Barcelona-Sants

TIPS: 1. Arrive Early. 2. Be mindful you have to pass thru security baggage checks (don't have anything on you/ in your bags that may attract attention/confiscation causing delays) 3. Find your platform and queue yourself. Chaotic, no proper organization of queue. Check the monitors for info. Don't bother asking the staff (useless when you are confused, THEY JUST STAND THERE DOING NOTHING MUCH, but all smiles and please when you manage to be in the right queue). 4. Be at platform proper below ground at least 10 mins before, to be sure you are okay. Train ride itself- perfect 👌 Took the Renfe train from Barcelona to Madrid. Be early, confusion will strike after security check. Do not assume after your passing security check that you are in the correct queue for your train. You must still have to find the correct platform and queue, which isn't immediately obvious or made known to you in your ticket prior. Plan to have about 30 minutes to spare for potential delays in orientation. Check the screens, allocate time to figure this out yourself. Staff are not very useful (they are present and may try to be helpful but are often not very useful in info). They may even cause you more delays by telling you unnecessary info (eg "your ticket is a basic ticket ...krik krik"), or 'I don't know', or telling you to go all the way to the 'service counter' or 'help desk' all the way back out there, taking minutes you already don't have instead of trying to help you figure out (and then they continue standing there to look like they can offer help but sctually no). It is funny coz it is really like purposely not wanting to help, if I was working there, I think I would know somethjng instead of nothing! Apparently, tourists missing their trains are quite a common thing here. Once in train, all good. Food and drinks, toilet available, book your seat prior.

They did not centralize the security check like in Madrid, passengers need to first find the departure gate to line up for security. Ver long line up but fortunately it moves fairly reasonably quick. Another line to wait for boarding and it’s quite chaotic. The boarding window is very tight and they close boarding as soon as all lined passengers are up. Definitely recommend to allow additional spare time to catch the train.

Well-connected and busy train station Barcelona Sants is a major train station with great connections — you can easily reach it directly by metro from the city center. It serves both regional and international trains. Regional tickets start from just a few euros, while long-distance and high-speed trains are, of course, more expensive. The station has ticket counters, information points, and self-service machines for buying tickets. There are staff members available near the machines to assist travelers, though not all of them speak English. Still, they do their best to help, and we appreciated their effort. Inside the station, you’ll also find food outlets and a shop, making it convenient if you need a quick bite or something for the road. Overall, a functional and well-located station for traveling in and out of Barcelona.

This a functional place and is an ugly station. It’s easy to find your way: if you look at your ticket you will find your “terminal” A, B, C. Allow time for airport security check (the price of …). Once in the train, it is rather comfortable, but I learnt that as Spanish person you are allowed to put your shoes on the seats. No hesitation what so ever. And the conductor just walks by…

Huge and well-connected transportation hub — Barcelona Sants is one of the city’s main train stations, and it delivers exactly what you need for easy travel around Spain and beyond. Whether you’re taking a high-speed AVE, regional trains, or commuting into the city, the layout is straightforward and efficient. 🚆 Clean, modern facilities with plenty of waiting areas, cafés, ticket counters, and luggage options make for a comfortable experience, even during busy times. Signage is pretty good in multiple languages, so it’s easy to find platforms and services without stress. 👍 It can get crowded during peak hours, and lines at ticket machines sometimes form, but overall the staff are helpful and the station runs smoothly. Great connectivity to metro lines and buses too, so you can get around Barcelona with ease. 🗺️ Solid station — functional, convenient, and essential for travelers using trains in and out of Barcelona. Highly recommended as a transport hub! ⭐️

🚆 Travel Review: A Nightmare Journey Amidst Brand Warfare My experience was truly catastrophic, not because of the train itself, but because of the underlying service chaos. It's a well-known secret that multiple competing train companies are vying for market share here, and it feels like they are deliberately trying to sabotage each other. They seem intent on throwing roadblocks in the way to sour the service and tarnish the image of rival brands, and unfortunately, the passengers pay the price for this petty brand warfare. If you must travel, here are some survival tips to navigate the pandemonium: • Punctuality is Paramount: Get there significantly ahead of time. You'll need every minute. • Security Scrutiny: Prepare for the baggage checks. Ensure your belongings are completely standard and won't invite delays or confiscation. • The Queueing Fiasco: Finding your queue is a mess. The organization is non-existent and utterly confusing. The staff are of little help; they mostly stand around, smiling politely only once you've somehow managed to decipher the chaos and join the correct line. Trust the monitors for platform information, not the people. • Platform Priority: Make sure you are actually on the correct underground platform at least ten minutes before departure. • The Ride Redemption: Once you're finally aboard and underway, the train journey itself is, ironically, absolutely perfect.

Train station undergoing renovations so limited signs around. We followed the crowd and made it to the main road for our uber

I would not ever recommend this train station at ALL!!! I especially wouldn’t recommend the train service RENFE you are better off walking with the help you will receive from the people employed by that company. Not only were our tickets missed dated not one employee would listen to us, we got more help from people walking by seeing how distressed we were. From not taking one second to listen we had to buy 7 more one way tickets after $1600 was already spent, meaning we had to give that crappy company more money because the terrible employees made us miss our train. The amount of time we were looked in the eyes by the people employed by this very poorly ran company and told “we can’t help you” is insane. What are you doing then? That’s not customer service that’s a disservice. Who do you think is giving your company money to sign your checks every week? TOURIST PEOPLE AND PEOPLE YOU NEED TO HELP. Every single employee from RENFE was rude disrespectful and downright nasty. If you don’t wanna see and help the mass numbers of tourists in your city I recommend all of those people find new jobs where they aren’t employed to help someone. It’s not worth the hassle, just buy a plane ticket you won’t have to deal with nasty people or smell the nasty bathrooms aboard those trains.

Convenient location. Gets you to locations within the country and beyond. This was close enough to my hotel that I was able to walk over with no problems. I was able to check out at a later time that I wasn't feeling rushed. It was nice to start the morning with a leisurely walk. Perfect timing too since my metro card had just expired. I had enough time to get food, but the selection was limited. I ended up eating in the train. It's easy to get around. The security lines were fairly short. I was able to get through fairly quickly. The staff inside lined the people who were there before the gates opened. As soon as the gate opened, everyone made their way down to the platform. I'm here for a well managed operation.

Convenient train station to get you from point A to point B. We had an early train to visit Figueres and it was pretty easy to find everything. The ride back was smooth, trains were on time and we can't really complain much. Yes, if it could have a facelift it would be awesome, if people wouldn't get robbed that would be even greater. As always, watch your bags, your belongings, don't leave things unattended and travel simple and non eye catchy. Other than that, travel safely, watch for train time changes and be kind to the staff and passengers you meet and encounter. A little goes a long way =)

Tengan mucho cuidado con sus reservas con esta empresa. Mi familia reservó varios carros para el viaje familiar de año nuevo (las reservas las hicimos con 4 meses de anticipación). El día antes de la recogida a las 10pm (con menos de 24h) me enviaron un correo cancelando todas las reservas. No nos dieron ninguna solución, el gerente que nos atendió, estaba totalmente indiferente de nuestra situación, dijo que no iba a hacer nada al respecto y que si teníamos una queja, fueramos al ayuntamiento a la oficina municipal de informacion al consumidor a quejarnos. Luego fuimos a las otras empresas en Sants de alquiler, y nos dijeron que ese tipo de servicio era muy común de Enterprise. Tengan cuidado y no vaya a ser que les arruinen sus vacaciones familiares, como a nosotros.

Our TGV from Paris arrived at this station. I was so eager to leave the Paris I somehow forgot how big Barcelona is! The train station is no exception! The station seemed more modern/updated than Gare de Lyon. Perhaps flying would have saved an hour or two but we really enjoyed the train ride and our stay in Barcelona: Pros-cooler weather which was relative and more HVAC. Perhaps I am also partial to coastal cities. The food was excellent. The people were nice enough despite a couple incidences of snarky responses (sorry my Spanish is not better!) 1.4 million trees! Good bike lanes for my morning on the street bike rental. Good coffee! More variety in the architecture than Paris. This was my favorite of the three stops. Cons-none really. Perhaps exploring Spain more would be great. Like any European city, more "non-native" food choices would be good.

Writing this review after being robbed here this past Saturday evening on the way ti Madrid . Why am I leaving one star? Because I believe that the security officers / or at least that works here is involved in a scam in which tourists are robbed going through security . Wild accusation I know but it was crazy . The only way I was able to be a victim of theft was directly through multiple interventions by the security officer who was working at the time . How it happened : While heading to my train I was directed to go through platforms 2 security area where they only had one x ray machine operating . After placing all of my luggage through the machine , 3-4 Spanish young girls rushed behind me and also put their stuff through the machine . They were able to cut in front of me to get to the other side because security held me up and told me that I needed to take more and more stuff off ( like my jacket , hat , bottle of water ) ..it all had to go through the machine even though they also had a metal detector . Once on the other side the 3-4 girls made a wall with their bodies( blocking both my view of the conveyor belt as well as access) in which they grabbed their stuff as well as some of mine . When I noticed some of my things were missing the security guards simply shrugged and did nothing . The girls were still close enough to be stopped and questioned ..but they did nothing ..because I believe that it was all coordinated. Avoid this station if you can .

Sants! Borderline between Barcelona and Sants neighborhood. We used this train station numerous times. Kind of hard to understand where to go and when. When it's time to go, be ready to go. Easier to use elevator if you have numerous suitcases. There are public bathrooms and paid bathrooms both are clean.

Taxi took us right in front of the very busy train station, we arrived :6 early.. We walked past shops, pharmacies & restaurants before we scanned all of our bags & luggage. We stood on another long cue waiting for access control for track 4 where our passports were scanned. There were 6 tracks & lines for each. We paid €125 each for the AVE high velocity train to Madrid. The 3:15 long train ride included WiFi, a movie & a snack car. A woman dressed like a stewardess pushed a cart up & down the aisles of the train. Okay

You want to spend the least time here as it's extremely outdated and has absolutely zero frills. But they get you where you need to be quickly and efficiently, and it's the main train station of Barcelona. I recommend using the renfe app to expedite your journey and less fusing with the ticket machines.

Pretty easy breezy experience. Compared to several of our train stations in the States, Barcelona Sants Estació is pretty top-notch. The station was clean (especially the restrooms) and well organized. Probably because of COVID, the station was not super crowded during our travels, which made life a bit easier. The staff at the security checkpoints were pretty friendly and helpful. Overall, I do not have anything bad to say about my experience in this train station.

It's a train station, that will get you where you need to go. But it's dirty, run down and in need of a facelift. I was headed in a day trip from Barcelona and this is the station to grab the train to Girona. The agent at the window explained the process and how to get the right times. He even told us we could switch the time back at the station over there if we decided to come back earlier or later than the original return time. There are a few dining options such as a McDonald's cafe but we didn't eat here. We were at the station for about 45 minutes total, before our train arrived. The check in process for the train was super easy and efficient. You don't need your passport, or any ID really to board the train. Just your ticket.

Get in, get out, don't stay if you can help it. Barcelona Sants is a major station where many different train lines meet. It was my arrival point from Salamanca and I've used it during previous travels. You'll often see it listed as the departure point for self-guided travels in tourist guides. Station workers seem to be few and far between, and when I did ask for help, my questions weren't answered with a smile or any customer service, really. If you're going to be using it a lot as a tourist, my advice is to look up YouTube videos and maps so you're familiar with the station before you actually arrive. It will save you some confusion and anxiety.

This is where Renfe train departs for a long distance high speed train. It is also served by Metro L3 and L5. Taking a metro to Renfe is pretty easy. Just follow the sign with purple "Renfe" mark. Renfe staff is friendly and there to help you. Plenty of food options here. If you plan on taking Renfe, arrive 30 minutes before departure to go through security. Boarding began 30 minutes before scheduled departure time.

This is the main train station in Barcelona. It is huge and clean. I had to buy a ticket to Dali museum in Figueres via express train called TGV. Everything worked well. There are cafes including McDonald's and some clothing shops, also. I read it somewhere you can buy train tickets for the day only, but there are windows at the Sants you can get other day tickets also. Good to know, cause it was not easy with login stuffs for online buying for me. At least 30 minutes or more, before departure time, you should arrive at the Sants, cause it takes a while with security and other stuffs. Follow the sign, if that's not working well, ask uniformed people. They understands English, cause what else people asking them there? If they recognized, most of the time they do, the desperate looks on your face, they will help you gladly for sure! Overall Spanish people are very friendly. Remembering the word Estacio Sants will guide you safely.

I was in Sants Estacion constantly as my hotel, Expo hotel was just opposite and so was very handy for catching the metro to all the places of interest in Barcelona. I loved the shops in the station too, especially Ale Hop and the souvenir shop and Peters sweet shop, there is also a pharmacy, McDonald's, Como restaurant and lots more. So easy to navigate and at the back of Sants is where you get the hop on hop off bus.

I love this station and it is the only one in Barca with high speed service to Madrid. It's pretty easy to navigate if you're patient. You can always go to the ticket counter, but I've read that service can be bad. When coming in from the airport, I would avoid Sants and make any train changes at another station. When leaving, this maybe the only option. Pick up a sandwich, coffee or a snack before heading to the platform. The high speed trains have reasonably priced items but best to grab what you like. Taking a 6AM train, ensures an empty station.

After our week in Barcelona we took a train north to the Costa brava region to visit a friend in the town of Llan¢a. (north-eastern end, near the French-Spanish border) This review may be a bit biased ; my experiences traveling to and exploring remote beach towns of catalonia has a special place in my heart, and it wouldn't have been possible without the region's wonderful rail system. This station is no non-sense, easy to navigate to and from your destination, and have many a ticketing and service staff that speak multiple languages. Most thankfully, English. Our two weeks in catalonia was a once in a life time adventure, and this station helped make it happen. 5 stars.

Big, clean, well lit, well organized, busy and hectic - all the things a good European train station should be, and frequently are NOT. Plenty of decent quick food joints inside for those snacks and coffee on the run when travelling. If you don't know what you are doing as the thousands of passengers race around you, just ask. Lots of friendly folk are very helpful if you are the least bit conversant in Spanish. If you choose to be an ugly American tourist, stick with the big bus tours and stay out of the train stations as you only serve as a roadblock to others. Lots of cool food options and hotel places nearby.

Barcelona Sant's is the main railway station serving the Catalan capital, in size it is quite a big station and it also interests me in the fact it has international trains and trains to Spain. Being from the UK, it's crazy to think you could get a train to a country, mainly down to the UK being an island nation and we would have to get the Eurostar anyway but from a normal train station, for me this is crazy. For example, from Sants you could even get a train into Paris, however it does take 15 hours. Moving onto the station as a whole, there is a good number of destinations in Spain you can get to from here including Malaga, Bilbao and the capital, Madrid. It is also quite interesting to know that some trains depart from "Underground" and this train station is also below a hotel, with most of the upper floors being taken up by a hotel. The facilities at the train station however are poor especially considering it is probably one of the most used transport hubs for railway in Catalonia and even Spain, the staff seemed unfriendly and unwilling to assist when I needed it. I mainly called into the station to grab something to eat at Mcdonald's and have a look around, I was also upset with the Mcdonald's in terms of quality of food, pricing and service. There aren't really any other big name shops here, another one which might sound familiar to most is FC Barcelona's club store, who have many locations around the city, they also have a store here. I really want to give Barcelona Sants a high rating but it simply doesn't offer many facilities in terms of getting your train, and the staff at the station just seemed unhelpful, I also am struggling to work out how you get to the rest of your shops after going through the gates and sometimes security, it just seemed concerned off in a way from the rest of the station so sadly I feel it deserves a single one star because of the fact the service and facilities at the station are not up to scratch, which would be needed for customers who are traveling long distance whether it is going abroad to the likes of Paris, or even on a long journey into the capital city of Madrid.

Barcelona Sants is the city's main railway station, operated by the national train company, Renfe. Virtually all long-distance and medium-distance regional trains depart from Sants, including the new high-speed AVE service, which can get you to Madrid in just over two and a half hours, sleeper services to most other regions of Spain, and the Euromed service to Valencia. It is also the centre of the extensive suburban train service (Rodalies or Cercanías), which includes the half-hourly airport train on line C10, and the trains to the popular resort of Sitges (4 trains per hour) on line C2. Located some distance to the northwest of the city centre, it is a major hub for Barcelona metro (lines L3 and L5) and bus services (lines 27, 30, 32, 43, 44, 78, 109), and has a plentiful supply of taxis, as well as car parking. The station sits between two large squares, and is currently undergoing a major modernisation and expansion of its facilities in connection following the inauguration of the AVE trains to Madrid, and preparation for the extension of the high-speed line into France, currently under construction. This modernisation has been completed at platform level, transforming what was one of Europe's least pleasant station environments (on a par with Birmingham New Street) to a more modern and brighter feel, although it is still all underground. Six platforms have now been converted to the European standard gauge, for use by the AVE services, with 8 for other Renfe services on the wider Spanish gauge tracks. It's also worth knowing that, until summer 2008, travel is free on lines C2 and C10 going west (towards Sitges, Vilanova and the airport) in recompense for service disruptions in 2007. Ask staff at the ticket barriers for a free ticket. Above the platforms, the main station circulation area is spacious and bright, although signage is poor, and the layout with separate ticket offices and information points for local, medium and long-distance trains can be rather confusing. During the modernisation, there seem to be a lot of staff around to help, although few speak much English, so be prepared with to speak Spanish. Be warned that the modernisation is set to take until 2012, so facilities may move around or be withdrawn during the works. Facilities within the station are extensive and include: the four-star Hotel Barceló Sants, a left-luggage office, car hire, restaurant, cafeteria, bookshop, pharmacy, newsagent, facilities for people with hearing difficulties, a Tourist Information Office with hotel reservation service, currency exchange booths and cash-points. (A good local tip is that a number of the shops sell sandwiches and soft drinks at lower prices than the cafeterias.) The current refurbishment will also see step-free access extended throughout the station.

Arriving from Paris after a high speed 8 hour ride, this station was a sight for sore eyes. It was not the simplest to sort out however. We were already in the station, but had to exit the platforms and reenter to catch our next train. This meant a trip back through security, oh joy. Truthfully, as this was my first real train station, I suspect the confusion I felt was due to my lack of understanding how they operate more than how this particular one was operated. The security check was relatively quick and orderly, and once it was time to board there were no issues getting checked in (not true on our second time through this station, but that's another story). We had a short layover, and so a little time to explore the station as well as time to pop outside for a quick peek at the neighborhood before we were off to Madrid. Large, unheated (like everywhere in Europe), with shops to explore and plenty of food and drink options to nosh before departing for your next stop. This station is large, but well laid out with plenty of signs and a friendly helpful staff to help you find your way to the appropriate platform. Once you know where you'll be checking in to board it's easy enough to grab some food, your book/kindle and find an empty chair while you wait. All in all a better train station experience than we had on many other stops of our European trip, and a good representation of Spain and the Spanish people.

Convent for all travelers. You can take this to the airport. Instead of taking the taxi which cost you €25,00 to €30,00. You can take this pretty much any place outside of bcn. They have stores, cafe, pharmacy, and McDonald!! Yes a McDonald!! You think they would have one at every corner or so In bcn. Lol

Barcelona Sants Station is functional and easy to navigate. There were quite a few self served Renfe ticket machine in various entrance so getting our tickets to Valencia was quite simple. Just the machine seemed to dislike my credit cards... but accepted my Yelp friend's one gladly. The waiting area and ticketing area is spacious and bright with tons of windows letting the natural light in. Accessible by Metro and direct to and from the airport, made travelling just so easy!

I liked this station. Once you get the lay of the land, it's quite organized. If not, look for the "I" (information). Yes they speak English! €.60 to use the very clean toilet (not restroom).

Ok. I don't travel on trains often and when I have (penn station in new york) I'm friggin confused as all heck. I don't understand how things work. Where you need to stand and its a bit of a freak out. Local trains, express trains, city trains. Different train companies, Different signs for each of them. This train station is no different. NOTE NOTE NOTE There are TWO train stations in Barcelona. Make SURE you know which station your train leaves from. Don't be that guy that takes a taxi to the wrong station and figures out too late you are on the wrong side of town in the wrong station. We arrived on a Monday at 6am-ish for a train to Valencia. the goods - Clean, safe, well lit The not so goods - Don't expect anyone to speak English - even at McDonald's Surly employees (like every other train station~) Ok how it works. So you have a ticket - it has a destination and time. keep looking at different boards until you find your destination and time. We got there soo early that our train number/destination was not even up on the board yet. Total freak out. But closer to departure it show up and we got a 'gate' like gate 11... Like other train stations you can line up next to the gate and wait to be checked in. They open the gate like 20 mins before departure. Once we found the gate and it was open, easy peasy. they checked out ticket - i believe it had a car number on it. when down the stairs, found the car and got a seat. Again don't expect that the folks on the train can speak English.

Huge. But, you knew that. Very easy, for us, upon arrival to navigate. We arrived on a Renfe train (from Zaragoza) and then took a Rodalies (the R2 Sud) train to Sitges. + A helpful attendant showed us how to buy tickets.

Barcelona central train station is a bustling hub. There are restaurants and good shops to be found. You can get there by buses and taxis.

Sants Railway Station or Sants Estació is the main railway station in Barcelona. The Station is named after Sants, the neighbourhood of Barcelona in which it is located. It has become the Catalan capital's most important transport hub - being the centre of Rodalies de Catalunya, including Barcelona suburban railway services and regional services, as well as the main inter-city station for national and international destinations. You can now take a high-speed train here from Madrid, and it was here that our train from Girona arrived. However, Gracia station just before it was a more convenient stop for where Gayle and I were staying.

This station happens to be one of the bigger stations that will get you many places. For us the intersection of the metro and the Renfe that took us out to Sant Celoni to see the great Santi Santamaria and his place, Can Fabes. My friend tells me this great story how he always seems this one girl asking for one or two euro to catch a train home. He's been seeing her there for like 5 years! So a major transport hub but also the hustle and bustle of scammers and all types of other people abound.

Big train station, where everyone departs Barcelona to Madrid. A couple cafes inside such as McDonalds (with free wi-fi!) Each access off the L5 metro line at Estacio Sants exit. Pretty convenient. You need to go through security luggage scan line before boarding the train at your designated platform.

I gave it 5 stars solely because using the bathrooms were free compared to Madrid Atocha where you have to pay to use it and the train is on time. The place is clean and the employees appear to be nice.

Avoid this train station and this city. Barcelona at one time was a wonderful, friendly city. Now, they don't want tourists and they make the very obvious. See this article, for example: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/barcelona-locals-hate-tourists-why-reasons-spain-protests-arran-airbnb-locals-attacks-graffiti-a7883021.html or this one https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1005392/Tourist-shocking-anti-tourist-Barcelona-Spain-resort-balconing-violence Our experience in this train station on our last day in Barcelona was a perfect example. We approached a counter with two employees sitting there to ask where we can find out train. It's not clear on the ticket if you are not fluent in Spanish. I'm slightly conversational, but nowhere near fluent. I stood in front of the two employees for 2 minutes while they chatted with each other and never looked up at me. They were extremely rude and were purposely ignoring us. I speak enough Spanish to know they were having a personal (non-work related) conversation. I finally walked away to find someone else, but then came back to ask them why they would not look up at us and why they wouldn't talk to us. As I approached, a woman (clearly a local, or maybe we were clearly tourists) approached the counter and one of the two idiot employees immediately looked up and helped her. That set me off. I asked - in Spanish - why they wouldn't help us. The guy stared at me as if I had two heads. He had no intention of talking to me or helping me. They make it very clear that they don't want tourists in Barcelona, and I'm happy to oblige. There are many other cities where I can spend my money. I told the guy he was a jerk and asked him where his boss is. He introduced me to his boss, who said it must be a misunderstanding and told me where my train was. He then berated me for calling his jerk employee a "jerk." He told me I'm not allowed to insult anyone. I asked why his employee is permitted to ignore paying customers. He just repeated that I'm not allowed to insult anyone. I walked away and boarded my train, with the jerk employee glaring at me the entire way. The skinny, obnoxious, jerk employee should learn some manners. DO NOT GO TO BARCELONA AND DO NOT BOTHER WITH THIS DUMP OF A TRAIN STATION. Take your money elsewhere, to a city where you'll be treated like a human being.

Barcelona's train station was mediocre. The trains do arrive on time, which is obviously paramount. It's only 3+ hours to Madrid via train.

Pretty easy station to navigate and pretty close to the city center. I took the Renfe train to Madrid and it was a breeze! SECURITY: Easy - just place your luggage in the X-ray machine (even huge pieces) and go through security! A hell of a lot faster than airport security. CAFE: For some reason, I really enjoy eating at cafés in European train stations. This one had wonderful bocadillos and other you European offerings! A great way to kill time if you are early (as I was).

Transportation infrastructure development is a highly controversial issue in Spain. I'm sure many an individual will tell you that Sants' ills are the product of such unequal distribution of infrastructure funding in this country...In any event, I will tell you that, compared to other Spanish "capitals" Barcelona is under-equipped to handle the high frequency/volume rail travel to this key intersection of the Peninsula and the Mediterranean. Sants Estació is big, dark, mostly underground, and poorly illuminated. All of this is to be expected of a train station of this sort. What is really problematic, I think, is the low quality of the signage throughout the facility. While AVE/Avant/Alvia trains that take you to other large cities are generally easy to find and board, little information is posted about the numerous Rodalies/other Renfe services that leave from Sants. Different escalators take you to different sections of the station, various screens show distinct, if incomplete information, and you never know if you're actually on the right side of the platform or not. So much of these issues could be fixed with just a bit more thoughtful costumer-facing thought. I hope someone considers this, because I think it would sace residents and visitors alike much frustration!

If you are familiar with Washington D.C.'s Union Station, this place will remind you of it. And, by that, I mean that you can catch the train, the subway, the tram, and the bus and even hail a taxi. What makes the whole thing sweet is that you only need that one farecard to catch a ride! Upon arrival, you may be overwhelmed with ticket booths peppered throughout the station. Breathe! Take a look at the machine and explore. Don't let the line behind you rush. They will go to the other machines when available. You pay per ride regardless of your destination. So, if you are staying for a few days or longer, get the multi-day passes and you'll save money. If you are like me, wanting to see all the points of interests, the multi-day pass is a lifesaver. You won't have to be looking for euro coins in the bottom of pockets and pouches. This station has a McDonald's, some restaurants, a bookstore, and a 'farmacia', among others. It can get quite warm in the station. People around might make you feel rushed, but go at a slow pace to keep your cool. This station is nearby restaurants, shops, parks, malls, historic points of interests and many more. The best part is that this stop takes you to the airport.

I found this station to be much more crowded than Madrid, and also much harder to figure out. It isn't difficult to maneuver, but you should know that depending on where you want to go and when you want to leave, there are several different lines (don't stand in the wrong one...I didn't have to learn the hard way, and I hope you don't either). 1. If you're there to buy a ticket ahead of time, there is a special line. Take a number. 2. If you're going somewhere relatively nearby, go to cercanías 3. If it's a bit further away, I think it says like media distancia or something like that 4. Far away places, larga distancia Remember that a lot of stuff is in Catalan (love it), but also Spanish, and there are people strategically placed all over the station to help you out. I don't know whether they all speak English or not. Listening in on several conversations on the train, it seems like McDonald's is one of its high points. Personally, I preferred the rain forest at Atocha.

The kiosks were very easy to use and also able to buy ticket ahead of time for high speed train. Functions similar to an airport with heavy traffic and security, lots of shops and food options.

Barcelona may be a huge city that attracts a lot of visitors to see its many wonders, but the train station Sants will not be a memorable stay or visit for anyone. I departed Barcelona on a train to Zaragoza. I had an online ticket that I didn't know whether to exchange for a real ticket or just keep what I had. I was told to go to the ticket sales counter and passed my printed ticket under the security window to the woman behind it. She looked at me, looked at the paper I shoved through to her, and all she did was shrug her shoulders and THROW it back out at me. How stupid. I asked several times what I was supposed to do with it. She said not a word, just kept shrugging her shoulders like an idiot, which she obviously was. I wish RENFE would train their ticket sales people to be considerate and not act like a stupid idiot, but I had to remember I was in Barcelona. I saw that other visitors, even spaniards were having the same problem too. Later at the departure gate, they didn't act any better. They announced a departing train as AVE A LAS 12 but everyone thought - Spaniards also - they were announcing ABIERTO A LAS 12. Only when we - a small group of waiting clients consisting of spanish, french and me an american - realized that Barcelona and Catalans hate the rest the Spain did we realize that the three attendants making these announcements could have made it easier for people to understand which train by announcing instead AVE A LAS 12 A MADRID but they wouldn't dare say MADRID, so each time they announced their stupid AVE A LAS 12 another person would come forward only to be told to wait to the side, this is not their train. Renfe: your customer service is terrible. The way they announce trains and treat clients is stupid and idiotic. BUT I know nobody from Renfe will ever read this because the company simply does not care about their clients, so it's a waste of time to tell Renfe, BUT at least others wanting to ride renfe trains are forewarned. Don't expect excellent service; expect the worst. Because that's what we all get.

I love train travel and this station is pretty simple if you have a grasp on some Spanish. Compared to Penn Station in New York it's clean and simple. Compared to getting on a plane it's a dream. Of course Sants cannot compare to Atoch in Madrid, Union Station in Washing DC, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia as those are nice places to be. My experience in Catalonia has been as such to see they have a flair for all things public, the parks, the metro, the museums, the general walking spaces throughout the cities and so forth. So it pains me to say that something here is just average. But it is just average--simple and clean. The only big wish was finding more places to plug in my lap-top.

It gets you where you have to go. From point A to B to Z. Buses, taxis and trains are there.

This is a good clean station. The staff is helpful and the information desk is actually super helpful and knowledgeable. They informed me that I could get free tickets to the airport just for having purchased a ticket to/from another city.

This is a huge station but we found it well signposted and easy to navigate once we had our tickets!. The ticket queues are huge so my advice would be allow plenty of time for catching your train or you may miss it as the trains all run to time in Spain. We tried a ticket machine first but found it not as easy as the mtero ones to use and were unsure which ticket we required so joined what we thought was the correct queue only to be told 5 minutes later that we needed to queue at another section for our destination. That done we were served by a very helpful staff member who sorted our tickets quickly. The fares in Spain are amazing, wish ours were so reasonable, we paid a couple of euros for a journey that over here would of been around £30, simply amazing. The only other problem was going through the barriers, with luggage they seemed to only have one way through and as someone was holdaing the queue up we seemed to wait ages which was frustrating when all the normal barriers were queue free. Having said that we caught our train without any further problems. The same can be said for our return journey where we then changed platforms for the airport connection, easy to negotiate where we had to go and the lifts were efficient so not to cause any major queue when you have luggage. The

Super clean, lots of food options, and very easy to find information about your train. It did not suck to have to wait here an hour for the AVE to Madrid. Also, I appreciated how easy it was to figure out how to get a cab upon arrival.

Came here to catch a bus to Andorra. There were no signs to the bus and we ended up having to ask a bunch of different people. Other than that, quite a large station with lots of people. We came back around 10PM or so and most of the eateries were closed. The only thing that was open was, of course, Mc Donalds.

This train station is horrible, stuffy, dirty, confusing and railway employees with whom we talked spoke only Spanish! We didn't find information desk and we just managed with few words Spanish to buy our tickets! Unfortunately train we took went to wrong direction and so we lost lot of time! At the end we arrived at our destination but of course very late!

It's a really large train station with plenty of food stops. We came here to purchase and take a train. There is an info booth and ticket purchase lines, make sure you are in the right one. It was easy to get to via the metro and quick for ticket purchase and departure. Helpful Info guide stationed to send you where you need.

Perfectly mehh. Mildly confusing with not many info stations. To help lost tourists out. There's a McDonalds for wary souls but not much more for folks needing a lift.

I'm no trainspotter but this is an awesome place to catch a train. Clean, friendly, light and airy. Efficient and well thought out. Straight off the plane, purchase ticket, on train- 10 minutes in total. Has an airport check in as well- GENIUS! Beware of queues at peak times though...

Despite being for the most part seemingly underground, this is a bright and airy station (not at all cramped like other similar scale stations across the world). Easily accessible via the extensive Metro system, it's really no problem to find. Given there is an airport check in within the station itself, you'll find huge queues of people checking in. It's here we found the station a little confusing. With little time to catch our train to Sitges and the queues impossibly long (and a distinct lack of station staff) we had to tackle one of the ticket machines (themselves not short of healthy queues). Unlike the Metro ticket machines we couldn't find an English translation within the machine so instead had to rely on pigeon Spanish and a little gut feeling. Luckily we chose the correct destination although we incorrectly chose single tickets rather than return. Although you could feel the heat of the passengers behind us as struggled through this process we thankfully caught our train with time to spare. Again, the trains arrived spot on time wonderfully clean, modern and double-decker trainsSpain's transport system seems to occupy a different century to our own?. Kids up to a certain age travel free, so a trip 35km down the coast came in at a very reasonable price (approx £8 return). The usual collection of shops and bars fill out the station, so not much of a problem should you need to wait a while. Outside lie a couple of quite brutal squaresconcrete and corrugated iron by the looks of them: unsurprisingly the local population didn't really take them to heart, although I must admit they have a certain charm and I could probably get use to them. Aside from the Metro connections (Lines Green L3 and Blue L5) the station is served by many buses and taxi's (you can even use the Tourist Bus to get here).