Best way to get from Barcelona to Tarifa via train?

The closest train station is at Algeciras. Take a bus from there to Tarifa. See here.

For train timetables go to www.bahn.de. After you get summary timetables for Barcelona-Algeciras, click on the arrow on the left side of each route to see the connecting points. A good choice might be to take the night train from Barcelona to Madrid for your first leg.

James,

I hope I'm not too late with this advice. I would consider flying from Barcelona to Malaga. Airlines like Veuling will get you get there in a little over 2 hours and cheaper than the train. There is another low-price airline operating out of Barcelona, but I do not recall the name. Consider also taking the bus from Malaga to Tarifa. Actually many Tangier boats leave from Algeciras.

The Vueling air option (note spelling) might be a good one, but remember the extra time you'll have to add on. You'll need to be at the airport at least 90 minutes beforehand....you'll need at least an hour to grab your bag and head downtown to the Malaga bus station....then the bus ride to Algeciras is 3 hours. Thats seven hour's minimum compared to a 9:30 best train time. Do make the effort to take the ferry to Tarifa....it's a shorter and faster trip (with high speed catamarans) and offers far more frequency than ferries from Algeciras. Whatever your choice, you may end up spending the night before you can travel to Tangier, since the last ferries from Algeciras leaves at 9:30 p.m...from Tarifa at 11 pm. From Tarifa, click here for the service. For the fastest service from Algeciras, click here. For the bus schedule from Malaga to Algeciras, click here.