Skip the airport: hotels by rail
Spain built Europe's largest high-speed network, and from Madrid or Barcelona it brings a good part of this journal within a day's ride. Seville, Granada, San Sebastián and the Málaga coast are all on the map, and from Barcelona direct trains cross into France and run on to Paris. You board in one city center, step off in another, and leave the airport routine out of it.
Setting off from
Before you board
- Buy as soon as your dates are fixed. Renfe's AVE, Iryo and Ouigo compete on the main high-speed lines, and the cheapest seats on all three sell out first. Sales usually open a couple of months ahead, sometimes earlier.
- Expect a bag scanner. Most Spanish high-speed stations X-ray luggage before the platform. It moves much faster than at an airport, but arrive 20 to 30 minutes early: boarding gates shut a couple of minutes before departure.
- Going on to France. SNCF runs direct Barcelona–Paris trains in roughly six and a half hours. For other French destinations, look at SNCF Connect, or at Renfe's own services across the border.
- Passes for visitors. If you live outside Spain, the Renfe Spain Pass bundles a set number of journeys. Interrail (for European residents) and Eurail (for everyone else) also cover Spanish trains, though high-speed services still need a seat reservation, usually for a fee.
- Your bags, your job. Nobody weighs your suitcase, but you lift it onto the rack yourself, so one medium case each is the comfortable limit.
- The final stretch. Some of our hotels are a taxi or hotel car from the station rather than a short walk. Marbella has no railway at all, so arrange a transfer from Málaga when you book.
Times shown are rough figures for the main rail journey and change with the train and the season. Check the operator's current timetable before building plans around them.