2 of Spain’s best destinations, the wonderful cities of Barcelona and Seville are both must-see’s on any itinerary in this country but are, annoyingly, at pretty much opposite ends of the country.
Tucked along the Mediterranean coast towards the northeast of Spain, Barcelona is wonderfully placed if you’re coming overland from France, or even Italy, or if you want to head on a ferry perhaps to one of the Balearic Islands, such as Mallorca.
After all, let’s not forget about the time I caught a ferry from Barcelona to Morocco either!
Steeped in Catalan heritage – unsurprising given it’s the capital of region – the people of Barcelona are fiercely proud of their cultural identity and the diverse area in which they live, which boasts both glorious mountains, beautiful countryside and a wonderful coastline.
And for those who want to see a broader spectrum of what Spain has to offer, the perfect complement to the region of Catalan in the north is the region of Andalusia down in the south.
Here the historic city of Seville is the capital and it’s steeped in all the grand Moorish architecture, as well as thin winding streets and dry climate you would expect being this close to north Africa.
Given it’s also the transport hub of the Andalusian region, travelling from Barcelona to Seville is a popular route many visitors to Spain make because it combines 2 of the countries most visited regions and 2 of its most popular cities.
And that’s exactly why I’m bringing you this article!
Covering how to make the journey from Barcelona to Seville using trains, buses, flights or a car, I also weigh up the pros and cons of each option to help you decide which method of transport to go for.
So let’s get stuck in…
Related Posts
- Best 3 Day Itinerary for Barcelona
- Top 19 Things to Do in Seville
- How to Travel from Barcelona to Paris?
This page contains affiliate links meaning Big World Small Pockets may receive a small commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you.
Barcelona to Seville: The Basics
To start off, I want to give you a vague idea of distance, so that you can start to visualise the journey between these cities.
Largely speaking, it’s around 850km between Barcelona and Seville and there are several different ways you can make this journey depending on your budget, timeframe and travel style.
For the purposes of this article, I’m going to discuss travelling from Barcelona to Seville i.e. in the direction of northeast to southwest, but please do bear in mind, you can absolutely travel the other way too!
All this information will still apply if you are travelling from Seville to Barcelona, you’ll just have to follow it in reverse!
I often get asked in which direction I recommend people travel i.e. Barcelona to Seville or Seville to Barcelona, but my answer is always the same, it honestly doesn’t matter.
Pick the route that works best given your itinerary, your bucket list spots and the time of year you are travelling.
If you’re flying in and out of Europe (or using trains / buses to get elsewhere afterwards), then checking prices of onward journeys from each city may help sway your decision as to which city you finish in.
Otherwise, if you’re travelling late in the season i.e. September – November, like I was, you might want to start in Barcelona and then travel down to Seville to follow the good weather.
Conversely, if you’re travelling at the start of the season i.e. March – May, you may want to start in Andalusia and then head up to Catalonia to avoid the heat!
Both directions work, but it’s just about finding which is best for you…
Barcelona to Seville By Train
Travelling from Barcelona to Seville using the Spanish railway network is probably the most popular option when it comes to getting between these 2 cities.
Travelling by train in Spain is relatively stress-free and can be very cost-effective when booked in advance.
Moving across the country by rail also allows you to see more of the landscape too – either by staring out the window or perhaps by building an extra stop into your itinerary, like Madrid.
Let’s dig into more details…
Services & Stations
There are 15 train services daily that make the journey between Barcelona and Seville.
All are run exclusively by the national carrier Renfe, with both high-speed as well as regular intercity trains available on this route.
Generally speaking, high-speed trains offer a more swanky service, including power sockets, open plan seats and a restaurant car.
Regular Renfe trains are still very good in my experience with clean, comfy seats as well as toilets, bike storage and room for pushchairs or luggage.
Prices and journey times vary on these services depending whether they are direct or via Madrid.
The shortest journey takes just over 5 hours, and the longest direct service is over 10 hours, so do make sure you check arrival, as well as departure times, to avoid getting caught out here!
The earliest trains depart from around 8am and run regularly through the day until around 8pm.
Changes are made in Madrid Atocha station – one of the capital’s main stations.
If you haven’t visited Madrid before, you could always book 2 trains and spend a night or 2 in this city – it’s a great and easy way to build it into your Spanish itinerary!
Prices start from €58 and services running between Barcelona and Seville have toilets… although often with trains in Europe it pays to be prepared with your own paper, wipes and antibacterial hand gel in case there’s not any of these things!
All trains leave from Barcelona Sants station and arrive into Seville Santa Justa.
Both these stations are centrally located and you can easily walk, or grab a bus, from the centre of both cities to them.
Taxis and Uber are of course on hand too!
Eco-Travel
The great news is that the train from Barcelona to Seville is electric, which means it has a very low carbon footprint.
If you are trying to travel in a more sustainable way therefore, the train is a great way to go.
Given the fact that it’s also fast, pleasant, stress-free and relatively good value means the train really is a great all-round option for making this journey.
Buying Train Tickets
So now that we’ve covered the basics about travelling from Barcelona to Seville by train, it’s time to cover how to buy tickets for this service.
As is commonly the case when booking trains in Europe, there’s essentially 2 options for this journey – book through the Spanish railway site or book through an international one.
Very often, I find the national sites of European train operators, like Renfe, clucky to use, hard to decipher and difficult to pay in foreign currencies.
Which is why I always book my European train journeys using Trainline.
Comparing different services is made super easy by Trainline, who handily have everything translated into English.
Often the prices here are just as cheap as the national railway websites and their easy booking service allows you to pay using international cards and even change the currency to view converted prices.
Trainline also have a great app, which allows you to not only book tickets on the move, but also store your e-tickets (doing away with the need to print anything out or waste time at the station), and their journey planner is super handy for letting you know if your train is on time, late etc.
Basically, Trainline makes life so easy for international travellers that it’s well worth the €1-2 booking fee in my opinion.
You can also book tickets 180 days ahead of your journey, which is the longest lead-up time of any train booking website I’ve found.
Book your Barcelona to Seville train tickets using Trainline here.
Seat & Refundable Reservations
As a budget traveller, I’d always opt for a standard ticket from Barcelona to Seville, as the Renfe trains are more than comfortable enough.
When booking with Trainline, standard seats are the norm, but you can often specify if you’d like to be forward-facing, have a window seat or be near a table / power socket.
Because I often like to work on trains, I find this especially helpful!
What Trainline does give you control over is whether you’d like some form of flexible or refundable fare.
For obvious reasons, flexible and refundable fares are more expensive, but do give you the option to change or cancel if your travel plans are a bit flakey.
Otherwise, if you’re pretty sure your plans are good to go, well, plan(!), then I’d opt for the lowest price.
These are generally non-refundable and non-exchangeable, but are often significantly cheaper making them worthwhile in my opinion!
Depending on the service, there’s sometimes flexible, semi-flexible and non-flexible options on offer too.
Luggage & Bikes
In terms of practical information for what to expect from the train journey, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s no restrictions on luggage.
As long as you can carry your luggage onto the train, there’s usually ample rack space at either end of the carriages as well as above seats for smaller bags.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, Renfe trains do have room for bikes to be taken onboard, but cycle spaces are limited and need to be booked in advance.
If you need to arrange luggage storage during your time in either Barcelona or Seville, I highly recommend LuggageHero – a great left luggage app I’ve used across Europe myself.
Boarding the Train
As with the vast majority of trains in Europe, there’s no need to check-in.
You simply enter the station, check the boards for the platform your departing train will leave from, find the platform, board the train and then sit in your reserved seat (or a free seat in the correct carriage class if your ticket is unreserved).
Ensure you then have your tickets (or e-tickets) to hand for when a conductor or inspector passes by.
Use the Trainline app to track your journey and see when your correct departure station is coming up.
Barcelona to Seville by Bus
For once, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this (!), the bus is probably not the cheapest way to get from Barcelona to Seville.
Yes amazingly for Europe, Barcelona to Seville by bus is both more expensive and longer than the train!
I was kind of blown away to discover this, but it’s true – no matter whether you go for a more luxury coach option like Alsa (one of the main Spanish bus providers) or a budget service like Flixbus.
Yup for some unknown reason, there’s no routes connecting these 2 cities, which really makes the journey only possible if you want to mission it with several connections and even then, you’re likely to be paying more.
With Alsa, prices start from around €75 and take around 18 hours!
Flixbus doesn’t even offer this service currently so no point looking there!
The only time I would consider catching a bus from Barcelona to Seville would be if I was booking last minute and the trains were crazy expensive.
In this case, a bus might be the cheapest option and the best way to compare is to again check out Trainline who offer you the ability to compare and book both train and coach journeys.
Trainline also allows you to mix and match i.e to take a train from Barcelona to Madrid and then a bus from Madrid to Seville.
Again, this is a bit of mission, because you have to change station in Madrid, from Madrid Atocha to Madrid Estación Sur, but it might be the only or at least the best option available for you if you’re booking late in the day.
Buses tend to arrive into Seville’s Plaza Des Armas station, which thankfully is very central, and it’s easy to walk from here into the city centre in around 10 minutes.
Barcelona to Seville by Air
Much as I really hate flying short distances because of the needless carbon emissions it generates, if you are looking to get from Barcelona to Seville in the quickest time and often for the best prices, a flight might be a good option for you.
Taking under 2 hours, both Ryanair and Vueling offer this flight direct and for some insane prices – think below €25.
Although this will definitely go up once you add luggage – it’s likely to be around €60 then – this does make it comparable with the train in terms of pricing.
Personally, I’d still opt for the train, I think it’s a much nicer more relaxing and more environmentally-friendly way to travel, but if train prices are sky high (perhaps because you’re booking late), it probably is worth checking out the cost of flights.
As always, I use Skyscanner to get the best deals on airline tickets. They always include budget airlines in their searches and therefore offer some of the best prices around.
If you do go for the flight option, then don’t forget it may not be as quick as it seems.
With a flight time of around 2 hours, plus the need to check in at least an hour before, as well as get to the airport, which is further out of the city and then get back into Seville on the other side, a flight might not actually be as quick as you imagine!
Barcelona to Seville by Car
And finally, the last way you may consider travelling from Barcelona to Seville is via 4 wheels.
Either this may involve renting a car and driving the distance yourself, or trying out a carpooling service like BlaBlaCar.
If you want to rent a vehicle then check out Thrifty Car Hire for some of the best deals around.
The pros to renting a car to make this journey are the flexibility and the ability to make stops of your choice on the way.
If you choose to go down the Mediterranean coast, there are some beautiful scenic parts you can cover.
Also roadtripping in Spain is really fun and, if you’re continuing your journey down in Andalusia, a car will certainly come in handy for getting about this region too.
The cons to renting a car however are expense, organisation and having to drive in a foreign country. This can be a very stressful experience, at least it is for me!
You also have to factor in the time it will take you to drive between Barcelona and Seville – around 15 hours – and therefore the costs of spending an overnight somewhere.
Rental a vehicle is really only better if there’s a group of you to help cover the costs of the rental, the fuel and any parking.
Carpooling is great for budget travellers as you share lifts with others driving the same way.
In this way, it’s normally a good chance to meet locals and travel on a very low budget.
Normally you’ll also be taken straight to the door of where you are staying, which makes life easy.
Just use common sense and exercise caution in terms of safety as always.
Tips for Your Time in Barcelona & Seville
If you want to learn more about Barcelona, then check out these 2 articles I wrote, which give you the perfect travel lowdown on the city including how long to spend there and where to stay, as well as the best places to hang, eat, sightsee and enjoy.
- How to Spend 3 Days in Barcelona
- Budget Travel Guide to Barcelona
- 1 Day in Barcelona: How to See all the Highlights
When it comes to Seville travel inspiration, check out these posts I wrote after my recent trip there…
Just enter your details below and I'll email it you - simple!
Information will be sent to the email provided above
Travel Insurance for Spain
World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while travelling and claim online from anywhere in the world.
Alternatively, if you’re a long-term traveller, digital nomad or frequent remote worker seeking travel health cover, check out Safetywing’s Nomad Insurance policies.
Travel Money in Spain
When it comes to paying for things in Spain, you want to ensure you’re not being charged overseas transaction fees or getting poor exchange rates when using your card abroad, which is why I always take my Wise card away with me wherever I travel.
The easy way to spend abroad with real exchange rates, no markups and no sneaky transaction fees, you can use your Wise card just like a debit card here… and it links easily with Google and Apple pay – sold! Grab yours here.
SAVE THIS TO PINTEREST!
And there it is, my guide for everything you need to know about travelling from Barcelona to Seville
Have you made this journey?
Which method of transport did you use?
Please leave any information about your journey that may help fellow travellers in the comments box below…
A top-notch blog regarding traveling: thanks.
Thanks Anan, appreciate that. Best, Steph 🙂