Madrid to Santiago travel question

[lanval]

Hello all,

My wife and children are meeting me at Santiago after my walk after which we intend to travel Spain, France, and Germany for several weeks via rail passes.

They arrive at Madrid at 9:30 in the morning after travelling from Canada for 17 hours. They are trying to decide if they should

• spend the night in Madrid to decompress and travel by train the next day to Santiago (if I can find one that doesn’t leave Madrid at 10:30 at night…)
• leave for Santiago right away via train (which looks like a long ride after already traveling for 17 hours), but we hear that the trains are comfortable enough to get some sleep
• bite the bullet and pay the extra to fly from Mardrid to Santiago

Does anyone have advice to offer?

 

[William Marques]

Check the flight. As part of an international ticket it may not be as expensive as you expect.

After 17 hours I'd be ready to catch a rest somewhere though your wife and children may be made of sterner stuff.

 

[ivar]

I would recommend flying or travel by bus. Train is very slow...

You can get flights that are cheaper than a bus ticket if you look around, it is not unusual to get a one way ticket from Madrid to Santiago for about 50-60 euro.

If you can not add it on to your international flight, you could always get a separate ticket... My mom always does this when she flies down from Norway. She would buy one ticket from Norway to Madrid. Then I will help her book (online) a domestic ticket from Madrid to Santiago. The problem with this ofcourse is that if your first flight is delayed and you loose your 2nd flight, it is your problem. So maybe a rest day sounds like a nice buffer... Madrid is nice if you have not been before

Check http://www.iberia.es , or http://www.vueling.com for some ideas on flights. Check http://www.alsa.es for buses.

Buen camino,
Ivar

 

[jeff001]

Also check http://www.spanair.com They are currently showing E43 fares Madrid/Santiago for June 2008.

 

[lanval]

Thank you for all the pointers!

As they need to travel on a Friday, Vueling has the best deal. Thanks again!