Barcelona, Sants Trains to Carcassonne, France

Without knowing your exact arrival date, it is impossible to provide any suggestions.

Rick, Definitely do not rent a car in one country and return it in another. It could cost between 500 and 1,000 euros. Have you considered spending your arrival night in Barcelona? As long as you are there.....

Renfe, the Spanish train system also goes from Barcelona Sants to Narbonne, two times a day. I was in the 16:31 train yesterday from Barcelona. Narbonne to Carcassonne is only a half hour local train and there are one or two trains per hour. So the ticket you need to buy in advance is Barcelona to Narbonne. Buy directly from SNCF or RENFE, not a 3rd party seller . RENFE tickets are less expensive than SNCF, so check the prices on both websites, not on rail Europe. Buy directly. Give yourself plenty of time because Spanish train stations have security systems and multiple procedures. Minimum advance time at the station should be 30-45 minutes.

Do not use or rely on Rail Europe for schedules or tickets. They don't always show all trains available.

I believe in buying direct.

Follow Elizabeth's advice.

Thank you all. I appreciate the advice. I’m actually traveling on 15 September if that helps.

The day doesn't matter. There's one RENFE train and one SNCF train every morning and one RENFE train and one SNCF train every afternoon. There is no other fast train on the 15/09 or any other day.

One person who answers here lives in the Carcassonne area. Perhaps this person could tell you if the local, slow commuter trains would be of any use to you.

Schedule for September 15 (morning)

Renfe train schedule (Barcelona Sants to Narbonne): 8:14 a.m. – 10:26 a.m.

SNCF train schedule (Barcelona Sants to Narbonne): 9:26 a.m. – 11:38 a.m.

Connections from Narbonne to Carcassonne (SNCF / liO regional network):

Departures from Narbonne at:

• 11:16 a.m.

• 12:07 p.m.

• 1:07 p.m.

• 2:07 p.m.

  (Plus 15 other departures later in the day)

Note: There are no seat reservations on the Narbonne – Carcassonne train. It is 2nd class only with unassigned seating. A ticket booked for a specific train is valid for any other train on the same route for that same day.

And the afternoon Barcelona to Narbonne trains are SNCF at 16:24 and RENFE at 16:31.

Thank you again for all your train advice. This helps a lot!
-Rick

I can just tell you what I did for this exact journey. I took the train from Barcelona Sants to Perpignan, and rented a car from there to take to Carcassonne. You may find a car handy in that area if many of the things you might want to see in the area are not accessible by train (Cathar castles, Dordogne villages, Cro-Magnon caves).

Agree that SNCF or Renfe is the way to order tix from Sants to Narbonne, about a two hour trip and expensive maybe b/c of crossing borders. In my case, the French train cost less for reserved 1st class seats than the Spanish. And if you going in Sept, you can buy reserved seats now, choosing from a map of the coach, probably about 150 E pp.
The 30 min or so by train to CCSSN is painless unless you have a lot of luggage. All told it will be about a four hour trip, allowing ample time for a train change. And the 13 euro cab fare from the CCSSN station up to the medieval gates is worth it. There is a bus service also, running about every half hour. But with suitcases it will not be great fun. Especially if you have just landed the same morning.