Spain and London to Paris

Thanks! Is it normal to see 200 pounds + for two tickets on eurostar?

The "best deal" for the train between Madrid and Barcelona is, as David said, the advance-purchase deals available on the Renfe website, and also through travel agent Rumbo.es (which is more likely to accept your credit card.) The Web discount is 60%, bring the fare down from 117 euros to 47. The Estrella fare is around 70 euros, still better than full price. These fares disappear so you do best by looking 60 days in advance of the travel date.

1. Take the AVE from Madrid to Barcelona. Its not cheap (although can be cheaper if you book ahead via Rumbo.es and get the advanced booking deals). 2. Absolutely take the train. The Eurostar takes under 3 hours from downtown to downtown and without most of the nonsense you have to deal with at airports.

The train between London and Paris depends on what is available when you book it. When I went I waited too long and the Eurostar was very high. It was cheaper for us to fly British Air from Paris to London. Check both ways.

So I tried booking the Madrid to Barcelona tickets on Renfe and it did not go through. I already contacted my bank and they know of my travel plans etc. I also wanted to know where the bags would be placed on the train. We are trying to book first class tickets and I'm not sure what is at the end of each car... luggage space? HELP!

For the Eurostar you can book tickets up to 120 days in advance at www.eurostar.com. There are an allotted number of seats at each price level for each departure time. As more tickets are sold the price goes up. The cheapest fare is $60 US. A last-minute ticket can cost nearly $300 US. As April said, you can get a reasonably-priced ticke on British Airways (Heathrow-CDG). If you fly easyJet (Luton-CDG), the fare will be a little cheaper. However, if you can get a discount fare ticket, the Eurostar is definitely the way to go. City center to city center in a little over two hours (faster than flying when you factor in the time getting to and from airports) and no airport transportation expenses.

There is a luggage rack at the end of the car. As I recall, that train between Barcelona and Madrid only stops once, so if you are concerned you can stand and keep an eye on your luggage while the train stops there. There is also luggage space above the seats, but not useful fo rheavy bags. Booking on Renfe is not simple. There are detailed instructions on the Tripadvisor forum "Madrid" page, but it almost goes overboard. The key for me was to register my Visa card with "Verified by Visa" before attempting the purchase. When the screen went to "contacting your bank", it brought up a new window where I entered by Verified by Visa password. I also made a small first purchase (Madrid to Toledo) on Rumbo.es, which is more likely to take your card. I do not know if that was parat of the key to success, as I did not even try Renfe before that. But then I bought successive tickets for 6 legs of our journey on Renfe, all without trouble. I found it did not matter what type of computer I used (PC or Mac), although there is a great deal of discussion about that. Just make sure the ppop-up blocker is disabled so you can get your ticket. The Renfe website seems to work better when it is not the middle of the night in Spain.

Zahra, it doesn't make much sense for you to be concerned about the cost of the tickets and booking first class at the same time. Second class are always much cheaper and, IMO, you gain little for the extra cost of first class. If trying to save some money, go second class.

In general, Frank has a point. Exception---on Renfe, the first-class tickets with Web or Estrella discount may be cheaper than full-fare turista class tickets, assuming the discount fares for the turista class are all gone. That is what we found, even booking 62 days in advance. We paid 109 euros to ride in first class instead of 117 to ride in turista. But for all other trains it was indeed much cheaper to go turista class and it was fine.

Zahra, also take a look at the great rates, and short times, if you fly between these points on some of the EU airlines. Go to Whichbudget.com and see if one of these may fit your needs.

Cost is not a problem.. just wondering if those are the fares. Eurostar from London to Paris was almost $400. Anyways so I tried to do the verify by visa but my car supposedly can't which is weird. It is Capitol One and I use so I dont get charged international fees. Any other ideas? My bank knows that Im using it for international purchases.

Hello All, So I have talked to my card company and they say that the Renfe site is the problem. I tried to book on Rumbo.es but it is in Spanish and when I click to English the option for trains is gone. I need to get these tickets from Madrid to Barcelona asap we leave for Europe soon. Any other ways to get the renfe site to work?

check out www.madridman.com under the transportation section of the message board for several articles re Renfe...at one time the site was fairly easy to navigate, but apparently it is difficult now, but you do save substantial amount on many tickets. As far as the luggage, there are luggage racks at the end of the train. I have never had any problem with security and have used it several times. An excellent trip is found there with out the hurdles of the airport transportation. There is a baggage scanner, but not the problems of the airport travel. And, the train personnel are first class as well. Your tickets will have a coach number and seat number printed on them.

Hello All, I REALLY NEED YOU HELP!!! I have tired everything to help fix my issues to purchase tickets off Renfe from Madrid to Barcelona and nothing works I still get the G001 code. WHAT CAN I DO I LEAVE IN A FEW DAYS FOR EUROPE.

At this point, and since the advance discount tickets are likely sold out, your best bet might be to wait until you get to Madrid to purchase the tickets. You can either get them at the train station or see if there is an AVE ticket office near your hotel in Madrid where you can buy them.

Hello Zahra, As Angela suggests, there is no need to buy in advance unless you are getting the Web or Estrella discount. If those are gone for your day of travel, just wait and purchase your tickets in Spain. Your credit card will work fine at the station. If there are discounts still available, then it is worth it to try to make Renfe work. Have you registered your credit card with Verified by Visa? Have you tried different cards? And if it still doesn't work on Renfe, it is not all that difficult to work through the Spanish on the Rumbo.es website. What is your date of travel from Madrid to Barcelona?

There are still Estrella fares for my date of travel on Sept 5. I have tried 2 different visas and a MasterCard. The MasterCard is verified and the Visa cannot says the credit card company. On Rumbo.es you can't pick seats can you?

I was not offered seat selection for the tickets I bight on rumbo.es, but it was not always offered with the Renfe tickets either. It is not important, because if you buy 2tickets in one purchase, the seats will be assigned together.