Hi all,
Long story short my old man who is British but Spanish resident is needing a heart bypass.
This will take place in Granada.

Normaly when visiting I’ll fly from Leeds or Manchester to Almeria as he lives near Mojacar.

Due to limited flights this time of year and no direct flights I was thinking it might be better to fly to Malaga. Might still require a layover and connecting flight from Madrid, but it seems I can get the train from Malaga to Granada. Or could I get a train from Madrid to Granada?

Anyway. Does anyone know what the deal with train tickets in Spain is? Is it like in the UK when of you book in advance it’s a lot cheaper, or can you just rock up and buy a ticket as and when without being fleeced?

Thanks.

Look on the Renfe website
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

Thanks for the link!

This is the best website for train info. A real gold mine

https://www.seat61.com/

Spain, scroll down for loads

https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm#How_to_buy_train_tickets_for_Spain

Hope it all goes well with your dad

https://www.seat61.com/ – for all European train info…

You might be better just getting the plane to Madrid and train to Grenada if you have to have a layover.

We used Loco2.com when we booked our Spanish trains last time.

Thanks very much for the links all, very useful.
Yeh I was thinking it might be the path of least resistance just to fly to Madrid and train it to Granada.

Train from Malaga Airport is a simple affair (as long as you get of the train from the airport at Maria Zembrano, not Malaga Central, as I found out). However it’s not a straight run from either Malaga or Madrid to Granada but there is a bus service which can be a lot quicker.

I’m not adverse to bussing it but figured train connections might be easier.

Are there train changes between
Madrid – Granada?
Or Malaga – Granada?

Sorry for all the questions.

The Renfe site can show the changes and stations along the line. Stick the start point and finish point in on the English page and see what comes out. You’ll get a range of prices and routes to go via. Be aware that the site reverts to Spanish when you search a route.

The Trainline app works for Spain (haven’t bought any tickets with it though). Renfe are less cynical than UK operators when it comes to ramping up prices IME, just beware seats selling out on public holidays. Carnaval is early March this year, so trains will fill up around the 3rd.
Good luck with everything, let me know if you need anything translated etc.

I find rome2rio.com an excellent site for planning itineraries.

Matty, i am on jet2.com manchester to alicante monday 28th, 10.30. paid 29 quid, my cars there but i will be driving north. let me know if i can help in any way. Try alsa buses and renfe trains, or blabla car. Good luck, not often on here but be patient….

Are there train changes between
Madrid – Granada?

One change, in Antequera. From http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/

Journey time’s about 4 hours.

There don’t seem to be any trains, looking on Google Maps there are buses but you’d need to change and it looks like a bit of a hassle:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/M%C3%A1laga/Granada/@36.9555824,-4.2976665,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0xd72f6698d30d151:0x403d278a576e680!2m2!1d-4.4213988!2d36.7212737!1m5!1m1!1s0xd71fce62d32c27d:0x9258f79dd3600d72!2m2!1d-3.5985571!2d37.1773363!3e3

For short distances you can just rock up and buy the ticket, prices wont vary(unless this has now changed), for longer distances you are better off prebooking.

For the trip you are describing, your best option is to fly to malaga and drive to granada with a rental.

This may be more expensive but it avoids you having to deal with the unpredictability of Spanish public transport.

Information on tickets can be found in http://www.renfe.com as others have indicated.