This is a great board! I have another question. We will need travel from Madrid to Malaga, where we will be staying for two weeks, with some side trips (Granada, etc.). Is it feasible to take the train from Madrid, and also to use the train for day trips from Malaga? I am working on my Spanish, but it's not good enough for travel arrangements! Thanks so much!

You ask:
"Is it feasible to take the train from Madrid and also to use the train for day tips from Malaga?" The answer is 'Yes!' and 'No!'

For day trips from Malaga you may find buses (maybe even tourbus) go more places (Ronda for example, La Linea (Gibraltar), Marbella and San Roque (Valderrama) and other places along the Costa del Sol), more directly and more frequently. But, unless you fly from Madrid, Renfe is probably your best bet.

There! You get two answers for the price of one.

Thank you so much for the tip! When we were in Grand Canary, we discovered the bus toward the end of the trip, and it was great service.

I took the bus from malaga to madrid last summer and thought it was great. It cost 14 dollars and was very comfortable. They gave us free drinks and showed two movies. It took the same amount of time as taking the train and cost a 1/3 of the price.

Don't forget to explore the Eastern Costa del Sol! There are no rail service along the coast east of Málaga. but plenty of excellent bus services.

jensdog (great name!!), I too took the same bus, roundtrip from Madrid to Málaga in 1999, and thought it was great. As you said, free water, 2-movies each way, took about 6 hours with one 20 minute stop at the mid-way point. I can't remember now the name of the bus company (darnit!!), but it was very clean, comfortable, had one MICRO-bathroom (I didn't notice until late in the trip because it looked more like a luggage storage closet in the rear/side exit staircase), air conditioned, and cost ME $31 roundtrip and I thought THAT was amazingly cheap!!.

Saludos, MadridMan

The bus company was called Daibus . I got to see Enemy of the State and Simon Birch. You just can't beat it for the price!

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 03-27-2001).]

I just returned from a trip in March and took the AVE from Malaga to Madrid. It was a pleasure. It took about 4 hours. I booked it from the US (about $40 one way). Just don't forget to bring your lunch. They serve food on the train but the locals all pulled out delicious looking picnics as I ate my plain jamon y queso.

i thought that the AVE went as far as Sevilla and that the Talgo went to Malaga. I haven't been there in years so maybe i'm wrong??