Train from Madrid to Granada

Posted by SandyD on 02/08/20 04:10 AM

Hello,
I'll be in Madrid in March or April and want to travel from Madrid to Granada by train. I've searched online and the latest post I found was in 2019 so hoping for some new details. The usual route is a train from Madrid to Antequera-Santa Ana railway station and then a bus from the train station to Granada; I believe this was because the train route from Antequera to Granada was still under construction. When I try to book tickets on Rail Europe or Renfe from Madrid to Granada, the destination is shown as simply Granada.

-Does this mean that there is now a direct train from Madrid to Granada (without the bus transfer)?
-Is the destination the Granada railway station?

Thanks for reading and would love to hear from anyone who has made this trip via train.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

02/08/20 04:26 AM

28085 posts

Trains are now running through to Granada. In addition to the direct trains, there are other trains requiring a connection in either Cordoba or Antequera, according to the Deutsche Bahn website. Renfe is a bit flaky about connections and only seems to show the direct trains. [This information based on an Internet search; I haven't take a train between Madrid and Granada.]

You'll almost certainly pay more if you buy from RailEurope rather than Renfe. If you have trouble with the Renfe website (which some people do), you may find trainline.com to be a bit cheaper than RailEurope; I'd at least do a price comparison.

Posted by David

Huntsville, AL, USA

02/08/20 04:54 AM

8319 posts

Another option is to take the non-stop bus--like we did in June. The buses are plush, comfortable and take 4 1/2 hours to make the trip.

Posted by SandyD OP

02/08/20 04:54 AM

3 posts

Thank you so much for the info acraven!

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

02/08/20 05:14 AM

28085 posts

Although I wouldn't hesitate to take the bus if the timing of the trains didn't work for me, the direct trains are about an hour faster than the buses, and the train stations in Madrid and Granada are a bit closer than the bus stations to the centers of those cities

Posted by SandyD OP

02/08/20 02:45 PM

3 posts

Thank you all for the info...very helpful!

Posted by E.S.

Colorado

02/09/20 11:13 PM

15 posts

It's good to know that the direct route of Madrid Atouch station-Granada station is running now--based on the information from Deutche Bahnhof website-- but has anyone actually taken the train recently?

Posted by Georg

Waukesha, WI

02/12/20 07:26 PM

6 posts

We made that trip last October. Purchased tickets on 27-JUL-2019 through Loco2. Two 1st-class promo seats to print at home ($90.50 total). There was no service fee at the time, but now they are part of Raileurope.

AVE #2146 - Sat 05-OCT-2019. 14:36 Madrid Atocha - 17:52 Granada

Got to Atocha about an hour early via Cercanias from Sol. Enjoyed the jungle atrium and chatted with a Canadian couple (very useful tips on hiking in Ronda) who were waiting for another train. Clearing security was a non-event and the train loaded efficiently through two gates. The train sat for a while outside Madrid (presumably for the tracks to clear) and rolled into Granada a little late. Very comfortable and stress free. Don't waste time getting off the train as there is a long line for taxis, although they started showing up in bunches and the line moved quickly.