valereng

I'm planning to travel by train from Spain to France to Belgium to Netherlands. Mainly,
Barcelona
Lyon
Paris
Brugge
Brussels
Rotterdam
Which is the most time saving way to travel? IF i'm not wrong, it makes more sense to travel from Barcelona to Lyon then to Paris. I'm not sure if travelling to Brugge or Brussels would save more time in a sense that I wouldn't want to pass by a city only to come back again. (Like it doesn't make sense to travel Brussels > Amsterdam > Rotterdam since Rotterdam is between Brussels and Amsterdam)

I'm travelling in January so I'm planning to buy my train tickets soon. Also, can anyone tell me if it's safe to stay in Gare Du Nord area, i've never been there actually and I'm a 20 old girl on a solo trip.

janisj

You only have 16 days Jan 2 - 17, flying home on the 18th. So you really don't have a lot of time for all those places no matter the mode of transport.

You'll want at least 3 or 4 days in Paris and 3 days in Amsterdam. That leaves you 9-ish days for Barcelona, Lyon, Brugge, Brussels, and Rotterdam.

>>Which is the most time saving way to travel?<< Not quite sure what you mean since none of your journeys are long enough to make flying necessary (unless you were to drop Lyon and fly from Barcelona to Paris) so trains are your only practical option. Do just mean which order to visit these places? The train trips in the Benelux countries are all pretty short - if it was me I'd do Paris > Brugge (yes you would pass through Brussels but just to change trains) > then go back and visit Brussels > Rotterdam > Amsterdam.

thursdaysd

I thought Lyon might be a problem, but no. From seat61.com:

[T]ravel from Barcelona to Lyon on the direct morning AVE high-speed train, leaving Barcelona Sants at 08:25 and arriving Lyon Part Dieu at 13:24.

Of course, the most time-saving way to travel is a night train, but unless you went from Barcelona to Paris instead of Lyon, none available.

kerouac

Trains are normally best because there is no time and money lost going to airports and going through security. You go from city center to city center.

The trains in Belgium are such short distances that backtracking is not really an issue.

The Gare du Nord area is perfectly safe (even if there are a few sleazy people around just like at any main train station anywhere) and there are hotels at every imaginable price level there. There are also plenty of good eating options in the area, although the municipal transportation in Paris is so good that you never really need to think about eating right next to your accommodations.

Dukey1

I believe that night service between Paris and Barcelona may have been withdrawn.

Christina

That would be the most efficient way to go by train from Barcelona to Paris (through Lyon). There really aren't a lot of other options, anyway.

However, you could go through Toulouse, but the entire trip takes a couple hours longer, and there aren't as many direct trains from Barcelona to Toulouse.

Barcelona to Toulouse takes 3 hours on the AVE (but only time for that direct train is 5:42 pm), Toulouse to Paris takes about 6 hours on the TGV. Barcelona to Lyon takes 5 hours and Lyon to Paris takes 2 hours.

I'm not sure what you are thinking as the alternative, I'd go based on which city I was most interested in spending some time in (I'm assuming you intended to spend time in Lyon) myself, Toulouse or Lyon.

If you just book a ticket from Barcelona to Paris, the entire trip is only 6:30 hours at the least, but you won't be stopping in Lyon, it goes nonstop from Valence or Nimes. So in that sense, no it isn't quickest to go to Lyon.

nytraveler

Honestly you are trying to get to too many places. Remember that the daylight hours are very short in January and many days will be grey and dreary - so evening sightseeing isn't really an option as it is in other seasons.

It it were me I would cut back by at least two destinations in order to have time to see the major ones. I think a minimum is

Paris 5 nights (4 days)
Barcelona 4 nights (3 days)
Amsterdam 4 nights (3 days)

Now you have only 4 night left for 4 places which really won;t work.

I would drop Lyons and go straight from Barcelona to Paris - and use the days you have left for Brugge and travel. Can't make reco on Rotterdam since I have never been there.

nytraveler

Sorry - for best train info go to bahn.de - it will give you all the schedule options: although not exact times for Jan yet, it will show elapsed times and routes for all of europe.

janisj

>>Paris 5 nights (4 days)
Barcelona 4 nights (3 days)
Amsterdam 4 nights (3 days)<<

I'm not totally sure Barcelona needs to be in the mix time-wise. From one of the OPs earlier threads - she is traveling w/ her family and then from Jan 2 on, she is traveling solo to the places she listed. It <i>could</i> be that Barcelona is the last stop on the family portion of the trip. If so, she does have a little extra time to divvy up.

nytraveler

If she doesn't need time for Barcelona she does have more time to play with - but still don;t see time for Lyons, Brugge, Brussels and Rotterdam (?).

To me Lyons, though a charming city with great food - is really the outlier and at a minimum I would drop that and go directly from Barcelona to Paris; there are a couple of direct trains per day at 6.5 hours.

Sassafrass

To the OP, is your ticket from Amsterdam already purchased and unchangeble? I will make some suggestions based on knowing that.

thursdaysd

And to save time, there is still a night train option from Barcelona to Paris. You have to change in Perpignan, but at a reasonable hour - go to http://seat61.com/international-trai...-Barcelona.htm and scroll down.

Gretchen

As far as the Gare du Nord area, EXACTLY what Kerouac has said. It is fine to stay there but not as much "fun" for a young person as somewhere in the 5th or 6th would be, and not at all hard to get to and from.

valereng

Hi all,

Yes my ticket from Amsterdam is already purchased and unchangable.

I'll be separating with my family in Barcelona on 1 Jan, so I'll be travelling solo from 1 Jan to 18 Jan. My plan was to spend

1 to 3 (2 nights) - Lyon
3 to 7 (4 nights) - Paris
7 to 9 (2 nights) - Brussels
9 to 10 (1 night) - Brugge
10 to 15 (5 nights) - Rotterdam
15 to 18 (3 nights) - Amsterdam

My flight is at 1430 at schiphol so I still have time to get breakfast before leaving Amsterdam.

I'm getting mixed reviews about Lyon so I still can't really decide if I should visit it. I'm only planning to visit Lyon because i'm a major foodie and I heard that it's a food place.
I'm spending so many nights in Rotterdam because I'm planning to visit some friends and just take my time to chill.

janisj

You are counting the same days in two different locations. What you really have is:

1 to 2 (2 nights/1.5 days) - Lyon
3 to 6 (4 nights/3.5 days) - Paris
7 to 8 (2 nights/1.5 days) - Brussels
9 (1 night/half to 3/4 of a day) - Brugge
10 to 14 (5 nights/4.5 days) - Rotterdam
15 to 17 (3 nights/2.5 days) - Amsterdam
Fly home on the 18th.