How to travel by train in Spain
Traveling by high-speed train in Spain is easy, fast, and stress-free.
Spain has an extensive rail network making it perfect for traveling by train. We recently visited Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville and traveled exclusively by train.
The high-speed trains link major cities at speeds up to over 180 mph (300 km/h).
Travel time between Barcelona and Madrid is approximately three hours and between Madrid and Seville is under 3 hours.
Advantages of traveling by train in Spain.
Short travel times via high-speed trains.
Train stations are located directly downtown.
No luggage allowances.
More comfortable seats than airplanes.
Wide variety of departure times.
How to buy train tickets in Spain
Buying tickets in advance is recommended but there also are ticket machines in the train stations.
There are a number of ways to purchase high-speed train tickets in Spain.
Renfe is the national train operator, operating the AVE high-speed trains and also regional trains.
Recently other operators such as Ouigo and iryo have begun offering high-speed trains also.
No other country has more options than Spain.
A Renfe AVE train at the Barcelona train station.
We decided to travel on Refe AVE high-speed trains since they offered the best schedules.
I used the Renfe website to search for trips between Barcelona to Madrid and Madrid to Seville. I found the website to be a bit clunky, especially when random pages wouldn’t translate to English.
On our recent trip to Italy, I had a great experience using Trainline to book our train tickets so I used the site once again for Spain. (Read about traveling by train in Italy)
Trainline is a third-party booking site that works with numerous European rail networks. One of the best aspects was the ability to pick our exact seats similar to booking an airline seat. For some reason Renfe’s website only allowed me to pick a window or aisle and not the exact seat.
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After the hassle-free search and purchase, I was able to save the digital ticket to both the Trainline and Renfe apps as well as the wallet on my iPhone.
Screenshot of the Trainline website.
Should I buy train Spain tickets in advance?
Absolutely, it will save you money and give you the most flexibility in scheduling.
High-speed train tickets in Spain are more expensive as you get closer to the departure date, just like airline tickets. Even though I found the fares in Spain to be more expensive than elsewhere in Europe you can get a pretty good deal if you purchase early.
You can also purchase tickets at the train station but in the busy tourist season, it’s wise to make advance reservations.
First class or standard class seats?
Renfe offers two classes - Standard (2nd class) and Comfort (1st class).
On previous trips to Europe, we traveled Standard class and loved it (read about traveling by train in Italy). The seat is comfortable with lots of legroom, it’s definitely more comfortable and enjoyable than flying.
For this trip to Spain, I decided to try Comfort (1st class) seats, mostly so I could write this blog post.
Now I’m hooked on the first-class seats.
A first class car on a Renfe AVE train between Barcelona and Madrid.
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Our initial 1st class trip was from Barcelona to Madrid. There was a long line in the terminal waiting to board the train but I noticed that the two first-class cars had a separate line with no waiting at all. Although I didn’t see a separate line on any of our other trips we were off to a great start with first class.
The seats in Comfort (1st class) are in a 2-1 configuration instead of a 2-2 configuration. The seats are wider and considerably more comfortable.
While in Spain we took three high-speed train trips, two in Comfort (1st class) and one in Standard (2nd class). While the pricing on each trip varied the difference between the two classes is minimal, unlike with airlines. From now on I think we’ll be sitting in 1st class whenever possible.
What are high-speed trains like in Spain?
Lots of leg room in the first class car.
Unlike most of Europe, Spain requires high-speed train passengers to pass through airport-style security. While it does slow the boarding process it’s much less intrusive than airport security.
Since reservations are required, boarding the trains is very orderly and simple. Both your car and seat number are printed on your ticket.
In Standard class, the seats are configured with two seats on either side of the aisle while in Comfort class they are configured with two seats on one side and a solo seat on the other side.
A standard class car between Seville and Madrid.
Most seats face the direction of travel while some face the opposite direction.
Some seats face each other with a table in between. While those sets of seats might work well for families with kids, keep in mind that you’ll be knocking knees with the person across from you if everyone is an adult.
Each seat has a European-style power outlet and a large tray table. Wifi is available throughout each car.
There is a cafe-bar car on each train. They are spacious with lots of room to linger if you’d like to escape your seat for a bit.
At the ends of each car is a large storage area for luggage plus room above your seat for smaller bags.
Luggage storage areas are located on each train car.
Bottom line - Traveling by high-speed train in Spain is a joy. Loads of legroom, comfortable seats, and centrally located train stations make it the easiest way to travel between the big cities.
This post was researched and written by John of the Empty Nest Explorers. You can learn more about the Empty Nest Explorers here.
Read all our blog posts about traveling in Spain here.
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