Train Tickets

There are generally some hoops to go through when purchasing on line but not impossible. What sells out is the discount tickets. The train itself, rarely if ever, sells out. If over 60 you can get a senior discount card at any train station (6E) that gives a 40% weekday/25% weekend discount on the walk up fare. You can easily buy at El Corte but the discount tickets will probably be gone by then so you would pay the base or full fare. However, purchasing discount tickets has one draw back in that these ticket are no change and no refund should you change your mind about the travel times. The discount on-line are greater than the card but the card allows a lot of flexibility.

Thank you so much, that helps a lot. I was afraid they would sell out.

Cindy

Yes, Renfe's website is a bit of a hassle to use, but the discounts are substantial. If you do want discount advance tickets, here are my tips:

1) You will need the invaluable tutorial from TripAdvisor: http://tinyurl.com/cu48wk5

2) To find all connections for your Toledo to Madrid to Seville route, you should first look on Bahn (German rail) http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, using Rick's advice: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules

For some reason, when I needed to go from Toledo to Madrid to Barcelona, the Renfe site only showed two connections that day, while the Bahn site showed many. I ended up booking Madrid to Toledo round trip, then a separate ticket Madrid to Barcelona, with one hour in between. As a bonus, the Madrid to Toledo ticket had a slight discount for round trip.

3) Don't even try to use your credit card to buy the ticket on Renfe's website - use PayPal from the get-go.

In the end, I was able to book the tickets, but I realized it took me FIVE websites to do so (Renfe, Bahn, PayPal, TripAdvisor - and Rick Steves to tell me about the others!) It did work fine after all that.

And no matter how you book your ticket, changing in Madrid Atocha Station from your inbound train from Toledo to your outbound train to Seville may require changing levels. If it does, ask for the elevator connecting the departures lounges; if you use this elevator, you don't have to go through security again and you won't get lost (so definitely preferable to the alternative).

Cindy,
You can certainly get your train tickets at the travel agency inside El Corte Inglés, department store, or you can get them at the Renfe ticket office at the airport when you arrive, or you can buy them online.

Your travel routes are very simple.

You may check train schedules here: http://www.renfe.com
Make sure to refer to Harold's link for TripAdvisor's tutorial which is very informative.
When booking your tickets on the Renfe site, make sure you pay with your PayPal account, not with your CC.

Madrid to Toledo:

• There is no need to book these train tickets in advance as there is no discount for doing so.
• You will take the AVANT train, from Puerta de Atocha station directly to Toledo & vice-versa.
• Travel time = 33 minutes. €12,90 pp

Madrid to Sevilla:

• You may consider booking these tickets in advance for a discounted
  price.

• You will take the AVE train from Puerta de Atocha station, directly to Sevilla Santa Justa station.

You don't mention Sevilla to Granada, so I don't know if you plan to drive, but you can certainly take a bus or train.

Granada to Madrid:

• You may also consider booking these tickets in advance for a discounted price.
• Keep in mind that there are railway renovations presently around Granada, so there is no direct train running this route.
• This ticket is a BUS-AVE combination which means traveling by bus from Granada to Antequera, then transferring to an AVE train, which will take you to Madrid (Puerta de Atocha station)

**Did you book your tickets to the Alhambra yet? If not, you may consider doing so ASAP.

Have a wonderful trip!

EDIT: Cindy, I forgot to mention something. If you'd prefer not to lug around all of your baggage to Toledo, you may want to store some of it at the Puerta de Atocha station. We decided to take advantage of this (Thanks to Chani's advice) when we visited Toledo this past October & it was a great idea!

The issue on renfe.com is that you can't use credit cards.
Paypal works very good.

I just bought some last week. The discount 60 days ahead was 50% off the regular price.

I easily purchased on the Renfe site using PayPal!

Note that in high season the preferente tickets for Madrid to Toledo in the morning will likely sell out, and the turista tickets sometimes do, too, so even though there's no price advantage to purchasing ahead of time, there is still some reason to get them ahead.

We have used the bus to Toledo. It is just as convenient and only slightly slower but a lot cheaper. Don't be afraid to use the buses in Spain. The rail system is not as extensive as in most of Europe so an excellent bus system is in place. We actually used more buses than train the last time we were in Spain.

Cindy,
Avirosemail makes a good point regarding availability of train ticket from Madrid to Toledo in high season.

As far as I know, the AVANT trains don't have 1st class seats, they are all "Turista" seats ( 2nd class), however, the seats are comfortable & it's only a 33 minute ride. ;-)

When I wrote this on my previous post, I should have been more clear:

There is no need to book these train tickets in advance as there is no discount for doing so.

Here is my clarification:

You don't need to book these train tickets in advance online (from the US), but I do think
it's a good idea to purchase these tickets a few days in advance, once you arrive to Spain.
It's also recommended to buy your return tickets at the same time you buy your inbound tickets.

Have a wonderful trip!

Just a few weeks ago I used the Renfe site in Spanish to purchase tix for May, about the same time as you are there. It worked fine. On the TA page named above there are English translations for some words & phrases, if that is helpful or necessary. I also used PayPal. I got the tickets and they are now in Wallet on my iPhone! Have a great trip!

Thank you again to everyone who replied. Pricilla, thanks for the tip about lockers for bags. We always travel light, just one small carryon bag on wheels per person, and I use Rick's day bag with the pocket for I-pad. Love that, if I pack carefully that is all I need even on the flight over.

Cindy