Transport b/t Seville and Madrid

We took a couple trains between the Madrid airport and Sevilla Santa Justa. The trip from Madrid Atocha to Sevilla was a little under 3 hours. There are a couple quick stops. One in Cordoba and I can't recall the other stop. We felt it was very easy, scenic and quite relaxing. For you, the reverse, a 3 hour train ride from Sevilla to Madrid Atocha train station. You will have to switch trains at Atocha, from your high speed AVE train to a local Madrid train, cercanias, to get to the airport. With the AVE ticket, the cercanias train is typically free. Atocha is a larger train station and it might sound overwhelming but it really isn't complicated. The train ride from Atocha to the airport was about 20 minutes and they leave relatively frequently (maybe 10 minutes). At the airport you may have to take the free airport shuttle (blue and green bus) to get to your terminal. To save a fair amount of money, you might want to purchase the ticket for Sevilla to Madrid in advance.

Regardless of the mode of transportation, train or plane, just be sure you are in Madrid the night before your flight.

The train schedule won't be much different from what you see online for nearly any day in January, e.g., direct trains run about hourly and take 2.5 hours. If you'll travel early on a Saturday or Sunday, then look at the same day of week. See additional resources at Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online.

When you have Rick's Spain book to go with your tour, you can read there about transfer options to the airport, or on the airport web site. The train connection from Madrid P. Atocha station takes about 30 minutes, plus allow at least that much time to navigate the train station itself, and the train only arrives to airport Terminal 4. If your flight is from a different terminal, it's simpler to take the direct Expres Aeropuerto bus from outside Atocha station (40 min plus connection time).

I see on your tour that you will not be going to Cordoba. Since your Day 11 is just breakfast, and the tour is finished, I would recommend taking the train to Cordoba. Stop overnight, if possible. The town has the Mezquita, an interesting old town section that’s walking distance from the train station, and an interesting bridge to walk on during the day or lovely in the evening. In May, the white & blue patios overflowing with flowers should also be on your list. We stayed overnight at the Cordoba NH Amistad hotel in the Jewish neighborhood, and it was a very nice hotel.

The next day you can take the train to Madrid.

For transportation from the Atocha station in Madrid to the airport, we were waiting for the airport express bus that Laura mentioned. A taxi stopped at the bus stop and offered to take us and another couple to the airport for the same price as what we would have paid for the airport express bus. This was even handier, and he left us at the terminal we wanted.