpful. If we only end up doing one night in Toledo is there another place near Madrid that we should be considering for a day or overnight trip? Or should we head over to Barcelona one day early and add a side/day trip from there?

Purchase second class AVE tickets and be amazed at the quality of travel received (comparable to business class air travel). Arrive at the train station 45 minutes early and you will be fine for clearing security and comfortably being on time.
Purchase train tickets via renfe site and save a bunch of money, but do research the purchase process using web base "how to" sites. Accomplish this and you should get multiple gold travel stars.
I advocate one night in toledo and then head to Barcelona as there is a wide diverse menu of opportunities to explore.
With minimum of four nights in Barcelona and madrid i strongly recommend renting an apt.
Personally, i advocate only three nights in madrid but that is personal taste.
What time of yea r are you going?
Also recommend taking day trips via train/metro from Barcelona. My favorite is Montserrat.

Do buy your Madrid/Barcelona ticket ahead of time from renfe. You get steep discounts for doing so. People are reporting that the Paypal option works pretty well now (renfe is notorious for not working with a US credit card easily). The Madrid/Toledo route is essentially like a commuter route. Even if you do get some discount for advance purchase, it would be minimal. Most people just buy their ticket at the station before they leave or a day ahead (lines can be long at Atocha). Buy your return ticket at the same time.

1 night in Toledo is adequate, 2 is wonderful. You could spend an extra night in Madrid and do a daytrip to Segovia (Roman aqueduct) or El Escorial (royal retreat palace). Or an extra night in Barcelona for a daytrip: Montserrat (beautiful mountain), Tarragona (Roman ruins), or Figueres (Dali Museum).

I personally would do Madrid first. Opinions vary of course, but I find the city itself to be underwhelming compared to others, though it offers excellent art museums and food. But absolutely no need to split up Madrid.

Absolutely buy your tickets from Renfe ahead of time to get the good discounts. Last year I got a ticket from Barcelona to Madrid about 50 days in advance for 39 euro. I chose Turista class, and it was wonderful. Lots of space, large tray tables, power ports at each seat, and they handed out earbuds and showed a movie. You really don't need any higher level of seating. I would also agree that it's a good idea to go on to Toledo on your arrival day. You can take the Airport Express bus to Atocha, and then on from there to Toledo. The bus from the airport to Atocha is less than 30 minutes, and the train from Atocha to Toledo is about 25 minutes, so you can easily get there in time for a little sightseeing before you crash for the night. Then you can go back and do your Madrid days before continuing on to Barcelona (am I assuming correctly that you are flying out of Barcelona?).

I would take a night away from Madrid in order to keep 2 nights in Toledo. It's an incredibly well preserved 16th–17th C city, and my favorite place in Spain.

But everyone will give you a different opinion. The only way to decide what's best for you is to make a list of what you want to do in each city and estimate how much time you're going to need to do it.

I support Sherry's counsel after considering you will arrive Toledo on the first day of your journey. Plus you mentioned a preference to enjoy a pace allowing absorbtion of experiences. Two nights in Toledo will allow you to unwind, enjoy and it can also be a romantic place in the evenings due to a 90% reduction in tourist. Suggest you splurge on the accomodations in Toledo.

Night train or no, two night in Toledo is the better deal. It's vastly superior IMO to Madrid (which is a new city, less history than Washington DC). Two nights will give you one full day to wander Toledo, which was our favorite "twisty street, medieval town" in Spain. I think it's fine to head directly to Toledo, but be careful about counting that as a day for accomplishing anything except adjusting to the time.

To get to Toledo, I don't think a fast train helps. It's a short enough trip, it's not worth the added cost. In fact, if you can catch a bus from around the airport (don't know if there's a handy option though), you would get there faster than taking a taxi or Metro to Atocha to catch a train to Toledo.

Fast train to Barcelona from Madrid does make sense (you could even plan a short stop in Zaragosa to see the center then hop on another train to get to Barcelona). I don't think a higher class ticket matters. It's a perfectly comfortable ride either way.

When we did this trip we started in Barcelona for 5 days, hopped the prepaid discount high speed train to Madrid and immediately to Toledo for 2 nights. This was a very easy transfer. We then ended up in Madrid. 2 nights in Toledo was very relaxing and the evenings were lovely.

Thank you for all the input. We booked 2 nights in Toledo at the previously recommended La Posada de Manolo, 3 nights in Madrid (an AC, we have Marriott points to use) and our AVE tickets to Barcelona (using the Renfe site, a bit challenging but completed using PayPal). Now we have 5 nights in Barcelona so I am looking for hotel recommendations there. I have been researching some in the RS book and some of them are filling up so I would like ideas on where to focus. We are not comfortable renting an apartment even though it would make more financial sense. In answer to a previous question- we are traveling Oct 5-16.

I'm not sure how Madrid could be said to have less history than Washington, DC, since it was well-established over 200 years earlier.