cheeselord
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 12 years ago
Hello,
First time poster here so hope this is alright. I see there already some posts about this, but a lot of them are more than a year old and I'm not sure how up to date they are.
I need to go from Barcelona to Paris on July 2, and I have a Eurail Global Pass. I tried getting a reservation from RE, but all of the day trains show up as unavailable. I don't know if this means they are sold out, not on sale yet, or what. The only option I can reserve is the Ellipsos night train, but that's way more expensive so I'd rather do a day train.
Do you know how I can get a reservation for the day train? I'd also be willing to go overnight if it was less expensive than Ellipsos. But it sounds like the only alternative is the route through Perpignan, which would take a whole day and night. I don't want to spend 24 hours on trains... :((
Thanks for your help!
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
Hi.
The posts are all up to date. We update them as soon as there are changes (see bellow the green update date).
The date when a topic was opened is not the update date. :)
Barcelona to Paris you have several options and the Elipsos train is the most expensive one!
[u]https://rail.cc/en/barcelona-paris-night-train/f1040[/u]
If you have the time, I recommend you the trip trough the Pyrenees. In the morning from Barcelona up to the mountains, in the afternoon down to Perpignan by the Petit Train Jaune (this whole trip is free of any extra fees!!), there you get into the night train (seat EUR 2, berth EUR 20) to Paris. This night train you can easily book online:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/france/fr[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u]
Of course you can skip the Pyrenees and travel by free regional trains along the coast to France and enter the night train in Portbou.
By day train you would need a reservation for a Spanish train and for a French TGV train.
Details to the day trains: [u]https://rail.cc/en/barcelona-paris-day-train/f5503[/u]
Have sunny travel days, Peter :)
cheeselord
Traveller
2 comments
The Pyrenees train and the day train both sound like good options, but where would you recommend getting the reservations? Should I just wait til I'm in Barcelona and stop by the train station, or is this something I need to book ahead?
Peter
Traveller
9331 comments
For the trip via the Pyrenees, you only need the reservation for the French night train, which you can purchase online: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/france/fr[/u]
If you want to do the day trip without crossing the Pyrenees, buy the reservation for the Spanish train like recommended here:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/spain-renfe-online-reservation-how-to/f4995[/u]
And the French TGV via the links given as well for the French night train.
General information for reservations:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/eurail-train-reservation[/u]
If one of the options fails, you will have to buy the reservations at a station (also at other stops before you arrive in Barcelona).
Peter :)
cheeselord
Traveller
2 comments
Thanks so much for the help! I'd like to take the day train, and I'm just trying to figure out the passholder reservations now.
It sounds like the RENFE part won't be too difficult, and I see I can book that reservation pretty cheaply. However, I don't understand how to book the TGV/SNCF portion. I tried searching Figueras > Paris in your online shop, and I just get ERROR: System couldn't load fares for the requested route. Please try searching again. I tried the same thing on RE and it said This train requires the passholder to purchase a seat reservation; however the passholder fares are unavailable or sold out at this time, or your pass is not valid for the pass holder fares on this route.
Any idea what this means? Do I just need to book this once I'm actually at a train station in Europe? And lastly, is it possible to book a French train from, for example, an Italian train station?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks so much for your help :os
Flo
Traveller
10723 comments
Hi!
- It should be possible to book from an Italian station, but that wont be your biggest issue:
- The number of reservations for passholders for TGV is limited - that's why you get that message at RE; it is probably the same problem with getting the reservation via railcc
- What can you do?
> Try your luck at a station; not the best idea ;)
> Save some money and invest a little time and go via the old route: Barcelona - Cerbère with spanish regional train (no reservation), Cerbère - Perpignan with French regional train (no reservation), Perpignan - Paris with TGV (6€ reservation)
> Save some money and invest a little more time and go with the Petit Train Jaune
Flo 8)