How to Travel Spain by Train
Spain has the longest high-speed rail network in Europe, and for a backpacker that is both good news and a trap: the trains are excellent, and the walk-up fares are brutal.
Book early and the train beats the bus on almost every route. Book late and it often does not.
How the network is shaped
Almost everything radiates from Madrid. Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Málaga all connect to the capital in under three hours, but connections between two non-Madrid cities are patchier and sometimes route back through it.
The Barcelona–Valencia–Alicante corridor is the exception: a proper coastal line that does not touch Madrid at all, which is why the east coast route works so well.
When to book
Tickets typically open around two to three months ahead. The cheapest fares appear immediately and disappear as the date approaches — the difference between booking three weeks out and booking on the day can easily be double.
Competing operators run the same high-speed corridors, so check more than one before you buy.
- Book 2–4 weeks ahead for the best fares
- Compare operators on the same route before buying
- Cheapest fares are usually non-refundable — check before committing
When to take the bus instead
For Seville–Málaga–Granada, buses are cheaper, more frequent and barely slower. The same is true for most journeys under two hours in Andalusia, and for reaching smaller coastal towns that the high-speed network skips.
At the station
Spanish stations screen bags before boarding on high-speed services, so arrive twenty minutes early rather than five. Seat reservations are compulsory on those trains — there is no hopping on with a flexible ticket.
