Getting to Provence from Barcelona
 

Greetigs All,

My husband and I will be going to Madrid, Barcelona, Provence, and Germany for about 15 days this May. We are starting our trip in Madrid, flying to Barcelona, and then going up to Provence. I am trying to find flights that go from Barcelona to Nice/Marseilles/Nimes and am not finding anything. Does anyone know of any airlines that go there cheaply? Should I look into rail options? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Johanna

I would try checking using www.skyscanner.net for budget flights. I think this has come up before and you may have to consider rail.

You might also go to www.opodo.com to see if anything comes up there.

I would not fly - I'de take the train. There is an 8am train that leaves the Sants station, stops at various other stations in Barcelona (P Grazia near the Ramblas), and gets to Montpellier at 1:16PM. No train changes. From Montpellier, it's a short drive into Provence - much shorter than from Nice.

I find the train to be much less stressful than air travel today. To me, this is a no brainer.

Stu Dudley

There used to be a Iberia flight from Barcelona to Nice. But I am not sure this will be a cheap route.
I believe train or bus are good alternatives.
Rgds

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I will definitely look at the rail options.

If you plan to get to Montpellier at 1:16, check with the car rental office to make sure that they are open during Lunch. If not, have a nice lunch yourself on the very pretty Place du Comedie, wander through Montpellier (one of my favorite towns), and then pick up the car when the office opens. Most of the interesting shops in Montpellier will be closed for lunch also.

Stu Dudley

Thanks Stu for all your great advice!

Johanna

Hi Stu or anyone who can answer this,

What type of rail ticket should we get from Barcelona to Provence? You mention going from Sants to Montpellier so it seems like you know what you are talking about. We are going to take a train from Madrid to Barcelona and then from Barcelona to Provence. What does everyone recommend we get in terms of rail passes? How does a person buy them?

Thanks for any advice.

I assume you have definitely ruled out the possibility of flying between Madrid and Barcelona?

You realize that several airlines including Iberia, Spanair, and I believe Vueling compete heavily on that route with almost hourly departures for the slightly more than one hour flight.

Booking early can get you very good one way fares.

As to the train from Spain into France, I would NOT buy a railpass as you would need one covering at least two countires and I cannot imagine that point-to-point tickets would be more expensive than two passes.

I dont know where you are planning on visiting in Germany, but you can do easyjet from Barcelona to Berlin. Then from Berlin take easyjet to Nice. It would be a crisscross, but if you were planning on visiting Berlin it might save you more time to and money to see if you could arrange it that way.

Thanks for the replies. I am going from Madrid to Barcelona to somewhere in Provence (have not figured out where exactly) and then to Frankfurt or Stuttgart. We are planning on renting a car in Provence and in Germany.

Thanks again.

What type of rail ticket should we get from Barcelona to Provence?

You should get a ticket from Barcelona Sants to Montpellier because it is the most direct and fastest train and it does not go any further than Montpellier. Then you have to decide where you want to go in Provence FROM Montpellier and go to www.sncf.com for schedules. You can buy your tickets on line but first you have to know where you are heading to in Provence.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I do have another question though. If we decide to fly, are the airports in Madrid and Barcelona far from the city centers?

No and both have easy rail links.

well, madrid airport has no rail link..it's a metro stop :)

Hi
Madrid to Marseille Ryanair, low cost carrier.
Rgds Wilko

Barcelona has both a rail link and a convenient "airport bus" service to take you into the heart of the city.

Thanks to everyone for all the great info! This sure helps me decide what to do.