Coryza
Traveller
57 comments
Posted 10 years ago
Hi,
Another question from my part... rather difficult - this one!
I would like to travel from Roma to Barcelona/Madrid, however I have a few 'BUTs';
- Due to buying an InterRail pass I would like to keep the reservation costs as low as possible.
- Preferably I'd like to do part of the route by nighttrains, hence leave Roma in the afternoon/evening (13 May 2016).
I've been playing with the planner all evening but I'm not satisfied... I either end up with huge gaps in my planning in some odd French city :/ , or with a lot of expensive TGV's/EC's et cetera... :((
Anyone got any tips/tricks for me?
Greg72100
Traveller
3 comments
There are no more nights trains for your trip in France.
Italy :
You can try to take the intercity Roma - Ventimiglia or an Ic train to Milano and take the EC Thello Milano - Nice or Marseille.
France :
There are a lot of regional services on your way. try to find a TER (regional service) from Nice to Marseille, another from Marseille to Avignon or Nimes and the last one direct from Avignon/Nimes and Cerbère - border station with Spain.
Spain :
I'm not sure but I think you could find a direct service to Barcelona.
If you have to spend a night in the middle of your trip. Prefer stay near Montpellier - for example - But not Nice, or Marseille (too busy) or Perpignan (not peacefull I think)
have a nice trip ! :)
Peter
Traveller
9339 comments
Hi.
Greg already explained a lot... :)
In fact, this route is not the best for night train travel.
It is possible to travel [b]without reservation in Italy[/b] using IC trains or regional trains.
The route via [b]Ventimiglia[/b] to Nice and [b]Marseille[/b] is the best. Read the blog post of Katrin here: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/marseille-mailand-train/[/u]
If you stay overnight in the area of Marseille, check this here - very nice: [u]https://rail.cc/en/marseille/nice-place/c[/u]
[b]Marseille to Barcelona is easily possible by free regional trains[/b]. Not fast, but free! :)
Let us know your travel dates and I can give you more details.
Interesting on your route is to include this part along the coast in France ([b]Cote Bleue[/b]): [u]https://rail.cc/blog/scenic-train-cote-bleue/[/u]
And the [b]Petit Train Jaune[/b] in the Pyrenees: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u]
Other option which is not free, but it is easy and the overnight stay included is by [b]ferry from Rome to Barcelona[/b]. Or lets say close to Rome: Civitavecchia. Easy to reach by regional train.
[u]https://rail.cc/en/civitavecchia/ferry/c[/u]
To summarize:
A) Free regional trains in Italy and France and Spain. One overnight stop along the French coast.
B) Ferry Rome to Barcelona.
Pete :)
Coryza
Traveller
57 comments
Thanks for your all your help! This is the route that I've come up with (who knows who might find this helpful)
V ROMA S. PIETRO (ITALY) 04:07 PM 07hr35 IC 518 RESERVATION OPTIONAL
A VENTIMIGLIA (ITALY) 11:42 PM 05hr55
-- COUCHSURFING / HOTEL / HOSTEL --
V VENTIMIGLIA (ITALY) 05:37 AM 00hr49 TER86002 NO RESERVATION
A NICE VILLE (FRANCE) 06:26 AM 00hr29
V NICE VILLE (FRANCE) 06:55 AM 02hr34 TER17474 NO RESERVATION
A MARSEILLE ST CHARLES (FRANCE) 09:29 AM 00hr49
V MARSEILLE ST CHARLES (FRANCE) 10:18 AM 01hr35 IC 4756 RESERVATION REQUIRED ?
A MONTPELLIER SAINT-ROCH (FRANCE) 11:53 AM 00hr57
V MONTPELLIER SAINT-ROCH (FRANCE) 12:50 PM 02hr38 TER86985 NO RESERVATION
A PORT-BOU (SPAIN) 03:28 PM 01hr05
V PORT-BOU (SPAIN) 04:33 PM 02hr36 RE 15816 NO RESERVATION
A BARCELONA SANTS (SPAIN) 07:09 PM 11hr56
Peter
Traveller
9339 comments
Hi.
In general it looks okay. I personally wouldn't stay overnight in Ventimiglia - but if you only want to rush through and travel as fast as possible, it's okay.
The same for the Petit Train Jaune. :)
Only a reservation for the IC train Marseille to Montpellier is required using your route: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/intercites-teoz-sncf/46[/u]
It depends on the day you travel, but as an example for a free connection with Interrail:
Ventimiglia dep 05:15 - TER = free
Cannes arr 06:49
Cannes dep 07:23 - TER = free
Marseille-St-Charles arr 09:29
Marseille-St-Charles dep 11:47 - TER = free
Perpignan arr 15:40
Perpignan dep 17:11 - TER = free
Port Bou arr 17:54
Port-Bou dep 19:03 - Regional = free
Barcelona arr 21:39
Pete :)