Rail Europe handles AVE train and some regional trains. What in the URL for booking the trip between Madrid airport & Atocha.
Alos I've read somewhere that if you book an AVE train portion that you are supposed to get a "transfer" ticket for use on a regional train. Anyone know how to get this transfer?
Do not buy from RailEurope. It will cost you extra money.
The trains to Toledo are not AVEs. I don't know whether buying a ticket on the Madrid-Toledo line qualifies you for free transportation from the airport into the city, but I suspect it does not. If you're flying into Madrid, it really doesn't make sense to buy a train ticket to Toledo ahead of time. It will not save you any money at all (Toledo ticket prices do not vary), and you cannot predict when your plane will land, how long it will take to get through Immigration, etc. Just go to the trains station at the airport when you arrive and buy your ticket there.
If you need tickets for later during your trip, you can buy from Renfe.com (can be a bit tricky, especially if you don't read Spanish) or loco2.com. I just looked at loco2, and it defaulted to payment in US $, charging me about 2.5% more than the official exchange rate. It allowed me to switch the currency to euros and then displayed the same fare I saw on the Renfe website. I don't know what would happen if I tried to complete the ticket purchase on loco2.
To repeat: Do not use RailEurope. It often doesn't list all the trains and often/always charges either higher prices or extra fees.
I've read somewhere that if you book an AVE train portion that you are supposed to get a "transfer" ticket for use on a regional train. Anyone know how to get this transfer?
You are referring to a "Combinado Cercanías" which basically means that when one buys an AVE ticket one gets a "combined" Cercanías train ticket which one can use to/from the train station.
In your case, if you want to travel from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Toledo, you'd need to take a bus, or a Cercanías train to Puerta de Atocha train station (explained on your other post) where you will transfer to an AVANT (high speed train, but not AVE) train to Toledo.
The cost for the Cercanías train ticket from the airport to Atocha is only €2.60, and the AVANT train ticket to Toledo is €13.90
You can check train schedules at Renfe.com
Enjoy your trip!
Priscilla, that is really helpful info!!!! Thank you.
We do feel pressured to get ticketed before we leave because there is a huge soccer match on 5/31-6/1 in Madrid. So we'll probably need to book separately through cercanias & Renfe, right?
The Renfe site lists several Madrid stations: the ones that seem to be on the line to Toledo are Barajas T4(the airport?), Atocha Cercanias(where the cercanias train arrives/departs Atocha?), Puerta Atocha & Toledo. I can get the last two to show trains & pricing but not the first two. What am I doing wrong?
So far as I can see, Renfe site does not have a map showing the various stations. Also it seems to only provide an option for a round-trip, i.e., I don't see the mechanism to take a one-way trip. Again, what am I missing?
Atocha Cercanias and Puerta de Atocha are two different sections of the same building. The Toledo train runs from the Puerta de Atocha section of the station to Toledo. You'll take a separate train from the airport to the Atocha Cercanias section of the station, then you'll need to find your way to the correct platform for Toledo.
Atocha Station is large, and I found it somewhat confusing. I can't help you navigate the station because I didn't use the train from the airport (I took the bus), and I didn't take the train to Toledo (bus again).
Sometimes there are uniformed Renfe personnel sort of wandering around--at least in the ticket lobby--and available to help lost tourists. If you show your Madrid-Toledo ticket to a Renfe person, they'll be able to point you in the right direction.
If you just want a one-way ticket, don't fill in a date in the "Return Date" block.
This is only a footnote to the above discussion: As usual, acraven's replies are thorough. Interestingly though, Rick on page 514 of his Spain 2019 states: "From Madrid by train to Toledo (AVE or cheaper Avant)." On page 610 Rick repeats it: "Toledo Connections from Toledo to Madrid: Nearly hourly, 30 minutes by AVE or Avant to Madrid's Atocha station." Not sure what's going on here: as I said, it's a minor footnote. As a further footnote, I happen to have tickets from Madrid to Toledo in a few weeks; and consistent with what acravens states, my tickets are not on AVE (although I do get there in just a bit over 30 minutes), certainly faster than the bus or by car.
Kent, thanks for you input
While I can find tickets from the Atocha Puerta station to & from Atocha on either Renfe or Rail Europe I can find no site that will sell/yield tickets for the local train from the airport (Madrid-Barajas) to the Atocha Cercanias. Can you provide a source for these tickets?
pfcoach,
While I can find tickets from the Atocha Puerta station to & from Atocha on either Renfe or Rail Europe I can find no site that will sell/yield tickets for the local train from the airport (Madrid-Barajas) to the Atocha Cercanias. Can you provide a source for these tickets?
Here's the information you need for the local train (Cercanías C-1 or C-10) from the Madrid- Barajas Airport to Puerta de Atocha station: aeropuertomadrid-barajas.com/transportation. Journey from T4 to Atocha station is 29 minutes.
Scroll all the way down and you'll find Renfe Cercanías. This website seems to be only in Spanish but you can easily check train schedules. You'll need the following information:
Having said all this, I'm pretty sure you cannot buy a ticket for the Cercanías train in advance (online), so just wait till you arrive to Terminal 4 and buy it at the Renfe office.
I'd also suggest waiting to buy your (round trip) train tickets (Madrid- Puerta de Atocha to Toledo) at the airport's Renfe office too. There are frequent trains running this route {usually hourly}
Here's a map/diagram of the Puerta de Atocha station. The Cercanías train arrives at the lower level [note red circle icon with backward white "C"] - see it on the cross section of diagram (top right of page). The AVANT train to Toledo will depart from an upper level but I don't recall which level. You can always ask a Renfe Representative (wearing a purple vest)
Hope this helps.
Priscilla, this info REALLY helps clarify the issue. We will wait till we arrive to get the Cercanias tickets & the ticket from Atocha to Toledo. However I am going to get our 5/31/19 ticket from Toledo to Atocha because of the soccer match.
Thank you again for all the help!!!!
pfcoach,
You’re welcome!
Here’s another helpful tip given to me by my friend Chani. If you don’t want to lug all of your luggage to Toledo, you can leave some of it in a secured locker at Puerta de Atocha train station.
My mom (88 at the time) and I stayed in Toledo at the end of our trip. I was tired of lugging our two carry-ons, so decided to combine our clothes into one bag, and left the other one in a locker for 5 days!😉
I wrote detailed instructions about left luggage at Atocha (a few years ago) on this post , if you’re interested.
Enjoy your trip!
Hi,
The C1 from the aeroporta to the train station is a snap. If you printed out your train tickets to Toledo in advance for the rest of your journey, you could present them to the person in the C kiosk and ask for free C1 tickets. Hey, it worked for us. And ours were not AVE tickets. If you get turned down, just ask to buy tickets, I recall them being 1Euro40 each. The C1 takes you into the train station. And you are at Platform 1 maybe 2, the other tracks work up from there.
Platforms for the specific trains get posted about 20 minutes in advance of departure, so don't get your stomach in a knot because it isn't on the board. Your ticket should have a train number (02985 or something) and if you reserved seats it will have a coach number (1 to 12) and a seat number (1 to 30 or so) Look up the Spanish words for platform, coach, and seat. It will make you feel better. Oh and in the station, a train listed as Primera (it will be obvious to you now, I no doubt have the spelling wrong) means ground floor and secunda (again spelling) means second floor. Maybe I have the words wrong, but the concept is obvious even to a non-Spanish speaker like me.
The "C" trains are different than the Metro system, but often run on the same tracks. The beauty of the C train is the price, the speed, and no changes midway. The metro requires a change of trains and takes twice as long or more. The special Airport Express bus #203 takes twice as long and costs three times as much.
wayne inWI, Just done it earlier this week
Wayne, many thanks for this detailed & specific reply.
Given your knowledge, what is your opinion on our situation. Our arrival time is supposed to be 11:30 AM on Tuesday, 5/28 from Portugal on TAP air (which I've seen reports about their not always being on schedule. So the first question is about getting Avant tickets (from Atocha to Toledo) on-line. My inclination now is to buy both the Cercanis & Renfe tickets at the airport when we have debarked.
Next is traveling from Toledo to Terminal 4 on Friday 5/31, which is the day before a major soccer championship match in Madrid; so our concern is crowding and/or no room on the trains coming from Toledo to Atocha. I'm inclined towards booking that Avant leg & then either getting the free Cercanias pass or buying a ticket from Atocha to Terminal 4.
What say you?
