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flussradler
Traveller
5 comments

Posted 3 weeks ago

Hey together,

I'd like to travel in August from Frankfurt to Porto, but I would prefer to use trains instead of a plane. Can anyone recommend me a connection that won't need more than 2 travel days and has suitable transfers between trains? I already know that travelling between Spain and Portugal isn't easy, but maybe someone has already made some good experiences. Thanks in advance and best ragards,

Tom

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MisterSteve
Traveller
916 comments

replied 3 weeks ago

Not flying is fairly easy to do in your needs. Going all the way by train is a nightmare! Because of the missing link in the rail network on the old direct route from Madrid to Porto and the infreqency of services via Vigo it can take a long time. But getting to Madrid is fairly easy and there are direct buses rom Madrid to Porto. If you leave Frankfurt at 0656 via Strasburg you can reach Madrid by 22:40, or leave Frankfurt at 0856 via Paris and arrive Barcelona at 21:27 then leave next day at 05:40 to Madrid arrive 08:20. Flixbus leave Madrid South at 10:00 and arrive Porto at 18:40 - and you could get a ticket for around 15€.

But you can't buy the journey as one ticket, it will need a combination of at least DB, RENFE and Flixbus and possibly SNCF - all booked seperately. You will read on on here that getting RENFE reservations for Interrail is often a problem but buying the ticket and reservation together can be done online.

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MisterSteve
Traveller
916 comments

replied 3 weeks ago

Porto arrival time should be 17:40 Portuguese time, which is one hour behind Spanish time so the ride is 8 hours 40 minutes.