Opinion:

Are you taking a night train? That's what I would do. The day trains have 2 transfers and take 9.5 or 10.5 hours. There's an early train with only 1 transfer that takes 7.5 hours. The night train has no transfers, arriving at 8:50.

Sorry - after typing the above I noticed that you're departing from Gare de Lyon therefore taking a day train. I would take the one departing at 7:15.

7:15 train - Look up the train schedules from Figueres to Barcelona in case your train is late and you need to take the next train.

The 9:15 train has a 16 minute transfer time in Montpellier which is fine unless the train is late. Again, check the schedules in the event you need a later train leaving from Montpellier.

We would plan to take the 7:15 train. We are renting an apartment for 4 nights and would want to be in Barcelona for the afternoon.

Now I see that you did see that. I wonder if anyone has experienced this route and what the scenery if any would be like.

Hi there,

I am definitely in favour of the train... With transfers and check-in time the total time for flying probably comes in at about 5hrs or so, so the train is still longer, but I like it for the fact it's city centre to city centre.

Also, I like seeing the lie of the land. The journey from Paris to Barcelona is picturesque... I'm not gonna say there's something must-see but it's just nice to relax and enjoy the scenery of hills, churches and pretty villages. Coming down through the Rhone valley is rather nice and it's a good view, especially if you head for the top deck on the TGV (even double decker trains make the 5 year old in me happy!)

Maybe go day time one way and night time the return leg if you're headed back to Paris...

I'm sold. It would only be a little longer, an hour or two at most and it would be a new experience and certainly more relaxing. We are doing a one way as we fly back home from Barcelona. Now I just have to wait until I'm three months out. I'd love to know if anyone has purchased these tickets or tickets on TGV doubledecker. I wonder how to know in the seat selection which seats are "upstairs".
Thanks Loco2and adrienne

Yes, as of today, you can book on Loco2 and choose upper/lower deck:

http://loco2.com/journey/paris-barcelona-u9l2ji

We're 4 passionate train travellers trying to make train booking a little bit simpler... you can read about it here:

http://loco2.com/blog/2011/09/why-are-we-doing-this/

And suggest features here:

http://loco2.com/engine-room-forum/feedback-and-ideas

Happy railing!

Well, I've booked my tickets. I set up an email alert with sncf in case I overlooked the 3 month advance ticket sales. I remembered anyway, but did get the alert. I was able to purchase the tickets online with no problem. The price was 72 euro one way from Paris to Barcelona. The trip is approximately 7.5 hours. We'll bring a "picnic" on the train and enjoy the sights from our seats on the upper deck.

The airlines are not appealing to me any longer and this will be part of my adventure. Now I won't worry about overweight luggage and fees and security lines and waiting at the airport.

Next thing to do is plan a day trip to Reims, while in Paris and a side trip to a cava producer while in Barcelona. There's a theme going here.

How does one set up the kind of email alert you used?

I've taken that rail route and IMO it is rather scenic much of the way - first thru Burgundy - bucolic Burgundy where each hillock seems topped by the spires of a village church - then thru Provence, skirting Avignon, thru Arles and Nimes to Montpellier where there is a simple transfer often to train to Figueras, Spain's new high-speed station where another seemless transfer to trains to Barcelona.

Soon the transfer in Figueras will be history when the new high-speed line in Spain right into Barcelona Sants is finished. And presumably there will also be direct Paris to Barcelona TGV trains as well - speeding up times an hour or so.

Great sites for lots of neat stuff on European trains - www.seat61.com; ww.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - more than the usual pass pushing and sales - lots of great informative info.

opal - you're going to Barcelona again? Lucky you. I read your trip report and just booked my tickets last night for next April. Hope you do another report. I'm busy collecting info and starting an itinerary.

What map do you use? I bought a Streetwise which I didn't like and then ordered a Rough Guide that hasn't arrived yet. Hope this one is better than Streetwise.

PS - Don't forget to pack a corkscrew!!

It is no longer necessary to make a connection in Montpellier. Take a TGV from Paris Lyon to Figueres Vilafant and a high-speed Arco/Avia/Avant train from there to Barcelona Sants. The trip takes 7hr31min.

The 7:15 train requires only a change of trains in Figueras but others still require a change of trains in France at either Montpelier or Perpignan, etc - seems about 1/3 or so of trains go direct to Figueras.

Tim - thanks for the update.

Nice to know for future trips.

Until the new high-speed tracks thru the new Pyrenees train tunnel were finished a few years back there were only a few trains capable of going thru the French-Spanish border since tracks in Spain were a wider gauge than trains in France - the tracks were placed wider apart.

Only Talgo trains with moveable wheel bases that could be cranked closer together or farther apart at the border could go thru - the overnight train I believe is still on of those where you hear the wheels under the carriage still being crancked one way or the other. But this major hassle of always or nearly always having to change trains at the border is not a thing of the past with TGV trains at least as the new high-speed tracks in Sapin are built to the same gauge as those in France and the rest of Europe - you could have thru trains like from Barcelona to Switzerland, Milan, Germany, etc.

do any trains leave late at night from paris and arrive in the morning to barcelona? cost?

Yes, the Elipsos Trenhotel leaves Paris Austerlitz at 20:23 and arrives at Barcelona Franca at 08:05. The standard 2nd class fare for a bunk in a 4-person couchette is €162.00. However, if you book well in advance (up to three months allowed) at tgv-europe.com, you can get a Prem's fare of €74.00. Booking in advance also can get you a Mini a Deux fare of €238.00 for two beds in a 2-person sleeper. This is a special fare for two people traveling together.

Adding to my previous post. The Elipsos Trenhotel runs daily through 28 October. After that there will be limited runs. Check the timetables carefully.

PalenQ: Thanks for the description of the train route. I'm looking forward to it.
d_claude_bear: I don't remember where exactly on the sncf site they had a spot for an email alert. I think it may have popped up when I checked to see if the fares were available more than 3 months out. I try to read the site in French so as to improve my understanding of the language, however my google chrome browser does translate for me the entire page if necessary. You have to be careful though as sometimes things can get lost in the translation.
adrienne: Yes, we are going to Barcelona for the second time. We loved it the first. We are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary and a big birthday for me, so we chose two cities that we have enjoyed in the past. Paris, which we go to often as possible and Barcelona. We will definitely have the corkscrew!! As for the map, I can't remember the map we used. I'll have to see if I can find it.
TimS: I did book 3 months out and the fare was 72 euros per person. We chose to sit in the upper seats.

The upper level is great IME - especially better than the lower level because the lower level is kind of lower than a normal train so views are not nearly so nice.

the voyages-sncf.com website has a section where you can set up email alerts for trips you want. you just have to go into the "alert-resa" section in the "services" heading at the bottom of the front page.

This is the link directly to that page
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/services-train/alerte-reservation

Well we have taken our train trip and it was great. I highly recommend it to anyone going from Paris to Barcelona. We sat up high. The seats were comfortable and the scenery was very nice. We went from city to country to mountains to Mediterranean with the snow capped Pyrenees on one side and the pink flamingos and palm trees on the other. It was a wonderful way to travel and we felt we really got to see much more of what parts of France and Spain look like. An added bonus, none of the hassle of security and waiting at the airport.