[Gocamino] Renfe trains addendum

[E. O. Pederson]

Santo Domingo de la Calzada

I learned yesterday that RENFE has a policy of not selling advance tickets more than two months out (62 days) so it is probably worth checking again for tickets closer to the day you plan to travel. There is no major schedule revision in the works, and most of the trains on the present schedule will operate in mid and late summer - there will be a few more trains, but none for the Santiago to Madrid route are expected.

From: eopederson at msn.com
To: rubinbrush4 at myfairpoint.net; gocamino at oakapple.net
Subject: RE: [Gocamino] Renfe trains
Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 13:00:26 +0000





That is very much a function of day of week, date and its proximity to Fiestas of one kind or another. On  typical weekday it is almost always possible to get a ticket the same day one plans to travel. If there is a holiday nearby (e.g. 25 July), then it is best to have reservations. Ditto for Fridays and Sundays. One can buy tickets at most RENFE stations for future trips anywhere on the network, so if you arrive in Santiago a few days before your expected departure, it is best to go to the Station (bottom of the hill) shortly after arrival to buy your ticket to Madrid. Keep in mind that for years there have only been two direct trains a day to Madrid from Santiago, an overnight train and a Talgo leaving early afternoon and arriving in Madrid about 9 pm. 
Advance RENFE tickets can be purchased through Rail Europe ( http://www.raileurope.com/index.html ) at a sometimes rather wildly inflated price. Although I have never done so, I understand that you can also get REFE tickets through Deutsche Bahn ( http://www.bahn.com/i/view/index.shtml ) or SNCF ( http://sncf.fr/ ).
Finally, booking for my trip which begins in a few days, I discovered an interesting site offering schedules and ticketing on both bus and train services:  Independentrip ( http://www.independentrip.com/ ). If nothing else, it offers comprehensive information about rail and bus services available between places in Spain, including small ones like Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Ferrol. I have not purchased a ticket from them, so I cannot vouch for doing so, but it is a great place to get information for trip planning. 

E. O. PedersonFairfax, VA

> Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 19:00:32 -0400
> From: rubinbrush4 at myfairpoint.net
> To: gocamino at oakapple.net
> Subject: [Gocamino] Renfe trains
> 
> Hi All,
>    I am trying to make a few reservations on Renfe for trains from Santiago
> back to Madrid and another from Almeria to Madrid. It seems that at this
> time the tickets are not available because the summer schedule is not yet
> set. Does anyone know how difficult it is to get tickets on the actual
> travel dates as opposed to reserving tickets ahead? Thanks! JR
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