Reaching Your Trip in VIGO (or in SANTIAGO)

This page offers help (concrete or informational) on reaching your trip. Topics include...

1. Where you Meet Your Trip (see immediately below)
2. Our “Access Packages,” designed to help you to do so.
3. Suggestions on how to time your travel, whether you are having us arrange it, or doing it yourself.
4. Service information regarding train travel to your trip start location.
5. Suggested pre-trip visits.
6. Hopefully helpful hints for those setting up their own travel to the trip.

If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.

1. WHERE and WHEN Do You Meet Your Trip?

We assemble at the Vigo train station at 11a on Sunday morning. If you have opted for the suggested pre-trip visit to Santiago de Compostela, you will reach Vigo via a short morning train ride. If you are arriving from Madrid or Barcelona, this meeting time is designed to be compatible with the arrival of the overnight sleeper trains from either.

If you wish to arrange your own travel to Vigo (in other words, you do not want to set up any travel arrangements through us), a couple of hints regarding travel to Vigo are offered at the bottom of this page. Otherwise...


2. Our ACCESS PACKAGES
as of January 1, 2006

Our “Access Package” includes a ticket on the Saturday overnight sleeper train from Madrid to Vigo, arrival at 8a on Sunday.

Other travel options are available. In particular, we suggest that you arrive a day early, and spend your day (and Saturday night) in Santiago de Compostela. Santiago is one of Spain’s prettiest cities, and is less than 2 hours away. And when are you going to get back to this corner of the world? A one-night Saturday night extention to Santiago is proposed as an extra-cost option for trips starting in Vigo, and all of the travel arrangements available to arrive in Vigo on Sunday morning are offered to reach Santiago on Saturday morning, at the same prices.


Base (Starting) Access Package Price: 65 €.
If you are a North American traveller, the $ price (US or Canadian) on your price chart applies until 35 days prior to trip departure. Otherwise euro prices are transcribed to your invoice in its currency, converted at the exchange rate of the day on which the package is requested (rounded to the nearest whole dollar or pound). Current “mid-market” rates can be consulted from the site we use for conversion. We use the mid-market rate on the day of conversion, and add 2% to cover currency broker exchange commissions (our conversion rates are thus as good as, or better than, any you could obtain, including via your credit card, unless you are a professional currency trader).

Availability is normally guaranteed until 35 days prior to trip start (payment received by us). Within 35 days, availability must be confirmed. Costs may be slightly higher if the fare codes we normally use are no longer available. Some extra-cost options also have higher prices if ordered w/in 35 days.

Included:

• The overnight “Hotel Train” from Madrid, to Vigo on Saturday night, or to Santiago on the night of your choice (should you decide to visit Santiago prior to the start of your trip). A berth in a 4-person, single-sex sleeper cabin is included.
  
  Many levels of upgrade are available, and all are economical for the services they provide. Single or double “Deluxe” cabins offer private WC and shower, if taking a sponge bath in the Vigo station doesn’t appeal. They also include an elaborate dinner in the train’s elegant dining car (service starts before the train even departs Madrid). More economical cabins (single or double) are also available, and you may still avail yourself of the dining car on an a la carte basis. Even without upgrades, the train offers a fun bar, where you are likely to meet other Marbles on their way to the trip.... See “Night Train Upgrade” options, below.
  
  
• OR: daylight train from Madrid (see “Service Information,” below). Includes required seat reservation. No additional cost in 2nd class, 24 euros for 1st class (a relative bargain, as this is a long trip). This option adds the cost of a night's lodging, however, in either Santiago or Vigo.
  
  

Options Offered at an Extra Cost (subject to availability)
Prices are in addition to the "Base" Access Package Price. For a general discussion of train upgrades, see here. Topics include the relative comfort of first versus second class, and different types of accommodation available on overnight trains.

• One-day trip extension to Santiago. Travel to Santiago via the Friday night “Hotel Train” (included in the “Base Access Package,” above), spend Saturday and Saturday night in Santiago, and continue to Vigo on Sunday morning in time for the trip meeting. A Blue Marble coordinator is present in Santiago on Saturday evening to help you figure out how to get your luggage back from the airline, and Saturday night’s dinner is included.
  Price: 89 euros shared occupancy in Santiago (guaranteed to singles willing to share), 119 euros single. Includes:
  • Saturday dinner.
  • Saturday night lodging in Santiago
  • Breakfast on Sunday morning, if you get up / have time for it.
  • Sunday train to Vigo.
• Tickets from Barcelona instead of Madrid: +29 euros. Includes 2nd class couchette instead of berth in 4-person sleeper; upgrades available to “deluxe” double or single sleeper cabins. See Night Train Upgrades, below, for prices.
• Tickets from Paris. +99 euros per person in a private “deluxe” double cabin, +149 euros in a private “deluxe” single cabin. For schedules, see “Service Information,” below. 1st class upgrade on the daylight portion of the express route (9 hours): 18 euros (frankly, something of a no-brainer). Note that if you are in budget mode, you can shave 30 euros off the “double” price by settling for a 2nd class couchette on the overnight portion of the trip. But, for reasons explained in the “service information,” below, we do not recommend this false economy....
• Tickets from Lisbon. No additional charge in 2nd class, +39 euros 1st class. Add 10 euros for tickets to Santiago (trip from Vigo to Santiago is in 2nd class, as train does not carry first).
  
• Night train upgrades (from 4-person cabin on night train from Madrid, from 2nd class couchette on night train from Barcelona). Please read the following two notes, if the text in bold concerns you.
  1. “Deluxe” cabins on the Madrid train includes dinner and breakfast in the train’s excellent restaurant, with wine (that, in fact, is the problem).
  2. Solo passengers wishing to book in a double cabin from Madrid, Barcelona, or Paris: Spanish trains require that both berths of a double cabin be booked by passengers travelling together. If you are alone, and prefer to spend less than the cost of a single, you may request a berth in a double through us. If someone else from your trip (and of your gender) requests the same, we will pair you. If we cannot, we will default to your second choice (the other type of double, a single cabin, or no upgrade, depending on what you tell us). If you prefer to travel with an opposite-gender passenger from your trip rather than same-gender strangers in a multi-person cabin, tell us that. It will expand the number of possible cabin-mates.
  Upgrade prices are...
  • Regular double cabin: 35 euros per person, available from Madrid only.
  • “Deluxe” double cabin: 75 euros / person from Madrid or Barcelona, included from Paris (meal service included on Madrid train, available at additional cost on trains from Paris and Barcelona).
  • Regular single cabin: 75 euros, available from Madrid only.
  • "Deluxe" single cabin: 119 euros from Madrid or Barcelona, included in quoted "single" price from Paris (meal service included on Madrid train, available at additional cost on Barcelona and Paris trains).
• Tickets from London. Travel from London is via Paris. Add 39 euros if you are also purchasing tickets back to London at the end of your trip, 79 euros if not, or if you prefer a changeable ticket (in 1st cl., add 85 euros or 125 euros; 1st class tickets include meal service).
  
  

Alternate Arrangements, in lieu of (or in addition to) our usual packages. Subject to availability.
Prices are complete (in other words, they are not in addition to the "Base" Access Package Price, unless you also subscribe to that).

• Train tickets from Porto. To Vigo: 30 euros 2nd class, 45 euros 1st class. Add 10 euros for tickets to Santiago (trip from Vigo, through which you pass on your way to Santiago, is in 2nd class, as train does not carry first).
• Hotel rooms in Vigo – we have a simple place a couple of blocks from the station, and a modern but more “international” one a block further away....

3. TIMING Your Trip

We are obviously trying to encourage you to spend at least Saturday in Santiago. A truly special place, especially on a Saturday night. And the more time you can give to it, the better. The exceptional comfort of the overnight trains allows you to spend most of Saturday here, if you are willing: Friday trains depart Paris at 4p, Barcelona at 7p, Madrid at 10p.... If you arrive via an international flight on Friday morning, harbor no illusions: you will sleep fitfully on the train, regardless of its comfort. But look on the bright side: you wouldn't have slept well anywhere else, either. .


4. Service Information
Schedules are approximate – exact timetables can be consulted at http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm.
Best trains are mentioned. Others are slower or have multiple connections.

• From Madrid. Daylight train: departs Madrid at 2p, arrives Santiago or Vigo at 9:30p. Overnight train: departs Madrid at 10p, arrives Santiago or Vigo at 8a.
• From Barcelona. Overnight train departs Barcelona at 7p, arrives Vigo or Santiago at 11a.
• From Paris. Depart Paris 4p, connect at the Spanish border at 10p. This connecting train carries a Portuguese dining car, for a tasty evening meal cooked on board. However, a second connection is required in Burgos at 2a. A fun and comfortable trip for nightowls, but a bit of an adventure if you are usually asleep long before...
• From Lisbon. Two daily trains to Vigo, one at 11a (arrive Vigo 8p; but there is a 1-hour time change, so trip time is actually 8 hours), and one at 3p (arrive 11p Spanish time: a 7-hour trip). Only the former connects through to Santiago (add 2 hours). This is unfortunate, because this earlier service requires 3 connections, including one at the Portuguese / Spanish border which involves changing stations by taxi. The later train requires only one connection, a straightforward affair in Oporto.
• From Porto. Trip time is 3 hours to Vigo, add 2 for ongoing connection to Santiago. Two trains daily, departing at 8a and 7p. The latter is too late to offer a Santiago connection. There is an additional service at 3p, but which involves a connection at the Portuguese / Spanish border including a station change via taxi (count 10 euros). This circus adds an hour to the trip.
• From London. Trip time is 2.5 hours to Paris, a station change in Paris is necessary (Nord to Montparnasse, via direct métro line).

5. Suggested PRE-TRIP VISITS

Santiago, Santiago, Santiago. Once you have budgeted time for Santiago, Madrid, Bilbao (there is a direct daylight train to Santiago, but it is a long trip...), Barcelona....


6. Hints on TRAVELLING INDEPENDENTLY to the Trip
Guests subscribing to an “Access Package” need not read this section.

See also “Timing Your Trip” and “Service Information,” above, as either of these may additionally help.

We gladly provide travel consulting (schedule or routing information) concerning post-trip individual travel. In particular, we have invested a great deal to become railway experts. Our service fees are reasonable: a 20 euro charge for all but the most complex projects – or the most simple (for instance, only a 10 euro charge applies if the service is limited to the preparation of a routine rail ticket). You will generally find them well-justified by the time they will save you in research, standing on line, overpaying for your tickets, or all three.

But, for some, this type of research is fun. So, here are some hints, intended to start off hardened “do-it-yourselfers.”

Trains. Schedules for all routes can be consulted on this web site:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm

Sparce service: all that exist are proposed here.

Planes. 3 small regional airports: Vigo, Santiago, and La Coruña (a.k.a. “A Coruña,” in Gallego). Vigo and A Coruña have essentially domestic Iberian service. Santiago offers limited intra-Europe service, including (at this writing) two daily flights to London, one on British Air, and another on Ryanair. Frequent trains operate the line between Vigo, Santiago and A Coruña. Count circa 90 mins. to Santiago, another 90 on to A Coruña. Flights on domestic Spanish routes are not particularly expensive, but once you add the costs of travel to and from the airport, and the additional hotel night, they will save neither time nor money over the comfortable cabins on the overnight trains....


If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.