Renfe launched the 2026 season of the Costa Verde Express luxury tourist train in Oviedo, one of the premium offerings through which the Spanish operator provides slow travel experiences focused on scenery, gastronomy, and cultural experiences in northern Spain.
The season began on May 6 with a three-day, two-night trip between Oviedo, the capital of the Asturias region, and Bilbao. From May 9 through October, the train will run on its regular six-day, five-night route between Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela, in both directions.
The route traverses the so-called Green Spain, the coastal region in the north of the country, known for its Atlantic landscapes, gastronomy, and cultural heritage. The journey takes place on the metric gauge network, which allows access to routes different from those of the major conventional rail lines.
A Journey Along the Cantabrian Coast
The Costa Verde Express, in its regular schedule, travels through the four autonomous communities along the Cantabrian Coast: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country. For tourists, the route offers a combination of train travel, organized excursions, guided tours, and local cuisine.
Renfe notes that, for the 2026 season, the itinerary includes new destination experiences, with visits to places such as Los Oscos and Arenas de Cabrales, added to enhance the cultural, scenic, and gastronomic aspects of the journey.
The standard package includes accommodation in Gran Clase compartments, excursions and guided tours, full board, access to restaurants along the route, and tastings of products and wines representative of northern Spain.
Weekend Getaways in July and August
The highlight of the season is the introduction of two special weekend departures, designed as a shorter version of the Costa Verde Express experience.
These will take place on the weekends of July 10–12 and August 14–16, on the Oviedo – El Berrón – Llanes – Oviedo route. The format includes two nights on board and is designed for travelers seeking a concentrated premium experience without the full nearly one-week itinerary.
Renfe presents these departures as a luxury getaway in a condensed format, featuring recently renovated Gran Clase compartments, full board on board, personalized service, and a carefully curated program of activities. The trip also includes a musical performance on the second evening.
Renovated compartments and overnight stops at stations
On board, passengers are accommodated in the recently renovated Gran Clase compartments. At night, these serve as sleeping quarters, and during the day the bed converts into a sofa to create a relaxation area.
For the comfort of passengers, the train stops every night at a station along the route, so that rest is not disrupted by the train’s movement.
Included services cover full board, round-the-clock assistance from the crew, a multilingual guide, admission tickets for scheduled visits, and a luxury bus for necessary travel during excursions.
Renfe also includes free transfers via regular trains to the trip’s starting point and from the final destination, a practice also applied to the operator’s other luxury tourist trains.
A Return to the Great Railway Journeys
The Costa Verde Express is promoted by Renfe as an experience that evokes the era of the great railway journeys, when the journey itself mattered just as much as the destination. The train emphasizes the slow pace of travel, engagement with the landscapes of northern Spain, and gastronomy.
Both in the restaurants along the route and aboard the four lounge cars, passengers have access to dishes and specialties from northern Spain. The culinary aspect is one of the product’s main attractions, alongside the coastal route and cultural visits.
Tickets for the Costa Verde Express and Renfe’s other luxury tourist trains can be purchased through the dedicated platform Spanish Luxury Train, on the Renfe website, by phone through the tourist train reservation center, or through travel agencies.
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