Spain
Andalusia by train: from Málaga to Córdoba and Seville without a car
From Málaga airport to the two Andalusian cities with high-speed and regional trains: Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo compared, with times and fares.
A way of travelling
Train travel
The train forces me to choose fewer stops and to build them better: it gives me time to read my notes again and to arrive right in the city centre without hunting for a parking space.
It changes the perspective and the way I organise a trip: you have to know the cities and the regions to work out how to reach the places you care about, measure the walking distances, look for local transport — and discover that waiting time is discovery time, and that the passenger sitting next to you is an endless mine of stories no guidebook will ever tell.
How I build a trip by train
A train trip is not a list of cities along a railway line. It grows out of a sequence of decisions that depend on one another: fixed timetables and distances woven together with what we love and the time we actually want to live.
- 1
Studying the area
The place comes before the timetables: I deliberately write a long list of things to see. It's what lets me set priorities later.
- map
- long list
- priorities
- 2
Checking lines and transport
Does a train go there? And where it doesn't, is there a bus — and how often? This is where the first list gets shorter.
- trains
- buses
- frequency
- 3
Measuring times and distances
Real journey time, first and last useful train, kilometres on foot from the station: the most underestimated part.
- timetables
- on foot
- connections
- 4
Leaving room for the unexpected
The last step is taking things out. Empty space is what makes one trip different from all the others.
- buffer
- breaks
- encounters
CorSara's train itineraries
Before you buy the tickets, look for ideas among my stories!
The main resource
Andalusia by Train
Six car-free days between Córdoba and Seville, told in a book that covers every stage of the planning, the checks to run before leaving and the downloadable tools to repeat the process for another destination. If you want a step-by-step guide to building a rail trip, this is it.
Discover the book and the tools →