“Here’s a tip: Don’t buy your RENFE tickets online. Go to the office. The RENFE website is a bit of a mess.”

Rail websites are necessary more complicated that airline websites, by virtue of the multiplicity of possible journeys, many with an almost infinite variety of routings and fare options to match. The RENFE site is to our mind really quite good.

The RENFE webfares, bookable online up to 15 days before departure, offer discounts of up to sixty per cent off the regular one way fare. If money is no object, then of course just show up and buy tickets at the ticket office just before departure. But for longer distance journeys in Spain the benefits available by booking online can be huge. Even after the web special deadline has passed (viz. two weeks before travel) you can still get Estrella and other discount fares online that undercut the regular fares.

Of course, Regina Winkle-Bryan (in her piece above) has a point. If you are really intent on paying the last minute top-whack full fare, then there is little point in wasting time on the RENFE website. For those premium fares you get a tiny discount for online booking. This is typically €0.80 to €1.50 on a €100 fare. So in those instance surely better (as RWB suggests) to go to the ticket office just prior to departure and practice your Spanish.

We hope these few thoughts help.
Susanne Kries and Nicky Gardner
hidden europe