Hi,
I have my flights booked to arrive in Barcelona at the end of January. 10 days later I’ll depart through Lyon, FR. My friend and I will be traveling by train and bus throughout the region. We’d like recommendations for best stops, hiking, art museums, street murals, regional food and lodging. We generally start our days with breakfast on the go and collapse after dinner. We will be carrying a backpack as well as a rolling bag. Our budget is ~$300/day including meals and lodging. Thank you, MC
Posted by
France Southwest
2281 posts
There is no direct train from Barcelona to Lyon. The connecting station in France can be, depending on the train you will take:
Narbonne, Montpellier or Valence. (in order of proximity to Barcelona).
Montpellier could be the right choice.
A large city not far from the Mediterranean Sea, dynamic and young (many universities), with a good public transport network
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6939 posts
There is no direct train from Barcelona to Lyon.
There is a direct train from Barcelona to Lyon, it leaves Barcelona in the morning and arrives in Lyon around lunch time.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10605 posts
I think the OP is asking about stops along the way.
Of course there are the Catalonia stops to see where Salvador Dali lived and worked, and a visit to Gerona. Maybe out Catalonia locals can fill in more places in winter.
Once you cross the border into France, you have the quaint seaside town of Collioure (tourist crazy in summer), and Carcassonne which is a short train ride from Narbonne, and of course Montpellier where you'll find everything you listed. Montpellier has a 1-hour local train to Avignon which puts you in the heart of Provence and in the Rhone Valley south of Lyon. Otherwise, you can continue across the south to Nimes/Pont du Gard, and then the towns along the Rhone Valley starting with Arles to the south, and moving up to Aix-en-Provence, etc. The further east you go after Montpellier, the more likely you'll run into strong, icy Mistral winds on some days coming down the Rhone Valley. The further west you are from Montpellier, such as Narbonne and Carcassonne, you could have the icy Tramontane winds out of the central mountains in winter some days. The winds aren't every day, but you don't know until you wake up in the morning. Alternate inside plans on those days may be the way to go.
Right now, in high tourist season, I see a lot of people rolling suitcases around the historical center of my town, so I suppose there are a lot of Airbnbs to keep your costs down. My first trip to Europe, I learned to eat sardines from a can on a baguette and bought an Opinel knife for cutlery. Hopefully, you'll have more elegant meals with your budget.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you, All, for your replies. Every bit of information is helpful for my planning. I especially love hearing from locals and am not opposed to sardines on a baguette.