Spain’s Stylish New Vintage Train Will Coast Through Gorgeous Landscapes And Stunning Cities In 2026
If you want to explore several of Spain’s finest cultural sites but aren’t sure how to fit them all into one trip, a solution might have arrived in the form of a luxury train tour. One of Europe’s new panoramic rail lines, rolling out in 2026, will connect Seville to Madrid (or vice versa) with the Al Andalus luxury train. The week-long itinerary will take you through many beautiful destinations in southern Spain, including Arab-influenced Andalusian cities like Cordoba and Cádiz on the coast, as well as ancient inland cities like Mérida and Toledo, surrounded by lush countryside and mountains. You’ll also have the opportunity to explore culturally significant sites, including the UNESCO-listed Cáceres Old Town and an Andalusian vineyard.
The carriages of Al Andalus are worthy of the experience in themselves. As The Times reported, horse-drawn carriages date back to the Belle Époque of the early 20th century, when the British royal family used them as an elegant means of transportation between Spanish cities. They fell into disuse for a while, displayed in a park, until railway company Renfe brought them back on track under the Al Andalus brand, filled with sumptuous soft furnishings, gilded designs and theatrical wooden panels that evoke its glamorous origins. As the name suggests, Al Andalus mainly serves Andalusia, the Spanish coastal region blessed with beautiful white hill towns. However, the upcoming Seville-Madrid route will take the elegant carriages outside of Andalusia (Madrid and several other stops on the trip are in separate autonomous regions), giving travelers a more expansive Spanish panorama.
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Stops along the new Al Andalus road from Seville to Madrid
Skyline view of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cáceres, Spain – Samuel Howell/Getty Images
The Seville-Madrid route on Al Andalus offers routes in both directions. Let’s say you start in Seville, the first leg of the train ride covers several founding cities of Andalusia. You will immediately discover the baroque and lively place that Rick Steves calls “the perpetual party” before boarding. The train then heads to Córdoba, allowing passengers to see the Córdoba Mosque-Cathedral, a spectacular pastiche of the various architectural influences that have shaped the city’s history, from its minaret buried in a Renaissance tower to the red and white arabesque arches supported by columns salvaged from a previous Visigoth structure. The train makes stops in Cádiz and Jerez (where you can visit a sherry cellar) before leaving Andalusia.
The fourth day of the trip Al Andalus makes several stays in the Extremadura region. The day begins with departure from Zafra, a medieval town surrounded by the peaks of the Sierra de Castellar. Next, you’ll stop in Cáceres, where passengers can stroll through the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, particularly notable for its ancient walls and abundance of Islamic-era towers. The train then heads to Mérida, widely considered to have the best-preserved Roman ruins in Spain, with its own Colosseum-like amphitheater, which once hosted gladiator fights.
The final days of the trip head to the beautiful, more rural wine region of Castile-La Mancha. Here you can see the legendary windmills of the Alcazar de San Juan (which inspired the famous Spanish novel “Don Quixote”), the majestic fortress-crowned city of Toledo and the Palace of Aranjuez, before concluding in Spain’s cosmopolitan capital, Madrid.
How to book a place on the Al Andalus 2026 course
Luxury golden interior of the Al Andalus train in Spain – Renfe / YouTube
A big advantage of the Al Andalus route is that, whether you start in Seville or Madrid, it offers free connections (via Renfe trains) to and from the origin and arrival cities, as long as connections are available – and most medium and large continental cities are connected, thanks to Spain being the country with the most high-speed rail lines in Europe. So, for example, if you arrive at Barcelona-El Prat Airport, one of the country’s main international arrival centers, you can benefit from a free train ride from Barcelona to Seville or Madrid (depending on the route chosen) and return to Barcelona at the end of the trip.
The free connections are only a slight counterbalance to the otherwise high price of travel: for a shared double cabin, the total cost starts at almost $8,000 per person, with single cabins starting at around $13,000. What you get with this rate is pretty all-inclusive, covering all meals, activities (including onboard parties), and tickets to museums and shows. Al Andalus 2026 excursions run on set dates throughout the year, so if you’re interested in the trip, you can book well in advance.
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