We will be traveling in first class on a few Alvia trains and an AVE and I'm told that we will be given meals. Can anyone tell me what to expect of these meals, and are there options? Such as: is it a box lunch, or a real meal on a plate, or something in between? My husband does not eat red meat, will there be a vegetarian option available, or is it possible to request vegetarian in advance? Is it served at your seat or do you move to a dining car? Anything else that I should know? Thanks.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16312 posts
For others reading this, if you book your tickets on Renfe (the Spanish rail site) you are given the option of choosing a particular menu---vegetarian, gluten-free, and so on. I believe kosher is there too but I'd have to go back and check.
Posted by
Coppell, TX USA
284 posts
Good questions. Did you have an option when you purchased your ticket? If not, maybe try contacting the rail company to see or you might have to wait to ask until you get on the train. Vegetarian in Spain will take some work. Edwin
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Elizabeth, if you go to seat61.com and click on Spain there is even a little 4 minute video of the Spanish train experience. Not only is there a bar car & dining car, there is even a handsome young man who looks longingly at a pretty girl across the way. Guess you take your chances on the vegetarian matter.
Posted by
naches, wa, usa
182 posts
last year i took a night train from barcelona to granada. served in the dinner car. i had 5 or 6 choices for dinner at least two were vegetarian. on an ave train from granada to madrid i had breakfast which was largely vegetarian. served in my seat. i thought the food on these trains surpassed anything i had in holland, germany, italy, etc...have fun, be safe.
Posted by
OP
San Diego, CA
133 posts
We will be traveling on day trains only, can only hope that all of our fellow passengers are as attractive and amiable (and the children as well-behaved) as those in the video lol. We are using Rail Passes and when making reservations I spoke to someone at Rail Europe who told me that we would get meals, which she thought were served at the seat, but she didn't know any details. After the trip I'll come back to answer this question. Thanks to all for your helpful replies.
Posted by
OP
San Diego, CA
133 posts
We were given meals on most of the first-class trips except for the Barcelona to San Sebastian leg. All of those meals were served at our seats. The food was slightly better than that served on a trans-Atlantic flight in economy class.
Posted by
Adelaide, SA, Australia
977 posts
One of my funniest travel stories entails eating on a Spanish train. My daughter and I were travelling from Salamanca to Toulouse. It was full dining car service.
Our Spanish is not even minimal, it's non-existent. As the menu, obviously, was in Spanish, it was a struggle. The waiter didn't speak English and when I pointed to an item on the menu and indicated with various gestures 'What is this please'? He flapped his arms up and down rapidily several times. So we went ahead and ordered the dish and from that day to this, we have absolutley no idea what type of bird we ate!!!