has anyone ever taken the 2:22am overnight train from cordoba to madrid. what exactly is a couchette? will we have our own room or have to share, will sleeping be difficult?

A couchette is a bunk which folds down from the wall. There are three on one side of the carriage and three on the other. I've travelled to Valencia from Malaga this way with a group of friends and it's OK, but it just needs one to start snoring.........! You can get double "rooms", but at a price naturally. Do you have to go at this time, as the journey is only a couple of hours. Why don't you take the early morning or last one in the evening instead?

Thanks Anchovy Front. I will probably just take the early morning train then. At first I was thinking I could save money by not getting a hotel for that night and that particular leg was about 3000 pesetas cheaper. But it doesn't sound like it would be worth it.

cferlito,

Then... in the morning... when you arrive at your new location... they hose everyone down with a fire hose.

A couple days without a shower in the hot Spanish sun can cause some people to smell like a sewage plant.

Present company excluded of course

Wolf

Well, I don't know much about trains but if you don't want to share your "room" with other people you have to pay more.

Renfe website is not very clear about this matter. Perhaps Eddie or another experienced traveller could tell us more about it.

Sorry, Antonio: I have no experience on this subject. Even less since Renfe changed their Estrellas for 'Hotel Tren.' For the Estrella de Galicia, that was July, '99 - just before Santiago. I read a report in Voz de Galicia describing the Hotel Trains back then; they sound a lot nicer than the Estrellas; but I think there are still 4-beds in Preferente compartments and if you don't have a party of four or buy out the compartment, you are likely to find yourself sleeping with strangers.