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Most efficient way to get from Loire Valley to Barcelona

Posted by on

Hi everyone~

Now that I've received such great advice here, my husband and I need more! Here's the basic gist of what's happening:

Eurostar to Paris, Wednesday night and Thursday night in Paris. Renting a car, driving to Loire Valley, Friday night and Saturday night booked at a B&B in Amboise.

Now we just have to figure out the best way to get to Barcelona. We have one additional night -- Sunday night. We have to be in Barcelona on Monday around noon.

I have booked a place in Barcelona, however, now we're thinking of canceling that and going back to Paris and flying RyanAir to Barcelona. Except...RyanAir flies out of Beauvais - Tille. So...I'd be exchanging a Sunday night in fabulous Barcelona for a Sunday night in a non-descript hotel close to the airport in Beauvais, as the flight leaves at 9 a.m. We have to be in Barcelona by around noon. (Ship leaves in the afternoon on Monday).

**We looked at an overnight train from Tours. It has 3 or 4 train changes -- so not really conducive to sleep I'm guessing.

**We looked at a train ride from Tours on Sunday. It is 13 hours long, with several train changes. We get into Barcelona at 10 p.m.

**We considered just driving the rental car south, but wonder if that's any better considering google maps says it's a 8.5 hour drive, plus we'd be dropping our car off in a different country from where we rented it.

**RyanAir sounded great...only a 1.5 hour flight, just drive back to Paris (an extra night in Paris! Wow! I'd exchange that for Barcelona)...but it's not in Paris. It's 50 miles outside of Paris, so we'd really have to stay in Beauvais/Tille. And...where would we drop off the rental car?

Sorry...I know this is kind of confusing. It seemed like a simple thing: take the train from somewhere in Loire to Barcelona. And we may still do that. But I'd welcome your input.

Thank you!
Tara

Posted by
58 posts

Yes, we used easyjet going in the reverse direction, Barcelona to CDG, and it was a pretty good price, although I'm not at my home computer to give you the exact amount. The fares do bounce around depending upon day-of-week, or even time-of-day, so I guess that's not a guarantee...

Posted by
8700 posts

You could spend the night in Paris and take the shuttle bus to Beauvais in the morning. It leaves Porte Maillot at 06:00. However, I don't think it's wise to fly into Barcelona (in Ryanair's case this would be Girona, not BCN) from anywhere on the same day you will be leaving on a cruise. If your flight is delayed or canceled, you'll be "beached."

If I were flying from Paris to BCN, I'd do it the day before the cruise. You can fly ORY-BCN on Vueling or CDG-BCN on easyJet.

IMO, your best train route would be to leave Amboise(St-Pierre) at 19:01, arriving in Les-Aubrais-Orleans at 20:04. Leave there at 21:36 on a direct night train to Barcelona Franca, arriving at 08:24.

Posted by
118 posts

My wife and I had this same problem a couple years ago. We drove from the Loire to Barcelona, stopping in Andora for a night. We drove so we could get a look at a part of France that we probably would not see again. The drive was long, but the highways very good. There was an extra charge to return the car in Spain after renting it in France. The hardest part was finding the car return at the Barcelona airport. The small town that Ryan Air uses outside of Barcelona is an easy drive as long as it's not rush hour traffic. Good luck on your choicea nd have a great trip.

Posted by
343 posts

Thanks for your suggestions, everyone! We have decided to fly Vueling from ORY to BCN on the Sunday before our departure on our cruise in Barcelona on Monday. This gives us more time in Loire, more time in Barcelona, and less time on a train. Thanks so much for your help!

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