We are planning a somewhat confusing trip in September. We plan to meet our French friends in Madrid, drive to the south of Spain for about seven days. At the end of that time they will drop us off in Tarifa ( now it gets confusing)Our son & his wife are flying into Madrid & then will travel to meet us in Tarifa. We then plan to go to Tangers, come back & travel to Protugal for a couple of days , travel back to Madrid for a couple of days , up to Paris for about three days, back to Madrid & then fly home.
1. What is the best way for our son & his wife to get to Tarifa ?
2. What is the best way to get to go to Portugal?
3. Should we try to take the train back to Madrid or fly?
4. Any other suggestions?
Fleet
Posted by
back in the Americas
723 posts
In reference to your third question - I'd say fly. It's a long train ride from Lisbon to Madrid and not cheap. You can fly and be there in an hour. We got tickets for about 35 euros on Vueling, much cheaper than the train. Saved time and saved money. Check out the European discount airlines.
A couple of thoughts to help with your schedule:
Do you need to double-back to Madrid at the end of the trip? Can you fly into Madrid and out of Paris? Or have you considered going directly from Lisbon to Paris and then doing your days of siteseeing in Madrid at the end of your trip before flying back home - that is, if you already have RT tickets in and out of Madrid? It seems like you are doing a lot of backtracking that will cost you time and the expense of transportation. Maybe you can rearrange the order of your destinations. I can't help you with Tarifa. Enjoy your trip.
Posted by
Saanichton, B.C., Canada
68 posts
Fleet
To get to Tarifa, you need to take a bus from Algeciras. There is no train. Buses take about 30 minutes and are inexpensive.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Unfortunately, David is correct. Trains from Madrid take a little over five hours to get to Algeciras from Madrid, and there are only 2/day....one at 8:40 a.m., another at 3:05 p.m. And getting into Portugal is even tougher....a bus from Tarifa to Algeciras, a train or bus from Algeciras to Sevilla, then a bus from Sevilla into Portugal.....then, as mentioned, the overnight train ride from Lisbon back to Madrid. A better option might be a car rental. Your son and his wife could fast-train it to Sevilla and pick it up there, driving it to Tarifa...then the four of you could drive thru Portugal and back to Madrid. Or they could pick it up in Madrid, but it's a loooong drive to Tarifa (450 miles), and I, personally, wouldn't want to do that after an overnight plane flight. For four adults, it'll probably end up being cheaper than public transportation....and much more efficient.If they do take the train, they can book low web fares at the Spanish national railway site, RENFE. Click on "buy tickets" at the very top center, and you can purchase tickets up to 62 days out....but they do go fast. That can reduce a second class fare Madrid-Sevilla from 78 Euro to 46 Euro pp with their "Estrella" fares.