You're right, JJP! It is a cool train. I'm thinking of making a short day trip to Sevilla from Madrid next year, I think the expense will be worth it, just to travel on such an exciting train!

Great idea, Booklady. When I was in Madrid last Christmas for my friends' wedding others day tripped to Sevilla. We would have joined them, but I'd been there previously, and we chose Toledo (great place...the city of three cultures, as I call it...Christians, Jews and Muslims once coexisted) instead. It's my understanding same-day round trips on AVE have been sold in past at a discount (cater to business travelers), but I may be mistaken. It could have been another system that offered this deal. With the high speed rail it's realistic to do Sevilla in a day, if that's all the time you have. My friends left extremely early, had all day, and returned on the latest evening train. What a jet-set life we all live...

We took the AVE RT from Madrid last year and had no trouble getting a ticket on the day we were leaving. I understand that rather than overbooking as the airlines do, they actually hold a few seats open for travelers w/o reservations. There are also several departures each day, I would drop by the station early on the day you want to leave, and if you don't make one departure you can take another.