Getting from Madrid to Seville

[Nicprinsloo]

I will fly in to Madrid and then get to Seville. What is the best/cheapest/fastest transport method and can I prebook it from South South Africa.

 

[sillydoll]

There are regular flights from Madrid to Seville and they are reasonably cheap if booked in advance.
You can go by fast train (AVE) http://www.renfe.es - it takes about 2.5 hours and costs ± 75 euro.
There is a Renfe office in the airport. It is on the lower level, just to the right when you exit customs. They can sell you a ticket there.
Or, you can go by bus: http://www.socibus.es/index.jsp - about 8 buses per day, take 6.5 hours and cost about 20 euro.

If you are flying on Iberia, it is cheaper and saves time, to book a multi route ticket. South Africa to Seville (via Madrid). Home from Santiago, Madrid.

 

[camino07]

Thanks for the info on transport to Seville ,Sil. You must have read my mind.
Nic, I have just been ages online trying to find accomodation in Seville for the week after Easter and Hotel Simon is fully booked also Triana Backpackers. 'He who hesitates is lost' Typical I always dither about. So in the end,not knowing the city, I booked an expensive Hotel to get a bed. I guess I can always cancel if I find a more reasonable place. Perhaps you have already booked somewhere so no worries. Thought I would mention this in case others are dithering too.
Heather

 

[sillydoll]

Heather, have a look at Booking.com They often hold roomd for people who book online. I see that they have rooms from the 10th April at Triana and Hostal One Alemada, Oasis Bckpackers, the Garden Backpacker, HostalPension Legara has a single room with shared bathroom for €20 (only one room left!) Check them out.

booking.com Sevilla.

 

[bjorgts]

I have used the high-speed train several times. Then you go from Madrid (Atocha) to Sevilla in about 2 1/2 hour. You do not have to wait until coming to Madrid to buy a ticket. Then it is expensive. They open the sale 2 month before the actual date, and if you buy a ticket then, you can get it quite cheap. You can receive the ticket on a mail and print it out yourself.

I made a try now with the date 04.01, and for some trains the cost was not more than 33€. I made it all the way through the system to be allowed to bye the ticket. There are (at least) two ways: https://venta.renfe.com/vol/index.do and http://www.raileurope-world.com/book-now/. On this last one I pretended being from South Africa and it seemed to be no problems buying.
If you are landing on terminal 4, there is a new fast connection to Atocha. For us landing on terminal 2, there are a yellow bus outside the terminal going often to Atocha using ca half an hour.

Good luck. Bjørg

 

[ranthr]

Heather.
Started the week after Easter this year and Sevilla was overcrowded. Booked a room on booking.com,at Conventa La Gloria, central but simple,75euros with breakfast. Next night I stayed at Hotel Amfiteatro Romano in Santiponce, nice, clean big room with a lovely bathroom for 30 euro.
On the via 10 km from centre of Sevilla, bus every hour I think. Then I could use a lot of time at Italica, Amfiteatro and teatro Romano and visit the Convento San Isidor. Have never regretted dropping another night in Sevilla.
Be aware that as a peregrina you can avoid the long queue to get into the cathedral. There is a side door for peregrinos.
Randi

 

[camino07]

Thanks for the helpful info Bjorg and Randi . I was going to book flights straight through from Australia but now I may just take a train, it will save me worrying that my backpack will not arrive in Seville as happened in Lisbon in 2010.( it arrived the next morning ). I really want two nights in Seville as I don't sleep on planes and will be shattered and prefer a single room to begin with.
All this researching is fun but once I take the plunge and book my flight I will be fully commited .
Nerves are holding me back and I sometimes think I should run to my comfort zone,the Camino Frances again. My father would say,get some backbone girl, trouble is I am not a girl anymore (64)
Heather

 

[Alan Pearce]

Hi Heather

I flew into Madrid from Sydney and then took the Train to Seville. I booked the train ticket on line. Try googling TGV-europe.com. On the window will be a section that says click on country of origin. When you click on Australia, you may get a window that says in big writing " You are being re-directed to rail-europe" or there is a smaller area of writing that you can click on to remain with TGV-europe. Stay with TGV-europe, it is cheaper.

When you get to the window that asks for details of your trip there is also a drop-down section at the bottom that asks you to put in your country of origin. And when you get to the next window that asks you to confirm the details, there is another dropdown that asks for your age. Seniors may get a discount so click on that and put in 'OVER 60".

When I ordered my ticket last year it was airmailed to me in Australia within the week. And the train trip itself is so soothing after that long ,long drag from Australia

Buen camino

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[camino07]

Thanks Alan I will book the train to Seville when the bookings are open. Wow! I just booked my flights today and will be arriving in Seville on April 11th to begin walking on 13th Friday ( good job I am not superstitious) Touch wood!!
Time to start losing weight and walking! Walking! Walking!
Hope there a few others starting then. Scarey!
Heather

 

[BarbaraLynne]

Hello Heather,
I have just read this string, reached the end and gasped! April 11th is the date I am planning to arrive in Madrid and make my way to Seville to start Camino on the 15th. I am a 56 year old Canadian gal, will be walking with a friend I've known since high school. We plan to arrive in Santiago in the last week of May. Perhaps we shall meet as peregrinas ... although the 2 day start difference may prevent that ... what shall be, shall be!

 

[Donovan]

Hello Alan,
Very useful information – many thanks. How long did you allow between scheduled touchdown and train departure? I plan to arrive on the flight from Melbourne at 13:25, and to book on the 18:00 train. Sound OK? I understand Atocha station is huge and navigating through it can take time.
Donovan

 

[MarianneGardner]

Donovan, I arrived on a similar flight from Melbourne in April. We got the new(ish) airport bus that goes to Atocha with 2 other stops, very fast and convenient. see http://www.gomadrid.com/transport/Airport-Express.pdf
You will be in plenty of time to catch your train. I am in Melbourne also, so pm me if you have any questions.

 

[peregrina2000]

For those planning on arriving at Barajas and changing to a train going to Sevilla, you should know that RENFE has recently completed a train link that goes from the T4 terminal at Barajas to Atocha station in 25 minutes. It runs every half hour and costs about the same as the metro.

The Cercanias (commuter) trains run on separate rails than the metro and have fewer stops. The C-1 line that goes to the airport, for instance, has in-town stops only at Chamartin train station - Nuevos Ministerios - Cibeles - Atocha - Estacion Sur - Principe Pio.

With this new line, you can get from T4 to the train station at Chamartin in 11 minutes! That is truly amazing.

Buen camino, Laurie

and p.s., if you have tickets on the AVE, your ticket includes use of the Cercanias line to get to Atocha, but I don't know exactly how that works.

 

[Kevin F. O*brien]

Wow! Thanks for the tip Laurie. So you can reach Atocha or Chamartin within half an hour from Barajas T4. It may then be possible to avoid a night in Madrid. We have often spent a night in Madrid to avoid stressing to catch trains. I have been following yours and Rebekahs remarks about the Vanadiniense. As you said it could be fun to walk that one to Leon, the Salvador (this time correctly) to Oviedo and then the Primitivo. May/June sounds about right.

Best,

Kevin

 

[camino07]

Can someone please help? I have been trying to book a train ticket from Madrid to Seville around 1800 on the evening of 11th April. It keeps coming up as no schedule or fully booked although it is just 90 days before one can book for that date. Am I doing something wrong,surely it is not fully booked already?

I may have to fly instead which means hanging around Barajas until 8 o'clock at night.
I would be grateful for any advice.
Heather

 

[Sansthing]

Hi Heather, I'm sure it can't be fully booked! There are trains from Madrid to Seville about once an hour, all day every day. I'm arriving in Madrid on the 9th April in the morning and plan to get my ticket to Seville at Atocha station when I get there.
Sandra :arrow:

 

[Deleted member 3000]

My search gets these trains, but I did not try to buy a ticket:

Train / Route Departure Arrival Duration Prices Facilities Accessibility
02260 AVE 06.25 09.09 2 h. 44 min.
02070 AVE 07.00 09.30 2 h. 30 min.
02270 AVE 07.30 09.50 2 h. 20 min.
02080 AVE 08.00 10.30 2 h. 30 min.
02084 ALVIA 08.05 10.42 2 h. 37 min.
02090 AVE 09.00 11.35 2 h. 35 min.
02100 AVE 10.00 12.30 2 h. 30 min.
02110 AVE 11.00 13.30 2 h. 30 min.
02120 AVE 12.00 14.30 2 h. 30 min.
02130 AVE 13.00 15.35 2 h. 35 min.
02140 AVE 14.00 16.30 2 h. 30 min.
02144 ALVIA 14.05 16.33 2 h. 28 min.
02150 AVE 15.00 17.20 2 h. 20 min.
02160 AVE 16.00 18.30 2 h. 30 min.
02164 ALVIA 16.10 18.55 2 h. 45 min.
02170 AVE 17.00 19.35 2 h. 35 min.
02180 AVE 18.00 20.30 2 h. 30 min.
02190 AVE 19.00 21.35 2 h. 35 min.
02390 AVE 19.30 21.50 2 h. 20 min.
02200 AVE 20.00 22.30 2 h. 30 min.
02410 AVE 21.30 00.05 2 h. 35 min.

 

[camino07]

Thank you Sandra and falcon. That is amazing! I tried for ages on every different website. Which one did you get on? My flight doesn't get in until 1345 from Perth so I would rather be booked in.
Did you put a specific time in the site.
I will try again tomorrow,too tired now.
Going gaga!
Heather

 

[camino07]

Me again! Thought I would have one last try and at least this time found the Spanish Day trains site listing the Seville trains but once more when I put in my date and asked for tickets up came the schedule not found message! Eurotrain.com was the website. Ah well!
Tomorrow is another day.
Good night all
Heather

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Heather,
I think I know what's going on. RENFE doesn't post fares until about 120 (?) days before departure. Put in dates within that time frame and I bet you'll find lots of availability. Go to RENFE.es and either click "buy tickets" or "schedules"

It's worth keeping an eye on the site because very cheap fares are available when the dates are first posted. Two years ago, I got a Madrid-Sevilla AVE ticket for 32 euros on the Renfe web site.

Having said that, it's true that the RENFE website is hard to use and is kind of unpredictable when it comes to taking your credit card. If you search this forum for RENFE or "train tickets", you'll see lots of discussion. I was successful, and I've helped others through it, but for some it just never seems to want to let them buy tickets.

I just learned, though, that Raileurope now offers the cheap RENFE fares for a slight charge of about 4 euros, I think. I posted about it here: traveling-to-from-the-camino/topic12183.html They will even notify you when your desired dates become available.

Hope this helps, buen camino, Laurie

 

[peregrina2000]

Just a quick p.s. -- I was helping a friend try to buy a ticket today, and it looks to me like you can only buy tickets on Spanish trains two months in advance.

 

[camino07]

Thanks Laurie
I tried again this morning on Renfe.es and still no luck. I thought it was 90 days before but maybe it is just 2 months. I will have to be patient.
I am so looking forward to the VDLP. I will be following your stages as much as possible.
Cheers
Heather

 

[bjorgts]

I have bought such tickets several times (from Norway), and I am quite sure you have to wait. 60 days ahead you can bye a ticket. Bjorg.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Heather,
Bjorg is right, it is 60 days -- I tried it by putting in a date that was abouat 58 days ahead of today, then continuing to click "dia siguiente" (next day) for the prices and schedule for the next day. When I got past 60, no information came up. Heather, are you using the official RENFE website?

Can't wait to hear all about your Vdlp! Buen camino to you, Laurie

 

[alipilgrim]

As it is just 2 months to my trip to Spain, I attempted this morning to buy my train ticket from Madrid to Sevilla on Renfe.com. As has been mentioned before, I got as far as putting in my credit card info and the system stopped working. So, I looked around the website a bit and saw that there was a US company that sold Renfe tickets in the USA! I called them but they suggested I use their website to book the tickets. The gentleman on the phone walked me thru the process, noting that it's best to choose the very cheapest ticket first and if that doesn't work it means that class of fare is sold out, then go back and choose the 2nd cheapest, and so on until you get a seat. I was lucky to get the Web Special: I booked my ticket for March 21st for US$52.00!

https://petrabax.com/
click on trains on the top header

Note: you do have to register on the website before you can proceed to checking out.

 

[camino07]

Thanks Laurie and alipilgrim for the info. I will wait until 60 days prior to april 10th and then have a go at booking. Will try the site you used alipilgrim or see if there is an Australian alternative.

Not coping too well with this heat in Perth at present. Many days in a row over 40 degrees. Surely Spain can't be this hot even in mid summer? Impossible to do any walking but the exercise bike under the aircon is ok.
Give me some snow!!!!
Heather

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Surely Spain can't be this hot even in mid summer?

It can be. Last May Sevilla had a maximum high of 91, an average high of 81, and a minimum high of 69. For July it was 100, 93, and 82. The August numbers were 105, 94, and 78. An April start will keep you ahead of the worst heat, but expect the Via de la Plata to be hot at times.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Heather,
The temperatures in Andalucia can be crazy. When I arrived in Sevilla in the very beginning of May, the weather was great for walking. In fact, for the first week or so, I was very glad I had my wool gloves to wear in the mornings. But people told me that the last week of April had brought a huge heat wave (but in the mid 30s), and that Sevilla had been uncomfortably hot just days before I arrived. So you should prepare for both, but I'll bet you don't have to worry about the temperature hitting the 40s in April.

Laurie