London to Barcelona
Nov 14th, 2011, 01:13 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 146
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
London to Barcelona
We just decided to go to London and Barcelona over the holidays. Flying To London and coming back home from Barcelona.
What is the best way to go to Barcelona from London?
How long does it take with train? is the scenery nice or is it better to fly?
We love trains and we love comfort too. Ideally we would like to sit comfortably in a train and look at beautiful scenery for some hours, Is this possible? Please let me know what you think.
Thank you
What is the best way to go to Barcelona from London?
How long does it take with train? is the scenery nice or is it better to fly?
We love trains and we love comfort too. Ideally we would like to sit comfortably in a train and look at beautiful scenery for some hours, Is this possible? Please let me know what you think.
Thank you
Nov 14th, 2011, 01:17 PM
#2
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 12,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
seat61.com/spain
nice over several days with stops
otherwise sort of an expensive long lurchy slog
involving a sleeper which gives me too much train lag...
You can save a ton flying skyscanner.net ryanair.com
was 15 quid all in last for me booked in advance.
eurocheapo.com Barcelona Meridien Barceloneta bidding
priceline.com for me from $70/nt awesome deal for me last.
Happy Planning!
nice over several days with stops
otherwise sort of an expensive long lurchy slog
involving a sleeper which gives me too much train lag...
You can save a ton flying skyscanner.net ryanair.com
was 15 quid all in last for me booked in advance.
eurocheapo.com Barcelona Meridien Barceloneta bidding
priceline.com for me from $70/nt awesome deal for me last.
Happy Planning!
Nov 14th, 2011, 01:25 PM
#3
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 22,978
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would not recommend the train; the scenery becomes repetitive very quickly. Look for a discount airline connection between London and Barcelona.
http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp
http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp
Nov 14th, 2011, 01:37 PM
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 7,561
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This is a joke, right?
London to Barcelona is a 2+ hour flight. It's about 15 hours on the train - nearly 12 for the overnight train from Barcelona to Paris and another three on the Eurostar. And you need to get from Paris Austerlitz to Gare de Nord. And the train will cost more than the flight.
Don't stay in Barceloneta - that's away from the main sites and on the beach in December. The Meridian is on La Rambla, which is a good location.
London to Barcelona is a 2+ hour flight. It's about 15 hours on the train - nearly 12 for the overnight train from Barcelona to Paris and another three on the Eurostar. And you need to get from Paris Austerlitz to Gare de Nord. And the train will cost more than the flight.
Don't stay in Barceloneta - that's away from the main sites and on the beach in December. The Meridian is on La Rambla, which is a good location.
Nov 14th, 2011, 08:47 PM
#7
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The conventional surface way to do this is to get a train around 0900 to Paris, arriving 1230 ish, local time.
Have a decent lunch, then catch the 1520 to Figueres from the Gare de Lyon, which gives you a cross-platform connection to Barcelona at 2103, arriving 2245. Just about the time most Catalans start thinking about supper.
Undoubtedly the civilised way to do it, though scenery is generally fine but scarcely whelming. Virtually impossible to avoid its being at least twice the plane cost, however far in advance you book.
Timetables most easily accessible at www.bahn.de Eurostar website useless for this journey, and Raileurope had a quirk on its site last time I used it that kept on denying the possibility of what I've just outlined . Their phone people were, in my case, very helpful.
Have a decent lunch, then catch the 1520 to Figueres from the Gare de Lyon, which gives you a cross-platform connection to Barcelona at 2103, arriving 2245. Just about the time most Catalans start thinking about supper.
Undoubtedly the civilised way to do it, though scenery is generally fine but scarcely whelming. Virtually impossible to avoid its being at least twice the plane cost, however far in advance you book.
Timetables most easily accessible at www.bahn.de Eurostar website useless for this journey, and Raileurope had a quirk on its site last time I used it that kept on denying the possibility of what I've just outlined . Their phone people were, in my case, very helpful.
Nov 14th, 2011, 09:07 PM
#8
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"go to London and Barcelona over the holidays."
Just realised "over the holidays" is American political correctness for Christmas.
The journey you're envisaging is virtually a straight line south down the Greenwich meridian. There's virtually no scenery between London and Paris (miraculously, the train manages to avoid any scenery along the pretty bit from London to Folkstone), and a midwinter Paris-Barcelona stretch on the 1520 is almost entirely in the dark.
To see any scenery on what's likely to be the shortest day of the year, you need the 0652 from London (arr 2159), which deprives you of a decent lunch in Paris. You'd have to make do with the muck on the train (dismally typical of the depths modern French mass catering has sunk to) or pick up an edible picnic in London.
Just realised "over the holidays" is American political correctness for Christmas.
The journey you're envisaging is virtually a straight line south down the Greenwich meridian. There's virtually no scenery between London and Paris (miraculously, the train manages to avoid any scenery along the pretty bit from London to Folkstone), and a midwinter Paris-Barcelona stretch on the 1520 is almost entirely in the dark.
To see any scenery on what's likely to be the shortest day of the year, you need the 0652 from London (arr 2159), which deprives you of a decent lunch in Paris. You'd have to make do with the muck on the train (dismally typical of the depths modern French mass catering has sunk to) or pick up an edible picnic in London.
Nov 15th, 2011, 05:56 AM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,271
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Easy Jet out of Gatwick (or Luton...which I did transport from Marble Arch to Luton Airport cost me 3 quid but it's about a 90 minute ride for the most part on a motorway)...flight is about two hours and not particularly hard to do and Barcelona airport is localted relatively for an airport close to the city. I would do it that way.
