Overnight train travel from Lisbon to Madrid

I think your problem is that new train timetables throughout much of Europe will go into effect on 14 December. Until those timetables are uploaded for Portugal and Spain, you won't be be to book beyond 13 December. I went to raileurope.com and did a dummy booking (with railpass) for your train. No luck for 14 or 15 December. Success for 13 December.

For the life of me, I cannot imagine a good reason why anybody would take the train between these two cities (even if you have a railpass and the ticket was almost "free"). The flights are cheap and quick. Seems like one's time would be more valuable, no? Have you looked into a discount airline (e.g. Veuling, etc.)? If not, I think it's really worth considering.

Lisbon to Madrid is an overnight service, thus you're not really wasting time. In fact you will be sleeping through most of it and departing/ariving from city center to city center. Getting from point A to B isn't always about what's cheapest or fastest, sometimes it can be about what's least stressful, meeting other people (more conducive on a train), the scenery and simply more fun. Airports are never fun.

Yes, all that may be true (although I think there are some contradictions in there too - it's an overnight train, so you won't be enjoying any scenery in the dark, and if you're sleeping through most of it, you opportunities to meet people may be limited, etc.). But I'm still not convinced this route makes sense on a train. The flights are quite inexensive, quick, and getting to/from the Lisbon and Madrid airports is pretty painless (I've been to both recently). Given the amount of time (and money) the train takes, I still would pick the flight - I'd rather have an evening in Lisbon or Madrid to enjoy a nice meal and a real good night's sleep in a real bed (I've tried the overnight train experience before, and did not find it particularly restful). Obviously tastes will vary. I'm just saying that in this case, I think the flight makes more sense. YMMV.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I know the flights are cheap and quick. I like riding the trains. I fly a lot in my job, so I try to avoid it when I'm on vacation. And you do meet people on the night trains. I have always met people and have always enjoyed the city lights from the my window.

Last year my husband and I used Vueling Airlines for a very quick,reasonable, convenient, and reliable flight ... back and forth from Madrid and Lisbon. We highly recommend it and would do it the same in a heartbeat.