Train from Germany to Spain
 

My family (hubby, 6 yr old, 15 month old, and I) want to take a train from Kaiserslautern, Germany to Barcelona, Spain. Looking for advice on what or how to take a train(s).

Have you checked bahn.com?

I don't know which date you will need to take the train, but in looking at the schedule, the best train to take is the one that leaves Kaiserlautern at 10:24 am with two changes of train enroute and arriving in Barcelona Sants station at 22:45. This journey is the shortest at only 12 hours and 21 minutes. However, in Paris, you have slightly over an hour to get from Gare de l'Est to Gare de Lyon. All the other train journeys can range from 17 to 20 hours.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...fasScrollDir=1

Have you been to Paris before? You might take an earlier train from Kaiserlautern to Paris just to give yourself more time to get between the two large Parisian train stations.

Can you give us some idea of your travel experience in Europe?

This will be our first time to Europe. My husband and I are meeting in Kaiserlautern because that's were his job will be flying him. We have 2 weeks to travel and want to spend most of it in southern Spain.

marking for later comment

Is there some reason you don't want to fly? You can probably fly from Frankfurt to Barcelona for less €€ than the train -and it will take a full day less time.

If you wanted to visit France or something, trains could make sense. But since you really want to get to Spain--I'd fly.

Have you tried loco2.co.uk? If you want to go by train prices look to be around £150 pp for travel in about 3 weeks time (as you didn't specify dates) :)

2 weeks by train from Germany to Southern Spain?

Take the TGV train to Paris, spend a few days there.

Hop the overnight hotel train to Barcelona - few days there

Hop an overnight train from Barcelona to Seville or Granada

Or take a day train Barcelona to Madrid, few days there

Madrid day train to Seville, your base for the final portion - with day trips to say Granada or Ronda or Jerez (Sherry tours), etc.

Since Kaiserlautern in near the French border you may want to, if doing all by train, to check into the France-Spain Railpass. Great sites for planning a rail trip in those countries - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com - for schedules I always use the Wunderbar IME www.bahn.de or German Rail site that has schedules for all European trains it seems and IME is the easiest to use.

PQ has given you a good suggestion.

With two such little ones, you should think of breaking up your journey into smaller segments to make it easier on them as well as on yourselves.

Also be very careful. Wear moneybelts. There's a lot of theft in Spain.

Germany is safer. Is there any particular reason you want to spend the bulk of your time in Spain?

Years ago I was to study in Spain and then found out I was pregnant so was unable to go. Going to Spain is really a gift from my husband. Thank you for all the suggestions. My husband would like to take the train to have the experience which is why we aren't flying. Any other suggestions are welcomed :)

I have traveled on Spanish trains and while they are comfortable most of the routes are not that interesting. And especially if you have only have two weeks, I am not sure how much time you want to spend on trains. You can get to Madrid and then take the high speed AVE to Sevilla which is where you said you want to spend your time.

There are certain areas in Spain were there is petty thievery and others that are perfectly safe. My wife and her then 73 year old sister walked the 500 Camino by themselves and stayed in co-ed dorms on occasion without any incident.

Like other posters, I suggest that you spend at least one night in Paris. Take a morning train from Kaiserslautern to Paris, spend the night, and take daytime trains to Barcelona. Or spend another night and day in Paris, and take the direct Elipsos Trenhotel overnight to Barcelona.

There is a direct ICE train that leaves Kaiserslautern at 07:22 and arrives in Paris at 09:49. If you book far enough in advance (up to 92 days allowed) on the German Rail site, you can get a discount fare as low as €29 for each adult. Your children will be free.

You can leave Paris at 07:20, connect at Figueres Vilafant, and arrive in Barcelona at 14:46. If you book far enough in advance (up to three months) at tgv-europe.com, you can get discount fares that total €214.90 for all four of you. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares, choose Great Britain as your ticket retrieval country.

The Elipos Trenhotel leaves Paris at 20:41 and arrives in Barcelona at 08:24. You can book a four-bunk couchette and have the compartment all to yourselves.

Update: Normally choosing Great Britain as your ticket retrieval country on the tgv-europe.com site still allows a person to pick up tickets in France. For some unknown reason, that doesn't appear to be true for the daytime trains I listed above. However, if you book in French at voyages-sncf.com, it is possible.

spanish overnight trains are amongst the finest in Europe and day trains on mainlines are as well.

It is no longer true that old agage "The pain in Spain is mainly on the train"

Jennifer: what a wonderful gift from your husband! You are blessed!

Great advice on this thread.

I will still add that you have to be very careful, especially with two little kids and all their gear in tow. Keep an eagle's eye out on your belongings - never have both parents tending to a fussy baby.

The six year old can carry his/her own little backpack with his/her own toothbrush, etc. Not too heavy, just enough to help you a tiny bit.

Travel as light as possible. The less things you have with you, the less you have to worry about.

The thieves usually work as a group, so if you are surrounded, break away as quickly as possible.

Carry all your essential items - passport, credit cards, excess cash in a money belt inside your clothes. This is not a fanny pack. Just google "money belt photo" and you'll get pictures of what the item looks like.

Leave out one credit card and some euros for daily use.

Split up the cash. Never carry all of it in one location.

Look into buying at least a scottevest for your husband,if not another one for yourself. One of the best protections against thieves that any traveler could have. (I speak from experience)

http://www.scottevest.com/

You may want the lightweight one as it'll be hot in Spain. There are also those cargo pants and, for the men, those travel boxers with a couple of those hidden pockets.

Just take precautions and you'll have a fine trip!

Unless you wish to spend some time in Paris, I would not take the train. Changing stations in Paris shall be no fun with two little ones and all your belongings in tow.

Since you plan to spend most time in SOUTHERN Spain (which, by the way, is not where Barcelona is located), why not check flights from any AP near Kaiserslautern (Frankfurt, Saarbrücken, Hahn, Karlsruhe) to SOUTHERN Spain (to Málaga, for example) -- and take the train from there to Barcelona.
whichbudget.com

Even if you need a car to get to one of those airports, it can still be less hassle. And you don't pay a surcharge for one-way rentals in Germany with the major companies.

If you plan to spend one (or better: more than one) night in Paris, though, the trains could be the more convenient solution.

Agree with those who suggest a few days in Paris, and, in that case, would take the train to Paris, but if you don't want to go to Paris. . . .
I know your DH wants to do the train thing and I love trains in Europe - use them on nearly every trip. I find, however, that 3-5 hours on a train is not bad, longer than that gets very tiring. When the train takes no more time than getting to/from the airport, and flying, then the train makes sense because it gets you from city center to city center usually. When the train starts to use up a lot of travel time without really saving any money, then flying makes more sense.
In your case, with a 15 month old and such a long distance, I think I might fly

Ryanair flys from Karlsruhe (not far from KS) to Gerona (outside of Barcelona). It is less than a two hour flight, and is super cheap (just be careful and aware of luggage charges). Even if it takes an hour to get to Karlsruhe, you have to be there 1&1/2 hours ahead, the flight is 2 hours, and it is, say, an hour into Barcelona, that is still 5&1/2 hours compared with 12+ and will cost less probably.

I didn't check other airlines or other destinations in Spain, but there are lots of options. Once in Spain, you can use the trains for shorter distances and get that experience.