Hello, here is the proiblem we have right now. we found the trains from Avignon to Barcelona on DB Bahn site. When we try to buy tickets we get a message that they can't find trains between Avignon and Barcelona. Same message appears if we try from eurorail.com. Does somebody knows of any other site to make train reservation? We would prefer to make reservation before we get to Europe.
Thank you very much.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1223 posts
Hi elena this will be regional trains; train will take 7 to 8 hours; no advantage to buy in advance. fare is 53E. to see schedule and fares: - use french train site tgv-europe.com - if it asks you, say you live in england and want to book in euros, NOT be redirected to raileurope site.
- pick a date in the near future to see schedules / fares; it will not show schedule more than 90 days in advance. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
You can take a regional train from Avignon to Port Bou, departing at 07:40 and arriving at 11:24. Leave Port Bou on a regional train at 12:24 and arrive at Barcelona Sants at 15:09. The combined 2nd class fare is €52.70 and there is no discount for booking in advance. However, if you book well in advance (up to 90 days allowed), you can both shorten the ride and pay less by taking a regional train from Avignon to Nimes, a TGV from Nimes to Figueres Vilafant, and an Estrella train from Figueres Vilafant to Barcelona Sants. Depart at 08:40 and arrive at 14:46. You can get a combined 2nd class discount fare of €45.70. (The standard 2nd class combined fare is €82.00.) If you can handle French, book at voyages-sncf.com. To book in English go to tgv-europe.com. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the US Rail Europe site, first choose Great Britain as your country of residence. Then choose to stick with tgv-europe.com rather than being redirected to the UK Rail Europe site. Don't worry. Even though you chose Great Britain, you will be able to either print your own tickets or pick them up at any SNCF station in France.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
One more thing. If you use tgv-europe.com, be sure to uncheck the box on the home page reading "Direct routes only." There aren't any.
Posted by
OP
silver spring, md, usa
18 posts
Thank you all very much for fast and detail reply. we plan the train for Mar.9. We will follow your advice. At least we now feel it should be no problem to buy tickets right there if we can't reserve from here. This is a wonderful travel site, people are so responsive and experienced! I will report on our experience when we are back.
thanks. Elena N.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Often this problem is because you're trying to book too far in advance. Is it within 90 days or so?
Posted by
OP
silver spring, md, usa
18 posts
Hi all, I want to report the success! :) We started with tgv_europe.com, followed all the advice here, but at the end the only available option was to get ticket thru regular mail ( we don't have time for it). Even the option to pick tickets at SNCF station was not available. (maybe we overlook something but it did not work for us).
Then we went to voyages-sncf.com and were able to complete and print tickets just fine. We do not know french at all but somehow guessed it out. it was fun :) thanks again. Elena