Would you ever consider traveling to Spain by train?

Not in a million years?

I’ve done it twice with a baby in tow and you would be surprised how easy and comfortable it is.

The first time we traveled my little girl was four months old and British Airways refused to let her fly to Valencia, so we traveled out of necessity. But we enjoyed train travel so much that we traveled to Malaga in the same way, when we actually made the move to our new property in Spain.
When we traveled to Malaga we were living in Kent at the time and it was only a short journey to Ashford where we boarded the Eurostar to Paris. The only downside to this was the extreme security at the Eurostar terminal, (even the baby was searched by a female security guard).

It took 2 hours and 20 minutes to get to Gare du Nord station. As the next leg of the journey was going to be by the hotel train (Elipsos) which didn’t leave Paris until the evening,  we had a wander around Paris and had something to eat before catching a taxi to Gare d’Austerlitz.

We boarded the train and found that our cabin was tiny but perfectly comfortable. In fact it was amazing what was fitted into such a small space and towels, mineral water and soap were provided. We dropped the bottom bunk immediately so the baby had room to wriggle about and made ourselves at home for the evening. The train had a buffet which wasn’t exactly exciting but the pizza and beers served were adequate. The beds surprisingly comfortable, the baby slept soundly and really the only time in the night we woke up was at the French/Spanish border where the size of the track changed and our train had to change gauge, which was a bit noisy. We went back to bed and slept on until the steward woke us up for breakfast and a short time after that we were in Madrid.

Once again we had to change stations, this time we caught a taxi to Madrid Atocha Station, where we caught a train to Malaga. I seem to remember that this was the longest leg of the journey and took over four hours. I have to admit thought the train was very comfortable and I was given the best meal I have ever had on a train or plane.

The good news now is that the super-fast Ave* trains can travel from Madrid to Malaga in two and a half hours, traveling at 220mph, rivaling even the airplanes.

A similar high-speed link has just started between Madrid and Barcelona, there is already an existing one between Madrid and Seville and by 2010 it is hoped that most of the big Spanish cities will be linked by Ave trains. Spain is putting a huge investment plan into action. One of the reasons for all this financial backing is an environmental one, trains produce at least four times less carbon dioxide per mile than planes?

Doubtless it is still faster, more convenient albeit more stressful to fly.

But for a more relaxing and interesting journey, train travel is the choice time after time

* Alta Velocidad Española, or Spanish high speed.