Barcelona Travel Forum

Hi All,

I am travelling with my wife and 4 year old to Barcelona in August.
Could someone let me the cheapest way to get from Barcelona to Madrid?

Thanks in advance

Hy,
The cheapest way is flying with Ryanair: from 39.86€ round trip for three peoples in august!!! Vueling from 58€ round trip for one people.By train fares are from 43€ one way
Ryanair flies from Barcellona-Girona, Vueling fron Barcellona- El Prat, clorer to city center
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/
http://www.vueling.com/?language=EN
http://www.renfe.es/horarios/english/index.html
Hope this helps
Ciao, Marco

Spanish Railways are trying hard to compete (successfully) with the budget airlines and so you can get discounted tickets when booked in advance. Cheapest tickets for long distance trains tend to be available around 62 days in advance of day of travel as that's when the booking opens. Of course you will have to negotiate the tortuous online booking process and pay for the tickets in advance. However at least the train can take you from city centre to centre and you do save time on for example travelling out to Girona airport or even Barajas airport in Madrid. The Spanish AVE fast railway train is very comfortable and is a nice experience.

I think the cheapest is the bus. http://www.alsa.es/ (there is an english version). I have just seen that they offer tickets for just 28.8 euros(depending on the time of the day, or the kind of bus it may be more expensive) and both stations are "in" the city, so it is easy to get there, not like the airports.

It is a "long" way. It may take 6 hours, but if you must go to Girona or from Barajas to Madrid...you should add some hours to what the flight is.

Good luck.

good answers above!

you have to check and compare prices for your exact traveling dates

train is the quickest and most comfortable option, and not so expensive if you get a "web" discount. Take into account you will save time and money as you from city centre to city centre

when flying, be aware that Ryanair is usually NOT the cheapest option! (even they will do as much as possible you believe it). Check the real and complete fare (once added all these "extras" you can't avoid) and add 12 € each (and 1:15 h) for the bus transfer to GRO aiport. However, you can go from the very city centre of Barcelona to BCN airport as cheap as 1.35 € each using the train, or even using a T-10 transport card (10 trips to move around the city for 7.70€, you can share the card)

the bus is ok if you are not in a hurry, but traveling with a 4yo may be not the wisest idea

you have good advise so far, and yes I think nowdays is wise to compare modes of transports, train, bus ,and air. with a 4 yrs old the best would be airline.
you can try the travel agencies in the country or book from abroad.

Thanks a lot folks for your help.
Very much appreciated.
This site is just fabulous...

Try to book Tarifa Web with RENFE - at least 14 days in advance, and you get a 60% reduction on the standard single train fare. However only a limited (but large) number of such tickets are available each day, and they can ONLY be obtained by booking via the Internet. 50% reductions are also available if you are prepared to risk booking 'last minute'. Note that August - especially the first half - is peak holiday period here in Spain, so all public transport will be very busy, especially at weekends!

RyanAir from Girona may seem the cheapest, yes, but they you're looking at E12/pp, both ways on the bus. One hour bus ride, as well.

That's E24 r/t, per person...E68. plus, time lost on the Barcelona side, alone.

Flying looks cheaper on the face of it, but the budget guys now charge for things like choosing seats online, first bag checked, re-printing boarding passes, USING THE BATHROOM.

I dunno. People are taking the train with good reason - and less prone to delays as well.