Tavel between Madrid and Ronda

[peteandwendy]

I am travelling from the UK by coach in August to visit friends near Ronda. My coach is due in to Madrid Mendez Alvaro (Estacion del Sur) bus station at 12.45pm. I am then planning to catch the 15.05 train from Madrid Atocha to Ronda and was thinking about buying the train ticket in advance from the raileurope people. My questions are:

- does anyone know roughly how long it takes to get from the bus station to Atocha
- whether it is possible to buy ticketsat Atocha on the day, or even on the train (I'm worried about if I miss the connection, I'll have wasted money on an advance ticket)
- what the difference is between the 'First Adult/Child tickets' and the 'Tourist Adult/Child tickets'

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Best wishes
Wendy

[Trigger]

It shouldn't take long to get to Atocha, it must be less than a mile. On the metro it is only three stations away with one change.
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html should have the ticket info.

[markwilding]

I can confirm that the bus station is really close to Atocha Station. Leave yourself some time if you can to spend a little time in Atocha because it's quite an unusual station

[masterob]

wendy wrote:

whether it is possible to buy ticketsat Atocha on the day, or even on the train (I'm worried about if I miss the connection, I'll have wasted money on an advance ticket)
- what the difference is between the 'First Adult/Child tickets' and the 'Tourist Adult/Child tickets'

You can buy tickets at Atocha provided that the train is not fully booked on the day. You cannot buy tickets on the train for long distance journeys - access to the platforms at Atocha is controlled. Seems to me that much depends on how punctual the arrival of the coach from the UK is at Madrid. That is hard to know, I have never travelled that way so I have no idea about the reliabilty.

Regarding the second question, are you asking what the prices are or, why there is a difference? If the latter, then it's the usual difference between travelling "first class" and "tourist class (second class)" on a train just like in the UK. If it's the actual cost then, according to the renfe web page - "Tourist" is €71.40 one way and "First" is €110.70 one way. Child tickets are proportionately cheaper.

Hope this helps a little.

[flan_taster]

I am always amazed at the time keeping of buses especially long distance ones. My feeling is that as your bus starts in Bilbao for the LAST leg of the journey to Madrid, then it is most likely that you will arrive at 12.45.
Even if you are one hour late or more you will have time to get to Atocha before the train departs even if you have to take a taxi. So I would look to book an advance ticket using www.renfe.com
I just out of interest had a look and saw an Advance 'Estrella' or Star price ticket from Madrid to Ronda on that train for €40.10. That is for Tourist Class which is fine on that train. Comfortable.
So do check to see if you can bag a bargain.
Booking using the RENFE site is possible - believe me !

You can print your own ticket off at home and take it with you.

If you want to try you could read some guidance notes. Here are some :
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1875 ... line..html