Thursday, February 24, 2011

Train Vs. Bus: the great debate

I have been doing research for my Morocco trip in which we depart from Sevilla at 4:45am. So I had to book a hostel for a few hours.
After searching online, I found that the train is an AVE train - a high speed train. I would take a train to Ciudad Real (40 minutes, 6 euros) then wait about an hour and get on the high speed train to Seville (1.5 hours, 50 euros, yes, 50 euros - I get a discount of some sort, but am not crazy about the price). Giving a grand total of 50 euros more or less, and about 3 hours of my time (including the wait time)
Today I walked to the sketchy bus station (the street lights has just turned on making it even more eerie that it is in the daylight). There is not a reliable website for the buses, so it is necessary to walk to the station and bug them with questions. When I got to the train station, the main overhead lights weren't on, just the tiny light in the ticket office. The woman behind the counter was about to leave and I am probably annoyed her with all of my questions, which now that I think of it I missed a good one because I later found out that Seville has 2 bus stations, and it matters which one I am dropped off at...oh well. The bus leaves from Manzanares at 4:15am, and gets in at 9am. So we have an early early early morning and I wouldn't be able to check in to my hostel until 12 or later. (That is almost 5 hours on a bus. 15.09 euros, much cheaper) and the return bus is 8:30pm and gets in at 1:45am ( Again, about 5 hours on a bus, 15.09 euros, much cheaper) So we have a grand total of about 31 euros and 10 hours of my time.

No idea which to pick. Maybe I can do the bus one way and the train another. Hostel is booked just need to figure out how to get there...

Opinions welcome!

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