As far as any hard information goes, I am completely ignorant of train travel in Europe.
Anecdotally, however, as an American I have spent my whole life hearing about college students travelling all across Europe with only a few nickels in their pockets (even before the existence of the Schengen Area).
So, am I correct to think a simple trip from Barcelona to Paris will be easy and inexpensive?
Is this something for which I should book a reservation far in advance?
If I should book in advance, who do I buy a ticket from?
Nonessential details for anyone interested:
I start my visit in Barcelona and I return from Dublin.
I was thinking I would train to Paris, spend a couple days, then a flight to Cork (where I’ll meet up with family and we’ll move through the south of Ireland before ending up in Dublin for a couple days at the end of the trip).
I’ve not done that trip, but it should be pretty simple, and potentially cheap, depending on class/time/flexibility. I’m not sure what’s the best place for you to book tickets (I’m assuming you’re in the US?) but booking in advance is generally a Good Plan, especially if you want to make sure you have a window seat or something, as you do need to reserve the seat.
Having said that, I’ve just checked on https://www.trainline.eu/ and there’s tickets for tomorrow still very cheap (under €30 for non-flex second class is the current cheapest, I wasn’t expecting that cheap), so you’d probably be fine waiting 'til you get to Barcelona, assuming you’ll be there a day or so, if you wanted.
Ninjaed by Filbert for the trainline.eu recommendation. bahn.de used to be my go-to europe train site, but trainline is even simpler and easier to use to adjust for all types of considerations. TGVs are less flexible but many other trains and tickets are just “travel for that day on that line” so they allow you to get out and wander about. And in Europe, most train stations are close to downtown so I have spent 2 hours in Koln, Dijon, Lille, Brussels, etc. by taking a later train and walking around for an hour or two. I highly recommend it!
We traveled a fair amount by train in Europe (Paris, various places in Italy) earlier this year and found it to be very pleasant, the trains are fast and efficient, and they have café cars where you can buy food (not so much restaurant cars, at least not in our experience).
Something to be aware of: when you get to the train station, you will not be able to find out which platform your train is leaving from until a relatively short time (30 minutes or so, if memory serves) before it is scheduled to leave. So you will see crowds of people standing and watching the notice boards, and then rushing off to their trains when the platform is finally revealed. Kind of pointless if you have reserved seats, when you can sit somewhere and relax another 5 minutes and then stroll to your train car.
My other caveat is, if you are intending to take a taxi to your hotel from the train station (or anywhere else), have your destination name and address written on a piece of paper you can give to the driver, don’t depend on them being able to understand your spoken destination.
Sounds like a fun trip, please tell us about it when you come back.
The trip will be during the second half of March.
I think once I make a few more decisions about itinerary everything will be pretty set in stone. So, if booking in advance is recommended, doing so will not inhibit my freedom of planning at all. Sounds like trainline.eu is the place to go.
The dirt cheap train travel that people talked about is still there, but it isn’t crazy cheap anymore. Depending on how much luggage you have (and how uncomfortable you’re willing to be), it could be cheaper (and faster) to take a low cost airline rather than the train.
The https://www.rome2rio.com website is usually good for finding options for getting from one place to another (and it includes time & price ranges). For Barcelona to Paris, it could take 6 hours and around €50 (that €30 fare looks like a 15+ hour bus to me). Or you could fly for ~€60 for 2 hours (plus airport time).
I’ve a (foolishly?) romantic notion that from Barcelona to Paris will be good “Lookin’ out the window” country. Anyone know well enough to confirm or refute?
I haven’t been that route so I can’t speak to this. I can speak my personal preference for any 6-hour train ride to any plane ride (of any length) as being more comfortable, more interesting, and cheaper.
I’ve taken the TGV from Paris to Avignon, which is probably part of your route. The view was enjoyable enough, but not something that really captured my attention.
I tend to agree, with the caveat that it is in Europe. If I didn’t have a car, I’d have to debate a 6 hour train ride versus a 2 hour flight in America given the hassle of flying here. Even if the view was great, the view from an airplane can be pretty great, too.
I’ve never done that route, so I don’t know and I understand the romantic notion of a train; I’ve taken them instead of flying myself for exactly that reason. Probably will again. I’ve also decided against trains when the time difference between the train and a flight was just too great to ignore.
It’s still good to know what your options might be and consider the tradeoffs you’re making between all of them.
It only takes 4 hours to go from Seattle to Portland (which is roughly the same time it takes to drive… or fly, due to airport hassles).
To be clear, I’ve taken trains in Europe in multiple countries. The sleeper cars are a lot more romantic in books and movies than they are in reality (I still think they’re kind of cool. Not all of my traveling companions agreed with that assessment). And some of the faster trains can be very convenient. However, when I’ve only got a limited time for my vacation, I do need to weigh how long I’ll spend on a train v. how long I’ll spend flying (and at the airport). Along with the costs for each and the experience I may be gaining or losing by picking one or the other. Sometimes, the airport wins.
Budget flights have ways of extracting more money from you than the ticket price. Some operators like Easyjet and Ryanair are notorious for their baggage charges should your bags be overweight or oversized it can cost as much as you paid for the flight. Forget to print your boarding pass and they catch you again. From outside the EU. That would require their visa checking service…it goes on. The staff at some airports like Barcelona seem to be incentivised to get the non-ticket revenue up in this way. Michael O’Leary, the CEO or Ryanair is a notorious publicity seeker who famously boasts about charging passengers to visit the lavatory or extra charges for ‘large’ passengers. He is a bit of ‘character’ in the airline industry. Some budget travellers see this as a challenge to dodge their way around these pitfalls, but for the uninitiated it can be a shock.
Train travel takes longer but it is far less stress. No problem with baggage limits and the train delivers you to the city centre, not some airport many miles away. First time backpacking students usually buy a train pass for a month and go crazy travelling between European capitals clocking up as many countries as they can. Sleeping in stations or cheap hostels and taking selfies on their smartphone in front of monuments to update the brag wall on their social media credentials at every opportunity. It is a ‘phase’ best experienced when young and durable.
Let the train take the strain. That seat61 website is a mine of information.
That seemed to be true of Vueling as well. We found the trains fast, easy and more economical while in France and Spain. Not all trains…we had to take a pokey one from Hendaye, France to San Sebastian, Spain and it seemed to crawl. It was a commuter train though…
What European trains have you found to be worth the difference in fare between second and first class? Of course, there are occasional sales where the difference is minor.
Admittedly, my experience is only with Western Europe.
