Spanish national train pass

[Vespa]

Thinking of going to Spain next year for a railway holiday, is there a national rail pass for foreign travellers so they can can travel at will through the country ?

How much are they and can you have 2 weeks 3 weeks 1 month duration ?

 

[rvdborgt]

Have you looked at Seat61 yet?

A beginner's guide to train travel in Spain | How to use www.renfe.com

A guide to travelling around Spain by train, including how to buy cheap Spanish train tickets at www.renfe.com.

www.seat61.com

 

[Vespa]

No I haven't actually, in fact I never really looked at it but heard of it, the website title doesn't really encourage a further study.

 

[dutchflyer]

Thare are 2 options and both are often seen as PITA, compared to other countries. This due to the need to REServe about any longer distance ride-and to manage the gates on local ´cercanias´ lines around big cities.
There is-as always- also the INterRail 1 country-valid on all RENFE. And thus not on he new other ´private´ competitors now running on some HS-lines.
OR RENFE itself offers a RIDE pass-not in days, but trips and seemingly a little easier to handle with online bookings (in fact I think its a wholly virtual thing, so no paper at all)
Depending on your needs it may in fact be easier to just book a few rides and also use other transport.

 

[Flying Snail]

Whatever snarky comment you may have about the name, the seat61 website is just about the best resource on the web for European rail travel.

You can't really travel "at will" in Spain, all long distance and even some regional trains are reservation compulsory added to that the service on many lines can be very sparse

first option is the RENFE pass, not really a pass, just a pre-selected number of journeys that can be booked as you please through their website.

Renfe Spain Pass. Discounts by train in Spain | Renfe

Travel by train in Spain with great discounts. Do you want to know more about the Renfe Spain Pass?

www.renfe.com

option two is interrail, valid on RENFE and most local trains, global or one country versions, some trains can now be booked through the interrail website although this can be prone to outages.

Or you can just book singles for long distance and use local tickets/passes for cities/commuter (Cercanías) networks, some of which stretch quite long distances (on distinctly urban stock).

 

[Vespa]

Nothing "snarky" about my comment vis "Seat61"

I don't understand your defensiveness about it, the simple fact is I don't know much about it beforehand, I'm not a hardcore rail enthusiast per re.

I have an interest in rail travel in general that's all.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Do you qualify for a senior pass, ie over 60?
If so, the Renfe Tarjeta Dorada gives you 25-40% (usually 40%) discount on regular fares (but not the cheapest Advances).
It costs €6 for a year, but you have to get it from a Renfe station which limits advance bookings.
You have to have the pass before booking tickets, as the pass number has to be quoted to get the discount.
It won't work on the new non-Renfe open access services.

Note that for the major cities Renfe long-distance tickets give you a free local ticket at each end, by typing your ticket code into an ATM.

 

[nwales58]

Answers to the original question:

No.
Or, yes, but you cannot travel 'at will' on most services (only Cercanias/Rodalies).

Depending where you go, you may prefer Ouigo or Iryo which are not on any pass.
Depending where you want to go you may need to use Alsa or regional coach services, many places of interest are not on the rail network.

But if the collective wisdom of 'see Seat61' is not of use then there is little use for this forum's knowledge.

 

[AndrewE]

No I haven't actually, in fact I never really looked at it but heard of it, the website title doesn't really encourage a further study.

Websearches have led me to various sites with names I couldn't hope to understand or interpret, but if the info in them is good, why worry?
In fact Seat 61 gives a clear expanantion of how the name was chosen and is thus a perfectly logical name to continue with. I can't imagine not looking at a site simply because i thought the name was odd! (Unless it looked really "fishy")

 

[Vespa]

Thanks to everybody who has responded positively, I will have a look at the link.

Unfortunately I'm not yet 60, I'm still a wage slave waiting for my hopefully joyful eventual retirement.