Trains from Madrid to Barcelona

With around 25 services a day, Renfe connects the two biggest cities in Spain in just 2h 30m. For the early risers, the first AVE train leaves Madrid Atocha station at 06:10 hours and the last leaves at 21:25, arriving into Barcelona Sants station at 23:55.  

Atocha station – the busiest in Spain  

Located just a few minutes from the centre of the capital, Madrid Atocha station sees around 18 million passengers pass through its doors each year. Split across several levels, high-speed services depart from both the upper and ground floors – boarding for trains from Madrid to Barcelona is located on the upper floor.  

For my trip, I arrived at the station just after 17:00. Although my train – the AVE 3181 – left Madrid at 18:00, I decided to arrive almost an hour earlier to have plenty of time to wander around the station and pass the security checks without rushing. As I was travelling on a Friday afternoon, I assumed it would be busier than usual in the centre of Madrid.  

To Barcelona in just two and a half hours  

Before I get into the details of my trip, it’s worth pointing out that although I travel a lot by train, I’d never made the journey from Madrid to Barcelona on an AVE high-speed service before. In fact, my friends and family had spent years wondering why I normally drive to Barcelona considering how far it is and how boring the A2 is – I’ve never been able to give them a good excuse.  

So, back to the review. For this trip, I bought an Elige ticket in Estándar (Standard) Class that cost me just over €90. Although it may seem a lot, travelling by car between Madrid and Barcelona is quite expensive when you consider the cost of tolls and how the time you spend driving and the difficulty of parking in Barcelona adds to your fuel consumption. Plane tickets aren’t cheap either – unless you buy in advance with a low-cost airline, the price of the Iberia Puente Aereo (a dedicated Madrid to Barcelona air route) will easily exceed the cost of round-trip AVE tickets.  

I chose an Elige ticket because the basic Renfe fare doesn’t allow for changes or cancellations. The Elige fare, however, cost only €7 more and allows you to cancel the ticket up to five minutes before departure by paying 30% of the total price.

Comfortable and modern trains  

All seats on AVE trains are foldable and have footrests, armrests, folding tables and two sockets for charging electronic devices. Although most of the trains offer a WiFi connection, this service is only complementary in Confort (First) Class. If you don’t travel in this class and want to use the WiFi during the trip, you’ll have to pay for the service. There are two levels of access – Basic and Premium (you get access from three devices, movies and live TV). 

During the trip, Renfe staff offered an à la carte catering service, with a complete menu that included all kinds of drinks and food. There’s also an onboard café carriage where you can stretch your legs while you enjoy a drink.  

The AVE trains that take just 2h 30m to travel from Madrid to Barcelona (like the one I took) make no stops along the way. Other services make stops in Guadalajara-Yebes, Zaragoza-Delicia, Lleida or Camp-Tarragona before arriving in Barcelona 

Arriving into Barcelona 

After reaching speeds close to 300 km/h we arrived into Barcelona Sants station at the scheduled time, 20:30. 

Once you’re in Barcelona, ​​don't miss the impressive Sagrada Familia or the mythical Boqueria Market. Take a walk along Las Ramblas for sure, skate at one of the skateparks in the city or wander around the Raval or Borne neighbourhoods.  

About Jaime  

Jaime is one of our trusted, hand-picked travel writers. The information for this article was recorded first-hand, based on his own genuine experience of the journey.