# Best Way Marbella to Madrid?



## Pat H (Jan 28, 2011)

Drive, fly or train? We are staying in Marbella for a week and then onto Madrid for 3 days. We will have a car in Marbella. Looks like a 6 hr drive to Madrid. We are staying at the Westin in Madrid. Which would you recommend?


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## Carolinian (Jan 28, 2011)

It is much better to get around Madrid by public transportation than having a rental car.  A rental car can be useful for some of the nearby cities of interest, however those can also be easily reached by train.  Spain's high speed trains are modern and fast, and that is the way I would travel to Madrid.


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## Pat H (Jan 28, 2011)

Carolinian said:


> It is much better to get around Madrid by public transportation than having a rental car.  A rental car can be useful for some of the nearby cities of interest, however those can also be easily reached by train.  Spain's high speed trains are modern and fast, and that is the way I would travel to Madrid.



Thanks, Steve. We weren't going to use the car in Madrid, just to get there. Any idea how long the train takes and the costs?


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## Passepartout (Jan 28, 2011)

I just picked a day out of thin air, and here's the schedule: http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/p...=02/28/2011&time0=anytime&nA=1&nY=0&nC=0&nS=0
It's 2:35 travel time and $123 2nd class, $185 1st class. Trains about every hour or two.
Jim


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## Pat H (Jan 28, 2011)

Passepartout said:


> I just picked a day out of thin air, and here's the schedule: http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/p...=02/28/2011&time0=anytime&nA=1&nY=0&nC=0&nS=0
> It's 2:35 travel time and $123 2nd class, $185 1st class. Trains about every hour or two.
> Jim



Jim, thanks for the info. I will check out the dates we need.


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## sml2181 (Jan 28, 2011)

Spanair and Iberia and Air Europa offer non-stop flights which you should be able to purchase for approximately 50E/75$ including taxes. The non-stops are usually but not always early in the morning.


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## Carolinian (Jan 29, 2011)

Passepartout said:


> I just picked a day out of thin air, and here's the schedule: http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/p...=02/28/2011&time0=anytime&nA=1&nY=0&nC=0&nS=0
> It's 2:35 travel time and $123 2nd class, $185 1st class. Trains about every hour or two.
> Jim



However, I would never buy a ticket from Rail Europe as they are more expensive, sometimes MUCH MUCH more expensive than buying a ticket at the station in Europe.  I used to use them for schedules and would laugh at some of their fares.  They once wanted over ten times what I ultimately paid at the station for the same ticket.  That was in the Baltics, and I don't think Spain will be ten times, but they will be higher.  Now I use the sites of either the Austrian or German railroads, in conjunction with my printed Cook's Timetable for rail schedules.

I found that Rail Europe doesn't always show you all of the trains, and in fact it was in Spain that I first discovered that.  Cook's Timetable showed me a train that was timed perfectly but it was not on the schedule from Rail Europe, so I called Rail Europe (I was living in the states at the time) and they confirmed the train I wanted was in fact still running.  What was interesting was how they confirmed it - by looking it up in Cook's!  Of course, they had that months Cook's and mine was then six or so months out of date.


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## Passepartout (Jan 29, 2011)

Thanks for that valuable info. I would not buy from RailEurope either. I just used them for examples of timetable and an idea of price very quickly... Jim


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