High-speed Spain:  An AVE S103 about to leave Madrid Atocha for Barcelona, taking just 2h30 Buy train tickets for Spain Buy a Spain Pass www.renfe.com or www.petrabax.com

See Spain by train

Once upon a time, Spain had one of the most backward train networks in western Europe.  Now, they have one of the best, indeed, one of my favourite rail systems.  High-speed AVE trains (Alta Velocidad Española) link major cities at up to 300 km/h (186mph), and if you book in advance online you can find some great cheap fares.  This page will give you a heads-up on how to travel cheaply around Spain by train.

A guide to taking the train in Spain

  Spain by train, in a nutshell - the key points.

  Spanish train fares & classes explained

  Railpasses for Spain & the Renfe Spain Pass

  What are Spanish trains like?

  How to buy train tickets for Spain

  How to use www.renfe.com

  How to transfer between Madrid Atocha & Chamartin

  Train services between Barcelona & Madrid

  Station guides:

    Barcelona Sants  Madrid Atocha  Madrid Chamartin  Malaga

    Valencia  Alicante & Benidorm  Seville Santa Justa  Vigo

  Holidays & breaks to Spain by train

  Travel insurance, mobile data, VPN & other tips

  Hotels & accommodation in Spain

International trains to & from Spain

  UK to Spain by train, the no-fly way

  Trains from Barcelona to other European cities

  Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Alicante to other cities

  Trains from other European cities to Spain

  Madrid to Lisbon by train

  Paris to Barcelona by high-speed train

Other train travel information

  Eurail passes - for overseas visitors

  Interrail passes - for European residents

  General European train travel information

  Luggage on trains & Left luggage at stations

  Taking your bike & Taking your dog

Useful country information

Spain's high-speed AVE trains:  Madrid to Barcelona by train takes as little as 2h30, Madrid to Seville 2h30.  There's no need to fly!  These are AVE S112s at Alicante.

Spain by train, the key things to know

• Where do the trains go? 

  The network links all the major towns & cities.  For a zoomable train route map of Spain see www.openrailwaymap.org.  For the best printed map of European rail routes, see here.

• Who runs the trains?

  The Spanish national train operator is Renfe (pronounced Ren-fay), originally Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles but now a brand name in its own right.  Its website is www.renfe.com.  Renfe runs Spain's superb high-speed AVEs and other mainline trains, as well as local and suburban trains nationwide.

• Local operators FEVE, Euskotren, FGC

  In addition to Renfe there are several useful regional train operators.

  Euskotren (www.euskotren.eus) runs narrow-gauge local trains from Hendaye & Irun on the French border to San Sebastian & Bilbao.

  Former FEVE routes: There's a metre-gauge network along the coast of Northern Spain, Bilbao - Santander - Oviedo - Gijon - Ferrol.  FEVE has been absorbed into Renfe, regional trains such as Bilbao-Santander or Santander-Oviedo are now searchable on the main journey planner at www.renfe.com or try horarios.ram.renfe...homeHorariosFeve.jsp.

  FGC runs the local railway from Barcelona to the famous monastery at Montserrat, www.fgc.cat.

• Competing high-speed operators

  Since 2021 there are several open access operators competing with state-owned Renfe on the high-speed network, all bookable at www.thetrainline.com so you can compare prices:

  Avlo is a lo-cost subsidiary of Renfe which runs Barcelona-Madrid, other routes planned.  Their trains are one class only, with no-catering.

  Ouigo Spain is a lo-cost subsidiary of SNCF (French Railways) which runs Barcelona-Madrid, Madrid-Valencia & Madrid-Alicante, other routes planned.  Two class, with basic catering.

  Iryo is a joint venture of Trenitalia & Air Nostrum using Italian-designed Frecciarossa trains) which runs Barcelona-Madrid, Madrid-Valencia and Madrid-Cordoba-Seville.  Full-service, with 3 classes and quality catering.  More info on Iryo trains here.

• Do you need a reservation?  Should you pre-book?

  Yes!  All long distance trains in Spain and even some shorter distance regional ones require a seat reservation, you cannot just turn up and hop on.  There are usually places available even on the day of travel, but at peak times such as Christmas and Easter trains can get full.  It also pays to pre-book:  If you book ahead there are cheap advance-purchase fares, for example Madrid-Seville from €28, but if you wait to buy your tickets on the day you'll pay the full-price fare, for example Madrid-Seville €75.

• When does booking open?

  This is a major problem with Renfe.  Renfe is a law unto itself and loads what it likes when it likes, in blocks of dates.  On major routes where it has competition, it may open sales up to 11 months ahead.  On routes without competition sales may open as little as 30 days before departure, and often some trains appear before others.  Did I say 30 days?  I've seen Madrid-San Sebastian trains from 22 July onwards only open for booking on 7 July!

  So if you go online and don't see the complete train service which you're expecting to see with over a month to go, WAIT, chances are that all trains are not yet loaded.  Renfe is particularly lax in opening bookings for dates after the timetable changes at midnight on the 2nd Saturday in June and 2nd Saturday in December.

• Standard & Comfort class

  Renfe offers two classes, Standard (= 2nd class) and Comfort (= 1st class).  These are the terms introduced in 2021, before that they were called Turista & Turista Plus and before that, Turista & Preferente.  Don't get the new class names mixed up with the new ticket type names!  More about classes & fares on Spanish trains.

• Fare types

  Renfe introduced a new fares structure for long-distance trains including the high-speed AVE in July 2021:

  Básico (Basic) =  The cheapest fare, for travel in Standard (2nd) class.

  Elige (Choice) = A semi-flexible fare, you can choose between Elige (2nd class seat) or for a higher price, Elige Confort (1st class seat).

  Premium  = The most flexible fare, you get a Comfort (1st) class seat & lounge access. A meal & wine is usually included on AVE & Euromed.

  More about fares & classes on Spanish trains

• Children & infants

  Children under 14 pay the child fare.

  Infants under 4 travel free as long as they don't occupy a seat, but it's mandatory to get a free infant ticket before you travel.

  This was introduced in 2014, a first for any European train operator outside Russia.  You'll get the necessary free infant ticket If you add your infant with their correct age to a booking made at www.thetrainline.com, www.raileurope.com or www.renfe.com.  However, you cannot book a free infant ticket on its own, so if you forget to add them to your booking you'll need to get one at a Renfe ticket office before you board.

• Seniors over 60: Tarjeta Dorada

  Anyone over 60 of any nationality can buy a Tarjeta Dorada card for €6 valid for one year.

  Renfe's Tarjeta Dorada (Golden Card) gives a 25% discount on all fares types for Renfe long-distance trains including AVE, Euromed, Alvia & Intercity trains.  It gives a 40% discount on Renfe medium-distance trains, and a 25% discount on weekdays, 40% discount at weekends on short-hop high-speed Avant trains.

  Now for the catch, and it's some catch that Catch 22:  You can only buy a Tarjeta Dorada in person at a Renfe station when you get to Spain.  You cannot buy it online (although once you get hold of one, you can renew it online).  But you can't buy tickets online in advance with the Tarjeta Dorada discount until after you've bought the card, because you need to enter the card number to get the discount.

  So if you're planning a trip to Spain, it's better to forget about being senior and just buy normal adult advance-purchase tickets online.  It'd be cheaper to buy a €30 advance-purchase fare without any senior discount than waiting until you get to Spain, buying a Tarjeta Dorada and getting 25% off a fare which by that time may have risen to €100.  Just let that sink in...

  You'll find full details for the Tarjeta Dorada at www.renfe.com, switch it to English, click Travel, click Discounts then look for Over-60s to find the Tarjeta Dorada page.  You can buy the card over the counter at any staffed Renfe station, just present your passport as proof of age.

• How to buy tickets & check train times

  You can buy tickets at any Renfe station or online at www.renfe.com, but see the advice on using Renfe.com below.  There's no booking fee, but Renfe.com is a pain to use with some confusing translations and quirks, it's also known for sometimes rejecting overseas payment cards.  It's far easier (and quicker!) to buy tickets in plain English using www.thetrainline.com (in €, £ or $, small booking fee, works for anyone from any country) or www.raileurope.com (various currencies, small booking fee), Omio.com (various currencies, small booking fee) or www.petrabax.com (in US$, with a small mark-up).  These websites all connect to Renfe's ticketing system and sell the same trains at the same prices with no payment problems and the same official Renfe print-at-home tickets.

• Real time information

  You can see whether a train is on time and which platform it will leave from, if you download thetrainline.com's app and run an enquiry for today. Trainline's app show real time information for all operators, Renfe, Avlo, Iryo & Ouigo.

• Combinado Cercanias: Free suburban travel with a long-distance ticket

  When you buy a ticket for one of Renfe's long-distance trains (AVE, Euromed, Alvia, Intercity) of any fare type in any class for a journey within Spain, or any ticket for an Iryo train, you get free travel from any Renfe suburban station at the start of your journey and free travel to any Renfe suburban station at the end of your journey, in the following cities:

  Asturias, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia/Alicante, San Sebastian, Santander, Seville, Valencia and Zaragoza.  You also get free travel from/to any ex-FEVE narrow-gauge station in Asturias, Santander, Bilbao & Cartagena.

  If your ticket includes this, it will say Combinado Cercanias in the corner with a reference number.

  At your starting city, you must use the suburban ticket within 3 hours of your long-distance train departure, and at your destination you must use the suburban ticket within 4 hours of your long-distance train's arrival.

  You can travel to or from any suburban station within that city's numbered zones, but not outside the zones - so longer rural routes to stations outside the urban zonal area such as Barcelona to Portbou or Latour de Carol are not included.

  Different cities have different processes:  To access the suburban (Cercanias) platforms in Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga, place the QR code of your long-distance ticket against the scanner on the Cercanias ticket gates and they will open.  In some cities, you may need to use the Combinado Cercanias code printed on your ticket to get a Cercanias ticket out of one of the Cercanias ticket machines, or go to a ticket window.

  The Combinado Cercanias offer applies to any Spanish domestic long-distance tickets bought directly from Renfe.com or Iryo.eu or from websites connected to Renfe or Iryo such as www.thetrainline.com, www.raileurope.com, www.petrabax.com.

• Luggage & luggage weight limits on Spanish trains

  You take your bags with you onto the train, putting them on the racks above your head and at the end of each car.  Renfe is unusual in specifying a 25 Kg weight limit for passengers' baggage, which is a nonsense, first because a weight limit is unnecessary on a train as it doesn't have to take off, second because your bags will not be weighed at any stage, so as long as you don't take the P this weight limit can be taken with a pinch of salt.  It's probably the result of employing an ex-airline senior manager.

  You do need to watch the strict luggage limits if you use lo-cost trains Avlo or Ouigo, which deliberately try to copy budget airlines.

  For information about left luggage at Spanish stations, see the luggage on trains page.

• X-ray baggage check at Spanish stations

  Before boarding a high-speed train at any Spanish mainline station on the high-speed network, you must put your bags through an X-ray baggage scanner.  This usually only takes only a few minutes, but don't turn up for your train with 30 seconds to spare!  Sometimes this is at the entrance to a departures area as at Madrid Atocha, Madrid Chamartin or Barcelona Sants, sometimes at the entrance to a specific platform as at Seville Santa Justa.  The security check applies to high-speed trains and the platforms these use, not to regional or suburban trains.

  Security staff may confiscate things like penknives, so put anything like that in a pocket, not in your bag through the scanner.  There are no metal detectors, security staff next to each scanner often have a hand-held metal-detector but on a recent trip this was only used on me once in 8 occasions and even then it failed to find the corkscrew in my left pocket or iPhone in my right one.  It's basically security theatre.

• Food & drink

  On most long-distance trains there's a cafe-bar serving tea, coffee, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and snacks.  Of course, you're free to take your own food and even wine or beer onto the train.

  Meal & drinks included with a Premium fare on AVE & Euromed:  An airline-style hot tray meal with wine is usually included if you pay the Premium fare on Renfe's AVE & Euromed trains on Mondays-Fridays & Sundays.  It's a hot tray meal at meal times, a snack box with a sandwich on some late-morning & mid-afternoon trains.  Unfortunately, there's no way to check which trains only offer a snack box (although a noticeably cheaper Premium fare on a mid-morning or mid-afternoon train may indicate ones with the snack box), but after you buy your ticket it will have the word Desayuno, Almuerzo or Cena printed on it if breakfast, lunch or dinner is included.  It will say Merienda (snack) if only a snack box is included.  Incidentally, if the person sitting next to you in Confort class doesn't get fed, they probably paid the Elige fare, not the Premium fare - only Premium passengers get the meal, the staff have a list!

  Add a meal box to your booking in Elige Confort on AVE & Euromed.  You can add a meal box to your booking if you buy an Elige fare for Confort class on AVE, Euromed or some Alvia trains at Renfe.com.  You can add it when you book or afterwards, at least 12h before the train leaves its origin station.  You can't add it if you use 3rd party retailers.  There's a choice of menu, the Iberico and Nordic menus are both pretty good.  The cafe-bar staff have a list with your seat number, they will come and ask what drink you want with it, then bring it to your seat.

• WiFi & power outlets:

  Renfe's front-rank AVE trains have free WiFi, the network name is PlayRenfe.  Avlo, Ouigo & Iryo trains also have free WiFi.  Most other trains including Alvia, Euromed & Intercity don't have WiFi.

  You'll find power sockets at your seat on AVE, Euromed, Avlo, Ouigo & Iryo trains, also on S130 & S730 Alvia trains, but only on some S120 Alvia trains, not all.

• Bikes:  See the bikes by train page.

• Taking dogs & pets:  See the dogs & pets by train page.

Luggage control into first-floor departures at Madrid Atocha.  Only takes a few minutes, nothing like an airport.

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Spanish train fares & classes explained

In July 2021, Renfe introduced a completely new fares structure for all its long-distance trains including the high-speed AVE, and also changed the terms it uses for 1st & 2nd class.  It's easy to get confused between what's a class of accommodation and what's a fare type, so here's a run-down of Renfe's new classes & fares.

Standard & Comfort class

• Standard = 2nd class, Estándar in Spanish, formerly called Turista.  Seats are usually arranged 2+2 across the car width.

• Comfort = 1st class, Confort in Spanish, formerly Turista Plus or Preferente.  Seats usually arranged 2+1 across the car width.

  On the premier high-speed AVE or Euromed trains an at-seat meal & wine is included, see the food & drink section here, but only if you've paid the Premium fare, not if you only paid the Elige fare.

Básico, Elige & Premium fares

• Básico (Basic).  The cheapest fare, only for travel in Standard class (2nd class).  Básico tickets are non-refundable & non-changeable unless you pay a hefty extra fee to make them so.

• Elige (Choice).  A semi-flexible fare.  If you select this you get a choice of Elige to travel in Standard (2nd) class or Elige Confort at a higher price to travel in Comfort (1st) class but without any included food or access to lounges.  Elige & Elige Confort tickets are refundable & changeable for a fee.

• Premium.  The most flexible fare.  You travel in Comfort class (1st class) and on Renfe's premier AVE or Euromed trains an airline-style hot tray meal with wine is included - although on some departures you get a snack box instead, see the food & drink section to learn more.  You can use the Sala Club lounges at major stations with complimentary drinks & snacks.  Changeable without fee, refundable for a minimal fee.

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Sala Club lounges

If you pay the Premium fare for an AVE or Euromed train you can use Renfe's Sala Club (1st class lounge) at Madrid Atocha, Madrid Chamartin, Barcelona Sants, Cordoba, Seville Santa Justa, Malaga Maria Zambrano, Alicante, Zaragoza and several other major stations, the opening hours and full list are on the Renfe website.

Sala Club at Madrid Atocha.

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Railpasses for Spain

• If you just want to go from A to B, book a point-to-point ticket online, it's the cheapest & easiest option.  But if you're planning an extensive itinerary and want to stay flexible, consider a railpass.

Option 1, Eurail & Interrail passes

• You can buy an Interrail pass if you live in Europe or a Eurail pass if you live outside Europe, either just for Spain or for most of Europe includ9ing Spain.  These give unlimited travel on all trains run by Renfe all over Spain for various periods of time.

• Passholder reservations with an Interrail or Eurail pass

  Unfortunately, Interrail & Eurail passes do not offer hop on, hop off convenience in Spain because all Spanish long-distance trains and even many short-distance ones require a reservation.  This costs around €10 for AVEs and other premier trains or €7 for lesser trains.

  The next problem is that Interrail & Eurail reservations can't always be made online.

  Passholder reservations for most AVE trains and some Alvia/Intercity/Euromed trains can be made online at the Interrail/Eurail reservations service, but some trains can't be booked online anywhere, you have to make reservations at a station in Spain.  Getting served in summer at a busy ticket office in Madrid or Barcelona can take up to two hours (yes, you read that right) and Spanish trains often leave full so waiting until you get there isn't ideal.

  You should take this into account when deciding whether to buy a pass or point-to-point tickets.   Spain is the one country where (paradoxically) buying refundable/changeable point-to-point tickets that you can easily buy, change or cancel in an app on your phone can be more flexible than having a pass which may commit you to queuing for an hour or two to make a reservation, then finding your chosen train is full.

  More about how to make Interrail/Eurail passholder reservations.  However, there's one other type of pass to consider, the Renfe Spain pass.

Option 2, Renfe's Spain Pass

• Renfe offer its own Spain Pass to anyone resident outside Spain.  This can be better value as it includes all reservations, no hidden costs.  However, unlike Interrail & Eurail passes it does not give unlimited travel.  One journey = 1 train ride, if you change trains, that's 2 journeys.

• You can buy a Renfe Spain Pass giving either 4, 6, 8 or 10 individual one-way train journeys of any length in a one-month period on all of Renfe's long-distance & medium-distance trains, including AVE, Euromed, Alvia, Intercity, Media Distancia & Avant. 

• With the Renfe Spain Pass, reservations can be made for free and there are no extra fees or quotas - if there is an empty seat on the train, you're entitled to it with your Spain Pass, although be warned that Spanish high-speed trains can indeed get fully-booked close to departure date.

• How to buy a Renfe Spain pass

  You can buy a Spain pass online at www.renfe.com/es/en.../renfe-spain-pass (has a few quirky translations and sometimes struggles with some credit cards).  The passes are completely electronic.  After setting up an account and buying your own pass, you can buy passes for your travelling companions as separate transactions.  They will also appear as passes in your account.

  You have up to 6 months to make your first trip after you buy the pass, then one month to use the remaining trips after that first trip.

• How to make reservations with a Renfe Spain Pass

  You can make reservations to go with a Spain pass either at stations as you go or at www.renfe.com, but the online method isn't obvious.  Here's how to make Renfe Pass seat reservations using www.renfe.com (feedback appreciated):

  1. After buying your Renfe pass, go to www.renfe.com and switch it to English by clicking the globe logo at top right and select Ingles.

  2. Log into your account and select the tab called My passes. You should see each Renfe pass you have bought for you and your companions. 

  3. Look for the Validation link partway down (Formalización in Spanish). Click that, and a journey planner page appears with which you can make pass reservations.

  You can only make reservations for one person/pass at a time.  But if you click Choose seats you can select your seat from a seat map and can use this feature to select seats next to each other.

  Important:  When you make your first reservation, Renfe assumes that this is the first train you want to take with your pass and automatically starts the one-month pass validity from that date.  This now prevents you from making reservations on an earlier date.  So make sure that the first reservation you make is for the day you intend to start using the pass!

• Is a Renfe pass a good idea?

  I've had one report that Renfe pass reservations were unavailable when normal tickets were still being sold.  This suggests that there is some sort of quota for passholder places, although I cannot prove it.  If there's a quota, this would make me very nervous about committing to a Renfe pass.  My personal view is that it's a lot easier to buy normal point-to-point tickets than to battle with a pass and passholder reservations, and if you want pass-style flexibility, simply buy a flexible/refundable Elige or Premium fare for each journey which can be changed and/or refunded in the Renfe app on your phone - only that gives true flexibility!

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AVE trains

AVE or Alta Velocidad Española trains are Renfe's front-rank high-speed services.  Reservation is compulsory, there are standard and comfort class seats, a cafe-bar, power sockets at all seats & free WiFi.

If you pay the Premium fare, an airline-style hot tray meal with wine is included although on some departures you get a snack box instead, see the food & drink section above.  AVE trains come in various types.

AVE trains come in various types, see the AVE page for more information, photo & tips.

A type S103 AVE at Madrid Atocha.  More about AVE trains.

Euromed trains

Euromed trains operate the fast services on the Barcelona-Valencia-Alicante corridor, with Intercity trains operating the slower services.  Euromed trains have standard & comfort class, a cafe-bar, power sockets at all seats & free WiFi.  They run at up to 250 km/h on a short stretch of high-speed line near Barcelona, but mostly at up to 200 km/m on upgraded classic tracks.  Euromed services use the same S130 Talgo trains used for most Alvia services, but with AVE levels of service:  If you pay the Premium fare you get a comfort class seat with Sala Club access and meals included.

Euromed train at Barcelona Sants.  These S130 trains are known as Patito (little duck) by staff.  No prizes for guessing why...

Euromed comfort (1st) class.		Meal if you pay the premium fare.

Euromed cafe-bar.		Euromed standard (2nd) class.

Alvia trains

Alvia trains are the next rank down from AVE & Euromed trains, with standard & comfort class and cafe-bar.  Alvia trains come in several types, see the Alvia page for more information, photo & tips.

Intercity trains

These run on many long distance routes, including Madrid-Ronda-Algeciras, Madrid-San Sebastian.  Most are former Altaria trains, little articulated trains built by the Talgo company and hauled by a locomotive, they have adjustable wheels so they can run at up to 200 km/h on the standard-gauge high-speed AVE lines then run slowly though a gauge-changing shed to emerge on traditional Iberian broad gauge to complete their journey on the classic network.  A few Intercity trains have been created by rebranding former S120 Alvia trains built by CAF, for example on the Madrid-San Sebastian route, which also have gauge-changing wheels.  All Intercity trains have a cafe-bar, but you're unlikely to find WiFi or power sockets.

A Cartagena-Alicante-Valencia-Barcelona Intercity train at Valencia Estación del Nord.

Standard class.		Comfort class.

Intercity train at Alicante.		Cafe-bar.

Avant

Avant is Renfe's brand name for 'short hop' high-speed trains, one class of seating only.  There are two broad types of Avant service:  (1) Separate trains of varying types, such as the one shown below from Valladolid to Madrid and (2), a designated standard class coach on a longer-distance AVE train, which is why you see two trains leaving at the same time on routes such as Barcelona-Girona, one an AVE with 2 classes and higher prices, the other an Avant with a cheaper fixed price.  They are of course the same train, the Avant is one car on the AVE designated for passengers making shorter journeys.

Avant train at Madrid Chamartin.		One-class seats on an Avant train.

Avlo, Iryo, Ouigo...

Spain's high-speed lines have been opened up to competition.  Renfe now has a lo-cost brand called Avlo, and competitor operators Iryo & Ouigo now operate on key routes including Barcelona-Madrid, Madrid-Valencia, Madrid-Cordoba/Seville/Malaga.  See the Barcelona-Madrid page for a run down of these 3 operators.

An Iryo train at Barcelona Sants.

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When does booking open?  Anything between 15 days and 11 months, Renfe is a law unto itself when it comes to booking horizons, see the introduction.

What can these sites sell?  They can sell Renfe's mainline trains and sometimes competing high-speed trains run by Avlo, Iryo or Ouigo.  They can't sell tickets for Renfe's suburban (cercanias) routes including Latour de Carol-Barcelona or Cerbère-Portbou-Barcelona, nor can they sell tickets for Euskotren (Hendaye-San Sebastian-Bilbao) or the former FEVE routes (Bilbao-Santander-Gijon-Ferrol).

Option 1, buy at Raileurope.com

The quickest & easiest way to buy Spanish train tickets is at Raileurope.com with cheap advance-purchase fares & print-at-home or collect-at-station tickets.  You can see fares in €, £ or $.  Small booking fee.

Raileurope.com links directly to Renfe's (Spanish Railways) ticketing system and charges the same price as Renfe themselves with the same print-your-own ticket delivery.  Unlike Renfe's own site it's in plain English without any of Renfe.com's quirky translations and no credit card rejection problems.

Raileurope.com can book the lo-cost Barcelona-Madrid Ouigo Spain trains as well as the normal Renfe trains, but cannot book lo-cost Avlo trains

Anyone from any country can use Raileurope.com as international credit cards are welcomed.  It can also sell international trains between Spain and Portugal or France, as it links to the French, German, Italian & British ticketing systems.  Who are Raileurope.com?

Important:  If you have a baby or infant, remember to add them as a child and enter their age, they'll still go free but will get the free infant ticket which is now necessary in Spain.

Option 2, buy at Thetrainline.com or Omio.com

www.omio.com & www.thetrainline.com also connect to Renfe's ticketing system to sell Renfe tickets at exactly the same prices as Renfe with the same print-your-own or collect-at-station tickets, very easily, all overseas credit cards accepted.  Both charge a small booking fee.  They can also book Ouigo Spain trains & Avlo trains.  Who are Thetrainline.com?

Option 3, buy at Petrabax.com, easy to use, in US$

If you'd rather pay in USD, use www.petrabax.com.  This is a US-based agency which also links directly to the Renfe ticketing system to sell the same trains as Renfe.com with the same print-at-home tickets.  They add a small mark-up, but it's easy to use in plain English and it avoids the English translation and credit card acceptance problems people can experience with Renfe.com.  Anyone from any country can use Petrabax, including the United States, Canada, Australia, India & Singapore.

Option 4, buy at Renfe.com

You can of course buy tickets direct from Spanish Railways at www.renfe.com, in € with print-your-own tickets.  Unfortunately, Renfe.com has more than its fair share of quirks and a reputation for rejecting a significant proportion of overseas credit cards.  It's very fiddly to use.

Pretty much the only reasons to battle with renfe.com rather than buying easily from www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com is that you avoid paying any booking fee and it may allow you to select a specific seats from a seating plan for an extra fee.  However, www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com allow you to specify seating options and they show you your seat numbers before you pay, so you can always compare them with a seating plan then run multiple enquiries if you don't like the first ones you are given, adding seats to your basket until you get ones you like.  Then cancel the ones you don't need and pay for those you do.

If you want to try using Renfe.com please read the advice on using Renfe.com below.  It frustrates many people, though I have to say it has always worked fine with my own credit card and it now also accepts PayPal.

Renfe.com also doesn't handle connections well, so if you want to book (say) from Bilbao to Seville you'll have to guess that this involves a change in Madrid, then book as two journeys, Bilbao to Madrid and Madrid to Seville - whereas Raileurope.com can generally book from anywhere to anywhere as one transaction, even if connections are involved.

So if you want a quick and easy transaction, use www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com, but if you really want to avoid their small booking fee and are prepared to overcome confusing translations and a website which keeps slipping back into Spanish, try using Renfe.com with the help of the advice below.

• Spanish train bookings only open weeks or occasionally months ahead

  Renfe loads blocks of dates as & when it feels like it.  On major routes where it has competition, sales open as far ahead as 11 months.  On routes without competition Renfe may open sales as little as 15 days ahead, it varies enormously.  Renfe is notorious for late opening of sales!

  Certain trains may appear in the data before others.  If you see only 1 train a day on a route you know has 5, no they haven't all been mysteriously cancelled, data is incomplete, WAIT!!!!!!

• There are alternatives to Renfe.com which are easier to use

  Using Renfe means no booking fee, it works OK for me and has always accepted my credit card.  But it's fiddly to use and it rejects some overseas credit cards, especially American or Australian ones, although Renfe now also accepts PayPal.  If you have problems there are several easier alternatives, www.thetrainline.com, www.raileurope.com & www.omio.com (same price as Renfe with small booking fee) and www.petrabax.com (prices in US$, with a small mark-up).  All these sites link to Renfe's ticketing system and sell the same trains at the same fares and the same print-at-home tickets.  www.thetrainline.com allows seat selection from a seat map, although other retailers don't.

Step 1, use the journey planner

• Go to www.renfe.com.

• Switch it to English by clicking the globe symbol top right & selecting Inglés.

• I recommend registering for an account

  If you're registered you can always log in and check & reprint your tickets if you have any problems.  Being registered also saves you re-entering your details every booking.  Click the head-and-shoulders account symbol top right and click Register me.

• Use the journey planner:  For a one-way trip, change Return to one-way.  Leave Promotional codes alone.  Enter journey details.

• For Madrid, select MADRID (TODAS), for Barcelona select BARCELONA (TODAS), Todas means all and the system will work out whether you need Madrid Atocha, Madrid Chamartin, Barcelona Sants or Barcelona Franca.  For Seville, use Sevilla Santa Justa.  For Malaga you want Malaga Maria Zambrano.

• The system can't always handle changes of train, it will only show direct trains plus a few popular connecting services that Renfe has manually programmed in, marked link.  So if you ask it for San Sebastian to Algeciras it won't show any trains at all as there are no direct ones and no 'link' options have been programmed in, but of course you'll see trains if you ask it for San Sebastian to Madrid, then again for Madrid to Algeciras.  It's another reason for using www.thetrainline.com or www.raileurope.com which can find & book multi-train journeys across Spain.

• When you're ready, click Search for a ticket.

Step 2, select a train

• On the results page you'll see a list of trains, each shown with the cheapest available fare.  Select the one you want.

Step 3, select fare & class

• You now see the choice of fare & class.  It's important to realise that here you're selecting your fare type and class at the same time.  See the explanation of classes & fare types above.

  Basico and Elige fares both get you a Estandar (2nd) class seat.

  Elige Confort and Premium fares both get you a Confort (1st) class seat.

  Basico is non-changeable, non-refundable.  Elige fares are semi-flexible, semi-refundable.  The Premium fare is fully changeable, fully refundable and includes Sala Club lounge access and a meal served at your seat.  You'll only see a Premium fare on AVE & Euromed trains.

Step 4, passenger details

• On the next page, enter your details.  You can leave Second surname blank.

• Change DNI to Pasaporte and enter your passport number.

• Enter your phone number.  Select your country code (type 'U' and select United States of America (+1) for USA, or United Kingdom (+44) for the UK.  Enter your phone number with no spaces between the numbers and no preceding 0, for example 1844292884.

• Leave the Mas Renfe card section alone unless you have a Renfe discount card, which you probably don't.

• When you're done, click Customise trip.

Step 5, customise trip

• You now see a page of 'optional extras'.  Pets, bikes, meals, refundability, seat selection...

  You can add pets, bikes, pay a small fee to make your Elige fare totally refundable, add a meal (on certain trains) to your Elige fare (meals are automatically included with a Premium fare), and so on.  You can add seat selection from a seat map for a small fee, or at no extra charge with a premium fare.  You don't get offered these options with 3rd party retailers (although Trainline offers seat selection), this is one advantage of using Renfe.com.

Step 6, pay & print tickets

• Enter your payment details or use PayPal if you want.  Renfe uses the 3D Secure/Verified by Visa/MasterCard Secure system, you should enable your credit cards for this.

• Error GU001 at payment stage?  If you get error message GU001 when paying, it could be your bank blocking an unusual foreign transaction, rather than renfe.com itself.  Try another credit card, and/or call your bank and tell them you're making a legitimate payment on a foreign website.  Renfe uses the Verified by Visa and MasterCard Secure schemes, and anecdotal evidence suggests that a card that doesn't work before it is enrolled in one of these schemes suddenly works once you've signed up.

• Print your tickets or download the Renfe app

  After you've paid, a confirmation screen appears, with a link to download tickets and save them to your PC.  Or you can download the Renfe app onto your phone, sign into your account and your tickets will appear.  You can now board the train.

  If you get stuck, call renfe for help on 00 34 919 19 05 04.  It has a voice-activated system, say Ingles when prompted for English.  Even if you didn't register the customer services staff can usually provide you with your booking's ‘localiser' which allows you to print your ticket at the station either at the staffed ticket office or self-service machines.

• Feedback is very welcome if you use renfe.com to buy tickets, especially as things change from time to time and I won't always spot it.

• If you have any difficulty, for example credit card payment errors, see alternative ways to buy Spanish tickets.

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