renfe schedule :madrid - barcelona

Renfe hasn't followed the 62 day rule for over a yea now. Sometimes fares show sooner, more often later. They are showing Preferente fares up to Dec. 13 now, so maybe if you wait a week, you will find them.

But are you sure you want Preferente? The seats in Turista are perfectly comfortable, and the meal we were served when we did travel Preferente was not edible.

Thanks for the info and for the advice re turista vs preferente. Certainly something for us to consider. This will be our first time in Spain and we are not sure what to expect.

Ah, the eccentricities of the RENFE website. As you have found with turista only being released recently,it is expectation only for 'normally released 62 days in advance'. Keep monitoring.

I suppose you have a good reason to probably pay near twice as much for preferente. The extra €uro is not reflected in the extras in many opinions, including mine.

I took Renfe from Barcelona to Madrid for the first time in August. I had a promo fare in the turista class, and could not have been happier. My train left early afternoon from Barcelona, and was just under 2.75 hours, so I had no need for a meal. The seats had loads of foot room, large tray tables, footrests, power ports at every seat, and they showed a movie (I still use the earphones they handed out in nice little cases). There was a dining car but I never sought it out. There are large shelves for bags, and since you choose your seat at purchase, you can easily sit near your luggage if you desire.

Go Turista....Definitely....Do not think of tourist Cattle Car as in the states on the planes...more like first class on the plane here....Three short, ten minute stops, as I remember and you are in the Sants station in Barcelona 2 1/2 hours after you leave Atocha in Madrid...a smooth and most pleasant journey for sure...

Thanks for all the advice....Turista sounds like a good choice, then. Much appreciated.