I'm going to Spain in approximately 5 days

We are traveling from Barcelona - Madrid then Madrid - Lisbon. Instead of taking the bus, we want to go by train. I know there are some trains that are slower than the busses and stop frequently.

I know there are the super fast trains but I dont know much about them. Anybody taken them before? How were they? What are the prices like?

Why don't you take the plane between Madrid and Barcelona? It is cheaper and a lot faster than the train (specially, compared to the high speed train).

Check out Viajar.com . It's very easy to find the best offer there. Remember there are several taxes / additional charges. The cheapest fare should be around €40 one way with everything included.

First of all, let me say that the title of the thread is not too meaningful. RENFE is the company that operates the train services in Spain (the only one until 2010), and AVE is one of its products, the high-speed service in a specific train. It's like saying in the States "Acela Express vs. Amtrak".

To check out fares and schedules, you can take a glance at the Official RENFE Website (click on the small Union Jack in the middle of the page to reach the English version)

To compare to the bus service, the company that offers this route is Alsa and this is their Website (English version directly)

As Torrales explained: AVE is a service offered by RENFE (Red Nacional de Ferrocariles Espanoles) on the Madrid-Sevilla route. I personally have taken AVE on that route several times; but with deregulation and proliferation of low cost airlines like Vueling, AVE is comparitively expensive (i.e., flying can be cheaper in addition to less time-consuming).

You can check rail schedules & prices at http://www.Renfe.es

I have taken the todo preferente overnight Talgo Barcelona-Sevilla: On the Madrid-Sevilla 'leg' it took less than 3-hours. The Luisitania Expres between Madrid & Lisbon is also an overnighter.

Sorry, I thought AVE was different than RENFE. Thanks for the help, I'll look into the options.