Are Train Reservations Required?
 

We are traveling by car from Menton, Thru Provence and to Carcassonne. Will be leaving the car in Perpignan and taking the train to Barcelona.. Is it advisable to reserve train tickets or can we get them the day of the trip?? It looks like there are only 2 trains that day.. morning and late afternoon..

probably depends on day of week, month of year.

i imagine you could buy those tickets ahead of time in france at any train station when you are more sure of your schedule if you are afraid to wait til last minute.

i am surprised there aren't more trains. remember you can always take the bus if the train doesn't work out.

According to www.bahn.de, there are Perpignan-Barcelona Sants trains leaving at 08:56, 13:44, 17:26, and 18:20. One is direct and the others have one or more connections.

The only through trains from Perpignan to Barcelona are Talgo trains on which seats should be reserved. These trains do fill up on busy days so it would be best to book a couple of days in advance at any station with a ticket office.
There are other trains from Perpignan to Port Bou, the first station in Spain, where you can change to a Spanish train. These are local trains with no seat reservations, so you can just buy a ticket before boarding the train.

Thanks Guys. Looks like it is best for us to book reservations. We'll be there on a sunday, so I don't want to get stuck!
I love this site. everyone has so much going on! the feedback is phenomenal. We are excited about our trip. Leaving on Tuesday! can't wait. I've read a lot of advice, comments, suggestions, and have found some great places. Suggestions for dinner in Carcassonne would be welcomed..

Note that the 8.56AM (res. needed) goes direct (no transfers en route) and only takes 2h50 - all others take from 3h28 to 5h02.

If you don't want to bother with reservations, take the evening train that only takes a little bit longer, dep. 7.18PM arr. 10.46PM, change at Port Bou (arr. 8.11PM dep. 8.30PM).

Thanks Wally!.. We're leaving Tues, will be in Perpignan by Sunday! Can't wait.. hoping the weather is great for driving thru from Provence.. looks like the weather reports are saying rain for a few days.. Any great suggestions for rainy day fun in Menton - Arles...