European Rail Travel - Train in Spain

Going to Spain in June. Flying into Madrid. Taking 3 train trips: Madrid to Seville, Seville to Madrid and Madrid to Barcelona. Flying back from Barcelona. Spending 3 or 4 days in each of the 3 cities mentioned. There will be 4 of us traveling together. Any info on passes, class of service, etc would be appreciated.

have a look at www.seat61.com, fares, routes, pics of train interiors etc

Interesting. Think ill take a train from Madrid to Valencia on my upcoming trip.

Is is worth paying for a first class ticket on the trains?

Welcome to FT!
Consider flying from Valencia to Barcelona, as it's 1.5hr flight vs. 5:25 by train and the flight could be cheaper. As far as passes, you'll require reservations for the high-speed trains in addition to your rail pass. If you want individual tickets, you should book 2 months in advance to get cheapest tickets on renfe's website.

lsed: Tickets on that line (newest high-speed line of the bunch) can be had for 35€ if you book far enough in advance (estrella specials). There are 2 or 3 classes on AVE trains. IIRC in the highest two you get a meal and newspapers and in Turista -- you don't get a meal. Trains are anywhere from 65% to 80% full. The biz and first classes have more space for you, but chances are, you'll have space around you in turista.

Welcome to FT!
Consider flying from Valencia to Barcelona, as it's 1.5hr flight vs. 5:25 by train and the flight could be cheaper.

Slightly OT, because the OP did not ask about this route. But for the record: Valencia - Barcelona is 3 hrs by train (and costs about 40€).
So city centre to city centre the train is at least as fast as flying.

Welcome to FT!
Consider flying from Valencia to Barcelona, as it's 1.5hr flight vs. 5:25 by train and the flight could be cheaper.

Slightly OT, because the OP did not ask about this route. But for the record: Valencia - Barcelona is 3 hrs by train (and costs about 40€).

I thought about this too, but then concluded that Palal really meant to respond to the OP on Sevilla to Barcelona.

Yes, I did mean SVQ to BCN ... that takes a bit of time to traverse by train... minimum 5 hrs...

I didn't look up Spain, but www.ricksteves.com worked well for me for a France pass a few years back.

Romelle

SVQ-MAD: 3 hrs.
MAD-BCN: 2.5 hrs.

Essentially, those are the travel times on AVE, si?

Sí, señor, except MAD to BCN is 2h45-3h00, so that brings the total up to ~6 hrs + connecting time.

The two daily direct SVQ-BCN AVE trains take 5.5 hrs to complete the entire journey.
The number of direct trains should increase once the new AVE tunnel in Madrid opens.