This has probably come up before, so sorry to ask again, but can anyone give advice on arranging travel roundtrip Madrid to Barcelona. It looks like the AVE train is the preferred choice, but what should I expect to pay? and is there a discount for purchasing 30 days ahead? What website do I use to buy ahead of arrival in Madrid?

Thanks for the advice!

Found another post that gave a website for Renfe, but only the first page is in English and I was having trouble finding the pricing for a roundtrip ticket that would begin one day and return a completely different day. It also looked like the price one way was 113 euros. If roundtrip is 226 euros that seems pretty steep. I don't know if I want to pay that much. Are trips to Toledo and Escorial expensive too?

I make that trip (usually starting in Madrid) about once a year. I always take a plane. It's almost always less than US $100 and many times much less. The flight is about an hour. I start with the American sites like Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia along with Spanair, Air Europa and Iberia. When using the Spanish Airline sites, specify that you live in Spain for the best price. Use your hotel for an address if you need one. Once you get a handle on it, you will start to see the pricing patterns.

On the airport end, if you are comfortable with the flying process, an hour is plenty of time to leave for check in. The Spanair and Air Europa gates are still in the old terminal, very close to where the Metro arrives. In Barcelona, the train leaves right outside the terminal, is less than 5 Euros, takes 25 minutes and stops at Sants, Paseo de Gracia and Estacion Francia.

I know I am in the minority on this site, but after almost 30 years of being disappointed by RENFE on everything from Cercanias to Talgos, AVE's and Trenhoteles I will choose planes every time! (Disclaimer:I very much like the train from NM to Sol and the new station in Sol)

If you want an example, try and figure out their website!

Good Luck

Matt

Thanks Matt! Your advice is much appreciated. That Renfe site is confusing and my daughter who speaks Spanish fairly well was helping me. $100 us is much better than $113 euros!

well if I had to choose i have been by car the best, than low cost airlines have many specials, then the bus, and lastly the train (done only once in my life)

Thanks. I'm thinking we'll do that on an entirely different trip. My daughter hasn't been to Barcelona, so I had thought to go and take her. I went there last year and just Loved it! So beautiful....but maybe I'll love Madrid too.

From Madrid to heaven, and a hole in the sky to see it everyday ::)

I recently did quite a bit of research on the subject for my upcoming trip to Madrid. I got a ticket on Spanair for about 55 Euros. Got it directly off of the Spanair website, which is pretty eaasy to use. Quick easy flight straight into Barcelona - other airlines that I looked into (Easy Jet was one) flew into Girona rather than Barcelona. I wouldn't mind this so much, but it leaves you well outside of Barcelona and you still need to get to/from Barcelona by bus, train or taxi from Girona. I think I paid a little more going right into Barcelona, but I saved myself time, hassle and money on acutally getting into the city.

PJ, Don't give up on the train yet. I also have been researching the AVE train from Madrid - Puerta de Atocha to Barcelona - Sants for our trip in November. If you can get the Web fare (15 day advance purchase, online only) it's only 53.80 Euros pp each way. I can't buy my tickets yet since the date is too far out. We'll be in Madrid for 2 days then in Barcelona for 4 days before our cruise back to the States. The train should be quite the experience. I did the Amtrack once from Los Angeles to NY and back to Seattle about 20 years ago and I still remember that ride and that train didn't go over 60 MPH. The AVE is supposed to hit 300 KPH. Wow!

I have read that others have had problems using the RENFE site. It's in Spanish for one thing! I have found a web site that has a tutorial for using the RENFE site. I'm not sure what the policy of this site is for giving links to other sites but here goes...

http://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-tickets.htm#How to use the Spanish Railways website

It gives step by step instructions for buying a ticket at the RENFE site. Copy the full link, including the "How to use the Spanish Railways website" part so it takes you to the right section. It's a very long page and the tutorial is about 2/3 of the way down.

Frank