Madrid to Barcelona how long of a train ride?

on www.renfe.es:

• 9 day trains, 4.75 hours, tourist class 65.80EUR

• 1 night train, 9.5 hours, 49.30EUR seat with sleeping berth

Both Madrid and Barcelona are easy to get to from the city center. Barcelona has trains to/from the city center, and Madrid has the Metro.

Spanair [www.spanair.com] has some prices that are cheaper than the train....but mostly those are very early or very late flights. And, especially for a morning flight....the metro/train to the airport might not be running early enough to get you to the aiport on time. If that's the case, you'd need to take a taxi or shuttle to the airport....and would thus need to figure that into the cost.

Personally, I'd take the train. If you figure getting to the Madrid airport two hours early, a one-hour flight, and getting to the center of Barcelona, you are probably over 4 hours anyway. The train takes you from the center of town to the center of town withut all the extra hassle.

Thanks Paolo

Is it easy to buy train tickets?

Would there be a big line up?

I think the train sounds best.

However, when I leave Lisbon for Madrid I think I will look into a flight?
It is 11 hours I hear.

You're welcome, Stew.

On the RENFE website, there is a button/link named "TIKNET", which enables you to buy tickets online for many of the train trips.

[in English: https://w1.renfe.es/vbi/indexu.html]

I used TIKNET in 2001 & 2003. If it's like it was then, you get a record number, which you submit at the ticket counter in a station to get the tickets. Maybe now you can print the tickets online [it would save waiting in line]

One quirk was that the first time you used a credit card to buy tickets, you had to pick them up before you could buy any more tickets with that credit card. So, in 2003, we needed to use two different credit cards to buy tickets for the two train trips. That policy might have changed, but maybe not.

One thing new since 2003 is that you can now buy tickets for overnight trains. We had to get a Spanish friend buy them for us and mail them to us.

I hope someone here can give more up-to-date information about using TIKNET.

Thanks again Paolo

I took a brief look at that TIKNET system.
That would be real handy to have tickets in advance.
I am not sure if the ticket is for a specific time I think you can make changes after the purchase?
thanks

5 hours on a train is more like all day when you figure in the time from leaving your room and arriving at your new one. Flying time is less than an hour, more like 4 door to door, but much less painful.

I flew from BCN to MAD, it was a complete cinch. We considered the train but wisely booked a budget flight. We were able to have a nice late dinner in Madrid w/out feeling like we had travelled all day.

Madrid metro is so ****ing well maintained and easy to navigate to all the terminals. Oh, it's fast & airconditioned, too.

Barcelona has an Aerobus leaving, like, every 15 minutes all day long to the city center.

Maybe for other airports but not in Spain. Unless you're strapped for cash take a flight. Madrid is the best!!!!

What airline fly from madrid to Barcalona?
I am flying from Lisbon to Madrid 55 euros, not bad.

I heard Madrid airport was a pain to get to and the planes either leave early in the morning(for Baracalona) where you have to take a taxi to the airport or they fly late at night. do you know if that is true? do you know what airline I should check out? I am taking Vueling from Lisbon.

thanks stew

Stew....Vueling flies four times a day Madrid-Barcelona...what you were told was that if you DO select the early morning flight, (usually the cheapest), you'll end paying more because of the cab fare. Check out the Vueling website yourself for flight schedules. Despite what an earlier poster says, it does take quite a bit of time to get to the airport via subway from downtown, usually with two transfers. It's doable, but, again, it's a tossup between the train and the plane. If you don't mind the hassle getting to and from the airports, then the plane will save you, maybe, about half an hour. But if you don't want the hassle, then take the train....it's a tossup, based on price and the convenience factor. I've done both, and prefer the train. When the AVE high speed link is opened just before Christmas, the train will have it, hands down, over planes....but their tickets aren't likely to be cheap.

Thanks Norm

I will look into the the difference between the 2.

Leaving early form Madrid by train I still should be in Baracalona early afternoon.

However, I am flying from Lisbon to Madrid as it is a 11 hour train ride. 55 euros to fly, not too bad.

You're right...rail communications links between Portugal and Spain are abysmal. Unless you have a car, plane is best between the two capitals, and bus or bus-rail between southern Spain and southern Portugal.

Iberia air has commuter flights from Madrid to Barcelona that takes over practically every hour.

I got my fare online at iberia.com and it was very cheap.

I guess it comes down to what you consider a hassle. Riding an air-conditioned metro for 30-40 minutes is not in my book, even if you had to transfer 3 times. BTW, you will have to take the metro anyways to get to the train station, eh?

For me, a hassle is being stuck on a rattling train for 5 hours w/ nowhere to go and scary, stinking bathrooms.

One other factor to think of is amount of luggage, and if you don't move well with it. If you have a lot to carry, I would concede to train travel :)

"stuck on a rattling train for 5 hours w/ nowhere to go and scary, stinking bathrooms"? Wow, you must have had an exceptionally bad trip...that's not the AVE service I've had between Madrid and Barcelona. I think it was more the un-airconditioned metro stations that got me the most, even with just one carry-on bag. Better five minutes to Atocha station than 40 minutes to the airport! I thought the scenery from the train was great...certainly better than metro tunnels, the inside of Barajas airport, and the blue skies 25,000 feet over Spain :)

Is it any big deal buying train tickets? Long lines?
I could buy on line? Would that be a good idea?
Has anybody had that experience?
thanks everyone is so helpful

I understood that a "bullet train" was to begin running from Barcelona to Madrid in about two hours. Maybe that is scheduled for later? Anybody know?

The AVE service is now in partial operation along the route. Full scale high speed service is to begin just before Christmas, cutting the time to 2:30 or 2:45.

Well, as you can see Stew, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

I think the only thing I can agree on with poster Norm is that there's more than one way to go between the cities.

He seems to have a thing for the train, while I can only speak from my experience.

Yes, a 40 minute metro ride compared favorably to 5 hours on a train car. He can cut it any way he wants, but as he pointed out earlier there's no difference between the two. Just preference.