Page 249 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

TR A VEL INFORM A TION  247

travel. Tickets for regional
services (regionales) and
local services (cercanías)
cannot be reserved. You can
buy them on the RENFE
website or from the station
taquilla. In large stations
there are ticket machines
(cajeros automáticos).
For a one-way ticket ask for
a billete de ida; for a return ask
for a billete de ida y vuelta.
Timetables
The railway station in Padrón RENFE timetables, available
from RENFE offices, change
The main RENFE routes from is available from major travel in May and October each year.
Madrid to Northern Spain are: agencies in Europe and from Most timetables are broken
Madrid to A Coruña route RENFE ticket offices in Spain. down into the various types
via Ávila, Medina del Campo, For further information see of journey: intercity, largo
Zamora, Ourense and Santiago www.raileurope.com. recorrido and regionales.
de Compostela; Madrid to Take proof of your identity Cercanías timetable are
Santander via Ávila, Medina, and age when booking. posted on boards at local
Valladolid and Palencia; Madrid train stations. Timetables can
to Bilbao via Burgos and Booking Tickets be accessed in English via
Miranda; and finally Madrid to the RENFE website.
San Sebastián via Guadalajara TALGO, AVE and any
and Pamplona. other tickets for long-
distance trains (largo
recorrido) may
Regional Railways
be booked and
As well as the RENFE services bought on the
there are also two separate RENFE website or
local rail companies in Northern at any of the major
Spain. They are run by different railway stations
regional govern ments, the FGC from the ticket
(Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat) office (taquilla).
in Catalonia and the Basque Reservations can be
ET (Eusko Tren). made up to 59 days
Eusko Tren includes not prior to the date of A regional RENFE train
only trains but also trams,
buses, cable cars and even Tourist Train Routes
a steam train (tren de vapor)
which departs from the Basque In addition to daily service, RENFE also offers tourist routes. The
Railway Museum (Museo Vasco luxurious Transcantábrico takes passengers on a splendid eight-
del Ferrocarril) in Azpeitia. day journey along Spain’s north coast between Santiago de
Compostela and León or San Sebastián, passing important sights
along the way. Passengers travel in style in 14 period carriages
Fares built between 1900 and 1930, and restored to their former glory.
Visit www.renfe.com/trenesturisticos for more information.
Web fares are the same as For a much shorter but
the fares on offer in the RENFE still stunning journey, the
ticket offices. The lowest fares Catalan FGC runs the
available are Promo or Tarifa 4, Cremallera mountain train
when four passengers travel up to Nuria and Queralbs,
together, but it is advisable to with beautiful views.
book in advance. Fares for rail Another tourist service is
travel in Spain are structured La Robla, a vintage train
according to the speed and (with modern amenities) that
quality of the service. Tickets makes very leisurely journeys,
for the TALGO and AVE are with plenty of excursion
most expensive. stops, between Bilbao and
A range of rail passes, among Cremallera mountain train in the Pyrenees either León or Oviedo.
them Interrail (www.interrail.eu),

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