Asmodaeus
Traveller
4 comments
Posted 14 years ago
I would like to warn you about travelling to Spain with your Interrail Pass.
I came back from my trip yesterday and I must say that it was my worst Interrail travel ever!
When I was buying my pass I was informed that I needed to make reservations only for high-speed trains, which is not true.
In fact, every single train needs a seat reservation from this year (it costs 4 EUR, 6,5 EUR or 10 EUR). Some lines are used only by high-speed trains like AVE so most reservations will cost you 10 EUR. What's more, Spanish railway network is very poor so I needed to use buses as well because there were no trains at all between certain cities (for example from Malaga to Granada).
When you take into account the cost of reservation and the pleasure of waiting in queues at railway stations, it seems better to rent a car.
It is not a joke. I paid 80 EUR for supplements and 20 EUR for bus tickets (I had a Flexi Pass 5 days within 10 days)
I hope it is useful information for all of you, I was really surprised at this absurd and will never again travel to Spain by train.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi, once again! ;)
Lots of things have been clarified I guess in your the other topic, so I just want to make some short comments here:
- [quote]
In fact, every single train needs a seat reservation from this year (it costs 4 EUR, 6,5 EUR or 10 EUR).[/quote]
That's not entirely true - the suburban Cercanias/Rodalies services are free as well as Regional trains. But, alas, most other trains (in fact all long-distance trains) require a reservation. You can find a full list here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/spain/es[/u]
[quote]Some lines are used only by high-speed trains like AVE so most reservations will cost you 10 EUR. What's more, Spanish railway network is very poor so I needed to use buses as well because there were no trains at all between certain cities (for example from Malaga to Granada).
[/quote]
Very few, if any, connections are possible by AVE only. You will often find slower, cheaper alternatives if you are not willing to pay the 10€ supplement.
In fact, Spanish railway network isnt poor at all, it is one of the best high-speed networks in the world. And there are several projects currently under construction or planned so that Spain willl be the country with the longest high-speed network worldwide soon. Also, quality of trains usually is really good - clean, fast, punctual. :)
Of course, the network isnt as dense as elsewhere, say in the Benelux area, but that is apparently due to the fact that Spain isnt as densely populated as other European countries. Between the centres you usually have frequent services.
As you mentioned the example of going from Malaga to Granada - there are no direct services, that's true. But there are of course connections available, which indeed require a change, but at least you an get there by train. ;)
I will quote the example from my travel in Spain last February again:
Lisboa - Madrid:
With IR 32€ | Without IR 83€
Madrid - Sevilla:
With IR 10€ | Without IR 80€
Sevilla - Granada:
With IR 4€ | Without IR 24€
Granada - Barcelona:
With IR 7€ | Without IR 62€
Barcelona - Latour de Carol:
With IR free | Without IR ~10€
Flo 8)