We are going to need to take a train from Barcelona to Madrid on April 8 in the afternoon. What train do you recommend and should we buy tickets here in U.S. or when we are in Barcelona?
Posted by
Dreaming of my next trip to Europe
273 posts
I bought my tickets for the that route on May 16 last week. You get the best fares buying 62 days in advance. I couldn't get the renfe site to work so I used rumbo.es. Had to call my credit card company & advise them I was buying from Spain while in the US as the first time it didn't go through. It looks like the fares have already gone up for that date and you can actually get a "preferente" ticket for less than a "turista" ticket. About 125 euro
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17442 posts
The fast AVE train s run hourly from Barcelona to Madrid, making the journey in 3 hours or less. Discounted fares of 40 to 60 percent off are available for advance purchase, but those fares are gone for afternoon trains on April 8. There are some Estrella fares left for early morning trains, which would save you 40 euros or more per adult ticket. You should explore the train website Renfe.Com to see and understand your options. Go to " purchase tickets" to see the actual fares for trains that day. If you are taking a train with no remaining discounted tickets, there is no advantage to buying them now. You can buy them there when you arrive in Spain.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17442 posts
Ambrosia and I were posting at the same time. She is correct that there are still some discounts for preference tickets, making them cheaper than a turista ticket. So there still could be an advantage to buying in advance.