Bus vs. train from Madrid to Granada

Does anyone know if there's an advantage to taking either the bus or the train from Madrid to Granada? Scenery, time frame, etc.?

Kindly advise!

Intending to be there in about 2 weeks.
We will take the AVE from Madrid to Cordoba, explore a bit, and then bus to Granada. AVE is very fast, but trains to Granada appear to be fairly slow, and a friend from there says "take the bus".

I say drive. Driving through the mountains via Jaén makes it all worthwhile!

Main advantage of the bus is that there are lots of them, so you can choose when to go. There trains are (or at least used to be) very infrequent, maybe only about 3 per day.

Thanks for the feedback. I may be in a time crunch, so I may need to fly! Iberia's fares are expensive, and I haven't been able to get through to Air Europa online--something's wrong with their system. Are there any other airlines that fly the Madrid to Granada route?

In August 2000, I flew from Madrid to Granada on Iberia. I think Iberia was the only carrier. I do not recall that my ticket was that expensive. I bought the ticket in Madrid just a couple days in advance. You might be able to get a better deal there. Good luck!

I'm in the same predicament as Xacara. The Iberia tickets are pricier than I anticipated about 137-154 euros or $125-140 each. Is there any way to get a cheaper rate?

Since I am pressed for time an overnight train would be great, but I don't think they're available anymore having checked renfe's site several times. Am I right about this?

Thanks for all of your help! 3 weeks and counting!!!!

Hi, Marvilyn,

I'm going in about 3 weeks, too! Where will you be?

Xacara

I'm heading to Spain in a little over two weeks. We are going straight to Granada by bus.

Caminante, I'm going to Granada on May 26, possibly by bus. Are you traveling that day?

Caminante, I would do the same but I'll be picking up my boyfriend in Madrid and I don't think a 5 hour bus ride would go down too well after a 10hr. plane ride.

Xacara, I'll be in Barcelona 5/30-6/5 and Madrid from 6/5-6/9. I won't be heading into Andalucia until 6/10. I have a feeling though that Spain is going to be swarming with MM boarders this summer

By the way, anyone have an idea on how to get cheaper flight tickets? Or is there a night train? I guess i can email renfe and wait for a reply from them.

Marvilyn, I'll be in Madrid only until the 26th, when I head for Andalucia, where I'll be through June 13 . . . seems like we'll miss each other.

There are only 2 trains that do Madrid-Granada. The night trsin is gone. We did the bus after plane ride from West Coast. We only had to wait an hour or so from the bus, and reached the bus station directly from the airport via Metro. Bus was around $15.00. It stops halfway. It was VERY comfortable, faster than the train, and there were frequent departures. Either bus or train is going to take about 6 hours....both are air-conditioned; both have movies!!! I would take the bus again.

Thanks liatris for confirming that train info! Wow, you guys were really troopers! I just can't bring myself to ask my boyfriend to travel another six hours after a 10 hr. trip and he'll be arriving in the evening so I wonder if there would be buses then? On the other hand $15 compared to $260 is VERY appealing.
I think this is one of those details I'll let lie until I get to spain. But thanks so much to all for your input and moral support

I'm actually going to be in a similar predicament this year, in that I'll be arriving in Madrid too late to catch the last train to Granada, or to catch a bus that will arrive in time for me to book in to my accommodation. My solution is to bed down in Madrid for the night, which is how I've managed to find my way on to this site - which was a stroke of luck as far as I'm concerned, the advice about cheap accommodation is brilliant (although I would appreciate further advice about which hostals are in the safest part of town for a girl travelling on her own). I've never bused it across Spain before, but I have trained it from Barcelona to Alicante and it was a fabulous journey, although by the time I'd settled down with Spanish music playing through the earphones that were very kindly provided, I was fast asleep and missed the brilliant views. That happened on the return trip too, so I guess it's possibly one of the more relaxing ways to travel. I am planning to bus it from Madrid to Granada, however, because I've heard it's substantially cheaper although one site I visited advised that the cafe stop at the half-way point is owned by the bus company and the food is rubbish!!! Sonia

I've made the Madrid-Granada trip many times, and I say if taking a flight is not an option, then most definitely BUS IT. The bus is faster, is about 1/2 the price as the train, and there are more busses scheduled per day.

-Buen viaje!!

do you know if you can take a bus overnight from Madrid to Granada since there is no longer an overnight train???

We are planning to take the AVE from Madrid to Cordoba, explore for a day. Take the bus or the train to Granada for a day. THen take the train to Seville from Cordoba the next day. I heard that the train service to Granada is slow, bus is a better way to go. Is it true? Or driving between Cordoba and Granada a better choice?

And can someone give us more information on the bus ride between Cordoba and Granada?

Thanks for your input!

Thanks sdnj33, I thought there might be an overnight service but I didn't want to take a chance and run the risk of being stranded. The school I'm attending in Granada has since e-mailed me a timetable, and it turns out you can view timetables and book tickets online for Continental Autos, url: www.continental-auto.es . I think this is one of the main bus companies, but there are others. There are also a number of services to Cordoba for citygirl, including ones from Granada, so click on horarios y venta de billettes and select "Andalucia" under "Lineas Regionales".