thoseion
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 13 years ago
I'm intending on going from Barcelona to Florence (leaving Barcelona on 24th June, looking to get to Florence on the 26th) but I'm really unsure how to get there..
After reading some posts on this forum I'm sold on heading to Latour-de-Carol, then taking Le Petit Train Juane to Perpignan. Is there a night train I can take from Perpignan heading towards Italy? I'm happy to stop off somewhere on route, Marseille or Nice for example.
Thanks for any replies (and the website - it's been most helpful in planning out my trip!)
EDIT: Should point out that I'm travelling with an InterRail Global Pass..
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
This (Barcelona - Italy) is such a classic InterRail route and yet connections are so bad... :|
You can already look at connections Barcelona - Latour de Carol - Perpignan here :arr:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/barcelona-to-latour-de-carol[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/latour-de-carol-to-villefranche-de-conflent[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/en/night-train/barcelona-milan-elipsos-1127/127[/u]
This train is rather expensive and it might not look so attractive to pay for it at first, but there is no other night train from Perpignan that runs in this direction. So you would have to spend some money to stay overnight in Perpignan and sit the whole next day in a train heading for Firenze - and paying some reservations too.
On the other hand, if you go by night train, you spend a little more but arrive early next afternoon in Firenze.
What you could do is to go Barcelona - Cerbère - Perpignan - Latour de Carol - Toulouse and then with the Lunéa night train to Nice. From Nice you have good connections to Milano :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/nice-to-milan[/u]
But the night train might not run daily and information about running dates is hard to get..
Flo 8)
Lordmwa
Traveller
117 comments
The Lunea Night trains are very very poor this year. They are still not sure about wether some of them are running next week :(
thoseion
Traveller
2 comments
Thanks for the fantastic reply!
Do you know if there's usually a supplement to be paid on the Toulouse -> Nice Lunéa night train route? I've found a train setting off at 00:28 on the 25th, arriving in Nice at 10:26 which sounds ideal. The RailEur*pe website allows me to book this journey for 2 people in a couchette for £36. Is this reasonable or would I get it cheaper (perhaps even free?) if reserving once in France?
EDIT: This is what I can put together from the various timetables - does this sound pretty reasonable and does anyone know about supplements that need to be paid and/or reservations that need to be made?
Depart: Barcelona - 09:00
Arrive: Perpignan - 11:29
(SNCF website lists this as a TGV at 70 euros for 2 people!)
Depart: Perpignan - 14:30
Arrive: Latour de Carol - 18:22
(Train Juane - not sure of cost.. free?)
Depart: Latour de Carol - 18:44
Arrive: Toulouse - 22:15
(SNCF website lists this as a TER at 0 euros)
Depart: Toulouse - 00:28
Arrive: Nice - 10:26
(RailEur*pe website lists this as a LUNEA at £11 for seat, and £36 for couchette (for 2 people))
Lordmwa
Traveller
117 comments
You always have to pay for night trains couchettes.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej,
yes, 36 GBP is reasonable for two reservations in a couchette > ~20€ each is the regular price (you can get the reservation also as described here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/france/fr[/u]).
Do not take the Barcelona - Perpignan option you've found. This is by Alaris (6,50€ InterRail reservation) to Figueres, then TGV (6€ InterRail reservation) to Perpignan. Instead, go to Perpignan like this:
Barcelona Sants 0916 - 1200 Cerbère
Cerbère 1226 - 1302 Perpignan
No reservation needed for this connection; then proceed as you have found out. No reservation needed for the trip to Toulouse.
Flo 8)
thoseion
Traveller
2 comments
Thanks very much for the replies, they've been very helpful.
I've had to change my plans a fair bit as I noticed the Villefranche -> Latour de Carol doesn't run 15:25 - 18:22 as I thought, it actually runs 17:15 - 20:11 during the period I'm travelling. There is a train from Latour de Carol -> Toulouse at 20:20 but I think the 9 minute gap between the two trains is a bit too close to risk it.
So, I think I'll have to go with this journey instead:
Barcelona 09:36 - 12:32 Latour de Carol
Latour de Carol 15:05 - 18:03 Villefranche
Villefranche 18:28 – 19:12 Perpignan
Perpignan 19:55 – 20:27 Narbonne
Narbonne 21:26 – 22:41 Toulouse (£11 sup)
Toulouse 00:28 – 10:26 Nice (£36 sup)
Nice 10:53 – 11:15 Monaco
Then I think we'll spend the day/night in Monaco and carry onto Firenze the following day. Phew.. that's a long, long journey! :|
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej,
yeah that's true - the timings on the site here are for the summer... :|
However, you could still go Perpignan - Latour de Carol - Toulouse, have a look at the timetable. :)
:arr: [u]http://telechargement.ter-sncf.com/Images/Midi_Pyrenees/Tridion/Ariege18juin-1ejuillet_tcm-25-61357.pdf[/u]