My husband and I are leaving for Paris in mid November and plan to purchase a France Railpass in the next few weeks. We will spend a few days in Paris then head to Avignon, Arles, Carcasonne, Colloure and then on to Barcelona. The Barcelona segment is what is causing us confusion. We know we need a reservation on the TGV from Colloure to Barcelona. There are only two trains and we must be on the first one to make our other connections. How do we make a reservation for the train and pay for the Spain portion in advance? We don't want to risk waiting to get our tickets after we arrive in Paris. We have tried to navigate the various websites but it is so confusing. Any help and insight would be appreciated by this first time train user.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Point-to-point tickets will be cheaper than a railpass. By booking now you can get a Prem's fare as low as 22 EUR for Paris-Avignon. (The standard fare is 84.50 EUR.) Just ask and I'll tell you how to book.
Buy your Avignon-Arles, Arles-Carcassonne, and Carcassonne-Collioure tickets as you go--or buy them all in Paris. The fare for Avignon-Arles on regional trains is 6.60 EUR. The standard fare for Arles-Carcassonne is 36.60 EUR. You can travel Carcassonne-Collioure (with a connection in Narbonne) for 23.70 EUR.
Are you planning to leave Collioure at 08:11, arrive at Perpignan at 08:36, leave Perpignan at 08:57 and arrive at Barcelona Sants at 11:46? If so, you can safely wait and buy your tickets when you get to Paris, even for the Perpignan-Barcelona Sants leg. The fare for Collioure-Perpignan is 8.70 EUR and the fare for Perpignan-Barcelona Sants is 36.00 EUR.
Posted by
OP
oklahoma city, ok, usa
2 posts
Tim, thank you so much for the information about the Prem's tickets. We navigated the website you gave us and now have our tickets from Paris to Avignon at 22 euros each. We will take your advice and purchase the other segments when we reach Paris. You were so right, we do not need a France Pass. Thanks again.