Hi, I am planning to catch a high speed train from Madrid to Barcelona in June. Is it necessary to buy tickets way in advance or can I purchase at station a few days before? While in Madrid I plan to do some day trips by train to Toledo and Segovia, will I need to purchase these tickets in advance? Thank you.
Posted by
Washington DC
28085 posts
You will probably pay a lot more for the Barcelona ticket if you wait to buy it until a few days before the trip. It's also possible that one or more of the day's trains will be sold out at that point.
Prices vary on the Madrid-Segovia trip as well, but it's shorter and much less expensive, so you may decide the flexibility is worth the moderate extra expense. A roundtrip ticket will probably be cheaper than two one-way tickets.
For Toledo, fares do not change. Again, you'll probably save money on a roundtrip ticket. The only risk on the Toledo trip is that those trains require seat reservations, and they can sell out. Rick warns about that, specifically with respect to the later return trips each day. This might be an even greater risk if you're traveling on a weekend or around a holiday.
You can check schedules and fares on Renfe.com. If your dates aren't on sale yet, try again in a day or two. If you want to buy before leaving home, you'll probably need to use PayPal as your payment method. because the Renfe website doesn't like US credit cards.
Another possible ticket source is trainline.eu, where you shouldn't have any payment issues.
Posted by
Barcelona
64 posts
Barcelona Madrid ticket usually get sold out quickly, so prebook in advance at www.renfe.com NOW. To toledo it isn't necessary although some AVANT's might be sold out, to Segovia it is good to prebook in advance, as when you prebook in advance, fares are super cheap with Promos and Mesas.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15788 posts
There is often big demand for the morning and late afternoon/evening tickets to Toledo since it's a very popular day trip from Madrid. You can buy the tickets a few days in advance at any train station. If you wait to buy on the spot, you may find the next train is sold out, and you may also have a long wait in a ticket line in Madrid.
Posted by
Spain
162 posts
For June travel I would recommend you buy your tickets in advance. They will be cheaper that way. The Renfe website is really touchy and many people have a lot of difficulty using it. You can't book more than 90 days in advance, so try buying the tickets like 60 days ahead. The Ave train to Barcelona will be cheaper the sooner you buy it. Pay special attention to the length of time the train takes. There will be many train times from Madrid to Barcelona, and some will have AVE, but there are 2 different AVE trains, you want the fastest one - the other one makes stops - it will be indicated in the details, so PAY ATTENTION!! Look three times before you buy to make sure you have the right train!
Yes, buy your day trips in advance as well. Especially to Toledo, everyone wants to do that day trip and the seats sell quickly.
Posted by
36 posts
We just bought train tickets from Madrid to Toledo for May 28th. Easy and cheap. I think around 10 euro each way and it seemed that trip was only about half an hour. Good luck....
Posted by
54 posts
Yes, buy your tix from a Madrid to Barcelona ASAP for best price and selection. Definitely can sell out if you wait. If you want to wait on the Toledo tix, you can get them a day or two in advance once you’re in Madrid. Corte Ingles ( large dept store downtown) has a travel agent and you can walk in and get your tix there. That way you don’t risk your train being sold out. They add a very small fee- maybe a euro or two. Easy peasy.