Al Ándalus

A rolling Belle Époque palace whose 1929 sleeping cars once carried the British court from Calais to the Riviera: now easing from Seville to Madrid in seven days.

Spain’s answer to the Orient Express began running in 1985 with a rake of 1920s French-built cars, four of them sleeping carriages once used by the British court on the Calais–Riviera run. For 2026 the itinerary breaks out of Andalusia for the first time, drifting from Seville over sherry country and Roman Extremadura to the windmill plains of La Mancha and the royal gardens of Aranjuez. The train dawdles deliberately: legs are covered at night or over lunch, with wide-gauge suites, two restaurant cars and a piano bar.

Along the way

• Córdoba’s Mezquita
• Cádiz bay
• Sherry bodegas of Jerez
• Roman Mérida & medieval Cáceres
• La Mancha windmill plains
• Aranjuez royal gardens

How this line was checked

• Checked against OpenStreetMap: 94.5% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 5 m); the longest stretch away from it is 8 km
• The operator publishes this line's timetable: Renfe — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing

Questions and answers

How long is the Al Ándalus?

The Al Ándalus runs 1,300 km from Seville to Madrid.

How long does the Al Ándalus take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 7 days for the 1,300 km. The line's top service speed is 100 km/h.

Who runs the Al Ándalus?

Renfe Trenes Turísticos de Lujo, with Belle Époque sleeping cars (1928–1930).

How old is the Al Ándalus?

The line has been in service since 1985. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Al Ándalus run?

Weekly departures (Apr–Oct).

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