My Best of Spain Tour ends in Sevilla. I want/need to book a flight from Madrid back to the good ol' USA. Where do I go to book the AVE train from Sevilla to Madrid. My tour is in May. I am sure it is too early to officially book, but I am scouting out the potential cost and logistics. Is this a ticket I can get once I arrive in Sevilla? Thanks for the help.
Posted by
Washington DC
28074 posts
Renfe runs the trains and sells the tickets. Since the travel date is set, it is to your advantage to buy the ticket as early as you can, because the price will probably be quite a bit lower then.
I think the Renfe website is known for being unfriendly to US credit cards. You may need to use PayPal instead. Or you can buy from the trainline.eu website at little or no additional cost.
You will be traveling from Sevilla-Santa Justa to Madrid-Puerta de Atocha.
Posted by
Charleston, SC, USA
925 posts
You may want to look into flights from Sevilla to the US. You may need to connect through Madrid, but there may be a cost/time advantage to doing so.
Posted by
11569 posts
Buy your tickets now. Fast ride, nice train. I had no problems buying tickets with my US credit card.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Spanish train tickets are only booking about a month ahead at the moment, and typically a maximum or two or three months out, not four. You can buy tickets at train stations and travel agencies in any city of your tour, but will miss the deepest advance discounts. Since the fast trains require reservations, it's also possible for some departures to sell out.
Posted by
Connecticut
337 posts
We took this tour in October 2017, and like you, flew home from Madrid. We don't like to buy way in advance, in case something changes and we need to change departure times, etc. It's worth it to us to pay a bit more to have the flexibility.
We ended up walking to the Corte Ingles department store during one of our days in Madrid mid-tour--the big one (with the roof bar/restaurant) has a travel agency, and we bought the tickets there. Talking to a person, and being able to ask questions, was helpful.
So it was maybe a week before the train departure. We had no trouble booking the departure we wanted (in October).
(There is a smaller branch of the Corte Ingles store closer to the hotel in Puerta del Sol. Not that one. The big one, a few blocks farther north.)
Alternatively, your RS tour guide might be able to help. Ours was ready to help us book online, but was called away with an emergency that day.
Have fun! It's a wonderful tour.
Posted by
NW Ohio
347 posts
You will want to book soon after they become available. As I recall 120 to 90 days out. The earlier you buy, the less expense they will be. You can print your ticket at home.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15784 posts
Renfe's practice is to offer tickets 62 days in advance, but it's erratic. Some trains may be on sale 3 months or more in advance; sometimes a train won't be available until a couple weeks ahead.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
"You may want to look into flights from Sevilla to the US. You may need to connect through Madrid, but there may be a cost/time advantage to doing so."
That's my advice as well. Seville has flights to various hubs (Paris CDG, London Heathrow, Frankfurt), not just to Madrid. It doesn't have nonstops to the US, but flying all the way is probably easier than taking a train to Madrid, and might be cheaper (all in) as well.
Posted by
33 posts
I did that trip last November and was super easy and not that expensive.
Go to Renfe and use your cc, no issues. You can print your ticket or have your cell ready with the digital copy.
Happy travels.