I want to take an overnight train from Madrid to Paris with my 14 year old son. It looks as though the 4 berth compartments on the Francisco de Goya are just for one gender. We would have to sleep in different compartments. Other than the more expensive double idea, do we have any other options?

Have you looked into flying instead - would save a whole lot of valuable vacation time!

Personally I don't think it is a real problem. You could ask your son to leave for a few minutes while you get ready for bed and jump into bed before he gets back. In the morning do something similar. Nobody is going to make a judgement call on you if that's what you are worried about.

That isn't the issue. I think he would feel uncomfortable sleeping in a separate compartment with 3 strangers. Ideally we could sleep in the same compartment. Couchettes are not gender specific, but the Goya train seems to be.

Anybody home?

I don't see a solution here other than to get a double. If there aren't any mixed-sex four-berth compartments, what can you do?

That seems to be your choice - book a double or fly (flying will be cheaper and faster - the train might be more fun for your son)

Thanks so much for the information.

It seems that it might be possible to get to Hendaye and then get the sncf to paris on an overnight in more standard, mixed couchette style. It's curious but it seems that you can only buy an sncf ticket in the states through Rail Europe which is considerably higher than if I were a resident of France buying it directly from sncf.

It's true that Raileurope charges more than European train fares for the convenience of buying your tickets in the States ahead of time. Why don't you buy your ticket in Madrid when you get there? Or somewhere else in Spain if you're not going to be in Madrid very long.

If you're originating in Madrid I don't think you would buy a French rail ticket; you would buy a Spanish rail ticket.

My apologies Adrienne, I'm relatively new to this forum... still figuring things out. If I can order the ticket sooner, I can take advantage of the discount offered for advance purchase. And it seems to work out financially better to purchase a renfe ticket just to Hendaya. Jill

Hi Jill,

No need to apologize. I just wanted to let you know how to bring your post to the top.

The discount you mention - is that through Raileurope or through SNCF?

You're buying a Renfe ticket from Madrid to Hendaya and then an SNCF ticket from Hendaya to Paris?

The discount is through sncf. And yes, we would buy 2 separate tickets madrid - hendaya and hendaye - paris portion. It seems like an option so we can get around the high price of a trenhotel double.

Now I understand what you're doing. I really don't know of a way to help you with the advanced purchase other than to suggest you have your tickets delivered to your hotel in Spain (Madrid?) if SNCF will do that. According to the web site delivery to the US isn't an option but they seem to deliver to other EU countries. I would be a bit hesitant to do this but it is an option.

Another option is to get a couchette rather than a 4 berth sleeper. It's less expensive and your son can be with you in the same compartment. I've never taken a sleeper but have purchaed couchette tickets many times. There are usually 6 berths to a compartment rather than 4 or 2 that you find in a sleeper.

You do realize this will be a long trip. It's 10 hours from Hendaye to Paris, although it's overnight. How do you and your son feel about spending that much time on a train plus the train from Madrid to Hendaye.

Adrienne thank you,

We are positively looking forward to the train ride. He has been studying Spanish and I speak French so it seems like a great way to connect the two. I remember a US cross country drive my husband and I did when we moved to Boston. It was so interesting to witness the changes in landscape and people as we made our way across. You definitely don't get that perpective from an airplane.