Cheapest Way to Get to Madrid from Barcelona?

[bzv143]

Want to travel to Madrid for a day and then return from Barcelona. Anyone know the quickest & cheapest way to do this? Thanks!!!

[Peteymil]

The cities are about 300 miles apart, so if you want to do it in a day, you would need to fly. I would go on one of the websites like Kayak.com and look, because last year we flew and it was fairly cheap.

[sddsddean]

The high speed train takes about 2hrs 45 mins each way, cost €240 return.

 

www.renfe.com

 

 

Simon

[Ephraim]

The high speed train takes about 2hrs 45 mins each way, cost €240 return.

 

www.renfe.com

 

 

Simon

 

You have GOT to be kidding....

 

You can fly for a much cheaper price and it's quicker. The cheapest airlines on the route are Vueling, Air Europa and Spanair, even Iberia flies this route at a reasonable price. You can even mix and match because the air fares are based on one/way fares. Just be careful about luggage, you are best to leave it in the left luggage. Check on Skyscanner. I checked a random date on Vueling (which we love... it's JetBlue Europe style) and got rates as low as €50.00 return. Suitcases are €4.50 a piece in each direction if prepaid). While you need to take the train, bus or taxi to the airport in Barcelona, the metro is right in the airport in Madrid.

 

If you want a great meal, I can strongly suggest a restaurant in Chueca (the Bohemian neighbourhood of Madrid) called Bazaar.

[GROOVERS]

Sure would love to fly over and catch a bull fight!:)

[bzv143]

Ephraim:

Wow--thank you for responding with that valuable information on flights!

Question: if they wish to spend one night in Madrid before returning to Barcelona, and are going to Madrid only to see the Prado Art Museum (they are artists), can you recommend a cheap, safe, clean hotel in Madrid? These are young 20 somethings who are not rich at all and would be happy to stay in cheap, clean, safe "digs."

[sddsddean]

You have GOT to be kidding....

 

 

No, I'm not kidding! I put that up as an alternative to flying. Flying might be cheaper and quicker, but don't forget about the 2 hour queue in security to get on the plane in the first place. Also the stations are in the city, not on the outskirts. All things to be taken into consideration. I was just giving an alternative.

 

Simon

[Globaliser]

You can fly for a much cheaper price and it's quicker.

As sddsddean says, if you measure city centre to city centre times, flying is not going to be much faster (if indeed it's any faster at all) than taking a 2:45 train journey. In fact, this is exactly why Eurostar does so well on routes like London to Paris (which is highly comparable). And it's certainly less hassle to take the train than to go through the multi-step rigmarole of flying.

 

But you may well be right about the cost of flying, even after you take into account the additional costs of getting from city centre to airport, and from airport to city centre.

[Hlitner]

Deleted my comments since I could not think of anything positive about this idea.