Spain on the Train

Spain now has more kilometres of high speed rail track than anywhere else in Europe so exploring Spain on the Train is now a pleasure with spacious, clean railway cabins, comfortable reclining seats and Buffet cars serving tapas a selection of hot meals. 

Barcelona and Madrid are obvious choices, but don't forget about Valencia the City of  Arts and Sciences, now just an hour and a half away from Madrid thanks to the high speed AVE link. If Flamenco is more your thing, then you can't do better than the wonderful Moorish architecture of Seville.  For the art enthusiasts, the Dali museum up in Figueres is a must and if all that culture is just too much for you and all you want to do is chill out then you can enjoy Europe's sunniest music festival at Benicassim.

Spain's High-speed trains:
AVE trains run with speeds up to 300 km/h on the routes: Madrid - Zaragoza - Camp de Tarragona - Barcelona, Madrid - Zaragoza - Huesca, Madrid – Córdoba -Sevilla, Madrid – Córdoba - Málaga and Madrid - Segovia - Valladolid, Madrid - Cuenca - Valencia, Barcelona - Córdoba - Sevilla and Barcelona - Córdoba - Málaga.

ALVIA trains run with speeds up to 220 km/h on the routes: Madrid - Gijón, Madrid - Santander, Madrid - Bilbao, Madrid - San Sebastián - Irún/Hendaya Madrid - Albacete - Valencia - Castelló, Madrid - Alicante, Madrid - Sevilla- Cádiz, Madrid - sevilla- Huelva, Madrid - Pamplona, Madrid - Logroño, Madrid - Vitoria, Barcelona - Vigo, Barcelona - Monforte (+ shuttle to a Coruña), Barcelona - Irún - Hendaye, Barcelona - Bilbao.

EUROMED trains run at 124 mph (200 km/h) on the line: Barcelona – Valencia/Alicante

ALTARIA trains run at 124 mph (200 km/h) on the following routes: Madrid - Córdoba - Algeciras, Madrid - Granada, Madrid - Murcia - Cartagena.

There are new lines planned and some work in progress, eg, the link between Alicante and Madrid

You can find information about the train times and prices at the following websites.

Renfe

Raileurope

** It is advisable to book your ticket in advance as many of the popular routes get booked up weeks and even months in advance, especially in the summer.

Cercanias Trains

Cercanias trains (suburban services) are the newest trains in Europe which operate in all big cities. Timetable and costs can be found from the Cercanias part of the Renfe website

International trains to/from Spain

Elipsos TrainHotel (night train) operates on the following routes between France and Spain

Paris - Madrid (Francisco de Goya)

Paris - Barcelona (Joan Miró)

For more information visit www.elipsos.com

Trams & Metros

Several cities in Spain have a tram system including Alicante (which connects Alicante, Benidorm and Denia), A Coruña, Valencia, Barcelona and Bilbao (which connects the bus station to the main Renfe and Euskotren train stations).

Trams are now generally bang on time, they are clean, air conditioned and a good,cheap way to travel around. On most of the tram networks, you can purchase a ticket onboard. 

If you are buying the single ticket for the tram, this can be purchased from the ticket machines that are located onboard. The machines have a touch screen and are available in English, Spanish, Catalan, French and often other languages too. You can use a debit or credit card in the machines as well as coins. It is important to remember that the machines do not accept bank notes, so you will need to make sure that you have coins if you want to pay with cash. 

Regular travellers might consider being an "Integration Ticket" (for multiple journeys). These can be purchased at Tram Stations.

Generally children under 4 years of age travel free.

Links to the Tram websites are below:

Alicante Tram Website

Barcelona Tram Website

Bilbao Tram Website 

Madrid Metro

Barcelona Metro

Spanish Bus Services

The ALSA webite is the place to start. Here you can find timetables and prices. You can book in advance, which is advisable.

If you want know how to go to Spain overland from UK then National Express has a service which links most of the main cities in UK to Spain.