Spain's Stylish New Vintage Train Will Coast Through Gorgeous Landscapes And Stunning Cities In 2026

If you've wanted to explore several of Spain's stunning cultural landmarks but don't know how to fit them into a single trip, a solution might have arrived in the form of a luxury train tour. One of Europe's new scenic train routes rolling out in 2026 will connect Seville to Madrid (or vice versa) with the luxury rail Al Andalus. The itinerary, spanning one week, will lead you through many of Southern Spain's beautiful destinations, including Arab-influenced Andalusian cities like Córdoba and Cádiz on the coast, as well as ancient inland cities like Mérida and Toledo surrounded by lush countryside and mountains. You'll also get to explore culturally significant sites, including the UNESCO-designated Old Town of Cáceres and an Andalusian winery.

The train cars of Al Andalus are worthy of the experience in themselves. As The Times reported, the carriages date back to the early 20th-century Belle Époque, when British royals used them as a stylish means of travel between Spanish cities. They fell into disuse for a while, sitting on display in a park, until the Renfe railway company returned them to the rails under the Al Andalus branding, replete with plush upholstery, ornate gilded motifs, and theatrical wood panels that evoke its glamorous origins. As its name suggests, Al Andalus has mainly served Andalusia, the coastal Spanish region with beautiful white hill towns. The forthcoming Seville-Madrid route, however, brings the elegant train cars outside of Andalusia (Madrid and several other stops on the journey are in separate autonomous regions), giving travelers a more expansive Spanish panorama.

The Seville-Madrid route on Al Andalus offers itineraries in both directions. Supposing you were to start in Seville, the first leg of the train route covers several foundational cities in Andalusia. Right away, you'll get to see the baroque, vibrant place Rick Steves called a "perpetual fiesta" before boarding. The train then sets off to Córdoba, letting passengers off to see the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, a spectacular pastiche of the various architectural influences that have shaped the city's history, from its minaret entombed in a Renaissance tower to red-and-white Arabesque arches supported on columns salvaged from a previous Visigoth structure. The train makes stops at Cádiz and Jerez (where you'll get to visit a sherry winery) before exiting Andalusia.

The fourth day of the Al Andalus journey makes several sojourns in the region of Extremadura. The day begins by setting off from Zafra, a medieval town backdropped by the mountain peaks of the Sierra de Castellar. Afterwards, you'll stop in Cáceres, where passengers can walk through the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site particularly notable for its ancient city walls and abundance of Islamic-era towers. The train then heads to Mérida, widely regarded as having the best-preserved Roman ruins in Spain, with its own Colosseum-like amphitheatre that once held gladiator combat.

The final few days of the journey head into the beautiful, more rural wine region of Castilla-La Mancha. Here, you'll get to see the mythic windmills of Alcázar de San Juan (which inspired the famed Spanish novel "Don Quixote"), the stately fortress-crowned city of Toledo, and the palace of Aranjuez, before concluding in Spain's cosmopolitan capital, Madrid.

A great perk of the Al Andalus route is that, regardless of whether you start in Seville or in Madrid, it offers free connections (via Renfe trains) to and from the originating and terminating cities, so long as connections are available — and most medium-to-large mainland cities are connected, thanks to Spain being the country with Europe's most high-speed rail lines. So, for instance, if you fly into Barcelona-El Prat Airport, one of the main international arrival hubs in the country, you could get a free train ride from Barcelona to either Seville or Madrid (depending on the chosen itinerary) and back to Barcelona at the end of the journey.

The free connections are just a slight offset to the otherwise premium price tag of the trip: For a shared double cabin, the total cost starts at close to $8,000 per person, with single-person cabins starting around $13,000. What you get with that fare is fairly inclusive, covering all meals, activities (including on-board parties), and tickets to museums and shows. The 2026 Al Andalus excursions take place on fixed dates throughout the year, so if you're interested in the voyage, you can book well in advance.