Reservations Spain and Portugal at train station

  • 9 August 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 531 views

Hi all,

We would like to use your help. In three weeks we will go to Spain and Portugal by Interrail. Now I read that the reservations cannot be made online or via the reservation system. If this is correct, there are a number of options left. One of these is reserving tickets at the train stations. Now I have a few questions about that:
1. When we arrive in Madrid, can I immediately book the tickets there for our train journeys to Malaga and Seville?
2. When we arrive in Faro, can I immediately book the tickets there for our train journeys to Lisbon and Porto?
3. What are the costs for these reservations? Is this extra compared to the Interrail pass? If so, how much?

We would be very helpful if you could help us with these questions. We are very curious so would like to hear from you!


4 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

1. Yes if there are still seats left for Railpassholders iam not sure if Renfe (Spanish Rail) just have a fixed amount of Seats for Railpassholders 

3. Within Spain 10€ - 25€ per seat/train on top of the pass :/ For Portugal i have no experience maybe @Superalbs can answer ;) how much the reservations are. 

AFAIK, RENFE does not have limited quota for pass holders. Booking in a train station is quite easy, except that in Madrid the queues can be very long (sometimes an hour and more).

Reservation prices in Spain start at 4 EUR; Portugal should be 5 EUR, check here.

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Yeah saw it both just started on the major Route from Barcelona to Mardrid but wanted to improve over the summer :) 

 

There were some reservation Services besides Interrail (Raileurope, ACP Rail) but all struggle currently with reservations for Spain and France  :/ 

Thanks for your comment! If anyone else has their experiences, I'd like to hear about it. Therefore it remains somewhat of a gamble to only be able to reserve a ticket upon arrival from that moment on. With the possibility that there are no more tickets available..

Thanks also for the tip. Unfortunately Quigo and Avlo is not an option for us as they do not offer available trips to these cities.

​​​​​​​All help is welcome! :)

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

1. Yes if there are still seats left for Railpassholders iam not sure if Renfe (Spanish Rail) just have a fixed amount of Seats for Railpassholders 

 

2. Same as for Queation 1 

 

3. Within Spain 10€ - 25€ per seat/train on top of the pass :/ For Portugal i have no experience maybe @Superalbs can answer ;) how much the reservations are. 

 

If you not already bought your pass i recommed to check the Pages of Quigo and Avlo these are 2 Low Cost Carrier Brands in Spain and quite cheap :) Interrail is not valid on them :) 

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