Rail holidays in Spain

When people ask where you’re going in Spain, they usually expect a one- or two-word answer back: “Madrid” or “Costa Brava” – they don’t expect a sentence: “Barcelona, Madrid, Seville and Cordoba”.

Barcelona for breakfast, Madrid for midday, Seville for siesta: while it would never do to spend so little time in Madrid, thanks to Spain’s high-speed rail network it’s perfectly possible to breeze from city to city. Go by train on our Spain small group holiday to see more of the country in comfort.

Spain has an excellent rail network. The country has the second longest high-speed rail network in the world after China and the longest high-speed network in Europe, meaning you can whizz from Madrid to Seville at 200-300kph, and get to the Andalusian city in only two and a half hours.

There are nearly 4,000km of high-speed tracks laid out across the country. Most of the network radiates out of Madrid in four ‘corridors’. It’s made the train a no-brainer when weighing up between flights, driving and public transport for cross-country travel.

“I highly recommend it. It is comfortable and you can travel very nicely,” says Ellie, travel expert at Responsible Travel, who is Spanish and lives near Malaga. Before high-speed rail, business travellers used to fly between Barcelona and Madrid, but this has completely changed. “People prefer to go by train, now,” says Ellie. Flying isn’t recommended. “It takes forever, the airports are outside the city and you have to make your way out and in. It’s so much hassle compared to the train.”

Rail beats the car, too: “High speed has made a massive difference – to be in Madrid in three hours from Malaga – when you drive that’s six hours in the car in traffic! – Barcelona is the same.”

Rail travel is affordable and there are plenty of options – “The government now allows the private companies to run services on the lines so there’s more frequency and more affordable trains,” says Ellie.

Our escorted rail holidays take advantage of the network. Your schedule and tickets will all be arranged for you, and you’ll already have a seat reservation sorted (mandatory on most services). All that’s left to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

“I loved that the bar car felt like an actual bar in the evening in Spain, everyone chatting and propped up on tables,” says Catherine. “Groups of friends kept walking up the carriage to the bar car and didn't come back.” Rubbing shoulders in the bar car is a feature on European trains, and especially true in Spain, adding a bit of festivity to your journey.

“That carriage is always full,” agrees Ellie, “People like to chat and socialise. You can tell when the people in the carriage are Spanish as there’ll be a lot of banter around.”

These are not trains put on for tourists, Ellie explains, which means they are a great way to immerse yourself in Spain’s diverse culture. “We take it all the time so by riding it you get a flavour of Spanish people and of Spain. Spain is becoming very multicultural. There are lots of people from South America living here now so you can hear so many accents.”

A favourite route is to start in Barcelona, before heading to Madrid and then on to Cordoba and Seville. Malaga and Granada are both easy train rides away, and then you can head into Valencia to finish in the city of Valencia.

Heading for a single-centre holiday? Many of our partners in Spain have detailed instructions for how to reach their local train station, and will offer a transfer service – sometimes that transfer is even free, to encourage travellers to choo-choo-choose the train.

Spain is connected to other countries in Europe, too – so you can reach the start of your holiday by train, arriving in Barcelona direct from Paris – this means you can travel to Spain from London, for instance, in a single day. You can also head on to Africa, taking a ferry from Tarifa to Tangier as part of our London to Morocco itinerary.

Spain also has a few quirky routes and trains, too: the tren de la fresa from Madrid travels through former strawberry fields and has a strawberry tasting on board. There are rack trains (cog railways) – including one up to Montserrat. Al Andalus – named after the Muslim-ruled Iberian Peninsula area – is a luxury tourist train that delves into Andalucia from Madrid and comes with lavish sleeper cars, a restaurant and four sumptuous lounges.