i hear its pretty reasonable for round trip by plane to Barcelona. Can someone tell me what is the price range and if you can purchase these tickets prior to arriving?

My husband and I will be traveling to Spain on Oct 2- Oct 10. We were planning on visiting Barcelona. We were wondering what was the best way to travel by train or bus?

Are the buses comfortable and how long do they take in comparision to the train? Is it a bumpy or smooth ride? What is the price comparision?

We were told we needed to purchase our trian tickets here in the states. We were going to purchase a Spain flexipass because we are going to Granada as well. That would cost us about $200 each for Barcelona and back and Granada and back?

We're new to this we could sure use some help?

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 09-21-2000).]

BUS

Alsa/Enatcar is the bus company going between Madrid and Barcelona. Buses take about 7 hours 45 minutes and round trip tickets are 6240 pesetas.

I would travel many times with Enatcar and their buses were very comfortable. However, since Alsa took over Enatcar I heard complains about Alsa buses being worse than Enatcar ones (Alsa Supra buses are not available on the Madrid - Barcelona route).

TRAIN

Some people prefer to take the train since they can stand up and walk or even have a drink at the cafeteria. You may also take an overnight train and sleep during the journey.

Trains are much more expensive than buses (about 10500 pesetas round trip) and take about 7 hours depending on the train (ie, more or less the same as buses).

To find out more about trains, click on Renfe .

PLANE

Iberia has currently the best offers for round trip tickets. The price is 11980 pesetas including taxes (just a little bit more expensive than train) and it takes only 1 hour.

Note that you have to buy the tickets from Spain (or at least you have to collect them in Spain within 72 hours since you buy them). Also you have to do it at the Spanish version of the site and certain conditions apply (for instance, you have to spend the Saturday night on the destination).

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In my opinion, I would take the plane if you need a round trip ticket. I flew with Iberia the first weekend of July and it was cheap and fast!.

Hope this information helps,

Antonio

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The best tips from your favourite hostal in Madrid.
Hostal Chelo at http://www.chelo.com

[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 09-21-2000).]