Madrid to Cadiz by train

Final Destination: Cadiz

All trains call at: Sevilla and Jerez de la Frontera

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6  months ahead of the travel date. depending on the time of year.

The online booking window can be shorter between late July and early October.
When looking up journeys (not travelling) between late July and early October, it's likely you won't be able to book for journeys beyond the second Sunday in December.

When looking up the journey on the renfe booking website, these direct trains are marked 'Alvia'.

Seat Reservations:

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.

Rail Pass Users:

Rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding, but these reservations cannot be booked on the ticket agent's websites.

If you want the peace of mind of reserving before arriving at a Spanish station, you will need to use the Eurail and InterRail booking services to reserve your seats; and pay the booking fee for doing so.
Though you can avoid a booking fee if you do reserve at a Spanish station.

The alternative routing:

When looking up this journey on the Renfe website (Spain's national rail operator), in addition to these direct 'Alvia' trains, it will also offer 'enlace' tickets for journeys with a change of train.

These journeys, which are shown with 1 x change of train on the renfe and Trainline websites, involve taking an AVE train from Madrid to Seville and then a MD train on to Cadiz.

The journey times can be less than 10 mins longer than these direct trains and the tickets can be cheaper.