I went to the Atocha RENFE station to book my seats for the AVE to Sevilla. Had my Iberic Rail Pass. It took more than an hour for my turn. When I got to the counter, the lady at the counter spoke no English and wasn't very helpful. I had to make bookings for my return to trip Sevilla as well as to Lisboa.

She booked me on the Preference for both trips. I only wanted Preference for Sevilla and the bunk beds for Lisboa as it was an overnight train. I didn't realise this until I boarded the train to Lisboa. It was a nightmare sitting in the train for about 11hrs! It was close to impossible to sleep in the hard uncomfortable seats. By the time I arrived in Lisboa, I was so tired.

Make sure that you know exactly what you want and how to communicate that to the person at the counter.

AVE high speed trains run every hour from Atocha. I've tried the internet site and also the Tiknet where it's advertised as possible to book on-line, however it seems that it's not. It would seem that booking in advance from home is not an option. Which means that planning a flight to Madrid followed by an AVE trip to Sevilla is not going to be easy.

The AVES I took had plenty of seats (11 am departures) in non smoking. I think at this time of year there's no problem, and since they leave every hour, you for sure can hop one the same day. I was impressed with the AVE for comfort and speed. It actually makes Cordoba a possible DAY TRIP from Madrid, too!

Kurt,

I don't think you can get off and on like if the AVE was a tourist bus. If you buy a ticket for Sevilla, let's say, on February 1st, and then you get off in Córdoba, you can't take again the AVE in Córdoba three days later because your ticket says February 1st, not February 4th.

Anyway, I take the train at Atocha station everyday on my way to the university. I'll check it.

---

Steveaqui,

Remember that you can only book online from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm Spain time. At any other time the system doesn't work!.

Regards,

Antonio

------------------
The best tips from your favourite hostal in Madrid.
Hostal Chelo at http://www.chelo.com

Thanks, Antonio

I tried the booking function today, so maybe it's not possible on a Sunday or weekend.

That's key information about not being able to break the journey, for example, stopping at Cordaba.

Yes, Antonio, you are correct and I didn't make myself clear.

Just tried to use the booking facility, yet again, and no go. Time 18:15 Britain.

I'ts working this evening at 18:30 Tuesday.

The booking site that is!

Hello all,

I'm going to Spain for the first time and need to book a train from
Madrid to Seville on Dec 30th. For some reason the TIKNET site is not working and I'm wondering if the AVE is going to be all booked up in the event I have to wait to purchase my tickets in Spain.
Any ideas?? I'm trying to book everything now so I'm not left out cold when I get there. I made the mistake of booking a flight to late from Paris to Rome on my first Europe Trip and paid about 700 dollars.

BTW it's 8:30 pm in Spain and 11:30 am in California

Not sure if the AVE will be booked-up, but do whatever needs to be done to reserve a seat. I'm partial, being a starved American always looking for ways on to a bullet train, but I highly suggest Spain's high speed rail. Don't worry, though, if AVE is sold out you can always get to Madrid on slower modes. But why? Although I"ve never been on this train, I've taken the TGV and Japan's ultra high speed rail, and think any traveler should experience the velocity of rail. Good luck getting your ticket!!!

Although I'm not sure if there's a direct link between Sevilla and Madrid, the Talgo 200 is another nice way to rail Spain. And for those, like myself, who salivate at the site of a fast train, feast your eyes on this beauty...

AVE!