Hi,
I've been reading the seat61.com website, and it says sometimes, the national railpasses such as the Spanish pass could be good value. - http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#Other_railpasses
We plan to visit several cities after our camino: Fatima, Avila, Madrid, Barcelona, and Lourdes before flying back home to Canada from Paris.
We already have train tickets for Paris->Bayonne->SJPdP. We can also pretty much set the date for the Lourdes->Paris so we plan to buy tickets for this as well, as soon as they become available.
For Fatima all the way to Barcelona, we are planning to buy the Renfe railpass so that we have the flexibility without worrying too much about prices going up near the travel date.
Questions about the Renfre railpass
1) Is it easy to buy this Renfe railpass over-the-counter at any train station in Spain, or should I buy it online? Is there a price difference if I buy it at a train station, close to the date I actually use it? My understanding is that the price is fixed no matter when or where I buy it - for example, 163 euros for 4 journeys/1 month mentioned here: - http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/viajes_internacionales/spainpass/precios.html
Can someone please confirm if my understanding is correct?
2) I've seen a number of posts complaining about the difficulty of using the Renfe site. Is this only when buying tickets, or is it also true for reservations/bookings?
3) I could not find information on how the railpass works if my train ride crosses country borders. For example, let's say I take a train from Barcelona to Lourdes. Can I use the railpass for this ride, considering that it goes from Spain to France? I would imagine that, at the very least, it should be honored for the Spain portion of the trip and then I can just pay additional for the France portion...?
I was initially considering the raileurope pass - and that would have solved question #3 above - but it was coming up to be more expensive, especially when I factor in the booking fees.
Thanks a lot in advance.
I've been reading the seat61.com website, and it says sometimes, the national railpasses such as the Spanish pass could be good value. - http://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm#Other_railpasses
We plan to visit several cities after our camino: Fatima, Avila, Madrid, Barcelona, and Lourdes before flying back home to Canada from Paris.
We already have train tickets for Paris->Bayonne->SJPdP. We can also pretty much set the date for the Lourdes->Paris so we plan to buy tickets for this as well, as soon as they become available.
For Fatima all the way to Barcelona, we are planning to buy the Renfe railpass so that we have the flexibility without worrying too much about prices going up near the travel date.
Questions about the Renfre railpass
1) Is it easy to buy this Renfe railpass over-the-counter at any train station in Spain, or should I buy it online? Is there a price difference if I buy it at a train station, close to the date I actually use it? My understanding is that the price is fixed no matter when or where I buy it - for example, 163 euros for 4 journeys/1 month mentioned here: - http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/viajes_internacionales/spainpass/precios.html
Can someone please confirm if my understanding is correct?
2) I've seen a number of posts complaining about the difficulty of using the Renfe site. Is this only when buying tickets, or is it also true for reservations/bookings?
3) I could not find information on how the railpass works if my train ride crosses country borders. For example, let's say I take a train from Barcelona to Lourdes. Can I use the railpass for this ride, considering that it goes from Spain to France? I would imagine that, at the very least, it should be honored for the Spain portion of the trip and then I can just pay additional for the France portion...?
I was initially considering the raileurope pass - and that would have solved question #3 above - but it was coming up to be more expensive, especially when I factor in the booking fees.
Thanks a lot in advance.