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Taking Renfe's FEVE Train Across Northern Spain

Perhaps I should have posted this on the transportation board:

My husband and I will be taking RS Basque Country tour Sept 8-16. After the tour ends in Bilbao, we are considering going west along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Most all articles I have read indicate a car is mandatory as you go through Asturia, Cantabria, and Galicia but we will definitely NOT drive. However, I have read that Renfe's FEVE train covers this stretch. Some report it as incredibly slow and boring but others just mention it more in passing.
We are retired and could make it leisurely, taking 10 or 12 days or more, and stopping for a few days at different places that might be interesting. Has anyone actually done this? Is it feasible? Is it pleasant or a bit of a hassle, for example, getting from the train station to the towns/villages? Does it run along the ocean in many spots? Is the scenery interesting? As I said, we will not drive so if this route isn't really feasible or very pleasant on FEVE, we will need to change our plans. We haven't bought airline tickets yet so we are fairly flexible. We have covered much of Spain and France in the past but this northern area of Spain would be new to us - thus, our interest! Thank you for any information you can provide. Elle

Posted by
4088 posts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renfe_Feve#Companies_operating_former_FEVE_services

Apparently FEVE operates what in contemporary terms could be could LRT, light rapid transit, although I think some of the service is not much bigger than a streetcar. This is the first railroad question I have encountered that is not easily answered by www.seat61.com although digging may reveal more info there. The alternative is RENFE, the Spanish over-all supervisor but it is not necessarily strong on narrow-gauge trains. www.bahn.com might show something if given specific routes. I can't help with the scenery, not having traversed that reputedly rugged coast in any way.

Posted by
28076 posts

I don't know whether FEVE goes through any of the places I visited west of Bilbao since I used other means of transportation. Therefore, I have no idea how the FEVE stations are positioned with respect to the towns themselves. If you list the places you think you'd like to explore, a few posters may be able to help. But they're more likely to notice your post on the Spain forum.

Otherwise, you can probably get the information you need by a combination of Googling (to determine what the station at the destination is called and/or its address), then looking at maps.google.com. If you zoom in on a city or town, the train station is usually pretty obvious, and the historic area is usually clear as well (a bunch of short, curved streets). You just have to be careful to find the FEVE station rather than the Renfe station if the place has both. As it happens, FEVE in Bilbao is quite close to the historic district and Renfe is not.

Posted by
16895 posts

www.bahn.com does not reflect the FEVE trains, which are somewhat a private train, even though they got closer to Renfe in recent years. Schedules are in Spanish at www.renfe.com/viajeros/feve/index.html. Other search engines will show you longer, more expensive inland routes on regular Renfe trans, such as from San Sebastian to Bilbao via Miranda de Ebro.

Posted by
4684 posts

There are also tourist tours on this line using luxury sleeper stock (sleeping with the train stationary in stations) branded as El Transcantabrico