Page 248 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

246  SUR VIV AL GUIDE

Travelling by Train DIRECTORY

The Spanish state railway, RENFE (Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Regional Railways
Españoles), operates a service that is continually improving, ET
particularly between cities. The fastest intercity service is Tel 902 54 32 10.
operated by AVE and TALGO – with high-speed, luxury trains. ∑ euskotren.es
Intercity trains, between major destinations, are quick and FGC
comfortable. Largo recorrido (long-distance) and regionales y Tel 900 90 15 15.
cercanías (regional and local) trains operate slower services, ∑ fgc.es
many stopping at every station, but they are much cheaper Ticket Reservations
than the high-speed trains.
RENFE
Tel 902 32 03 20; for disabled
Arriving by Train passengers, 902 24 05 05.
and offer three categories
There are several direct train of bed compartments, in ∑ renfe.com
services from France to addition to regular seats. Main Train Stations
Northern Spain. The main
western route runs from Exploring by Train A Coruña
Paris through Hendaye in the Calle Joaquín Planelles Riera.
Pyrenees to San Sebastián. Spain offers many options for
The eastern route now train travellers, and the TALGO Bilbao
has a high-speed direct and AVE services make it easy to Estación de Abando, Plaza
connection from Paris to travel long distances between Circular 2.
Barcelona twice daily (6.25 hrs) cities quickly. These luxury trains Burgos
and also daily from Toulouse run at speeds of up to 200 km/h Avda. Príncipe de Asturias.
and Lyon into Barcelona, (124 mph). Journeys are
with stops in Figueres and comfortable, and the standard León
Perpignan. For journeys from of service is high. Ticket prices Calle Astorga.
Switzerland, Germany, the compare favourably to high- Logroño
Netherlands, Belgium and the speed train fares in other Avenida Colón 83.
North of Italy to Barcelona, European countries.
you need to change trains Long-distance trains (largo Oviedo
in France. The best websites recorrido) are significantly Calle Uría s/n.
to find connections and buy cheaper. Those that run at night Pamplona
tickets are www.logitravel.com offer a cochecama (a compart- Plaza de la Estación.
or renfe.com. There is also a ment with two camas or beds)
direct rail connection between or a litera, a com partment with San Sebastián
Lisbon and Madrid that stops four seats that convert into Estación del Norte, Paseo de
in Ávila and Salamanca, and bunk beds. Both types cost Francia 22.
a direct overnight rail extra and should be reserved Santander
connection between San when booking your ticket. Plaza de las Estaciones.
Sebastián and Lisbon, with Tickets for overnight trains
stops in Vitoria, Burgos and should be booked well Santiago de Compostela
Valladolid among others. in advance. Rúa Hórreo 75.
Both overnight lines are Regional trains (regionales)
run by Renfe Trenhotel, and local trains (cercanías) are
frequent and cheap, however,
numerous stops can lengthen
journey times considerably.
Train tickets can be bought
on the RENFE website and
from station ticket offices
and ticket machines.
Most RENFE lines converge
on Madrid.

Train Stations
Most large cities in Northern
Spain have train stations served
by all categories of train. Some
The Estación Santander de Bilbao cities have two stations.

246-247__Pract_.indd 246 13/09/16 5:31 pm