Ouigo Vs Avlo in 2025: 300km/h Highspeed Trains in Spain FROM €7!

Ouigo Vs Avlo in 2025: 300km/h Highspeed Trains in Spain FROM €7!

This Video is sponsored by Level8 
Luggage. Get 10% OFF Using Code: NONSTOP10 Spain has the largest high-speed rail 
network in Europe, which has recently allowed open-access competition 
to the legacy operator Renfe. Today we’re comparing the two low-cost options, Ouigo and Avlo, who both offer long 
distance, high-speed train tickets for less than €10 – so come along with me 
and let’s put them head to head in 2025! Welcome back to a beautiful sunny 
day in the Spanish capital, Madrid. In this video I’m first going to take a 
ride on Ouigo, from Madrid to Zaragoza, stay overnight in a super special 
hotel in the stunning capital of Aragon, and then continue the next 
morning on to Barcelona with Avlo. We’ll check out the experience in 
full – from ticket buying and pricing, to the seats, ride comfort, onboard 
service and which one I’d recommend. So let’s get to it! I’ve arrived at the Atocha Cercanías station from my hotel near the airport. Madrid 
has a very comprehensive and far reaching commuter train network which 
is very frequent and super easy to use. The Atocha commuter station is right 
next to the long-distance one where we’ll be departing from today. It’s a couple 
of minutes walk, and has all step-free access. There is currently an ongoing €550m Euro 
project to renovate the historic trainshed, improve station capacity and generally update and 
future proof Spain’s main high-speed train hub. Inside, a large variety of shops and 
eateries are available for some last minute purchases – but don’t worry 
you can take any of these through the airport-style security checks, 
as there are no limits on liquids. There is a quick ticket check before you’re allowed to proceed to the 
departure lounge and gates. There are two of these areas – located 
either on the ground or first floor – so check the departure boards to see 
which one your train is departing from. We’re leaving from planta 
baja, or ground floor today. Once through the checks – there are a few 
more shops, and a distinct lack of seating. This really needs to be addressed, 
as you could be here for a while. Level8 have a wide selection of suitcases and travel accessories designed 
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or in the description below. Boarding is called around 20 minutes before 
scheduled departure time – and then you can queue up, get your ticket scanned 
again and head through to the platform. Ouigo tickets include a carry-on sized 
case and a personal item as standard. If you want to bring a large suitcase, 
these cost €5 each. The limits are strictly enforced and the price is much 
higher if you have to pay when boarding. Ouigo in Spain uses these 10-car 
double-decker TGV Euroduplex sets, which has a power car at each 
end and 8 coaches in-between. They have a maximum speed of 320km/h (200mph) 
and an in-service speed of 300km/h (186mph). Boarding is not level – with a step down from the 
platform, and then 3 more down inside the train. My seat is upstairs, on the so-called 
‘Sky Deck’ – which I was able to pick from a seating plan, at an additional cost. I’d always recommend doing this 
as the views are MUCH better. Luggage can be stored on the 
stacks within the coaches, with smaller items able to placed 
on the very small overheads racks. And here is my seat for today, a forward facing 
window seat on the solo side of the coach. I’m travelling in one of the XL seats today, 
which are laid out in a 2+1 configuration. Before we depart let’s check out 
today’s route from Madrid to Zaragoza, and onwards to Barcelona tomorrow. We are ready. Doors are closing. Take your 
seats and enjoy the Ouigo experience. Let’s go! Bienvenidos al universo Ouigo, les habla la 
tripulación. Nuestro destino es Barcelona Sants con paradas en Zaragoza 
Delicias y Camp de Tarragona. Welcome to the Ouigo universe, 
this is the crew speaking. Our destination is Barcelona Sants and stops 
at Zaragoza Delicias and Camp de Tarragona. All onboard announcements are 
made in both Spanish and English. The first leg of our journey is from Madrid 
Atocha to Zaragoza Delicias and will take us 1 hours and 17 minutes of travel time, 
covering a distance of 310km (193mi). As we’re directly comparing Ouigo and Avlo in 
this video – I’ve done a price comparison on the full route from Madrid to Barcelona for ticket 
booked 4 weeks in advance, rather that what I paid for these specific trips. For reference, 
the travel date selected was Tuesday 24th June. The full 621km (386mi) route, takes 
between 2 and a half and 3 hours, depending on the stopping pattern. The prices were both similar, with Ouigo costing €29.00 (£24.35, $32.97) and Avlo 
costing €35.00 (£29.38, $39.79). Both operators advertise sub-€10 fares 
on this route, however from my experience these are very limited, and you must buy as 
soon as the booking horizon opens. That said, I have managed to buy one 
myself before, so they do exist. Other operators on this route are Renfe’s 
AVE service and Iryo, who do not market themselves as low-cost – however fares can 
sometimes be found as cheap as Ouigo and Avlo, so bear that in mind. Check out my video 
on these two in the description below. OK, let’s check out the XL seats 
here on Ouigo. They are the same as some First Class seats on TGV 
services operating in France. They are well padded, have a good 
shape and a nice winged headrest. The padded armrests are adjustable and the 
seat reclines automatically using this button. Legroom is good, without being outstanding, and there’s an adjustable footrest 
and large tray table available. Each seat has one European-style power 
socket, a multitude of coat hooks, personal reading lights and 
a sunblind on the window. The XL seats cost an additional €9.00 
(£7.58, $10.25) over the regular seat, which we’ll look at shortly – and in my 
opinion, they are well worth the upgrade. If you want AD-FREE early access to every 
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join button in every video, thank you! Lets have a look at the rest of the train now… The OuiBar dining car can be 
found on the top deck of Coach 4. This sells a variety of quite pricey drinks, 
snacks and sandwiches, including combo deals. I’ll leave a link to the menu in the description. There is a stand-up bar area where 
you can eat, drink and socialise, or you can take your purchases back to your seat. I got the sandwich combo, which 
includes crips and a drink, for €10.50 (£8.87, €12.03). It was tasty though. Toilets can be found on both the lower, and upper 
decks in every coach, except the dining car. Although quite cramped, these were all clean, fully working and stocked up 
with soap and toilet paper. The lower decks of coaches 1 
& 9 have wheelchair spaces, with companion seats available. Due 
to their location, you can’t access the dining car though. The accessible 
toilet is in the adjacent vestibule. Here’s a look at the regular 
seats, which are in a 2+2 layout – which are much narrower and 
have less padding and overall space. They are still perfectly good enough 
for these trips of up to 3 hours though. Free WiFi is available, and was 
easy to connect to. However, I tried the speed test on a number of 
occasions and it was basically unusable. We are now zooming along at 300km/h (186mph), 
this train’s maximum in-service speed. I love crossing the viaducts on this line as you get some 
lovely views of the central Spanish landscapes. As we approach Zaragoza – we diverge 
right and cross over the high-speed avoiding line on a flying junction 
towards the city off to the left. And just a few minutes later, we 
are arriving at Zaragoza Delicias, the high-speed station in the Aragon capital. The main reason I wanted 
to spend a night this time, was to stay at the hotel you can see in the 
background now – but more on that shortly. I’ve been through here countless times, 
but never actually got off before. After a fast, comfortable and hassle-free journey from Madrid to Zaragoza, 
we have arrived exactly on-time. I’ll do a full summary with scores, at the end of 
the video once we’ve ridden Avlo tomorrow morning. Off our impressive Ouigo TGV Euroduplex 
goes to continue its journey to Barcelona. The 4-star Eurostars Hotel is built 
in to Delicias Station – and features some VERY unique rooms which 
overlook the whole platform area. Obviously, I’ve booked myself in to one of these for tonight – so let’s head 
up there and check it out! These clean and spacious twin, double or family 
rooms have great living and working areas, comfortable beds and a view any train enthusiast would die for. And it’s not even expensive 
– usually around €60 (£51, €68) per night. Now, let’s walk the 20 minutes 
or so in to central Zaragoza and explore this stunning city of 675,000 people. It certainly lived up to my expectations and 
I spent around 4 hours just walking around, exploring the amazing architecture including many churches, bustling shopping 
streets and historic sights. I then had an early dinner and 
caught a bus back to my hotel at the station – and spent a while 
at the window in my room, relaxing, listening to music, having a beer, and 
watching countless trains come and go. I have an early start tomorrow, to catch my 
Avlo service to Barcelona, so good night! Zaragoza Delicias Station has just a 
small selection of shops and eateries, both outside and inside – certainly far 
fewer than most of Spain’s major stations. There is still an information office, and both 
staffed and automatic ticketing facilities though. Quite a few high-speed and regional 
departures already on the board this morning! Then we must pass the mandatory security screening 
before being allowed access to the departure area. Once called for boarding, tickets are scanned and I can head down the escalator to the 
platform. Lifts are also available. Again, Avlo tickets include a carry-on 
sized case and a personal item as standard. I wasn’t sure whether this service 
would be operated by one of the older, but better Talgo S112 sets, or the newer, 
but very controversial Talgo S106 Avril sets. I was secretly hoping for the latter 
– as I’d not tried the Avlo version of it yet. And the Spanish train gods 
answered my prayers this morning. These 14-car trains have a 
top speed of 330km/h (205mph), but still an in-service speed of 300km/h 
(186mph) – the same as the Ouigo TGVs. Boarding is level with the platform, 
with just a very small gap to cross. Avlo services only have one class, which is all in a 3+2 layout on the Talgo Avril sets. 
The S112s have 2+2 seating throughout. Luggage can be stored on the 
vertical stacks at the coach ends, or on the large overhead racks above the seats. The second leg of our journey is from Zaragoza 
Delicias to Barcelona Sants and will take us 1 hours and 27 minutes of travel time, 
covering a distance of 325km (202mi). I’ve been randomly allocated an aisle seat at a 
table of 4 for this journey, so I waited until everyone was seated and we had departed on 
this nonstop service, and chose an empty row. I took the pair of two priority 
seats you can see at the back here, which have fold up bases for 
easier access, or for pushchairs. These seats have slightly winged headrests, but 
are pretty hard, and have a bad shape to them. They do however have Isofix 
mounts for child seats, something which I’ve never seen on a train before. The padded armrests are adjustable. Between each seat are two USB-A ports 
and two standard European power sockets. Legroom is good, and there’s 
an adjustable footrest. There’s a storage pocket, an elastic band 
thing, and a large tray table as well. There’s also a teeny tiny litter bin, 
some coat hooks and reading lights. The windows have full-length sun 
blinds – but we’re not going to shut out this morning’s beautiful sunrise! It’s definitely worth waking up 
early for these #TrainWindowViews! Free WiFi is also available on this train. Unlike Ouigo though, this actually 
worked well, and was super fast! OK, let’s go and check out 
the rest of the train now… As mentioned, the whole train 
is in the same seating layout, except where the wheelchair spaces are. There are two of these in coach 5, which both have companion seats. The accessible 
toilet is in the adjacent vestibule. Regular toilets are spread throughout the 
rest of the train. These were very clean, fully stocked up and in a good working condition. There is no dining car on Avlo services – just 
vending machines selling snacks and cold drinks. I was quite disappointed 
there was no coffee though. We have now entered the autonomous 
province of Catalunya, and I’d just like to mention the ride quality on 
these Avlo Serie 106 trains – it is SO MUCH better than their AVE cousins, 
which I reviewed last year. See above. The Avlo version of the Talgo Avril can not 
gauge change between the highspeed and legacy networks – maybe this has something to do with 
the vastly less bumpy ride. It’s still not great, but it’s definitely better. Let me know if 
you’ve tried them both, and what you think? We have now entered the tunnels 
which lead to Barcelona Sants, the high-speed station 
serving the Catalan capital. It is Spain’s second largest city – which 
is home to 1.6m people. It also happens to be one of my favourite cities in 
Europe – it’s absolutely stunning! As we pull in to the station exactly 
on-time, let me give you a summary of my experiences on both the Ouigo and 
Avlo low-cost, high-speed services, and how they compare against each other. And which 
one I’d choose if I was spending my own money. The comfort is a clear win for Ouigo. I 
much prefer the seats in both classes, and the ride quality is superior, 
especially at high-speed. Frequency is a slight win for Ouigo, with 5 daily 
round trips on this route, versus 4 on Avlo. Price again is a win for Ouigo, with more 
frequent lower fares being available, and nearer to departure. I was also able to find 
more of the headline sub-€10 fares than on Avlo. Connectivity is a definite win for Avlo, with very 
good WiFi speeds available the whole trip and many USB and power sockets. Ouigo was woeful in this 
regard – with the WiFi barely working and no USB. Food is a win for Ouigo – with an actual 
dining car, and a much better selection, even if it was overpriced. Vending 
machines, like on Avlo can be OK, but there should be a hot drinks 
one, and more selection available. So I give the win to Ouigo with 30 
points out of 50, versus 26 for Avlo. However, I would say that both trains are 
fine for this journey of up to 3 hours. If the prices are vastly different 
– I’d just go for the cheapest. Have you been on any low-cost, 
high-speed trains before? If so, which ones and on which routes? How did 
you find them? Do you want to see some comparison videos in other countries? 
Let me know in the comments below! I’m always open to new video ideas, so if you 
have something you’d like to see on the channel, then drop me DM on Instagram, BlueSky or Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe, and thanks for watching 
to the end, and I’ll see you in the next video!

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Today we’re back in Spain to compare the two low-cost, high-speed operators in 2025!

We’ll be travelling from Madrid to Zaragoza with SNCF’s Ouigo, staying overnight in a SUPER special hotel, and then continuing on to Barcelona the next day with Renfe’s Avlo. We’ll look at the ticket buying process, the pricing, the comfort, the onboard services and I’ll give you my recommendations as to which I think you should choose. So Let’s go and check them out together!

#Spain #HighspeedTrain #Madrid #Zaragoza #Ouigo #Avo #TrainWindowViews

Date of Filming: 24 to 25/1/25
Camera: GoPro Hero 12 Black
Operator: Ouigo & Avlo
Departure: Madrid, Spain
Arrival: Barcelona, Spain
Cost: Ouigo – €29.00 (£24.35, $32.97)
Avlo – €35.00 (£29.38, $39.79)

Click here for my Renfe AVE Talgo S106 review:

Click here for my Renfe AVE Velaro S103 review:

Click here for my Iryo Spain Frecciarossa review:

Here is the link to the Ouigo Spain onboard menu:
https://www.ouigo.com/es/en/our-ouibar-ouigo

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00:00 – Intro
01:15 – Arrival at Madrid Atocha & Tour
02:50 – Level8: My Favourite Luggage
03:35 – Ouigo – Full Review!
10:50 – A Special Night in Zaragoza!
13:22 – Avlo – Full Review
19:12 – Arrival in Barcelona & Trip Summary
20:30 – Outro