We are planning a Europe trip in July (into Paris and leave from Barcelona with stopovers in Pamplona, San Sebastian & Bilbao). I'm finding it easier to get between these stop overs via, bus, rental car, etc. But we want to plan for the travel from Paris to Pamplona to be via a sleepover train. Do we need the Rail pass or can we jsut buy the ticket. I can't seem to get any clear info regarding why we need this pass as it seems to me 'just a buy this first then buy the tickets from the train agency' Why would I do this unless its neccassry? is this a 'club' that helps you get better accomodations? Thanks,
Wayne
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Wayne, To answer your question, you can certainly buy a P-P ticket for the trip from Paris to Pamplona. You should be able to do this when you arrive in Paris at any of the SNCF Boutiques located in various places around the city. You'd need to do some "number crunching" to determine whether a Railpass would be more cost effective than P-P tickets. Check the Railpasses page here as there's a simple "cost calculator" which will help to estimate the cost of P-P tickets. One thing to consider is that even with a Railpass, you'd still have to pay "out of pocket" for Couchette/Sleeper fees for the night train, and also the reservation fees on trains where these are compulsory. You might find it helpful to download the free PDF Rail Guide from the Railpasses page (look for the "Go Green" section at the bottom of the page). Cheers!