Trains are the perfect way to travel in Spain. The country is filled with lively cities, cultural curiosities, lovely beaches, and great food. Your Eurail Spain Pass is your ticket to amazing rail adventures, from the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Andalusia to the unspoilt beaches of the Costa Brava.
The majority of trains you'll take on the Spanish rail network are run by RENFE and iryo, the two Spanish railway companies part of the Eurail network. High-speed and regional cross-border trains connect Spain to other European countries. You can search for Spanish train times in the Eurail timetable as well as on the RENFE website and iryo website.
Here are approximate times between Spain's most popular cities when taking direct high-speed trains.
| Route | Duration |
|---|---|
Barcelona to Madrid |
2h 30m |
Barcelona to Malaga |
5h 50m |
Madrid to Granada |
3h 35m |
Madrid to Valencia |
1h 50m |
Madrid to Santiago de Compostela |
3h 15m |
Madrid to Seville |
2h 40m |
| Barcelona to Valencia (Euromed high-speed train) |
2h 50m |
| Madrid to Irun (Alvia high-speed train) |
5h 40m |
By traveling with slower regional trains, you do not need to make reservations. For example, a direct regional train ride from Barcelona to Madrid takes 9h 46m. This is a long journey, but you can take it on any given day and hop on/hop off at any town you like.
More often than not, you need to make advance reservations for trains in Spain. Fees vary depending on the type of seat or bed you choose.
Eurail reservation self-service system
Other platforms
At a local railway station
By calling RENFE phone sales
If you have a disability or reduced mobility and you want to travel by train in Spain, you can request help from Atendo Service. You can contact them by phone:
Other locations
You can get more detailed information about train reservations in our reservation guide.
Spend your whole vacation to discover Spain by rail.
Standard prices from $ 184
Have the freedom to visit Spain and up to 32 other Eurail countries.
Standard prices from $ 233
Stations in Spain usually have excellent facilities, often including:
Luggage lockers
Foreign exchange desks
Restaurants and cafés
Tourist information offices
ATM cash machines
Elevators and escalators
Access for disabled passengers
Capital: Madrid
Population: 47.2 million
Language: Spanish
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Dialing code: +34
On Spanish train timetables and at train stations in Spain, you'll usually find the local spelling of Spanish cities and stations.
Here is the local spelling of some popular Spanish cities:
Alicante = Alacant
Seville = Sevilla
The following railway stations have connections to many domestic cities as well as international destinations:
Other main hubs in Spain are:
There are several stations with access gates. The barcode on paper Passes or mobile Passes (day ticket) cannot be used to open these access gates.
In these stations, customers can ask the staff to open them by showing the Pass (the day ticket generated in the Rail Planner app for mobile Passes) and the seat reservation if necessary. In case there’s no staff at the station, the gates will be permanently open or will open automatically.
You cannot change the currency once you have a Pass in your cart. Remove the Pass, and then change the currency on the website header.
