Has anyone taken the train from Paris to Barcelona. How long was the trip? What was the approximate cost? Any tips? Thanks.

There are two excellent trains from Paris to Barcelona, as follows. <BR>Dep.Paris Gare de Lyon 1029, change at Montpelier (40 mins), arrive Barcelona 1953. The first train is a TGV, the second a Spanish Talgo - both air conditioned with buffet/restaurant cars. <BR>At night there is a through sleeper train departing Paris Austerlitz at 2030 arriving Barcelona 0824. <BR>Both services are covered by eurail pass if you have one, but you will need to pay a supplement for the sleeper, usually a lot less than a night in a hotel anyway. <BR>Hope this helps.

Check out "www.sncf.com". They have schedules and prices and everything else you need to know about the train. Good luck.

The time you take depends a lot on how you assemble your trip, if you go direct, if you take a TGV / Talgo, etc. <BR> <BR>Normaly, you will make no less than 8-10 hours. In light of this, I would suggest: <BR> <BR>1) Take the night train. It is a bit pricey (around US$130, if I remember correctly), but you are getting transportation and lodging. <BR> <BR>2) Try asking for plane fares. At one point I had to go from Barcelona to Paris. The round trip fare on British Airways via London was US$190. The whole deal takes around 4 hours, but if you are in a hurry it may be a better option than the train.

Even cheaper than flying direct may be to use www.virgin-express.com to fly to Brussels and take the Thalys. Obviously, this makes the most sense if you are interested in seeing some of Belgium anyhow - - which is quite worth doing in its own right.