My wife and I ages 66 and 65 will visit Barcelona, Seville and Madrid for 14 days starting Feb. 23. We want to travel via train between these cities.
I’ve found affordable tickets on Trainline.com. I believe this may be a reseller but I’m not sure. Has anyone used this site? We transfer in Madrid - how long should we allow for this transfer? On our long day from BCN to SVQ is it a better idea to make sure both trains - BCN to MAD and MAD to SVQ are with the same train company?
I was buying train tickets for Spain earlier today on Trainline. It is a reseller, but it is recommended for Spain, as there seems to be issues with the official site, Renfe.
This is a helpful site for train travel in Spain:
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-spain.htm
Sorry, I can’t help with your other questions.
In Spain, there are multiple train company options now. Renfe is the major company,
but you may also find tickets with Iryo and Ouigo (discount lines competing with Renfe).
I take it you are connecting in Madrid, but not staying in Madrid on one of the legs of your
trip?
Also, there are nonstop flights between Barcelona and Sevilla, which would turn your
itinerary into a triangle vs a back and forth, and perhaps save you some time.
If you decide to buy train tickets between Barcelona and Sevilla, as long as you don't
buy 2 separate tickets Barcelona-Madrid and Madrid-Sevilla, you should be fine even
if the 2 legs are with different companies.
FWIW, more than just a third party site, Trainline is an authorized agent for Renfe, the Spanish state rail system. Lots of people on here have used them, though honestly, I never really saw the need, going directly to the rail site.
They likely do offer some ease of use (people seem to have troubles with the Renfe site and US credit cards) and a bit of a "one stop shop".
I’ve used the Renfe IOS app to buy my train tickets and it has worked flawlessly. I would expect the same for the Iryo or OUIGO app/websites. Trainline works too but I find it simpler to go to the official seller.
