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Best way to travel from Paris, France to Barcelona?

Train or airplane? I'm leaning train but my husband would like to fly...

Posted by
75 posts

Split up for that travel day and go your own way. Meet again in Barcelona and share your experiences. It'll spice up your travel.

Keep in mind that it is often much cheaper to "break the fare" in Perpignan. Booking 2 tickets(Paris - Perpignan and Perpignan - Barcelona) for the same train could be a lot cheaper than a Paris - Barcelona through fare. All you have to do is getting off at Perpignan and moving to the front section of the train.(The rear section is decoupled at Perpignan).

https://www.seat61.com/Paris-to-Barcelona-by-TGV-train.htm

You may even beat him if his flight will be delayed! :-)

Remember the tortoise and the hare! ;-)

https://vimeo.com/290462339

Posted by
293 posts

I took the train in December and thought it was lovely. Of course, I like trains, but I'd recommend it anyway. It's six hours, from city center to city center. So you don't need to allot 45 minutes to an hour to get to CDG or Orly, go through the airport nonsense, and then get from BCN to the city (half hour, minimum).

Caroline

Posted by
75 posts

I was not talking about stopping, just splitting the ticket(aka breaking the fare) to travel cheaper.

Posted by
1189 posts

Hola,

Six hours on a train looking at the countryside or six hours waiting in line at Security, Passport control, the flight in a cramped seat, and deboarding in the countryside and having to find your way into BCN. It is an easy choice for me. The trains are lovely. A cut rate airline is an ordeal. Easy to get to the train station in Paris and your in downtown BCN when you get out. Getting out to the airports around Paris isn't fun...

Has your husband taken a modern train? If so, and he didn't like it. I agree. Split up and meet in BCN. That would be interesting.
wayne iNWI

Posted by
7010 posts

For that route the fast train (6-1/2 hrs) beats a flight. The flight itself may be short but getting to airport in Paris from city center, arriving early and dealing with security etc, then getting from Barcelona airport to city center all together would be about 5-1/2 hours, a lot more hassle, and may likely cost more including add'l fees for checked bags on the flight plus transportation charges for the two trips to and from city centers. For me, though my upper train limit is usually a 6 hrs, beats a flight any day.

And I agree with the poster who said to split up. Let your husband fly and you take the train and see who arrives calmer and ready to hit the streets in Barcelona and who wants to go to the room and have a nap.

Posted by
50 posts

If you have a lot of time to spare you can go for the train but I would prefer to just fly from Paris to Barcelona. You can save a lot of precious time and you can sometimes get cheaper air tickets when you book with low-cost carriers. We booked with Transavia and got super cheap tickets. The flight was good and we arrived in Barcelona in just 1 hour and 45 minutes.