Traveling by train in Spain

In part because traveling by train is just not something I do in the States and in part because it's far more comfortable than traveling by airplane, even if it does take longer, I prefer to travel by train. What's more, these days it costs roughly the same to travel by plane as it does by train, especially if you need to check a bag and if you take into account the cost of getting from whatever airport to your destination's city center, whereas the train usually drops you off right in the midst of things.

That said, there are some tricks to traveling by train in Spain. Here are a few I've learned.

Carly & Sione on a train

Foreword
The key to buying a train ticket in Spain is patience and persistence. If patience and persistence are not your forte, I suggest you either travel by airplane or travel with someone who does possess these qualities and work out a deal with them where they do the ticket-buying in exchange for dinner. Or perhaps a nice shoulder rub, since they'll need it (and perhaps an aspirin) after navigating the system.



Buying a ticket online - Not Recommended

1. The Renfe (Spain's train system) website is a lying muther*ucker. It will tell you, for example, that there are only two trains from Figueras to Barcelona on a given day, when that is simply not true. There are trains from Figueras to Barcelona every hour (or close to that), but the system only shows you what it feels like showing you, and that is frequently not the whole story.
2. The prices displayed on the Renfe website are not necessarily the best ones available. The system may or may not feel like letting you know that on this particular voyage they're offering a promotion where you can buy a first-class ticket for cheaper than tourist class.
3. The Renfe website does not always accept American credit or debit cards. It depends on how the system feels that day. So even if you do decide to choose one of the few options available on the site and to pay the price it says there, it might lead you through this whole long process only to not accept your credit card. I don't know how it does with credit/debit cards from other countries.
4. The other websites that sell train tickets (e.g. Rail Europe, Logitravel, etc.) don't have the best prices AND they will sometimes tell you that you can buy a ticket for a certain train and then change their minds when you click through to the next screen. Huge, frustrating waste of time.

Buying a ticket from a machine at the station - Sometimes Recommended
If you find yourself needing to buy a ticket from a machine at the station because the line to buy from a person is too long or because you are already on the verge of tears and just want to get it over with, even though the machine might not offer the best price, here is what you need to know:

1. The machine might tell you that you can buy a ticket at a promotional price and then the confirmation screen will show full price, and you'll have to cancel the transaction and start all over because hitting the back button doesn't just take you back to the last screen, it takes you back the beginning of the entire process.
2. This may happen more than once, and you may have to keep trying until the machine finally stops glitching out and just gives you the f*cking promotional price.
3. The machine might not accept your payment card the first (or second or third) time you try to pay, and when this happens, you have to start all over from the beginning.
4. Eventually you may have to switch machines and start all over again with a new machine.
5. When paying with a debit or credit card, the machine will ask you for your PIN. Yes, even for your credit card. If you don't know your credit card PIN, don't use your credit card! Chances are your credit card company will think it's fraud and put a temporary block on your card and then you'll spend a couple hours trying to get that mess sorted out. Unless that's your idea of a good time, best to avoid it.

Buying at ticket from a person at the station - Preferred Method
SAVE YOURSELF A LOT OF TIME AND TEARS: First go to the information desk inside the Venta de Billetes office/room. Yes, it's one more line to wait in, but unless you already know Spain's system like the back of your hand, 9/10 times it's completely worth it.

I learned my lesson when I went to Barcelona-Sants to try to figure out whether I could make it to Figueras and then back to Madrid in a weekend. The Renfe website said my only option would be to leave Figueras at 6:30am on Sunday and pay an arm and a leg for the ticket, but I'd already discovered it was a lying muther*ucker so I decided to go talk to a person, since that had been a good experience in Sevilla.  (I think the main flaw in my reasoning here is that I hadn't taken into account how much smaller the Sevilla train station is compared with Barcelona-Sants. But anyway.)

Since I wanted to buy a same-day ticket to Figueras, I got in the Ventas Para Hoy line. It moved fairly quickly, but when I got to the window, the woman said I was in the line for national tickets and that I needed to go to a different line, one for regional tickets. So I went over there. This one moved more slowly, and when I got the the window, the guy couldn't answer the questions I had about getting back to Madrid from Figueras, and I didn't want to buy a ticket to Figueras if I couldn't get back at a reasonable price, and he the only return ticket he could sell me was a same-day return (because I was in the same-day travel line). In the end he got frustrated and said I needed to either buy a ticket from him or shove off. So I shoved off and went and bought tickets from the machine; they might malfunction but at least they wouldn't lose patience with me.

Having learned my lesson in Barcelona, I went first to the information desk at Atocha to see about buying a ticket to Paris. Had I not done so, I would not have known that the little Venta de Billetes office that I was in only sold same-day regional tickets, and the office I needed to go to for a Madrid-Paris ticket was elsewhere and only open during the week. If there was a sign that said as much, I completely missed it. Chances are, there was no such sign.

Had I not gone first the the information desk on a separate occasion, I would not have known that you can only buy Madrid-Paris tickets at Atocha, but tickets to certain other international destinations are only sold at Nuevos Ministerios or Chamartín.

Had I not gone first to the information desk, I wouldn't have known that there is a separate ticketing system for buying an international ticket than there is for buying national or regional tickets. Here the "ticketing system" I'm referring to is the little number you need to get from the machine when you enter the ticket office that is your service number. But you only need to grab a number if you're buying a ticket for a different day (Ventas Anticipadas), not if you're trying to buy a ticket for today (Ventas Para Hoy). Nor would I have known how to get the service number for buying an international ticket out of the machine, since that function had been turned off and it was only spitting out the regular numbers.

So, yeah. Go to the information desk first.

But once you do find the right line and your turn is called, be sure to ask if there are any promociones available. This is how Carly and I got first-class tickets from Sevilla to Barcelona for cheaper than tourist class. More leg room, hot towels, free breakfast. Sweet.

At the train station
Even though your ticket says that you can board up until two minutes before scheduled departure, I highly recommend getting to the train station at least thirty minutes before your train is supposed to leave, especially if you're leaving from one of the bigger stations, like Atocha or Barcelona-Sants.

First you have to figure out which gate your train is leaving from, which may sound easy enough, but then you realize there are two trains scheduled to leave for your destination at the same time...which one is yours? Neither of the train numbers on the readerboard match the train number on your ticket. It'll take time to investigate. Granted, this does not happen every time, but if it does, you want to have time to sort this shit out.

Then, once you know your gate, you have two checkpoints to pass. First they'll want to see your ticket and scan it. They start doing this about 20 minutes before scheduled departure time. Then you'll herd down toward the platform, where an x-ray machine is waiting to scan your bags. ALL of your bags. Even the plastic sack containing your lunch. Put it in there.

So even if you arrive thirty minutes early, by the time you find your gate, check in, go through security, find the right coche (train car - the car number is on your ticket and the Renfe employees on the platform will point you in the right direction) find your seat and stow your luggage, you'll probably only be sitting there for five minutes before the train starts moving. And believe me, sitting there for an extra five minutes by far beats running sweatily through the train station with all your luggage, terrified you're going to miss your train and will have to buy a new ticket. I've been there, too.

On the train
You are in the right coche (as confirmed by the Renfe employee standing outside, but you cannot find your seat number. You are supposed to be in 96, but the numbers go 86, 87, 92, 93, 101... Don't panic. Look around. Is everyone else looking around in confusion too? Good. This means that the system f*cked up. Just find a seat, sit it in it, and wait to see if someone comes to claim the seat you're in. If not, you can stay there. If they do, move to another vacant seat. Or they might even say you can stay there and they'll go find a different seat. That happens, too.

One of the cool things about the national trains is that they show movies and the ear buds (auriculares) are free. But if you think you might want to watch the movie or listen to one of the train's music stations and you don't have your own headphones or ear buds, be sure to pay attention. The train employees have a set routine during the journey, and they will not like it if you interrupt their routine to ask for ear buds after they've already come through offering them.

First-class seatmate & new friend, Mario

Summary
Despite all the potential challenges, I recommend train travel in Spain. Once you're on board, it's a much more relaxed and spacious mode of transportation than flying, and you get to see the Spanish countryside, which is a mix of ancient pueblos, modern warehouses and factories, and miles upon miles of farmland, forest and high desert.