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Travel to/from Granada

We have booked our train tickets for Spain for this September through loco2.com mainly because we were concerned with the issues reported with the Renfe website and all the tickets and prices so far seem to match. However, we are very confused about the logistics of traveling in and out of Granada.

  1. Is it possible to reach Granada by train or only by bus?

  2. We are trying to purchase tickets from Madrid to Granada on Sept 11th. The Renfe website lists options with train from Madrid to Antequera then bus to Granada. Other websites such as loco2.com and Deutsche Bahn only list train options (no bus). Our hotel in Granada suggested we could take the bus direct from Madrid to Granada through www.alsa.es .

  3. We already purchased tickets from Granada to Ronda on Sept 13th because the train trip was listed on both renfe.com and loco2.com. Our hotel in Granada tells us it should be all by train because that is how it is listed on the renfe.com website. However, we noticed that this trip goes through the Antequera station and are now wondering if this is a valid ticket or if we will be needing to take the bus for this route as well?

Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

Posted by
1305 posts

There is a long running project to build a new high speed railway to Granada, which until it is finished (if it ever is) means that between Antequera and Granada you currently change to a bus "replacement service".

The bus though is provided by Renfe, so you get off the train and then get on their bus, which takes you to Granada's railway station (not the bus station and not the same as booking a coach service to Granada).

Deutsche Bahn for example probably just show this as a train all the way because Renfe run trains (except for this particular journey a portion means you get off the train and use a bus instead). Renfe rune the service so they probably make clear that a segment is by bus, not train. Apart from that they are both referring to the same journey.

Some local rail services are now due to be leaving Granada and going direct, so it is possible you have one of those for Ronda.

Posted by
5294 posts

Jill,
Due to ongoing construction of the railway around Granada ( since April 2014!) any train journey to/from Granada will entail traveling by bus to/from Antequera’s train station.

The bus is provided by Renfe, so your ticket to Ronda is valid.

In other words, you’ll board a bus at the train station in Granada, then you’ll transfer to a train at the Antequera train station, and vice versa if traveling in reverse.

You can certainly take the ALSA bus directly from Granada to Madrid, but you’ll need to go to the bus station which is located on the outskirts of Granada.
We took the ALSA bus from Córdoba to Granada then again from Granada to Sevilla. We took a taxi to the bus station, and the cost was only € 8-10 ( October 2015).

I do hope you’ve already booked your Alhambra tickets.

Have a wonderful trip!

Edited to add...
Oops! I just realized that I misread your post, however the information I gave you still makes sense. You can take the ALSA bus from Madrid to Granada, and then you’ll need to take a city bus or a taxi ( from the bus station which is located on the outskirts of Granada) to the city center.
Enjoy!

P.S.

Here’s a recent post you may be interested in reading: Train to Granada unavailable due to construction?