For my recent trip to Spain, I mapped out a route between Barcelona, Girona, the Costa Brava, Zaragoza, and Madrid using the train as the primary means of getting around. I am a train travel fanatic: second only to boats, this is one of my favorite ways to travel – especially in a country like Spain where the system is nearly faultless.
Based on my experience, I struggle to find a single negative thing about train travel in Spain. Carriages appear twice the size of British trains, seats are comfy, bathrooms are in good shape, mandatory seat reservations avoid congestion, and services are generally punctual.
I suppose patchy Wi-Fi and cell service could be one negative for some travelers. For me, it was all the more reason to slam my laptop shut and enjoy the wilderness of northern Spain.
Booking trains in Spain: don’t leave it until the last minute
While I’m all for a bit of spontaneous travel and keeping plans flexible, it really is wise to pre-book trains in Spain. This is especially important during the summer months and over such holidays as Christmas, New Year, and Easter.
As with the United States and most other European countries, Christmas in Spain is a family affair and trains book up as people travel back to their hometowns.
Services fill up even during the shoulder and low seasons. My latest Spanish sojourn took place in late October/early November and trains were relatively busy. Seat reservations are mandatory on medium and long-distance routes which also means that tickets can sell out and catch you off-guard.
I spent a few weeks musing over my travel plans and whittling down how many places I could realistically visit over 10 days in Spain. My original – overly ambitious – plan took me on a zig zag from Barcelona to Tarragona and Girona and Figueres and then to Madrid via Valencia and Toledo.
I kept a Google Doc with various trains jotted down as I finalized my arrangements and decided where I’d spend each evening. As the trip grew nearer and it came to booking trains, I noticed that one or two peak-time services were listed as unavailable.
In addition to being booked out, trains prices can change across the dates. This means if you book earlier, you are also more likely to get a better price.
The inside of the Atocha Train Station in Madrid is a tourist attraction on its own so make some time to explore it if you have a journey to take from here.
Omio vs The Trainline
I booked all my trains in Spain using a combination of Omio and The Trainline. These websites (and apps) are user-friendly and work fine with foreign credit and debit cards and Wise and Revolut.
Having assumed the sites would sell fares for the same price, I was surprised by, in some instances, the differences in cost between the two platforms.
In most cases, this was only a couple of euros although some routes had a fairly substantial difference. Unless you’re not too constrained by budget, I’d recommend downloading both apps (or surfing both websites) in order to secure the best prices.
Having downloaded both apps, I was able to scan electronic tickets at the ticket barriers and monitor journeys in real time. It was also easy to amend my bookings via The Trainline app as required – something I hadn’t expected to need to do.
After realizing last minute that my flight from Santiago de Chile landed one day later in Barcelona than I’d originally thought (the joy of dyslexia), I needed to make a quick adjustment to my itinerary. After said flight was canceled while I was at the gate and my replacement got me in 36 hours later, my trip was eventually reduced to seven days in Spain and I needed to make a second round of changes.
As I’d purchased a non-transferable and non-refundable fare with Omio booking, I lost some money when I decided to axe my stay in Figueres. The terms were made clear at the time of booking and I was more sad about skipping the city than losing the money.
All of my remaining bookings with The Trainline were refundable and/or transferable. I was able to shift things around easily using the app once I confirmed my replacement route to Barcelona Airport.
Choosing comfort
First-class travel on Spanish trains is classified as Elige Confort which means “choose comfort.” I was swayed to book one Elige Confort journey during my trip as it was only an extra €15 (or £12 on my British credit card which I rounded down to £10 – traveler math).
This was for the relatively short hop between Zaragoza and Madrid Atocha but it was 80 minutes of, well, comfort.
I’d say there was an extra foot of leg room and the seats were larger. The carriage was only half full and quiet. My fellow passengers were a mix of solo travelers (many but not all suited with laptops) and small groups. Gone are my days of scrimping on night buses – I want every journey to be in Elige Confort.
Free rides on Cercanías trains
Some bookings on medium and long-distance journeys include free travel on cercanías trains – also known as regional or commuter trains.
There is no zone limit and these rides apply up to four hours before departure and up to four hours after arrival. It’s quite handy if you’re planning a quick stopover to break up a long journey across Spain.
The trains in Spain are comfortable, clean, and fast.
A warning for tardy travelers
While I can’t find fault with the train service in Spain (at least based on this trip), I can find fault with my poor planning.
Learning number one: Spanish train stations are gigantic. Huge! In the larger cities, they’re actually more like mini airports. Having spent my twenties vaulting over ticket turnstiles and slipping through closing doors in the nick of time, I thought the same tactic would work for this trip. However, navigating these mini metropolises takes extra time and you may need to factor in airport-style security.
Learning number two: trains do tend to depart on time in Spain. Don’t give yourself a few minutes of wriggle room assuming the train will leave late…
I wasn’t the only Brit to underestimate the journey through Barcelona-Sants. Having missed my Renfe AVE fast train to Girona, I got chatting to another traveler waiting anxiously to see if the regional train would get him to the airport in time for his flight back to Blighty. He too had not allowed time for luggage scans and the expedition down to the platform.
My advice for anyone traveling through Spain by train is to arrive a good half an hour before departure*. Stations are generally divided into regional and fast services. Distances between platforms are vast and security is thorough. You might also want time to pick up a bocadillo from one of the counter cafes and perhaps use the bathroom.
My other tip for travelers prone to tardiness is to hail a traditional cabbie in place of an Uber. These drivers are far likelier to know backstreets and shortcuts. My Free Now driver – an alternative to Uber in Spain used by licensed taxi drivers – shunned his GPS for a route that took us half the time. If I hadn’t dallied around in hailing my ride in the first place, I’d have made my train to Girona.
*This is the same advice shared by Omio and The Trainline in booking emails and helpful reminders. Lesson number three: read your emails.
In Valencia there are two different stations, both are pretty close to each other and to the city center.
Check and double-check the station
All mainland regions of Spain are served by train. Larger Spanish cities tend to have more than one station so it’s important to pay attention when booking services. The “high-speed” railway stations are usually further out whereas “commuter” stations are more central.
As a tourist, you’ll be arriving via high-speed train in most cases. For example, you’re most likely to disembark at Zaragoza-Delicias rather than Zaragoza-Goya and Figueres-Vilafant in place of the namesake station closer to the historic center. This does add extra time and expense to your journey but the inbound train services are faster.
Upon arrival, you may be able to transfer using your free cercanías ticket. I used licensed taxis hailed from the station ranks or near my hotels and paid in the region of €10-15 per ride. I used Uber in Madrid to get from Atocha to my hotel in Salamanca and it worked perfectly.
Where there are gaps in the service, you can get around by bus or car rental. In some cases, a city’s bus station is adjacent to the train station. However, it can take a bit of time to transfer between the railway terminal and the bus terminal, especially if you have luggage.
This was another instance where I messed up. I’d pre-booked a bus from Girona to Platja d’Aro on the Costa Brava, thinking 10 minutes was plenty of time to switch from the rails to the road. It wasn’t.
The Valencia North Train Station is a beautiful place to wait for your train.
Wi-Fi: the one pitfall of Spanish trains
I suppose the one complaint about trains in Spain is Wi-Fi. Most trains have Wi-Fi although it’s often restricted to Elige Confort class passengers and has a reputation for unreliability.
I never managed to connect to the onboard Wi-Fi even during my stint in first class and I found my cell data would cut out when traveling through remote stretches of countryside – I gave up on hotspotting my laptop.
I can’t speak for every service but I would recommend having important travel information saved offline and having some podcasts or other entertainment downloaded. Otherwise, sit back and admire the landscapes!