We have 17 days in France and Spain this June. We fly into CDG and stay in Paris for 4 nights then head to Spain for 10 days by train then back to Paris for 3 days. We've never been to Spain before. We would like to see the Bilbao Museum, Barcelona and Tossa de Mar. We're trying to figure out the best way to make it to these three places in a span of 10 from Paris by train. We want to avoid airports as I am a fearful flyer. From what we can tell, there's a direct high speed train that will get us to Barcelona from Paris but we can't figure out the best way to get to Bilbao then back to Paris. The other alternative is to go to Biarritz or St Jean de Luz or San Sebastian from Paris and make a day trip to Bilbao. But then what would be the best way to get over to Barcelona and Tossa de Mar?Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
3746 posts
Hi Adrienne, You can get from Paris to Barcelona by high-speed train in about 7 hours. There are express buses from Barcelona’s North bus station ( “Estacio d’ Autobusos Barcelona Nord”)
that go to Tossa de Mar in 75 minutes during summer.
Return to Barcelona by the same express bus.
From Barcelona, there is one daily Alvia train at 14:32 ( 2:32pm ) to Donostia/San Sebastián. That train takes 6.5 hours.
There are buses and trains from Donostia/San Sebastián to Bilbao; buses take 1:15, trains take 2:30.
To get to Paris from Donostia/San Sebastian, you can take the commuter Euskotren ( “Basque Train”) just over the border to Hendaye. France. At the same station, transfer to a TGV train which will take you to Paris in 4:40 to 5:45 hours.
Ten days is not much time to split between Barcelona/Tossa de Mar and Bilbao/Basque country.
I was in both in 2023 and spent 20 days in just those two regions. With just 10 days, once you factor in losing a day while en route to Barcelona from
Paris, losing another day en route from Barcelona to Donostia/San Sebastian, and losing a third day returning to Paris from Basque Country—-you may be better off choosing either Barcelona/Tossa de Mar OR Basque Country, If you choose Basque Country, you easily could cover Bilbao Donostia/San Sebastian, Hondarribia, St Jean de Luz, Biarritz, Espelette, Ainhoa and other towns.
You can get an idea of train schedules and fares at www.TheTrainline.com. You can buy train tickets within France directly at www.SNCF-connect.com and the Barcelona-Donostia/San Sebastian train tickets at www.Renfe.com
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
11455 posts
It doesn't make sense to split your Paris time but do it all at either the beginning or the end.
Second, you can fly open jaw, into Paris and home from Barcelona; another possibility is fly into Paris and then fly directly home from Barcelona. A third possibility is to fly home: Barcelona to Paris, change planes in Paris then fly transatlantic but it has to be on one ticket. Or final options is to fly or take the train from Barcelona to the Paris airport, CDG, the night before, stay at an airport hotel and fly home the next morning. Otherwise, you are wasting time splitting the Paris nights.
As for Bilboa to Barcelona, a long travel day crossing across the north of Spain, is there a flight you could take?
Posted by
Washington DC
29704 posts
To find flight routings into Paris and out of Barcelona (or vice versa), search for "multi-city". You don't want two one-way tickets (unless you're paying with miles on airlines that don't charge extra for one-way tickets).
You might also check multi-city options beginning or ending in Bilbao or even San Sebastian rather than Barcelona, though I suspect that will be a lot more costly and could mean either a tight connection or a long layover. It never hurts to check, though. It's a shame to have to take the long train trip between Barcelona and the Basque Country twice. On the other hand, if you can get a non-stop to or from Barcelona, you may prefer that--even with the extra train trip--as a nervous flyer.
Posted by
OP
San Francisco, CA, USA
299 posts
Many thanks everyone for your excellent advice. There's lots to re-consider. It's funny the extent that one will go through to fulfill a bucket list bit. One of us has dreamed of seeing the Bilbao for years and years and the other wants to soak in the experience of being inside La Sagrada Familia and swim in the sea at Tossa de Mar. It's a long haul between San Sebastian and Barcelona but I'm glad that it exists so thank you for the information. I'm remembering now that I seem to be okay on short flights. About five years ago we took a flight from Naxos to Athens on a very noisy prop plane and it was fine. I'll look into all that has been suggested. Thanks again.
Posted by
Greater Sacramento
648 posts
I’ve been looking at Tossa de Mar as well. Looks like there are some beautiful coastal trails there, known as the Cami de Ronda. Would definitely recommend that open jaw flight approach to limit backtracking by the way, as long as price difference isn’t too big.