Al Andalus, Spain's luxury train: a new stop in Madrid
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Published on 11/3/25
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A real bedroom that takes you from Bilbao to Galicia, landscapes to admire from the retro-chic lounge cars, stops along the way to explore northern Spain… That’s what awaits you if you’re lucky enough to board the Costa Verde Express. On the itinerary for this true luxury hotel train operated by Renfe: a trip of 6 days and 5 nights between Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela, through the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia. It’s the perfect way to celebrate a birthday or a honeymoon—as long as you’re prepared to spend the money! And if you’re hesitating before breaking open your piggy bank: we’ve tried it out for you. An immersive experience aboard the Costa Verde Express.
You're coming from our book ? Welcome aboard! Here you'll find the 7 steps of the chapter, with additional details, as well as up-to-date fares and dates, photos of the train's interior, shorter versions of the trip, and our tips for booking.
What is the Costa Verde Express? A luxury hotel train operated by Renfe that runs on the metric-gauge railway in northern Spain, featuring 24 suites and 4 lounge cars.
What is its route? From Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela (or vice versa), via Santander, Llanes, Oviedo, Luarca, and Viveiro. The last leg, from Ferrol to Santiago, is by bus.
How long does the trip take? 6 days and 5 nights for the full tour, 3 days and 2 nights for the shorter versions.
How much does it cost? Starting at €5,000 per person in a double suite for 6 days in 2026, with full board and guided tours included.
When is the best time to go? Full tours are scheduled from May through October, with departures approximately every two weeks in both directions and a break in August. Special weekend tours have also been scheduled for July and August 2026.
The Costa Verde Express is based on the concept of a rail cruise : You drop off your suitcase in your suite for the duration of your stay; the train takes you from one stop to the next, and a tour bus takes over for the guided tours. It belongs to the family of luxury tourist trains from Renfe, alongside the Transcantábrico Gran Lujo, the Al-Andalus and the Expreso de La Robla.
© Mattéo Miossec - Benjamin in his compartment, aboard the train
It is the successor to the Transcantábrico, Spain's very first tourist train, launched in 1983 by FEVE, the narrow-gauge railway company. It runs on the metric-gauge track that follows the Cantabrian coast, a network now operated by Renfe.
The Transcantábrico was then split into two versions: the Gran Lujo version kept its name, while the Clásico version became the Costa Verde Express. Renfe began marketing it as a new product starting in 2022, after two seasons of suspension due to the pandemic.
The Costa Verde is the nickname for the Asturian coast. But the train runs more broadly through the “ Green Spain " : The Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia.
© Mattéo Miossec - Benjamin admiring the scenery aboard the Costa Verde Express
Both trains follow the same coastline, but the Transcantábrico Grand Luxury offers a longer cruise departing from San Sebastián, featuring premium-class suites.
| Criterion | Costa Verde Express | Transcantábrico Grand Luxury |
|---|---|---|
| Route | Bilbao ↔ Santiago de Compostela | San Sebastián ↔ Santiago de Compostela |
| Duration | 6 days / 5 nights (3-day short versions) | 8 days / 7 nights |
| Accommodations | May through October, except August for full tours | Departures for the full tour run from March through October; the last tour ends in November (2026) |
| Season | 24 Gran Clase suites | Gran Lujo Suites |
If you're looking for a shorter route, La Robla's Expreso offers a trip between León and Bilbao along the old coal line, with stops along the Way of St. James.
The 24 Gran Clase suites are small, wood-paneled rooms featuring a double bed, a desk, a closet, a luggage rack, a minibar, and a safe. Each has a private bathroom with a shower, a hair dryer, and complimentary toiletries, and the air conditioning is individually controlled in each suite.
© Mattéo Miossec - Honestly, doesn't that make you want to try it?
In the morning, the staff turns the bed into a sofa, so you can settle in to your suite and enjoy the view of the coastline. In the evening, they prepare the room for the night again.
To change up the scenery without getting off the train, head to the four lounge cars. One features a bar and a dance floor for evening parties, another has a second, quieter bar, and the last two are perfect for reading, playing board games, or simply taking in the scenery. A library, digital versions of the day’s newspapers, and an Internet connection are available to passengers. All of this in an atmosphere that transports you straight into a James Bond movie…
© Mattéo Miossec - Benjamin sipping his coffee in the lounge of the Costa Verde Express
The Costa Verde Express Route, Step by Step
The classic route connects Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela in 6 days and 5 nights aboard the ship, with stops at docks to sleep. As described in the dedicated chapter of our book Travel by train with HOURRAIL!, Stage 1 takes place in Bilbao before the start, because it's worth arriving in the city the day before. Please note that the program below follows the direction Bilbao → Santiago de Compostela for the 2026 season: it may change from year to year.
© Mattéo Miossec - The lounge: the perfect place to admire the scenery between stops
The train runs from Bilbao to Ferrol, the terminus of the meter-gauge line in Galicia, and a bus covers the final few kilometers to Santiago.
| Step | Route | Highlights | Night |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (before departure) | Bilbao | Old Town, pintxos, exploring the area around the Guggenheim | Hotel in Bilbao |
| 2 (Day 1) | Bilbao → Santander | Concordia Station, Guggenheim, Laredo, Santoña, and Santander | On board, Santander |
| 3 (Day 2) | Santander → Llanes | Santillana del Mar, the "New Altamira Cave," Llanes | On board, Llanes |
| 4 (Day 3) | Llanes → Oviedo | Arenas de Cabrales, Cheese Museum, Oviedo | On board, Oviedo |
| 5 (Day 4) | Oviedo → Luarca | Gijón, Asturian coast, Luarca | On board, Luarca |
| 6 (Day 5) | Luarca → Viveiro | Ribadeo, Taramundi, Viveiro | On board, Viveiro |
| 7 (Day 6) | Viveiro → Santiago de Compostela | Ferrol, a tour of Santiago de Compostela, and a farewell lunch | End of the Journey |
In the opposite direction, from Santiago to Bilbao, the itinerary includes most of the same stops, with a few differences in the sightseeing. The train stops overnight in Viveiro, Luarca, Llanes, Cabezón de la Sal, and then Santander, while Oviedo is a day trip.
Most days follow the same schedule: breakfast while the train is moving, guided bus tours upon arrival, lunch on board or at a restaurant, and an overnight stay at the station where the train stops.
Arrive a day or two early to enjoy the city. From the train station, you can get almost everywhere on foot: cross the Nervión estuary via the Zubizuri Bridge, stroll through the Ensanche district, and head over to the Azkuna Zentroa, a former wine warehouse that has been converted into a cultural center. In the evening, head to the Siete Calles, Bilbao’s medieval heart, for a pintxos crawl around Plaza Nueva.
© Mattéo Miossec - Bilbao
The meeting is set for 10 a.m. at Concordia Station, with its Art Nouveau façade on the banks of the ría. After meeting the crew, you’ll set out to explore the city and the Guggenheim Museum, then have lunch on board while the train heads to Treto. In the afternoon, a bus will take you to Laredo, then to Santoña for a boat ride in the bay and a tour of an anchovy cannery. The train will then head to Santander for a tour of the city, dinner at a restaurant, and your first night docked at the pier.
Santander, in northern Spain
During breakfast, the train arrives in Cabezón de la Sal. A bus takes you to Santillana del Mar, a medieval village with cobblestone streets nicknamed—for the pun—the “ City of the Three Lies " : neither holy, nor boring, nor by the sea. A joke that refers to its historic center, since the town does, in fact, have a coastline !
Next, you'll visit the Altamira replica cave, a faithful reproduction of the original cave and its Paleolithic paintings.
After lunch on board, head to Asturias and Llanes, a fishing village nestled against its medieval ramparts. Don’t miss the harbor and its *Cubos de la Memoria*—the concrete blocks on the breakwater painted by artist Agustín Ibarrola.
The Beautiful Colors of Llanes
In 2026, the morning itinerary includes a stop in Arenas de Cabrales, at the foot of the Picos de Europa, with a visit to the Cueva-Museo, home to Cabrales cheese, the famous blue cheese of Asturias. The itinerary differs from that of previous seasons: Lake Enol and the Sanctuary of Covadonga are still included in the short Oviedo → Bilbao tour on May 6, 2026.
During lunch, the train arrives in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias and the starting point of the Camino Primitivo to Santiago.
© Mattéo Miossec - A quick break to relax in Oviedo
Some of the sites to explore in Oviedo and the surrounding area include the Old Town, the cathedral, and several pre-Romanesque monuments listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Whether you visit them will depend on the itinerary planned for your trip.
© Mattéo Miossec - The Charm of Oviedo
In the morning, head to the coast for a tour of Gijón: the old fishing district of Cimadevilla, San Lorenzo Beach, and the marina. Lunch at a restaurant, then take the train along the Asturian coast to Luarca.
© Mattéo Miossec - The Beauty of the Coastline
Nicknamed the “Villa Blanca de la Costa Verde,” Luarca’s white houses are clustered around its harbor and the river that runs through it. It is also the birthplace of Nobel Prize in Medicine laureate Severo Ochoa. Dinner on board and overnight at the dock.
© Mattéo Miossec - The charming port of Luarca
You enter Galicia at breakfast time, arriving in Ribadeo with its house facades of “ Indianos ", those emigrants who returned from the Americas as wealthy men. A bus then takes you to the Taramundi area on the Asturian side, renowned for its cutlers. On the detailed 2026 itinerary: the Os Teixois ethnographic complex, a castro, and the cutlery museum, followed by lunch in Taramundi. At Os Teixois, a mill, a hammer mill, and a grinding wheel demonstrate how water power was harnessed.
© Mattéo Miossec - Benjamin in Os Teixois
In the afternoon, the train arrives in Viveiro, at the head of its ría. A guided tour offers a chance to explore Viveiro. Among the town’s landmarks are the Misericordia Bridge, the Charles V Gate, the Plaza Mayor, and the houses with glass-enclosed arcades. Dinner on board and a final night docked at the pier.
Last breakfast on board until Ferrol, where the journey aboard the Costa Verde Express ends : It's time to say goodbye to the crew. A bus will take you to Santiago de Compostela for a tour of the city and a final lunch before the trip ends.
The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
Yes: Renfe also offers 3-day, 2-night tours covering part of the route. In 2026, two short itineraries were on the schedule:
Starting at €2,600 per person in a double suite. This is an option to consider if you want to experience the train for a few days rather than spending an entire week on it.
© Mattéo Miossec - The kind of view you can enjoy aboard the Costa Verde
For the 2026 season, the entire trip costs 5,000 € per person in a double suite, with 18 scheduled departures between May and October—nine in each direction.
The 6-day tour costs 5,000 € per person in a double suite in 2026, or about 833 € per day, including full board and scheduled tours. If you're traveling alone, the single supplement is 4,000 € brings the total to 9,000 €.
Drinks served with meals are included. Certain additional drinks at the bar and laundry services are subject to a fee.
| Package (2026 rates) | Price per person in a double suite | Single Room Surcharge |
|---|---|---|
| Complete Tour, 6 Days / 5 Nights | Starting at 5,000 € | 4,000 € |
| Short version, 3 days / 2 nights | Starting at 2,600 € | 2000 € |
The price includes accommodations in a Gran Clase suite, excursions and guided tours, full board, meals at selected restaurants along the route, and tastings of local products and wines from northern Spain.
© Mattéo Miossec - Benjamin Martinie aboard the Costa Verde Express
Full-circle tours are scheduled from May through October, with departures approximately every two weeks in both directions and a summer hiatus. No full tours depart in August, but a special weekend tour was offered from August 14 to 16, 2026. In the spring, the lush green landscapes of the Picos de Europa truly live up to the nickname “ Green Spain ".
The 2027 season is already available for booking on Renfe's official luxury train website: check the schedule and fares for your departure. With only 24 suites per departure, it's best to book early.
You can book directly with Renfe: on Spanish Luxury Train, the platform dedicated to its luxury trains; on the Renfe website; or by phone through the tourist train reservation center. The trip is also sold through travel agencies.
The Renfe “Complete Tour” package already includes tickets on its regular trains to get to the starting point and back from the destination, subject to certain conditions. Check the eligible routes before booking: this doesn’t mean that your entire trip from France is included. If you’re booking through an agency, be sure to compare the additional services they offer.
© Mattéo Miossec - Benjamin in the dining car of the Costa Verde Express
You can take the Costa Verde Express without flying from France, passing through Hendaye. You should also plan to spend a night or two in Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela: both cities are great places to stop before or after the tour.
If you’re departing from Bilbao, you can travel to Hendaye by TGV from Paris, then take the Euskotren E2 line to Donostia-Amara in San Sebastián. A transfer to the E1 line will then take you to Bilbao-Matiko, a station separate from Concordia. The Euskotren station in Hendaye is right next to the SNCF station, so the transfer takes just a few minutes on foot.
On the way back, from Santiago de Compostela, the high-speed train takes you back to Madrid, from where you can travel to France via Barcelona. The return trip takes a while : Spending a night in Madrid or Barcelona lets you break up the trip and extend your journey. Check the connections and the stations used in Madrid: you may need to change stations.
If you'd like to extend your stay, here are the places Tolt recommends in our book Travel by Train with HOURRAIL !, near the Concordia train station in Bilbao or the historic center of Santiago de Compostela.
| City | Address | Type | Why We Love It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bilbao | Tayko Hotel, 13 Calle Ribera | Hotel | A building from 1924 in Casco Viejo, with a view of the ría, just a short walk from the Concordia train station. |
| Bilbao | Hello, Martín Berasategui, 13 Calle Ribera | Restaurant | Tayko's Michelin-starred restaurant, which puts a new spin on Basque cuisine (kokotxas, cod à la biscaïenne). Be sure to make reservations well in advance. |
| Scallops | Pazo de Altamira Hotel, 18 Rúa de Altamira | Hotel | A hotel housed in a former pazo, just a stone's throw from the market and a few minutes' walk from the cathedral. |
| Scallops | Abastos 2.0, Ameas Casetas 13–18, Praza de Abastos | Restaurant | A table in the market stalls, featuring the day's freshest ingredients prepared to order. |
If you have an extra day in Bilbao, take the funicular up Mount Artxanda for a view of the city, then head to Getxo to see the Vizcaya Bridge—the world’s first metal-framed transporter bridge, inaugurated in 1893 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As for markets, the Mercado de la Ribera—a huge covered market hall on the banks of the ría—is a great place to stop for a quick lunch.
The Costa Verde Express might be right for you if you want a packaged tour, with lodging, meals, sightseeing, and transportation included, and if fine dining and coastal scenery are just as important to you as the cities you visit. Whether it's for a birthday, a honeymoon, or a retirement celebration, this is a great option to consider if you can afford it.
Still, keep three things in mind before booking. The price is high—around 833 € per day per person in a double suite for the full 2026 tour. Much of the tour is done by coach, such as the final leg between Ferrol and Santiago. And the pace is that of a group tour, with a pre-set itinerary.
Want to explore this coastline on a more affordable budget? You can also explore it by combining regional trains on Renfe’s meter-gauge network. It’s another way to travel—you’ll need to plan your budget and check schedules and connections section by section!
From Bilbao’s pintxos to the cider houses of Asturias, all the way to the Plaza del Obradoiro in Santiago de Compostela, the Costa Verde Express travels through four regions in six days. The pleasure is also found between stops: reading in the lounge, watching the coastline roll by, and then returning to your retro-style room in the evening. It’s certainly not a cheap trip, but it lets you explore northern Spain without flying or driving—and without having to repack your suitcase at every stop.
Looking for more ideas for train trips that are out of the ordinary? Join the HOURRAIL Club! : You'll enjoy exclusive discounts negotiated with our travel partners and the app HOORAY! Premium: Plan your next train adventure in just a few clicks.
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Issue du monde de la communication et des médias, Sophie est Responsable éditoriale chez HOURRAIL ! depuis août 2024. Elle est notamment derrière le contenu éditorial du site ainsi que La Locomissive (de l'inspiration voyage bas carbone et des bons plans, un jeudi sur deux, gratuitement dans ta boîte mail !).
Convaincue que les changements d’habitude passent par la transformation de nos imaginaires, elle s’attache à montrer qu’il est possible de voyager autrement, de manière plus consciente, plus lente et plus joyeuse. Son objectif : rendre le slow travel accessible à toutes et tous, à travers des astuces, des décryptages et surtout, de nouveaux récits.
