Barcelona to Avignon

I took the train from Barcelona to Perpignan, then picked up my car there. It is definitely cheaper to do that than to rent in Spain and return in France.

Thanks very much, is the bus route at all scenic?

We were 4 days ahead of Andrea and we stayed in Avignon. We took the train from Barcelona Sants to Nimes where we rented our car. The rental car places are right in the train station and the cars are just below in a large underground public parking garage. We chose Nimes because 1) we wanted to see the Pont du Gard and, 2) we would have had to change trains there anyway for a Regionale train to Avignon and there was an hour wait. Thus, we started our touring in the early afternoon, drove around and had a great dinner at Piedoie near the Hotel Colbert where we stayed. If you take the train, you will change trains at Figures-Viliphant to the French train. Usually, the train is waiting for you. Walk across the platform and off you go. www.eurolines.com may have a bus.

Ah, we had looked at taking the train to Nimes, but the only train does not leave Barcelona till after 4:00 at night, so that zaps the touring time for that day. I think they may have changed the schedule.

What about taking the train to Avignon? We left by Barcelona by train in the morning, got our car in Perpignan about noon (it could have been about an hour earlier...don't ask!), and were in Arles by about 4:00 in the afternoon.

on the Renfe and Rail Europe website, we aren't seeing a train leaving Barcelona before 4PM. I can't figure it out, because even Rick's book notes two trains leaving Barcelona, but we can't find them on the schedule...

Use TGV-Europe.com for tgv trains. One departs Figueres at 10:20 am arriving Perpignan 10:44 and arriving Nimes 12:49 pm. You'll be able to get a train from Barcelona to connect with the TGV. I hated trying to use the Renfe website a couple of years ago. I hope it has improved. On the TGV site select Great Britain for your home country, otherwise you get redirected to Rail Europe which usually has higher prices.

Thanks Tex. I'll look at this next and w/b to all.

I see 3 trains departing Barcelona Sants for Nimes between 6:16am and 7:35am. There's another 4 departing before noon. I see this on the German www.bahn.de which is great for looking for train travel schedules. True Bahn does not speak for Renfe in Spain but I know those trains are there. It's a 6.5hr train ride from Barcelona to Nimes.

Ok, we see them on the german site, but they don't show up in renfe. Renfe only shows the route Ive noted above leaving after 4 PM. Rail Europe says its too early to book them, so it isn't even showing the information. TGV Europe says "there is no train to match your request" if we try Barcelona to Nimes. If we try Cerbere to Nimes it gives lots of options, BUT when we go back to Renfe, the only option for Barcelona sants to Cerbere is the 16:42 which is too late to get the connection. The Renfe does not show the trains that we see on the German site.

Alright, we put in some dummy dates and it looks like the train from Barcelona to Cerbere runs so often there is no need to book ahead. We had to use dummy dates because we are looking at travel in mid May and later dates arent available. It's a regional train that runs every hour. We will then take a train from cerbere to Perpignan and those look like they run every hour. i think we can wait on booking these too. We can then pick up a car in Perpignan. Thoughts on that? Thanks everyone!

A friend just forwarded your posts to me. We are two couples traveling in Sept/Oct from Barcelona to Avignon. I, too, discovered that the inter-country rental car rates were exhorbitant. We will be stopping in Figueres to visit the Dali Museum -- I am the only one of us who has been before and it is very interesting. Really enjoyed the sculpture, the jewelry designs and the architecture of the Museum itself. Highly recommend it and a lovely place to lunch between Barcelona and Avignon. I now plan to investigate train travel with a stop in Figueres, and then on to Nimes for a rental car, as we also want a car for exploring in and around Avignon, including Les Baux. I previously noted that the Barcelona to Figueres route offers different trains with very different travel times. Thanks for all the good info/ideas.