Traveling at night Barcelona/Florence/Paris/Barcelona

you have to consider the price. A railpass based on what I know (and I admit I could be wrong on this), is that many trains still require a reservation which is a fee on top of the pass. If you are doing night trains they will all require reservations. So point to point could end up being the better way to go as they could be cheaper.

For your trip, my guess is that point to point tickets will be cheaper than a railpass, as most trains between those cities require reservation or night train supplemental fees on top of the railpass cost.

Pricing out p2p international train tickets can be difficult - one way to do so is to use the rail website for the country from which you will depart (France = TGV Europe or SNCF, Italy = Trenitalia, Spain = Renfe) - however some of these train journeys require a connection, so the entire ticket can't be booked at one website...will update later with more specific info if you still need help, sorry but have to run now.

Hi Dayna:

Here is how to price out point-to-point tix for your travels. You can then compare to Eurail pass and decide what to do (keep in mind you need to buy Eurail pass before you leave the US).

Barcelona-Firenze by night train (should be about 95 EUR if purchased in advance):
Go to tgveurope.com and search for travel between Barcelona and Milano (the night train usually runs on
Tues, Thur, and Sun)
Then use trenitalia.com to search Milano to Firenze

Firenze to Paris by night train (should also be about 95 EUR if purchased in advance):
use trenitalia.com and search Firenze to Paris, you should be able to purchase electronic tickets.

Paris to Barcelona by night train (should be about 70 EUR if booked in advance): use tgveurope.com and search Paris to Barcelona - one some days there are two overnight options, should be at least one every day

As long as you have a VISA or MasterCard, you should be able to book tix on these sites...to get electronic tickets just indicate you will be picking up tix in country of departure (can also paper ticket them via postal mail, but that's usually less desirable).

Wow, very helpful, but still very confusing. I am now wondering if I should try to fly from barcelona to Florence, or attempt to make stops inbetween as it is not going as planned to find a train.

Another question, thank you for your help... When I try to book, it ask for my sex. If traveling with my husband will this put me in a seperate berth?

Thanks for everything
Dayna

Dayna...yes it will...compartments (as opposed to sleepers) are segregated by gender. The trip from Spain across southern France to Italy is VERY long, taking between 21 and 25 hours with several changes. Far better, and far cheaper, to fly this route. Meridiana airlines flies direct....or you could fly to Rome and take the train north. Check www.whichbudget.com to see which airlines you can book with.

For Barcelona-Firenze both your fastest and cheapest route might be to fly Barcelona-Pisa on Clickair (a budget airline) and then take a train from Pisa to Firenze.

The full fare for a bunk in a 4-person couchette on the Firenze-Paris night train is €125, but the Smart Price fare is only €45. Book on www.trenitalia.com up to 90 days in advance. (Note: It is sometimes next to impossible to get Trenitalia to accept US credit cards online.)

To book a Paris-Barcelona night train go to www.tgv-europe.com. Book up to 90 days in advance. To keep the site in English and to prevent being bumped to the Rail Europe site, choose Great Britain as both your country of residence and the country in which you will retrieve your tickets. You can pick up your tickets at any SNCF station or boutique (ticket shop) in France, even though you originally chose Great Britain.

There are also budget airlines that fly Pisa-Paris and Paris-Barcelona. Do a search at www.flylc.com or www.whichbudget.com.