Train travel from Paris to Barcelona

I found three trains on the DB Bahn site. One leaves at 7:20 (duration is 7 hours), one at 8:20 (duration of nearly 12 hours) and a 11:20 (duration of 10 hours). This is a long ride, no matter how you cut it. Have you considered flying?

The schedule changes in mid-June so there may be more if you're travelling after that. Trains on that route are a bit disrupted though because they're in the process of switching from the traditional route to the new high-speed line. It sounds as if the TGV site is only showing you the high-speed trains but I don't know how to see the others.

We have concidered flying but the reality is I have read horror stories on travel sites about flying within Europe on the "budget airlines" We are catching a cruise in Barcelona so our date is fixed and we have to be there to get on the ship the next morning. I am afraid if there is a problem we are stuck. The train seemed more reliable

I did a little research and found out that the reason for the different train schedules this year vs last year is that ther is a new station for TGV at Figueres Vilafant which is reducing the time to Barcelona. Unfortunately it also reduces the options but at least I know why the schedules are so different.

Since you want to travel 1st class, have you considered taking the Elipsos Trenhotel directly from Paris to Barcelona? Leave Paris Austerlitz at 20:41 and arrive at Barcelona Franca at 08:24. I realize that may be cutting it too close for comfort since you will need to get to your cruise ship in the morning. In that case, how about taking the Trenhotel one day earlier and enjoying a full day in Barcelona the day before your ship sails? For more information, go to www.seat61.com. EasyJet flies CDG-BCN and Vueling flies Orly-BCN. Both are budget airlines with very good reputations. Because Ryanair flies out of Beauvais which is a long way from Paris, I'd skip that airline.

Thanks everyone for the help. These boards are a wealth of information for us first timers. thanks again.

You can get a one way Iberia flight Orly-BCN for $120 (chose April 15 as a sample date). They are an international carrier and not a budget airline per se. In fact, in April they merged with British Air.

Hi, If you're not adverse to taking long trains, the TGV leaves from Paris Lyon to Perpignan, five hours. From there to Barcelona you have to transfer to local trains to get to Barcelona. I'll be taking that TGV Paris Lyon to Perpignan this summer r/t. It'll give me the chance again to see that lovely impressive French countryside, which I have not seen since riding the TGV Paris to Toulouse.

Not sure what the horror stories are but flying would be the best option from a time standpoint. The discount airlines charge lots of fees but there are standard carriers too. Trains can be delayed and strikes are common so I'm not sure that they'd be any more reliable than flying. It sounds like things are slowly improving, but Spain is not well connected to its neighbors by rail.

Flying is far cheaper and faster. In 2009 we flew from Barcelona to Madrid with Spanair for $45 US and a week later from Madrid to Paris with Vueling for $75 US. Everything was just great.

The disconnect between Spain and France on rail is well known. When in Spain, the French companies block the Spanish rail companies from selling their tickets. Also, the most direct train between Paris and Barcelona does sell out since it is an overnight train. This can be sold out for weeks at a time. This ticket can be purchased in either country. French rail goes on strike vastly more often than the Spanish rail. As trains sell out, the options to purchase a rail ticket becomes more limiting. Edwin