Paris to Barcelona

Posted by happy-bird on 05/08/16 10:58 PM

My husband and I are planning on traveling in late September to Paris and spend about 14 day. I have an itinerary penclled out but am not sure if I am trying to cram to much into it. We plan on four days in Paris and 3 days in Barcelona. In between, we want to go to:

Colmar-
Dijon-
Annecy-
Lyon-
Avignon-
Nice-
Monaco-
Cassis

That would be about 1 day each in each place. We are wanting to take trains. Is there something on this list that I should eliminate or some that need more than one day? Any help is appreciated.

Posted by pat

victoria, Canada

05/08/16 11:15 PM

11507 posts

2Monaco is a one euro bus or 4-5 euro trian ticket from Nice, dont stay there its just a short daytrip( think it was less than an hour by bus for us)

Posted by Christi

San Antonio TX, United States

05/08/16 11:31 PM

2393 posts

You will be spending most of your time on the train watching France go by - I am a die hard travel warrior and this is too much for even me. Your stops are all the wrong direction for ending Spain.

It is easier to speak in terms of nights

Have you checked the rail times for these journeys?
Paris - 4 nights
Paris to Colmar 3 hrs TGV 1 night
Colmar to Dijon 1.5 - 2 hrs 2 nights
Dijon to Annecy 4 - 5 hrs 2 nights
Annecy to Lyon 2 hrs 2 nights
Lyon to Barcelona - 5 hrs 3 nights

Lyon to Avignon 1 hr TGV
Avignon to Nice 3 to 4.5 hrs TGV
Nice to Monaco 20 minutes
Monaco to Cassis 3 hrs
Cassis to Barcelona 6 to 7 hrs

I would get rid of half - probably skip everything after Lyon and make your way to Barcelona from Lyon 5 hrs on the AVE or TGV

Posted by Chani

Tel Aviv

05/09/16 08:04 AM

15585 posts

Be realistic. First count nights. 2 nights = 1 full day. 4 days in Paris and 3 in Barcelona uses 9 nights. Second, do not underestimate transfer time. A 3 hour train ride takes a lot longer. You have to pack, check out, get to the train station, allow time to (maybe) buy tickets and (definitely) find your train and board, then get from the station to your room, check in and drop your luggage. Now you can start to sightsee. If you are taking not taking a morning train, you'll have to return to your hotel to pick up your luggage. If you're only staying one night, you only have a few short hours - what will you manage to see? Third, do not underestimate the time it takes to orient yourselves to each new city. Fourth, do not underestimate how tiring a string of 1-nighters is. Take into account that you are schlepping your luggage around with you, you may have some poor weather, you are going to need clean clothes, any unexpected delay throws the rest of your trip into chaos.

Posted by Parisonadime

Paris, France

05/09/16 09:14 AM

131 posts

With 14 days I would do Paris and Barcelona with one or two stops in between. That's all you realistically have time for.

Posted by David in Brisbane

Brisbane, Australia

05/09/16 09:39 AM

7175 posts

I would firstly give Barcelona 4 nights to match Paris, leaving 6 days for your 'in fill'.
Unfortunately it is a matter of choices (2 nights at each)...
Colmar+Strasbourg OR Beaune+Dijon
Lyon OR Annecy
Nice+Monaco OR Avignon+Arles

Annecy and Nice add considerably more travel time, so I would eliminate those 2 first.
You could squeeze the other 4 into just 6 days if you time your trains well...
Day 1 (am) Paris to Colmar
Day 2 (pm) Colmar to Dijon
Day 4 (am) Dijon to Lyon
Day 5 (pm) Lyon to Avignon
Day 7 (pm) Avignon to Barcelona