23 January 2012. Train times valid from 11
December 2011 to 9 June 2012.
UK to Spain by train?
It's very easy to travel from the UK
to Spain by train, in fact, it's amazing that some
people still think you need to fly. Take an afternoon
Eurostar from London to Paris in just 2 hours 20 minutes,
then the excellent Elipsos trainhotel
overnight from Paris to Madrid or Barcelona arriving next
morning, with onward train
connections in just a few hours for Seville, Malaga,
Granada, Valencia or Alicante, or ferries to Ibiza & Majorca. The trainhotel has cosy bedrooms, a
restaurant and a café-bar,
see the
photos below. The Gran Clase bedrooms
even have a private toilet and shower... It's
affordable, too, as fares start at £69 return for Eurostar
from London to Paris plus £68 each way for the trainhotel
from Paris to Madrid or Barcelona including a bed in a
4-berth sleeper for the night. Better still, how about
£152 each way per person in a 2-bed Gran Clase sleeper
with private shower & toilet, dinner with wine and breakfast
included in the fare? And it's far more
environmentally-friendly as
well. You can also sail to Spain on a
Brittany Ferries luxury cruise ferry from Portsmouth or
Plymouth, an increasingly popular option. This page will tell you
train times, fares, and the best way to buy tickets.
See the video -
Taking the train to Spain...
It's a PR video, of course, but this 4-minute film shows
how good travelling on the Paris-Madrid or
Paris-Barcelona trainhotels can be. Put the romance
back into a journey to Spain!
It couldn't be simpler. Take an
afternoon Eurostar from London to Paris, then the
overnight 'Elipsos trainhotel' from Paris to Madrid. Enjoy
dinner in the restaurant or a drink in the bar before
retiring to your sleeper for the night, then wake up in
Spain to glimpses of snow-capped mountains in the distance
and the royal palace at El Escorial north of Madrid.
Fares start at £39 one-way or £69 return for the Eurostar plus £68 each way
for the trainhotel with a bed in a 4-bed tourist class
sleeper, or better still, £152 each way per person in a
2-bed Gran Clase sleeper with private shower & toilet,
3-course dinner with wine, coffee, liqueurs and breakfast
all included in the fare.
Train times
London ► Burgos, Valladolid, Madrid
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving London
St Pancras at 14:01 and arriving in Paris Gare
du Nord at 17:17. By all means choose an earlier
Eurostar if if you'd like to stop off in Paris, or if it
has cheaper tickets available.
Cross Paris by
metro or taxi to the Gare d'Austerlitz.
Travel
overnight from Paris to Madrid on the Elipsos trainhotel 'Francisco de Goya'
leaving Paris Gare d'Austerlitz daily
at 18:53 and arriving next morning in Burgos at 05:20, Valladolid at 06:22 and Madrid (Chamartin
station) at 09:10.
What's the
trainhotel like?
On what days does the
trainhotel run? From 11 December 2011 to 17
March 2012 the trainhotel will run on Monday, Thursday,
Friday and Sunday nights (and additionally on 24, 31
December, 11, 18, 25 February and 3 March, but not
on 17 or 25 December or 1 January). From 18 March
to 15 October 2012 it will run every night of the week,
except for 31 March, 7 or 9 April, 1, 8, 17 & 28 May. On the days when it's not running, don't worry, an
alternative train service is available using the
trainhotel to Barcelona.
Important: There
is lots of engineering work in France this year.
If you don't see the Elipsos trainhotel in the booking
systems for a given date, it may have been 'closed for
sale' while they work out how the work will affect the
train. Normally, tickets are released in due
course, but rather less than the normal 90 days ahead.
Engineering work may also affect arrival and/or
departure times on a few dates, please check when you
book and if necessary take an earlier Eurostar
connection.
The Elipsos trainhotel
'Francisco de Goya' leaves Madrid Chamartin daily at
19:00, Valladolid at 21:20 and Burgos at 22:21, arriving
Paris Gare d'Austerlitz at 09:03 next morning. The
arrival time may vary on certain dates, so always check
when booking. Trainhotel passengers in Preferente
and Gran Clase sleepers may use the Sala Club (1st class
lounge) at Madrid Chamartin near platform 14, with
complimentary tea, coffee, juices and unlimited free
beer.
On what days does the
trainhotel run? From 11 December 2011 to 17 March 2012
the trainhotel will run on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
nights (but it will also run on 17 December, 7 January,
11, 18, 25 February and 3 & 10 March). From 16
March to 15 October 2012 it will run every night of the
week, except for 24 & 31 March, 6, 7 & 8 April, 1, 8, 17
& 28 May. On the days when it's not running, don't worry, an
alternative train service is available.
Important: There
is lots of engineering work in France this year.
If you don't see the Elipsos trainhotel in the booking
systems for a given date, it may have been 'closed for
sale' while they work out how the work will affect the
train. Normally, tickets are released in due
course, but rather less than the normal 90 days ahead.
Engineering work may also affect arrival and/or
departure times on a few dates, please check carefully
when you book and if necessary take a later Eurostar
connection.
A Eurostar leaves Paris Gare du
Nord at 11:13 and arrives London St Pancras at 12:30.
By all means choose a later Eurostar if if you'd like to
stop off in Paris, or if this has cheaper tickets
available.
The trainhotel
'Francisco de Goya' is a compact rolling hotel, run by a
consortium of the French & Spanish railways called
Elipsos.
It has Gran Clase, Preferente & Tourist class sleepers plus reclining seats.
It also has a restaurant & a cafe-bar. See
the photos below, and the
picture gallery & nifty virtual tour at
www.elipsos.com. It is entirely non-smoking.
The train is an articulated Spanish 'Talgo' train fitted with
adjustable axles. At the frontier in the small hours
of the morning it passes through a special shed, and the
axles are adjusted from European standard track gauge (4'
8½") to Spanish track gauge (5'
5.7"). Book early to
avoid disappointment, as the trainhotels are very popular,
and can leave full. Indeed, average occupancy has now
reached 87%. Paris to Madrid by trainhotel is 1,459 km
(906 miles), London to Paris by Eurostar is 492 km (305
miles).
...'Gran Clase'
sleepers: 1 or 2 berth with private shower &
toilet, dinner & breakfast included
The trainhotel is
an
articulated Spanish 'Talgo' train, run by Elipsos, a
consortium of French &
Spanish railways.
A 'Gran Clase' sleeper, in evening
mode with the seats folded out...
...return from dinner to find the
attendant has made up the beds...
Gran Clase sleepers have a private
toilet & shower...
You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a hotel-style card key for your door and vouchers for dinner and
breakfast in the restaurant car, which are both included in
the Gran Clase fare. He asks which sitting for dinner
you'd prefer (8pm or 10pm) and takes your table reservation. He
takes your passport and tickets so you are not disturbed by
ticket or passport checks during the night. Gran Clase rooms are
very small but cosy, just big enough for two
armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded out, see
the photos below. The attendant will make up the
berths while you are at dinner, one lower bed and one upper
bed. Each Gran Clase compartment has an adjoining
private shower room, just big enough to contain a shower,
toilet & washbasin. Fluffy towels, mineral water and a
complimentary toiletries pack with soap, shampoo & shower
gel are provided. There's a power socket near the door
for laptops & mobiles. A 3-course evening meal in the
restaurant car complete with
aperitif of sherry or sparkling cava, wine, coffee &
liqueurs, is included in the Gran Clase fare, as is
breakfast next morning. 'Gran Clase' is described as
first class single or double 'with shower' on online booking
websites. Travelling Gran Clase is a wonderful way to
reach Spain, but please remember that this is a real train
not a deluxe tourist experience - the photos accurately show
the compact size of the compartment, just big enough for two
seats convertible to two beds at night with space to stand
next to them.
...'Preferente'
sleepers: 1 or 2 berth with washbasin, breakfast
included
A
'Preferente' 2-berth sleeper, with beds folded away...
All aboard
for Spain!
You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a hotel-style card key for your door and vouchers for breakfast in
the restaurant car, included in the Preferente fare.
He takes your passport and tickets, so you are not disturbed
by ticket or passport checks during the night.
Preferente rooms are very small but cosy, just big enough
for two armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded
out. Your luggage stays with you, there's space in the
recess above the door, projecting over the ceiling of the
corridor. The attendant will make up the berths when
you ask, one lower and one upper berth. Each
Preferente compartment has a washbasin, and towels, mineral
water and soap are provided. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals and drinks other than
breakfast aren't included in the fare. You can only
now book whole compartments in these 1 or 2-berth sleepers,
you cannot book just one berth and share with another
passenger. 'Preferente'
is described as first class single or double on online
booking websites.
...Tourist Class
sleepers: 4-berth with washbasin
Tourist Class 4-berth sleeper, in
evening mode with the seats folded out...
Tourist Class 4-berth sleeper, with
the beds folded out...
The Elipsos
trainhotel boarding at Paris Austerlitz...
Tourist class
sleepers have 4 berths, arranged as upper & lower on each
side of the compartment, plus a washbasin. Berths in
tourist sleepers are sold individually, so you can book one
or two berths in a shared 4-berth compartment and share with
other passengers of the same sex. A family or group of
4 passengers travelling together can of course book a
compartment to themselves. You are greeted at the carriage
door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your tickets
and shows you to your compartment. He comes round
later to take your passport and tickets, so you are not
disturbed by ticket or passport checks during the night.
The Tourist sleepers are very small but cosy, just big enough
for four small armchairs that disappear when the beds are
folded out. The attendant will make up the berths when
you ask, two lower berths and two upper berths. These
are not couchettes, but proper beds with mattress, sheets
and blankets freshly made up for you. Each compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided for each passenger. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals
and drinks aren't included in the fare. Your luggage
stays with you, there's luggage space in the recess above
the door, projecting over the ceiling of the corridor.
All sleeper compartment doors have both a normal lock and a
security lock which cannot be opened from outside (even with
a staff key) so you're both safe and snug. 'Tourist class' is
described as second class 4-berth on online booking
websites.
Reclining
seats: The trainhotel has one small coach of first
class reclining seats, with plenty of legroom and leg
supports, but seats (even first class) are not recommended
for an overnight journey. Travelling with a bed in a
tourist sleeper is far more comfortable, and (as special
fares are available in tourist class) usually cheaper.
Online booking websites simply (and
misleadingly) call these seats 'first class'.
...the
cafe-bar & restaurant car
The trainhotel
has a café-bar serving food & drink in the evening and breakfast in the
morning, and there's an elegant restaurant car serving
à la carte dinner
and breakfast. Gran Clase fares include a 3-course dinner
with aperitif of sparkling cava, a half bottle of wine,
coffee & liqueurs. For other passengers a starter in
the restaurant car costs about 7-8 euros, a main course
16-18 euros, dessert 4-5 euros, a half bottle of wine 8
euros. All major credit cards are accepted.
There is usually a vegetarian option and/or a fish dish on
the dinner menu, but if you're travelling in Gran Clase (but
not in other classes), special meals such as vegetarian, vegan or
gluten free can
be pre-booked on Elipsos by calling Rail Europe.
You cannot pre-book a table for dinner, Gran clase
passengers get priority and will be allocated a table for
their preferred sitting by their sleeper attendant when they
board the train, but other passengers should simply go along
to the restaurant car to ask for a table as soon as possible
after departure. If you find all the tables taken,
don't worry, the cafe-bar can serve the same food as the
restaurant car, or you can order food from the restaurant
car to take back to your sleeper compartment.
Alternatively, unlike air travel, feel free to bring your
own picnic, wine or beer onto the train to eat & drink in
your sleeper compartment. In the morning, Gran Clase & Preferente fares include breakfast, for
other passengers breakfast in the café-bar or restaurant
costs around 7 euros. Enjoy your coffee and croissant
in the bar or restaurant as the trainhotel twists and turns
through the rocky hills North of Madrid, with glimpses of
mist-filled valleys and mountain peaks in the distance.
Wonderful! Look out for the walled city of Avila on
the right about 1 hour 20 minutes before Madrid, and for the
huge Spanish royal palace at El Escorial, on the hill to the
left of the train about 40 minutes before Madrid.
The
trainhotel's café-bar
serves drinks & food. Grab a barstool early, it gets
crowded later on!
The elegant trainhotel restaurant
awaits first sitting for dinner. The Gran Clase fares
include dinner & breakfast.
Dinner in the trainhotel's
restaurant car, as French
towns and picturesque villages swish past in the moonlight,
traffic lights glinting off the rainy streets. Round off the
meal with coffee and a brandy...
Breakfast next morning, with the lights of the historic walled
city of Avila twinkling in the distance on the right...
£54 each way. You must occupy the whole compartment.
10%-25% higher fares apply
mid-June to mid-September & at Easter (e.g.
£68 becomes £86).
* Special fares: In Tourist Class the £68
fare (£86 in summer) is called 'Prems', book at least
14 days in advance, non-refundable, non-changeable.
In 1st Class & Gran Clase 2 people must travel
together & either the higher
price (Duo) or if you're lucky, lower price (Mini
à Deux) will be available on any given date.
Mini is non-refundable, non-changeable, limited
availability. Duo is refundable, exchangeable,
usually available.
** Child = 4-11 years old;
Youth = 12-25 years old; Senior = anyone over 60.
***
Fare includes breakfast. **** Fare includes
evening meal with wine in the restaurant & breakfast.
Children under 4 go free, as long
as the parents have sole use of a compartment.
The best way for UK residents to buy tickets
for both Eurostar and the Paris-Madrid trainhotel is online
at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
using the booking form below.
But
please read the booking tips first! To book by
phone or in person, click
here.
If you live in another European country,
click here. If you live in
the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand,
click here.
Tickets can be collected at St Pancras or stations in
France free of charge, or sent to a UK
address for a £2.25 fee.
There's no fee for debit cards, but they charge a 2.5% credit card fee. Only
UK credit cards are accepted.
Reservations for the trainhotels to Spain open 90 days before
departure. You can't book before reservations open,
but if you ask
www.raileurope.co.uk
for a date more than 90 days ahead, it will offer to send an
email
reminder when reservations open. Eurostar bookings
open 120 days ahead, but I strongly recommend waiting and
buying all tickets together, so you can confirm trainhotel
timings before booking a Eurostar connection.
Be aware that the 90 days is often
squeezed to as little as 60 for travel in the few weeks
immediately after the European timetable changes in
mid-June & mid-December. Ask for a date before the
timetable change to get an idea of price.
Split the booking!!
It's best to treat London to Madrid as two
separate journeys, one from London to Paris, the other
Paris to Madrid. This gives you more control, and
allows you to mix and match (for example) 2nd class Eurostar
with 2-berth sleeper (1st class). It also allows
stopovers in Paris if you like.
Why
split the journey?
Step 1, change 'St Pancras' to 'Paris' and book from Paris to Madrid & back,
looking for the direct Elipsos train. 'With shower' =
gran clase. On the
confirmation page, clicking 'show itinerary details' shows the
coach & berth or seat number
you've been given.
Trainhotel berth numbering plan.
Check trainhotel times before booking the Eurostar, as
engineering work may affect them, requiring an earlier Eurostar connection
outward or a later one back.
Important tip: If you are booking all the
berths in a sleeper compartment (for example, two tickets in
a 2-berth) a glitch means that it may ask for the
passengers' sex and say something about single sex
compartments. Ignore this, and simply select two
males, even if you're a male and female couple, then proceed
with the booking!
Step 2, when you've booked the train from Paris to
Madrid & back, click 'continue shopping' and book the
Eurostar from London to Paris & back. Use the Eurostar
times on this page as a guide, but feel free to choose an
earlier Eurostar from London or a later Eurostar back from
Paris, if these have cheaper seats available or if you'd
like to stop off in Paris. Don't forget that on your
return journey, your departure date from Paris to London
will be the day after your departure date from Spain to
Paris!
Tickets are sent from Rail Europe's UK office and normally arrive in a couple of
days. If you need any help, you can call Rail Europe's
UK call centre on 0844 848 5 848.
...using Rail Europe: You can book most (but not all)
connecting trains within Spain at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
along with your London-Madrid tickets. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
can't sell the cheap 'web' or 'estrella' fares (at least not
yet), only
full-price fully-flexible fares, which means it can be
expensive. If you want to use raileurope.co.uk, click
'Continue shopping' after booking your London-Paris-Madrid
tickets, and book your Spanish domestic trains, for example
Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Granada or Algeciras.
...using the Spanish Railways website www.renfe.com:
This is the cheapest way to buy Spanish train tickets, as
www.renfe.com offers
all Renfe's cheap fares online including 'Web' &
'Estrella' fares. See these
step-by-step instructions for using renfe.com.
Usually the Renfe website works fine, but occasionally there
are payment problems.
...using the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com:
New!! Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not
yet their UK one) has now been linked directly to the Renfe
ticketing system so it can sell Spanish train tickets
painlessly at the same prices as Renfe.com, including
the cheap 'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro
booking fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK, most of
Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia and Africa
can use this system, with payment in euros and print-at-home
tickets. Booking tips: 'Second
class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means 'Preferente', it
cannot book Club class. If you live in the UK, you'll
find the UK is listed as 'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you use
their site would be appreciated.
You
can book through a number of UK agencies, including Rail
Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday, 09:00-18:00 on Saturdays,
closed on Sundays, £8 booking fee applies) or Ffestiniog
Travel on 01766 772050 (8% booking fee). Rail Europe have a
travel centre for personal callers at 1 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4XT, open 10:00-18:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-16:00 Saturdays. There
is also a Spanish Railways agency in London which can book
trains to and within Spain:
www.spanish-rail.co.uk or telephone 020 3137 4464
(lines open 09:30-13:30 & 14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10
euro per person booking fee
applies). For more information about how to book
European train travel from the UK and overseas, see the How to buy European train
tickets page.
Tailor-made
travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail travel booked for you and
hotels arranged, contact
www.railbookers.com, 020 3327 0761. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you. They get
very positive reviews.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries &
prices. Railbookers also now have an office in
Sydney Australia,
www.railbookers.com.au, 02 8096 0550.
The Tortoise and the
Hare? At
breakfast approaching Madrid, the restaurant car of the
trainhotel is bathed in a warm red glow as the morning
sun rises over distant mountain tops. We're
running on time, which is more than can be said for most
airline passengers who tried to reach Spain for
Christmas. The day we
left London to spend Christmas week in Andalusia,
Heathrow was closed due to fog and all flights were
cancelled for several days. We arrived in Seville
by train from London, spot on time. A latter-day
case of the tortoise and the hare? Above right:
The Spanish royal palace at El Escorial, seen from your
breakfast table on the trainhotel as it snakes through
the hills north of Madrid...
Anyone from any country worldwide can buy tickets direct
from the relevant train operator websites as follows:
How far ahead can you book? The Paris-Madrid
trainhotel opens
for booking 90 days before departure, you cannot book before
bookings open. Eurostar bookings open 120 days ahead,
but I strongly recommend waiting until 90 days and buying
Eurostar and trainhotel tickets
at the same time. Be aware that the 90 days is often
squeezed to as little as 60 for travel in the few weeks
immediately after the European timetable changes in mid-June
& mid-December. When you're ready to book, do a 'dry run' on
each website before booking for real, to double-check the
prices, availability and exact timings for each part of the
journey.
If
you live in the UK, it can be better to buy your
tickets from www.raileurope.co.uk
as shown
above, so you can buy your Eurostar & trainhotel tickets together.
Prices are (or
should be) the same as on www.tgv-europe.com, and it's backed by a UK call
centre. On the other hand, there are no credit card or
postage fees at www.tgv-europe.com
and prices are in euros so it's a fraction cheaper because
you'll get a better exchange rate from your own bank.
It also allows you to request specific seating options which Rail Europe doesn't. But it's your call!
When using
www.tgv-europe.com, you must select 1st class if you
want 1 or 2 berth sleepers or reclining seats, and you must
remember to click 'choose my place' and change 'reclining
seat' to 'Single' or 'Double' sleeper or (for Gran Clase)
Single or Double 'with Shower', otherwise you'll end up in a
reclining seat! For 4-berth sleepers, leave 2nd class
selected.
Alternatively, you can book the trainhotel in either
direction using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com,
with print-at-home ticketing. But
first see
step-by-step instructions here, there's a small glitch
when booking sleepers which you need to know how to get
over.
Step
2: Book a connecting Eurostar from London to Paris.
Go to
www.eurostar.com
and book a suitable Eurostar from London to Paris and back.
Use the Eurostar times on this page as a guide, but feel
free to choose an earlier Eurostar from London or a later
Eurostar back from Paris if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris. You
can print out your own ticket, or collect it at the station
at London St Pancras. Easy!
Step 3: Buy onward tickets within Spain. You
should buy onward tickets from Madrid to Seville, Malaga,
Granada or anywhere in Spain
online at
www.renfe.com,
with print-at-home ticketing and cheap 'web' and 'estrella'
fares, see the
step-by-step instructions here. Spanish domestic
trains open for bookings only 60 days ahead.
How to buy tickets if you live
in the USA, Canada, Australia,
Canada, Australia, Asia, Africa or South America...
If you live outside Europe, you can buy tickets for any or
all of these trains online at
www.raileurope.com
(USA),
www.raileurope.ca (Canada),
www.raileurope.com.au
(Australia),
or in any other country worldwide,
www.raileurope-world.com. Rail
Europe is North America's biggest European rail agency, a
subsidiary of French Railways. You may prefer buying
all your tickets together from one agency in your home
country in your own currency.
However, the booking system used by the Rail Europes based in
America, Australasia, Africa & Asia
is currently incapable of booking Gran Clase, so if you want
a Gran
Clase sleeper with shower, you'll have to book with www.tgv-europe.com as shown above.
Alternatively, if you want a compete hassle-free tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged by someone who knows what
they're doing, the people to call are
www.railbookers.com. US residents can call them on
(646) 770 2894 (please
quote 'seat61'), Canadian residents can call (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'), and Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on
02 8096 0550. Tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you, hassle-free.
Railbookers get
very positive reviews and take good care of their guests.
Browse suggested itineraries &
prices.
London to Madrid via the Paris-Barcelona trainhotel...
This takes a few hours longer than
using the Paris-Madrid trainhotel, and it costs a bit more as
you'll need to pay for a ticket between Barcelona
& Madrid. But it runs daily all year and takes a
different route to the Paris-Madrid trainhotel, so on days
when the Paris-Madrid trenhotel isn't running (in other words,
on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays in winter, or occasionally when it's cancelled
because of engineering work) this is a good option. It gives you
the same excellent 'trainhotel' facilities, with restaurant,
cafe-bar and sleepers including some with private shower &
toilet. It's also a good option if you simply want to
see Barcelona on the way. All trains are ticketed
separately, so stopping off makes no difference to the cost.
London ► Madrid
(via Barcelona)
Travel from London
to Paris by Eurostar and from Pars to Barcelona by trainhotel
'Joan Miro', as shown in the London to
Barcelona section below. You leave London St Pancras
at 15:01 (15:31 on Sundays), arriving at Barcelona
França station at 08:05 next morning.
Transfer from
Barcelona França station to Barcelona Sants station by local
suburban train or by taxi.
Travel from
Barcelona to Madrid by high-speed AVE train, leaving Barcelona
Sants at 10:00 and arriving at Madrid Atocha at 13:10.
Madrid ► London (via
Barcelona)
Travel from Madrid
to Barcelona by high-speed AVE train, leaving Madrid Atocha at
16:30 arriving at Barcelona Sants at
19:15. Transfer by suburban train
or taxi to Barcelona França station.
Travel from
Barcelona to Paris by trainhotel 'Joan Miro' then by Eurostar
to London, as shown in the London to
Barcelona section below. You leave Barcelona at
20:43, arriving at London St Pancras at 11:39 next day.
Arrive relaxed, not stressed... Splurge on
a Gran Clase 2-berth sleeper, and your compartment
comes with a private toilet & shower. Dinner with
wine & a continental breakfast are included in the fare.
A hot shower and breakfast on the trainhotel really sets
you up for the day...
It couldn't be simpler. Just hop on an afternoon
Eurostar from London to Paris, then take the Elipsos
'trainhotel' from Paris to Barcelona overnight. Enjoy dinner in
the restaurant or a drink in the bar as French villages
swish past in the moonlight before retiring to your
sleeper for the night, then wake up in Spain. Fares
start at £39 one-way or £69 return for the Eurostar plus £68 each way for
the trainhotel, including a bed in a 4-bed Tourist class
sleeper. Or better still, £152 each way per person in
a 2-bed Gran Clase sleeper with private shower and toilet,
dinner with wine and breakfast next morning included in the
fare. There's also a
London-Paris-Barcelona daytime option,
although it's not as time-effective as the trainhotel.
Train times London ► Figueres,
Girona, Barcelona
Travel from
London to Paris by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 15:01 (15:31 at weekends) and arriving in Paris
Gare du Nord at 18:17 (18:47 at weekends). By all means choose an
earlier Eurostar if if you'd like to stop off in Paris, or
if this has cheaper tickets available.
Cross Paris by
metro or taxi to the Gare d'Austerlitz.
Travel from
Paris to Barcelona overnight on the trainhotel 'Joan Miro', leaving Paris Gare d'Austerlitz daily at 20:23 and
arriving next morning in Figueres (for the Salvador Dali
museum) at 06:04, Girona at 06:33 and Barcelona França
station at 08:05.
What's the
trainhotel like?
Trainhotel tickets are valid
on the frequent local trains from Barcelona Franca to
Barcelona Paseo de Gracia or Barcelona Sants, if these
are better stations for you. The nearest metro to
the Estacion França is
Barceloneta.
Important: There
is lots of engineering work in France this year.
If you don't see the Elipsos trainhotel in the booking
systems for a given date, it may have been 'closed for
sale' while they work out how the work will affect the
train. Normally, tickets are released in due
course, but rather less than the normal 90 days ahead. Engineering work may also affect arrival and/or
departure times on a few dates, please check carefully
when you book and if necessary take an earlier Eurostar
connection.
Train times Barcelona, Girona,
Figueres ► London
The trainhotel
'Joan Miro' leaves Barcelona França
station at 20:43, Girona at 21:57, Figueres at 22:27,
arriving Paris Gare d'Austerlitz at 08:37 next morning. The arrival time
can vary on certain dates,
so check times when you book.
Cross Paris by metro or taxi to the Gare du Nord.
Travel
from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du
Nord at 10:13 and arriving London St Pancras at
11:39.
By all means choose a later Eurostar if if you'd like to
stop off in Paris, or if this has cheaper tickets
available.
Important: There
is lots of engineering work in France this year.
If you don't see the Elipsos trainhotel in the booking
systems for a given date, it may have been 'closed for
sale' while they work out how the work will affect the
train. Normally, tickets are released in due
course, but rather less than the normal 90 days ahead.Engineering work may also affect arrival and/or
departure times on a few dates, please check carefully
when you book and if necessary take a later Eurostar
connection.
The trainhotel
'Joan Miro' is a compact rolling hotel, run by a consortium
of the French & Spanish railways called
Elipsos.
It has Gran Clase, Preferente & Tourist class sleepers plus
one small coach of reclining seats. It also has a
restaurant & a cafe-bar. See
the photos below, and the
picture gallery & nifty virtual tour at
www.elipsos.com. It is entirely non-smoking.
The train is an articulated Spanish 'Talgo' train fitted with
adjustable axles. At the frontier in the small hours
of the morning it passes through a special shed, and the
axles are adjusted from European standard track gauge (4'
8½") to Spanish track gauge (5'
5.7"). Book early to
avoid disappointment, as the trainhotels are very popular,
and can leave full. Indeed, average occupancy has now
reached 87%. Paris to Barcelona by trainhotel is 1,137
km (706 miles), London to Paris by Eurostar is 492 km (305
miles).
...'Gran Clase'
sleepers: 1 or 2 berth with private shower & toilet,
dinner & breakfast included
You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a hotel-style card key for your door and vouchers for dinner and
breakfast in the restaurant car, which are both included in
the Gran Clase fare. He asks which sitting for dinner
you'd prefer and takes your table reservation. He
takes your passport and tickets so you are not disturbed by
ticket or passport checks during the night. Gran Clase rooms are
very small but cosy, just big enough for two
armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded out, see
the photos below. The attendant will make up the
berths while you are at dinner, one lower bed and one upper
bed. Each Gran Clase compartment has an adjoining
private shower room, just big enough to contain a shower,
toilet & washbasin. Fluffy towels, mineral water and a
complimentary toiletries pack with soap, shampoo & shower
gel are provided. A 3-course evening meal in the
restaurant car, complete with
aperitif of sherry or sparkling cava, wine, coffee &
liqueurs, is included in the Gran Clase fare, as is
breakfast next morning. 'Gran Clase' is described as
first class single or double 'with shower' on online booking
websites. Travelling Gran Clase is a wonderful way to
reach Spain, but please remember that this is a real train
not a deluxe tourist experience - the photos accurately show
the compact size of the compartment, just big enough for two
seats convertible to two beds at night with space to stand
next to them.
The
trainhotel is an articulated Spanish 'Talgo' train, run by
Elipsos, a consortium of French & Spanish railways.
Gran Clase sleeper, in evening
mode with the seats folded out...
...return from dinner to find the
attendant has made up the beds...
Gran Clase sleepers have a private
toilet & shower...
...'Preferente'
sleepers: 1 or 2 berth with washbasin, breakfast
included
You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a hotel-style card key for your door and vouchers for breakfast in
the restaurant car, included in the Preferente fare.
He takes your passport and tickets, so you are not disturbed
by ticket or passport checks during the night.
Preferente rooms are very small but cosy, just big enough for
two armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded out.
Your luggage stays with you, there's space in the recess
above the door, projecting over the ceiling of the corridor. The attendant will make up the berths when you ask, one
lower and one upper berth. Each Preferente compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals and drinks other than
breakfast aren't included in the fare. You can only
now book whole compartments in these 1 or 2-berth sleepers,
you cannot book just one berth and share with another
passenger. 'Preferente'
is described as first class single or double on online
booking websites.
A
'Preferente' 2-berth sleeper, with beds folded away...
All aboard
for Spain!
...Tourist Class
sleepers: 4-berth with washbasin
Tourist class
sleepers have 4 berths, arranged as upper & lower on each
side of the compartment, plus a washbasin. Berths in
tourist sleepers are sold individually, so you can book one
or two berths in a shared 4-berth compartment and share with
other passengers of the same sex. A family or group of
4 passengers travelling together can of course book a
compartment to themselves. You are greeted at the carriage
door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your tickets
and shows you to your compartment. He comes round
later to take your passport and tickets, so you are not
disturbed by ticket or passport checks during the night.
The Tourist sleepers are very small but cosy, just big enough
for four small armchairs that disappear when the beds are
folded out. The attendant will make up the berths when
you ask, two lower berths and two upper berths. These
are not couchettes, but proper beds with mattress, sheets
and blankets freshly made up for you. Each compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided for each passenger. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals
and drinks aren't included in the fare. Your luggage
stays with you, there's luggage space in the recess above
the door, projecting over the ceiling of the corridor.
All sleeper compartment doors have both a normal lock and a
security lock which cannot be opened from outside (even with
a staff key) so you're both safe and snug. 'Tourist class' is
described as second class 4-berth on online booking
websites.
Tourist Class 4-berth sleeper, in
evening mode with the seats folded out...
Tourist Class 4-berth sleeper, with
the beds folded out...
The Elipsos
trainhotel boarding at Paris Austerlitz...
Reclining
seats: The trainhotel has one small coach of first
class reclining seats, with plenty of legroom and leg
supports, but seats (even first class) are not recommended
for an overnight journey. Travelling with a bed in a
tourist sleeper is far more comfortable, and (as special
fares are available in tourist class) usually cheaper.
Online booking websites simply (and
misleadingly) call these seats 'first class'.
...the
cafe-bar & restaurant car
The trainhotel
has a café-bar serving food & drink in the evening and breakfast in the
morning, and there's an elegant restaurant car serving
à la carte dinner
and breakfast. Gran Clase fares include a 3-course dinner
with aperitif of sparkling cava, a half bottle of wine,
coffee & liqueurs. For other passengers a starter in
the restaurant car costs about 7-8 euros, a main course
16-18 euros, dessert 4-5 euros, a half bottle of wine 8
euros. All major credit cards are accepted.
There is usually a vegetarian option and/or a fish dish on
the dinner menu, but if you're travelling in Gran Clase (but
not in other classes), special meals such as vegetarian, vegan or
gluten free can
be pre-booked on Elipsos by calling Rail Europe.
You cannot pre-book a table for dinner, Gran clase
passengers get priority and will be allocated a table for
their preferred sitting by their sleeper attendant when they
board the train, but other passengers should simply go along
to the restaurant car to ask for a table as soon as possible
after departure. If you find all the tables taken,
don't worry, the cafe-bar can serve the same food as the
restaurant car, or you can order food from the restaurant
car to take back to your sleeper compartment.
Alternatively, unlike air travel, feel free to bring your
own picnic, wine or beer onto the train to eat & drink in
your sleeper compartment. In the morning, Gran Clase & Preferente fares include breakfast, for
other passengers breakfast in the café-bar or restaurant
costs around 7 euros.
The
trainhotel's café-bar serves drinks & food. Grab a barstool early, it gets
crowded later on!
The elegant trainhotel restaurant
awaits first sitting for dinner. The Gran Clase fares
include dinner & breakfast.
Dinner on the trainhotel, as French
towns and picturesque villages swish past in the moonlight,
traffic lights glinting off the rainy streets. Round off the
meal with coffee and a brandy...
Breakfast next morning, a small omelette, pain au chocolat and
croissant...
10%-25% higher fares apply
mid-June to mid-September & at Easter (e.g.
£68 becomes £86).
*Special fares: In Tourist Class the £68
fare (£86 in summer) is called 'Prems', book at least
14 days in advance, non-refundable, non-changeable.
In 1st Class & Gran Clase 2 people must travel
together & either the higher price
(Duo) or if you're lucky, lower price (Mini
à Deux) will be available on any given date.
Mini is non-refundable, non-changeable, limited
availability. Duo is refundable, exchangeable,
usually available.
** Child = 4-11 years old;
Youth = 12-25 years old; Senior = anyone over 60.
***
Fare includes breakfast. **** Fare includes
evening meal with wine in the restaurant & breakfast.
Children under 4 go free, as long
as the parents have sole use of a compartment.
The best way for UK residents to buy tickets
for both Eurostar and the Paris-Barcelona trainhotel is online
at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
using this booking form.
But
please read the booking tips first! To book by
phone or in person, click here.
If you live in another European country,
click here. If you live in
the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand,
click here.
Tickets can be collected at St Pancras or stations in
France free of charge, or sent to a UK
address for a £2.25 fee.
There's no fee for debit cards, but they charge a 2.5% credit card fee. Only
UK credit cards are accepted.
Reservations for the trainhotels to Spain open 90 days before
departure. Eurostar bookings open 120 days ahead, but
I strongly recommend waiting and buying all tickets
together, so you can confirm trainhotel timings before
booking your Eurostar connection. You can't book before reservations open,
but if you ask
www.raileurope.co.uk
for a date more than 90 days ahead, it will offer to send an
email
reminder when reservations open. Be aware that the 90 days is often
squeezed to as little as 60 for travel in the few weeks
immediately after the European timetable changes in
mid-June & mid-December. Ask for a date before the
timetable change to get an idea of price.
Split the booking!!
It's best to treat London to Barcelona as two
separate journeys, one London to Paris, the other
Paris to Barcelona. This gives you more control, allows you to mix and match (for example) 2nd class Eurostar
with 2-berth sleeper (1st class), and allows
stopovers in Paris if you like.
Why
split the journey?
Step 1, change 'St Pancras' to 'Paris' and book from Paris to
Barcelona & back, looking for the direct Elipsos train.
'With shower' = gran clase. On the
confirmation page, clicking 'show itinerary details'
will show the specific coach number & berth or seat number
you've been given -
You may find this trainhotel berth numbering plan helpful.
Check trainhotel times before booking the Eurostar, as
engineering work sometimes affects trainhotel times, requiring
an earlier Eurostar connection out, or a later one back.
Important tip: If you are booking all the
berths in a sleeper compartment (for example, two tickets in
a 2-berth) a glitch means that it may ask for the
passengers' sex and say something about single sex
compartments. Ignore this, and simply select two
males, even if you're a male and female couple, then proceed
with the booking!
Step 2, when you've booked the train from Paris to
Barcelona & back, click 'continue shopping' and book the
Eurostar from London to Paris & back. Use the Eurostar
times on this page as a guide, but feel free to choose an
earlier Eurostar from London or a later Eurostar back from
Paris, if these have cheaper seats available or if you'd
like to stop off in Paris. Don't forget that on your
return journey, your departure date from Paris to London
will be the day after your departure date from Spain to
Paris!
Tickets are sent from Rail Europe's UK office and normally arrive in a couple of
days. If you need any help, you can call Rail Europe's
UK call centre on 0844 848 5 848.
Tip: In the event all the cheap fares for the
trainhotel are sold out on
www.raileurope.co.uk,
it's worth checking the Spanish Railways site,
www.renfe.com.
The prices shown on renfe.com come from a separate pool of
tickets held on the Spanish reservations system as opposed
to the French one.
See this advice on using renfe.com.
How to buy onward train tickets
within Spain...
...using Rail Europe: You can book most (but not all)
connecting trains within Spain at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
along with your London-Barcelona tickets. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
can't sell the cheap 'web' or 'estrella' fares (at least not
yet), only
full-price fully-flexible fares, which means it can be
expensive. If you want to use raileurope.co.uk, click
'Continue shopping' after booking your
London-Paris-Barcelona tickets, and book your Spanish
domestic trains, for example Barcelona to Valencia or
Alicante.
...using the Spanish Railways website www.renfe.com:
This is the cheapest way to buy Spanish train tickets, as
www.renfe.com offers
all Renfe's cheap fares online including 'Web' &
'Estrella' fares. See these
step-by-step instructions for using renfe.com.
Usually the Renfe website works fine, but occasionally there
are payment problems.
...using the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com:
New!! Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not
yet their UK one) has now been linked directly to the Renfe
ticketing system so it can sell Spanish train tickets
painlessly at the same prices as Renfe.com, including
the cheap 'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro
booking fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK, most of
Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia and Africa
can use this system, with payment in euros and print-at-home
tickets. Booking tips: 'Second
class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means 'Preferente', it
cannot book Club class. If you live in the UK, you'll
find the UK is listed as 'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you use
their site would be appreciated.
You
can book through a number of UK agencies, including Rail
Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday, 09:00-18:00 on Saturdays,
closed on Sundays, £8 booking fee applies) or Ffestiniog
Travel on 01766 772050 (8% booking fee applies). Rail Europe
have a travel centre for personal callers at 1 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4XT, open 10:00-18:00 Mon-Fri,
10:00-16:00 Saturdays. There
is also a Spanish Railways agency in London which can book
trains to and within Spain:
www.spanish-rail.co.uk or telephone 020 3137 4464
(lines open 09:30-13:30 & 14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10
euro per person booking fee
applies). For more information about how to book
European train travel from the UK and overseas, see the How to buy European train
tickets page.
Tailor-made
travel & hotel arrangements...
If you want a compete tailor-made
travel service with all your rail travel booked for you and
hotels arranged, contact
www.railbookers.com, 020 3327 0761. Just tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you. They get
very positive reviews.
Browse suggested holiday itineraries &
prices. Railbookers also now have an office in
Sydney Australia,
www.railbookers.com.au, 02 8096 0550.
Quality time on the
trainhotel...
Travelling by train gives you quality time with your
family. Here, we're getting ready for bed in
our Gran Clase sleeper, en route to spend a week in
Andalusia. Little Nate loves being with Mum
and Dad in the sleeper...
Anyone from any country worldwide can buy tickets direct
from the relevant train operator websites as follows:
How far ahead can you book? The Paris-Barcelona
trainhotel opens
for booking 90 days before departure, you cannot book before
bookings open. Eurostar bookings open 120 days ahead,
but I strongly recommend waiting until 90 days and buying
Eurostar and trainhotel tickets at the same time. Be
aware that the 90 days is often squeezed to as little as 60
for travel in the few weeks immediately after the European
timetable changes in mid-June & mid-December. When
you're ready to book, do a 'dry run' on
each website before booking for real, to double-check the
prices, availability and exact timings for each part of the
journey.
If
you live in the UK, it can be better to buy your
tickets from www.raileurope.co.uk
as shown
above, so you can buy your Eurostar & trainhotel tickets together.
Prices are (or
should be) the same as on www.tgv-europe.com, and it's backed by a UK call
centre. On the other hand, there are no credit card or
postage fees at www.tgv-europe.com
and prices are in euros so it's a fraction cheaper because
you'll get a better exchange rate from your own bank.
It also allows you to request specific seating options which Rail Europe doesn't. But it's your call!
Step 1: Book the trainhotel from Paris to Barcelona.
Buy your tickets at the official French Railways
English-language website
www.tgv-europe.com, or the French version
www.voyages-sncf.com
using
these step-by-step instructions.
Tickets can be collected at the station in Paris, although
they cannot be collected in Spain.
When using
www.tgv-europe.com, you must select 1st class if you
want 1 or 2 berth sleepers or reclining seats, and you must
remember to click 'choose my place' and change 'reclining
seat' to 'Single' or 'Double' sleeper or (for Gran Clase)
Single or Double 'with Shower', otherwise you'll end up in a
reclining seat! For 4-berth sleepers, leave 2nd class
selected.
Alternatively, you can book the trainhotel in either
direction using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com,
with print-at-home ticketing. But
first see
step-by-step instructions here, as there's a small
glitch when booking sleepers which you need to know how to
get around.
Step
2: Book a connecting Eurostar from London to Paris.
Go to
www.eurostar.com
and book a suitable Eurostar from London to Paris and back.
Use the Eurostar times on this page as a guide, but feel
free to choose an earlier Eurostar from London or a later
Eurostar back from Paris if these have cheaper seats
available or if you'd like to stop off in Paris. You
can print out your own ticket, or collect it at the station
at London St Pancras. Easy!
Step 3: Buy onward tickets within Spain. You
should buy onward tickets from Madrid to Seville, Malaga,
Granada or anywhere in Spain
online at
www.renfe.com,
with print-at-home ticketing and cheap 'web' and 'estrella'
fares, see the
step-by-step instructions here. Spanish domestic
trains open for bookings only 60 days ahead.
How to buy tickets if you live
in the USA, Canada, Australia,
India, etc.
If you live outside Europe, you can buy tickets for any or
all of these trains online at
www.raileurope.com
(USA),
www.raileurope.ca (Canada),
www.raileurope.com.au
(Australia),
or in any other country worldwide,
www.raileurope-world.com. Rail
Europe is North America's biggest European rail agency, a
subsidiary of French Railways. You may prefer buying
all your tickets together from one agency in your home
country in your own currency.
However, the booking system used by the Rail Europes based in
America, Australasia, Africa & Asia
is currently incapable of booking Gran Clase, so if you want
a Gran
Clase sleeper with shower, you'll have to book with www.tgv-europe.com as shown above.
Alternatively, if you want a compete hassle-free tailor-made
trip with all your rail travel expertly booked for you and
good quality hotels arranged by someone who knows what
they're doing, the people to call are
www.railbookers.com. US residents can call them on
(646) 770 2894 (please
quote 'seat61'), Canadian residents can call (416) 800 0732
(please quote 'seat61'), and Australian residents can call
their Australian office,
www.railbookers.com.au on 02 8096 0550. Tell them
what you want, and they'll advise you on the best trains,
routes & hotels and sort it all out for you, hassle-free.
Railbookers get
very positive reviews and take good care of their guests.
Browse suggested itineraries &
prices.
Take your seats on the
new high-speed train to Spain!
A morning Eurostar to
Paris in little over 2 hours, lunch at the remarkable
Train Bleu restaurant at the Gare de Lyon, then
relax on an afternoon double-deck
TGV Duplex to Figueres (home of the amazing Salvador Dali
museum) for an easy onward connection to
Barcelona. I recommend a first class 'Club
Duo' seat on the upper deck (pictured, above), wonderful!
Put your feet up & relax, watch the pretty French
villages of the Rhone Valley pass by, catch
up on your reading & your emails, perhaps watch a
movie on your iPhone. You can buy some wine
from the bar car or feel free to bring your own!
To anyone who has only known the stresses of
airports, flights & motorways, chilling out on a
high-speed train is a revelation...
Chill out by train from London to Barcelona...
From 19 December 2010, two direct double-decker high-speed
trains will link Paris with Spain every day, using the first
section of the new Perpignan-Barcelona high-speed line.
The new trains will initially link Paris with Figueres
(home of the amazing Salvador Dali
museum), with an easy onward connection to
Barcelona. The afternoon departure from Paris will
have a convenient Eurostar connection from London, as shown
below. So sit back with a good book & a glass of red
on the upper deck of the impressive
TGV Duplex and enjoy the ride from the UK to Spain in
less than a day, with no flights, no airports, no stress.
From Autumn 2012, high-quality Spanish TGV trains will run
direct between Paris & Barcelona, with the journey time
further reduced!
London
▶ Barcelona
by
high-speed
daytime train, New from December 2010
Travel from London
to Paris by
Eurostar, leaving London St Pancras at
09:12 on Monday-Fridays, 09:31 on Saturdays or 09:23 on
Sundays,
arriving Paris Nord at 13:47.
Cross Paris by
metro or taxi to the Gare de Lyon (2 stops on RER line
D).
Travel tip:
Why not take an earlier Eurostar and have lunch at the famous & remarkable
Train Bleu Restaurant inside the Gare de Lyon?
The 3-course set menu is 54 euros including a half
bottle of wine.
Travel from Paris
to Figueres in Spain by double-deck high-speed
TGV Duplex,
leaving Paris Gare de Lyon at 14:07 daily and arriving Figures
Vilafant station (5 kilometres out of town) at 19:40.
A cafe-bar is available on board. Book an upper
deck seat for the best views as the train speeds along
the scenic Rhône valley, past pretty French villages &
picturesque churches. Figueres is home to the amazing
Salvador Dali
museum, and is worth a stop in its own right.
His home at Port Lligat is just a bus or taxi ride away
on the coast, it's also a museum and well worth
visiting.
At Figueres,
simply cross the platform and board the connecting air-conditioned
'Alvia' train to Barcelona, departing Figueres Vilafant
station at 19:56 and arriving at Girona at 20:25
& Barcelona Sants at 21:45. 2nd class seats
only.
Barcelona
▶ London
by high-speed daytime train, New from December 2010
Leave Barcelona
Sants daily
at 08:16 or Girona at 09:29 by modern air-conditioned 'Alvia'
train to Figueres Vilafant station arriving 10:00.
At Figueres,
simply cross the platform and board the direct high-speed train to Paris,
departing Figueres Vilafant station (5 kilometres
from Figueres town) at 10:20 and arriving Paris Gare de
Lyon at 15:53. This is a double-deck TGV Duplex,
book an upper deck seat for the best views as the train
speeds along the scenic Rhone Valley through France.
A cafe-bar is available.
Cross Paris by
metro or taxi (2 stops on RER line D).
A
Eurostar
leaves Paris Gare du Nord at 18:13 (19:13 on Saturdays)
arriving London St Pancras at 19:36 (20:36 on
Saturdays).
Travel tip:
Why not have an early dinner in Paris and catch a later
Eurostar? The Brasserie Terminus Nord (www.terminusnord.com)
is good and typically French, and it's directly opposite
the Gare du Nord.
This service runs
largely unchanged in the new timetable from 11 December
onwards.
How much does it
cost?
London
to Paris by Eurostar starts at £39 one-way or £69 return.
Paris
to Barcelona starts at
67.70 euros (£59) in 2nd class, 84 euros
(£73) in 1st class each way.
Paris
to Figueres starts at
54.50 euros (£47) in 2nd class, 70.80 euros
(£62) in 1st class each way.
How to buy tickets online...
You can buy tickets at
www.raileurope.co.uk
(UK residents only, tickets sent to any UK address)
or
www.tgv-europe.com (in several languages, tickets sent to any address
worldwide except the USA or can be collected in Paris,
see this advice for using it
especially if you're from the USA).
If you're from the
UK, try both sites as I've seen cheaper fares on
tgv-europe.com than on raileurope.co.uk although they
should be the same, give or take the exchange rate. Also, you can specify a top deck
seat (recommended!) on the TGV Duplex if you buy tickets at
www.tgv-europe.com,
but raileurope.co.uk only offers a choice of
'aisle' or 'window'.
Step 1, go to
www.tgv-europe.com,
enter 'Paris' & 'Barcelona' and your dates
of travel, select a '15h' as your outward
time and '09h' as your return time,
important, un-tick in the 'direct trains' box
& click 'Search'. Book the train from Paris to Barcelona & back, looking
for the direct TGV trains shown above.
Add to your basket. Booking tip:
For some reason, sometimes selecting the
cheapest price results in an error message.
If this happens, try selecting the
second-cheapest option for a few euros more,
this then works.
Step 2, still at
www.tgv-europe.com,
now book the connecting Eurostar from London
to Paris & back and add to your basket.
Use the train times above as your guide, but
by all means book an earlier Eurostar
outward, or a later one back, if you want to
spend some time in Paris or if an
earlier/later Eurostar has cheaper fares
available. Alternatively, you can book
the Eurostar at
www.eurostar.com, which can be better as it allows you to
choose a specific seat from a numbered
seating plan (see these
tips on choosing a Eurostar seat) and it
allows you to print out your own ticket.
How to buy daytime tickets, by phone...
Call Rail Europe UK on
0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-18:00 Saturdays, £8
booking fee for phone bookings).
On
board the new TGV Duplex from Paris to
Figueres in Spain...
The
new Paris to Figueres service is operated by impressive
186mph TGV Duplex double-decker high-speed trains. You
board the train through a wide sliding external door into a
small hall at one end of the lower deck, where an internal
door opens into a lower deck seating area. A wide,
short & easy flight of carpeted stairs leads from the
entrance door to a landing at one end of the upper deck.
You walk along the train from car to car at the upper level,
and the café-bar is also at the upper level. There are
toilets both upstairs & downstairs.
When booking, you can choose a seat on either upper or lower
decks if you use
www.tgv-europe.com
or book by phone, but not if you book at
www.raileurope.co.uk
which only offers 'aisle' or 'window'. If you have problems with stairs or very heavy
luggage, the lower deck might be best. But for the best
views (over the top of the occasional sound barrier along the
high speed lines!), definitely choose an upper deck seat. For
couples in first class, an upper deck 'club duo' table-for-two is
easily the best option.
Boarding a double-deck TGV Duplex at Paris Gare de Lyon.
You can now easily travel from London to
Barcelona in a day by
Eurostar & TGV, a relaxing day catching up on your
reading over a bottle of wine. And it isn't even
particularly expensive if you follow the advice on this page!
Above:
The upstairs landing on a TGV Duplex showing the stairs
down to the entrance door...
2nd class seats on
TGV Duplex upper deck. There's a mix of
unidirectional seating and some tables for four like
this...
The cafe-bar in a TGV Duplex
upper deck,
serving tea, coffee, soft drinks, wine, beer, snacks
and microwave-style hot meal dishes....
1st
class seats on TGV Duplex
upper deck. That's a 'club duo' on the
left & a 'club quatre' on the right.
A TGV Duplex at Figueres Vilafant station. The
red near the door indicates 1st class, pale green
2nd class.
... and the Spanish 'Alvia'
train from Figueres to Barcelona.
Figueres
Vilafant, showing the Spanish 'Alvia' train
to/from Barcelona on the left and the TGV Duplex
to/from Paris on the right. It's a simple
cross-platform interchange between these two
trains...
Inside the modern
air-conditioned Spanish 'Alvia' train between
Figueres and Barcelona. All seats are 2nd
class, with power sockets for laptops & mobiles...
The high-speed AVE to Seville... Two type S100 AVE
high-speed trains wait to leave Madrid Atocha for
Seville. 99% of these trains arrive spot on time
or early!
Take
Eurostar from London to Paris and the trainhotel from Paris
to Madrid,
as shown above. Then take a 186 mph 'AVE' (Alta
Velocidad Española, and also the Spanish for 'bird') from Madrid to Cordoba or Seville in
just 2 hours. The Madrid-Seville high speed line is very scenic, as it
passes directly through the mountains which are by-passed by
the more roundabout conventional line. AVE trains from
Madrid to Seville run every hour or better. AVE trains
are very punctual: Your ticket will be refunded in full if
the AVE is more than 5 minutes late! If you'd prefer daytime trains
from London to Seville with an overnight hotel stop in
Barcelona,
see here.
Travel from Madrid to Cordoba and Seville by high-speed
AVE train, leaving Madrid Atocha station at 11:00 and
arriving Cordoba at 12:44 and Seville at 13:30. Or
take any AVE you like, they run every hour. All
AVEs have a cafe-bar car, and a meal with wine is
included in the Preferente & Club class fare, served at
your seat.
Train times
Seville ► London
Travel from Seville to Madrid by high-speed AVE, leaving Seville at
13:45 arriving in Madrid Atocha
station at 16:05. An alternative 14:45 train is
available from Seville on Mondays-Fridays & Sundays,
except between 17 July & 10 September. From
Cordoba, there's a daily AVE at 15:56 arriving Madrid
Atocha at 17:40.
Easy
transfer to Madrid Chamartin station.
Travel from Madrid to London
by Elipsos trainhotel and Eurostar as shown in the
London to Madrid section. You leave Madrid
Chamartin station at 19:00 and arrive at London St
Pancras at 12:29 next day.
How much
does it cost?
Fare
from
Madrid
to Seville
by
AVE:
In Turista: Web fare 33 euros (£29), Estrella
fare 50 euros (£43), full price 83 euros (£72).
In
Preferente: Full price 125 euros (£109) each
way (includes hot meal & wine).
In
Club: Full price 150 euros (£130) each way
(includes hot meal & wine).
Web &
Estrella fares are limited-availability fares, check
www.renfe.com to
see if they're available.
Web &
Estrella fares are sometimes available for
Preferente and Club classes.
These
are one-way fares. A 10% discount applies to
the total cost of a round trip.
How to buy tickets online...
Step 1, book the
London-Paris-Madrid part of this journey online, following
the step-by-step instructions in the
London
to Madrid section.
Step 2, still
on
www.raileurope.co.uk,
click 'continue shopping' and book the train from Madrid
to Seville & back. Remember that the outward date
will obviously be the day after your departure from
London.
If you book the Madrid-Seville train using
www.raileurope.co.uk
as suggested above, all your tickets can be bought as one
transaction, painlessly, in English. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
only sells full-price fully-flexible fares between Madrid
& Seville, it can't sell the discounted 'Web' or 'Estrella'
fares offered by Spanish Railways themselves. So you can save a
lot of money if you book the
Madrid-Seville train separately
using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com, looking for these cheap deals.
To book cheap Spanish train tickets using renfe.com
follow the step-by step instructions here.
If you have any
difficulty using renfe.com, use the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com.
Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not yet their UK one)
has been linked directly to the Renfe ticketing system
so it can sell Spanish train tickets painlessly at
the same prices as Renfe.com, including the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro booking
fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK,
most of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
and Africa can use this system, with payment in euros
and print-at-home tickets. Booking tips:
'Second class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means
'Preferente', it cannot book Club class. If you
live in the UK, you'll find the UK is listed as
'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you
use their site would be appreciated.
Finally, you can
also buy the
Madrid-Seville/Cordoba tickets by phone with Spanish
Railway's UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). They can sell the cheap Estrella &
Web fares, too.
How to buy tickets by phone...
You
can buy tickets through a number of UK agencies, including
www.raileurope.co.uk on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open 09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday,
09:00-18:00 on Saturdays, no longer open on Sundays, £8
booking fee) or
Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, call
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee,
and they can sell the cheap 'web' and 'estrella' fares). For more information
about how to buy European train tickets from the UK and
overseas, see the European
train tickets page.
On board the AVE from Madrid to Cordoba & Seville...
AVE trains run at up to 186 mph over the new line between
Madrid, Cordoba & Seville. They have three classes, Club (premium 1st class),
Preferente (1st class) and Turista (2nd class). These
S100 trains are based on the French TGV, but with much
higher quality interiors...
All aboard the train to Seville! This
is an S100 AVE boarding at Madrid Atocha... All AVE
trains have a cafe-bar serving drinks and snacks...
Or bring your own food, wine or beer on board.
First class
lounge... Club &
Preferente passengers may use the Sala Club (1st class
lounge) at Madrid Atocha, Cordoba & Seville, with
complimentary coffee, fruit juice & beer...
AVE Club class...
Spacious leather reclining seats, power sockets for laptops &
mobiles...
A complimentary meal
with wine, coffee &
liqueurs is included in the Club & Preferente fare...
AVE Preferente class...
Reclining seats, power sockets for laptops &
mobiles...
AVE Turista class...
Comfortable seats, power sockets for laptops &
mobiles.
It's too far to go in
one day, but if you prefer daytime train travel rather than
using a sleeper, you can travel from London to Seville
easily enough by day with an overnight stop in Barcelona.
Train times
London ► Seville
Day 1, travel
from London to Barcelona by high-speed train via Paris &
Figueres as
shown here, leaving London at 09:12 on
Monday-Fridays, 09:31 on Saturdays or 09:23 on Sundays and arriving in
Barcelona at 21:45.
Day 2, travel
from Barcelona to Seville by direct high-speed AVE
train. There are two direct trains a day, leaving
Barcelona Sants at 08:15 (arriving Seville 13:47) and at
15:50 (arriving Seville 21:15). These trains are
type S102 'Pato' AVEs with Club, Preferente & Turista
class seats and cafe-bar,
see
the photos & information here. The Club &
Preferente fare includes an at-seat hot meal with choice
of wines & liqueurs.
Train times
Seville ► London
Day 1, travel
from Seville to Barcelona by direct high-speed AVE
train. There are two direct trains a day, leaving
Seville at 09:00 (arriving Barcelona Sants 14:25) and at
16:00 (arriving Barcelona Sants at 21:35). These
trains are type S102 'Pato' AVEs with Club, Preferente &
Turista class seats and cafe-bar,
see
the photos & information here. The Club &
Preferente fare includes an at-seat hot meal with choice
of wines & liqueurs.
Day 2, travel
from Barcelona to London by high-speed train via
Figueres & Paris
as shown
here, leaving Barcelona at 08:16 and arriving in
London at 19:36 (20:36 on Saturdays).
Use
www.renfe.com to book train tickets from Barcelona
to Seville & back. You'll find
advice on using renfe.com here. Barcelona to
Seville costs 85 euros (£74) 'estrella' fare one-way in turista if
you pre-book, 128 euros (£111) in Preferente or 153 euros
(£133) in club class. Preferente & club fares give access to
lounges & include at-seat meal & wine.
Quack, quack. All aboard the high-speed train to Malaga!
A high-speed AVE train to Malaga waits to leave Madrid Atocha station.
These type S102 AVEs are known by staff as 'patos', Spanish for 'duck'.
No prizes for guessing why...
It's easy to travel from London to Malaga without flying.
You simply take an afternoon Eurostar to Paris, the
excellent overnight 'trainhotel' from Paris to Madrid, then a
high-speed 'AVE' train through the mountains on the
scenic high-speed line from Madrid to Malaga.
Alternatively, if you'd prefer daytime travel with an
overnight hotel in Barcelona,
see here.
Travel from
Madrid to Malaga by 186mph AVE train, leaving Madrid
Atocha station at 11:35 and arriving Malaga at 14:07. The final section of new high-speed line from
Cordoba to Malaga opened in December 2007, cutting
Madrid-Malaga journey time to just 2 hours 40 minutes
using the same high-speed AVE trains used between Madrid and
Seville. All AVEs have a cafe-bar car, and a meal
with wine is included in the Preferente & Club class
fare, served at your seat.
Change in
Malaga for local trains to Torremolinos & Fuengirola or
buses to Marbella, see below for details.
Train times
Malaga ► London
Travel from
Malaga to Madrid by high-speed AVE train, leaving Malaga
at 15:05 and arriving Madrid Atocha station at 17:40.
Then
transfer to
Madrid Chamartin station.The new
high-speed line from Cordoba to Malaga opened in
December 2007, cutting Madrid-Malaga journey time to 2
hours 40 minutes by AVE train.
Travel from Madrid to London
by Elipsos trainhotel and Eurostar
as shown in the London to
Madrid section. You leave Madrid Chamartin at
19:00 and arrive at London St Pancras at 12:30 next day.
How much does
it cost?
Fare
from
Madrid
to Malaga
by
AVE:
In Turista: Web fare 35 euros (£30), Estrella
fare 53 euros (£46), full price 88 euros (£76).
In
Preferente: Full price 132 euros (£114) each
way (includes hot meal & wine).
In
Club: Full price 158 euros (£137) each way
(includes hot meal & wine).
Web &
Estrella fares are limited-availability fares, check
www.renfe.com to
see if they're available.
Web &
Estrella fares are sometimes available for
Preferente and Club classes.
These
are one-way fares. A 10% discount applies to
the total cost of a round trip.
Torremolinos &
Fuengirola...
Local trains
link Malaga station with Torremolinos (journey time 23
minutes, fare 1.40 euros) and Fuengirola (journey 47
minutes, fare 2.50 euros). They run every 30 minutes from
05:30 to 22:30. If you need further information, see
www.renfe.com,
leaving the site in Spanish, select 'Malaga' in the lower
drop down box under the words 'Seleccione su trayecto
Cercanias'. On the next page, 'horarios' means
timetables, 'precios' means prices, 'plano' means route map.
Marbella &
Estepona...
Option 1 is to
take a train from Malaga to Fuengirola then a frequent
connecting bus. Option 2 is to take a direct bus from
Malaga to Marbella. Buses run from Malaga bus station
(right next door to the railway station) every hour or so,
fast buses take 45 minutes, slow buses take 75 minutes, fare
about 4.70 euros. See
www.gomarbella.com/costadelsolbuses. There are
also buses from Malaga to Estepona, journey time 2 hours,
fare about 6.80 euros, see
www.gomarbella.com/costadelsolbuses.
How to buy tickets online...
Step 1, book the
London-Paris-Madrid part of this journey online, following
the step-by-step instructions in the
London
to Madrid section.
Step 2, still
on
www.raileurope.co.uk,
click 'continue shopping' and book the train from Madrid
to Malaga & back. Remember that the outward date
will obviously be the day after your departure from
London.
If you book the Madrid-Malaga train using
www.raileurope.co.uk
as suggested above, all your tickets can be bought as one
transaction, painlessly, in English. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
only sells full-price fully-flexible fares between Madrid
& Malaga, it can't sell the discounted 'Web' or 'Estrella'
fares offered by Spanish Railways themselves. So you can save a
lot of money if you book the
Madrid-Malaga train separately
using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com, looking for these cheap deals.
To book cheap Spanish train tickets using renfe.com,
follow the step-by step instructions here.
If you have any
difficulty using renfe.com, use the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com.
Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not yet their UK one)
has been linked directly to the Renfe ticketing system
so it can sell Spanish train tickets painlessly at
the same prices as Renfe.com, including the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro booking
fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK,
most of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
and Africa can use this system, with payment in euros
and print-at-home tickets. Booking tips:
'Second class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means
'Preferente', it cannot book Club class. If you
live in the UK, you'll find the UK is listed as
'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you
use their site would be appreciated.
Finally, you can
also buy the
Madrid-Malaga tickets by phone with Spanish
Railway's UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). They can sell the cheap Estrella &
Web fares, too.
How to buy tickets by phone...
You
can buy tickets through a number of UK agencies, including
www.raileurope.co.uk on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday,
09:00-18:00 on Saturdays, no longer open on Sundays, £8
booking fee) or
Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, call
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee,
and they can sell the cheap 'web' and 'estrella' fares
too). For more information
about how to buy European train tickets from the UK and
overseas, see the European
train tickets page.
These superb-quality AVE high speed trains are amongst the
classiest trains in Europe. They have three classes,
Club (premium 1st class with real leather seats), Preferente
(1st class) and Turista (2nd class)...
AVE trains run at up to 186 mph over the new line between
Madrid & Malaga, the final section of which opened on 24
December 2007. Most trains on the Madrid to Malaga route are
the S102 type shown below, little articulated single-axle
'Talgo' carriages sandwiched between strange-looking
'duck-billed' power cars, hence the nickname 'pato', Spanish
for 'duck'. S102s also operate from Barcelona to
Malaga & Seville.
First class
lounge... Club &
Preferente passengers may use the Sala Club (1st class
lounge) at Madrid Atocha, Cordoba & Seville, with
complimentary coffee, juices & beer...
All aboard the train to Malaga! This
is an S102 AVE boarding at Madrid Atocha... All AVE
trains have a cafe-bar serving drinks and snacks...
Or bring your own food, wine or beer on board.
AVE Club class...
Leather reclining seats, power sockets for laptops &
mobiles...
A complimentary meal
with wine &
liqueurs is included in the Club & Preferente fare...
AVE Turista class...
Comfortable seats, 2 abreast each side of the aisle,
mainly unidirectional but some bays of 4 around a
table like this...
AVE Preferente class...
Reclining seats, power sockets for laptops &
mobiles, mainly unidirectional but some tables for 2
and tables for 4...
It's too far to go in
one day, but if you prefer daytime train travel rather than
using a sleeper, you can travel from London to Malaga easily
enough by daytime trains with an overnight stop in
Barcelona. By all means stop over in Barcelona for
longer if you wish!
Train times London ► Malaga
Day 1, travel
from London to Barcelona by high-speed train via Paris &
Figueres as
shown here, leaving London at 09:12 on
Monday-Fridays, 09:31 on Saturdays or 09:23 on Sundays and arriving in
Barcelona at 21:45.
Day 2, travel
from Barcelona to Malaga by direct high-speed AVE train.
There are two direct trains a day, leaving Barcelona
Sants at 10:20 (arriving Malaga 15:55) and at 15:50
(arriving Malaga 21:40). These trains are type
S102 'Pato' AVEs with Club, Preferente & Turista
class seats and a cafe-bar,
see
the photos & information above. The Club &
Preferente fare includes an at-seat hot meal with choice
of wines & liqueurs.
Train times
Malaga ► London
Day 1, travel
from Malaga to Barcelona by direct high-speed AVE train.
There are two direct trains a day, leaving Malaga at
08:20 (arriving Barcelona Sants 14:05) and at 16:50
(arriving Barcelona Sants at 22:30). These trains
are type S102 'Pato' AVEs with Club, Preferente & Turista
class seats and a cafe-bar,
see
the photos & information above. The Club &
Preferente fare includes an at-seat hot meal with choice
of wines & liqueurs.
Day 2, travel
from Barcelona to London by high-speed train via
Figueres & Paris
as shown
here, leaving Barcelona at 08:16 and arriving in
London at 19:36 (20:36 on Saturdays).
Use
www.renfe.com to book your train tickets from
Barcelona to Malaga & back. You'll find
advice on using renfe.com here. Barcelona to
Malaga costs 84 euros 'estrella' fare in turista or 151
euros in club class with access to station lounges &
at-seat meal & drinks.
London to Granada,
Almeria, Murcia, Ronda, Algeciras, Cadiz, Jerez,
Huelva
Train times
London ► Granada, Almeria, Murcia, Cartagena, Ronda, Algeciras,
Cadiz, Jerez, Huelva
Take an
afternoon Eurostar to Paris and the overnight Elipsos
trainhotel to Madrid Chamartin station as shown in the London to Madrid
section. You leave London at 14:01 and arrive
at Madrid Chamartin at 09:10 next morning.
If you need to transfer between Madrid Chamartin &
Madrid Atocha stations,
see the
Chamartin to Atocha transfer info here.
Spanish trains aren't always the most frequent, so for
some destinations you'll get the best part of a day to
explore Madrid before the next available train south. The Madrid metro (www.metromadrid.es)
also links Madrid Chamartin station with the city centre
&
Madrid Atocha station.
For
Granada, leave Madrid Atocha station at 17:05 by
air-conditioned articulated
Altaria train, arriving Granada at 21:37.
For
Almeria, leave Madrid Chamartin at 15:14 or Madrid
Atocha (closer to the city centre) at 15:32 by
air-conditioned Talgo train, arriving Almeria at
21:46.
For
Murcia or Cartagena, leave Madrid Chamartin station at
12:34 or Madrid Atocha station (closer to the city centre) at 12:53
by air-conditioned
Altaria train, arriving
Murcia at
16:42 & Cartagena at 17:26. This train runs
daily except Saturdays (though it also runs on Saturdays
in August). So on Saturdays, you need to leave
Madrid Chamartin at 16:29 or Madrid Atocha closer to the
city centre at 16:47, arriving Murcia at 20:47 &
Cartagena at 21:32.
For Ronda &
Algeciras, leave Madrid Atocha station at
15:05 by air-conditioned
Altaria train, arriving Ronda at 18:51 & Algeciras at 20:15. For ferry
connections to Morocco & bus connections round the bay
to Gibraltar, see the Morocco page
or Gibraltar page.
For
Cadiz & Jerez, leave Madrid Atocha station at
12:30 by
air-conditioned
S130 Alvia train, arriving Jerez de la
Frontera at 16:00 & Cadiz at
16:39.
For
Huelva, leave Madrid Atocha station at 18:05 by
air-conditioned
S130 Alvia train, arriving Huelva at
21:52.
You can
check all these train times using
www.renfe.com.
Train times
Granada, Almeria, Ronda, Algeciras, Cadiz, Jerez, Huelva ► London
From
Granada, leave Granada by
air-conditioned
Altaria train at 09:10, arriving
Madrid Atocha (for the city centre) at 13:35.
From
Almeria,
leave at 07:05 by daily air-conditioned Talgo train
for Madrid, arriving Madrid Atocha (for city centre) at
13:08 and Madrid Chamartin at 13:27.
From
Murcia or Cartagena,
leave Cartagena at 08:50 or Murcia at 09:36 by daily air-conditioned
Altaria train for Madrid, arriving Madrid Atocha (for city centre) at
13:59 and Madrid Chamartin at 14:16. Daily except
Saturdays there's also a train from Murcia at 12:58,
arriving Madrid Chamartin at 17:18, check train times
for your travel date at
www.renfe.com.
From
Algeciras & Ronda, leave Algeciras at 08:45 and Ronda at
10:09
by fast air-conditioned
Altaria train, arriving Madrid
Atocha at 14:05.
From
Cadiz & Jerez, travel from Cadiz to Madrid by
air-conditioned
S130 Alvia train, leaving Cadiz at 08:05 or
Jerez de la Frontera at 08:50, arriving Madrid Atocha at
12:38.
From
Huelva, leave Huelva daily except Sundays at 07:50 by
direct air-conditioned
S130 Alvia train, arriving Madrid
Atocha at
11:45. Doesn't run Sundays and a few other dates. On Sundays, depart Huelva 06:55 by local
train, change at Seville, arriving Madrid Atocha at
12:38.
Travel
from Madrid Chamartin to London by Elipsos trainhotel and Eurostar as
shown above in the London to
Madrid section. You leave Madrid Chamartin at
19:00 and arrive back in London at 12:30 next day.
How much
does it cost?
Fare
from
Madrid to Granada
by Altaria train:
In Turista: Web fare 28 euros (£24), Estrella
fare 41 euros (£35), full price 69 euros (£60).
In
Preferente: Full price 107 euros (£93) each
way, includes hot meal & wine.
Fares to other destinations will
be similar.
Web &
Estrella fares are limited-availability fares, check
www.renfe.com to
see if they're available.
Web &
Estrella fares may be available for Preferente class
too.
These
are one-way fares. A 10% discount applies to
the total cost of a round trip.
How to buy tickets online...
Step 1, book the
London-Paris-Madrid part of this journey online, following
the step-by-step instructions in the
London
to Madrid section.
Step 2, still
on
www.raileurope.co.uk,
click 'continue shopping' and book the train from Madrid
to Granada (or Murcia, Algeciras, etc) & back. Remember that the outward date
will obviously be the day after your departure from
London.
If you book the Madrid-Granada
(or Madrid-Almeria, Madrid-Murcia, Madrid-Algeciras, etc.) train using
www.raileurope.co.uk
as suggested above, all your tickets can be bought as one
transaction, painlessly, in English. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
only sells full-price fully-flexible fares for journeys
within Spain, it can't sell the discounted 'Web' or 'Estrella'
fares offered by Spanish Railways themselves. So you can save a
lot of money if you book the Spanish train separately
using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com, looking for these cheap deals.
To book cheap Spanish train tickets using renfe.com,
follow the step-by step instructions here.
If you have any
difficulty using renfe.com, use the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com.
Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not yet their UK one)
has been linked directly to the Renfe ticketing system
so it can sell Spanish train tickets painlessly at
the same prices as Renfe.com, including the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro booking
fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK,
most of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
and Africa can use this system, with payment in euros
and print-at-home tickets. Booking tips:
'Second class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means
'Preferente', it cannot book Club class. If you
live in the UK, you'll find the UK is listed as
'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you
use their site would be appreciated.
Finally, you can
also buy Spanish domestic train tickets by phone with Spanish
Railway's UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). They can sell the cheap Estrella &
Web fares, too.
How to buy tickets by phone...
You
can buy tickets through a number of UK agencies, including
www.raileurope.co.uk on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday,
09:00-18:00 on Saturdays, no longer open on Sundays, £8
booking fee) or
Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, call
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). For more information about how to
buy European train tickets from the UK and overseas, see
the European train
tickets page.
Altaria
trains consist of a set of little articulated 'Talgo'
carriages, hauled by a separate locomotive. Each car
is much shorter and lighter than a normal railway carriage,
and has just one axle (2 wheels) at one end, and is
articulated to the next car along at the other end, a unique
design. These Altaria trains have adjustable axles:
They use the standard-gauge high-speed lines at up to 125
mph for part of their journey, then are shunted slowly
through a special gauge-changing shed, emerging on Spanish
broad-gauge track to complete their journey on the classic
rail network. Preferente passengers receive an at-seat
meal with wine included in the fare. All passengers
may use the cafe-bar.
An articulated Talgo
'Altaria' train at Madrid Atocha station...
Turista (2nd class)
seating on an Altaria train...
Preferente (1st
class) seating on an Altaria train...
The
Preferente fare includes an at-seat meal with wine...
Train times
London ► Valencia (using the Elipsos trainhotel)
Travel from London to
Barcelona by afternoon Eurostar & the overnight 'Joan Miro' trenhotel, as shown in the London
to Barcelona section. The trainhotel arrives
at Barcelona França station at
08:05.
For
Tarragona & Salou: Leave Barcelona França station
at 09:19 by local train (2nd class only), arriving
Tarragona 10:37 and Salou at 10:50.
For
Valencia: Leave Barcelona França station at 09:19
by regional train arriving Valencia (Nord station) at 14:12.
If you like, by changing at Barcelona Sants you can take
the 10:00 EuroMed high-speed train, arriving Valencia
13:00, though this will cost slightly more and involve
that extra change.
For
Zaragoza: Transfer to Barcelona Sants station
by the 09:19 local train or by taxi. A high-speed
AVE leaves Barcelona Sants at 10:00 arriving Zaragoza at
11:50.
Train times
Valencia ► London (using the Elipsos trainhotel)
From
Zaragoza: Leave Zaragoza at 17:49 by
high-speed AVE, arriving Barcelona Sants at 19:22.
Transfer to Barcelona França station by taxi or local
train.
From Salou
& Tarragona: A local train (2nd class only) leaves
Salou at 18:18 and Tarragona at 18:30 arriving Barcelona
França at 19:53.
From
Valencia: Daily except Saturdays, leave
Valencia on a modern air-conditioned 'EuroMed' train at 15:05 arriving Barcelona
Sants at 18:09, change there for a frequent local train
to Barcelona França. On Saturdays, leave Valencia
at 14:05 arriving Barcelona Sants at 17:39.
Travel
from Barcelona França station to Paris and London by trainhotel
&
Eurostar as shown in the London
to Barcelona section.
Travel from Paris
to Portbou (on the Spanish frontier) by overnight train, leaving
Paris Gare d'Austerlitz at 21:53 and arriving Portbou at 08:11 next
morning. This train has reclining seats, 6-berth 2nd
class couchettes & 1st class 4-berth couchettes.
What
are French couchettes like? Does not run on 24
or 31 December.
Travel from Portbou direct to
Valencia on the 'Mare
Nostrum', leaving Portbou at 09:52 and going direct to Tarragona at 12:54,
Salou 13:07, and arriving at
Valencia at 15:15. The 'Mare
Nostrum' is an air-conditioned articulated 'Talgo'
train with a restaurant car.
Train times
Valencia ► London (option 2)
Travel
from Valencia and Tarragona to Barcelona on the 'Mare Nostrum'
air-conditioned Talgo train, leaving Valencia at 13:08,
Salou 15:20, Tarragona at
15:39, Barcelona Sants at 16:42 and arriving at Cerebère (on the French side of the
frontier) at 19:02.
Travel
from Cerebère to Paris by overnight train, leaving Cerebère at
21:28 and arriving Paris
Gare d'Austerlitz at
07:22. 1st & 2nd class couchettes and 2nd class reclining
seats are available.
What
are French couchettes like?. Does not run on
24 or 31 December.
Cross Paris by
metro.
Travel
from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du Nord at
09:13
and arriving London St Pancras at 10:36.
Step 2, still
on
www.raileurope.co.uk,
click 'continue shopping' and book the train from
Barcelona
to Valencia or Tarragona & back. Remember that the outward date
will obviously be the day after your departure from
London.
If you book
the Barcelona-Valencia train using
www.raileurope.co.uk
as suggested above, all your tickets can be bought as one
transaction, painlessly, in English. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
only sells the normal flexible fares, it can't sell the cheap 'Web' or 'Estrella'
fares. You can save quite a bit if you book the
Barcelona-Valencia train separately
using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com, looking for these cheap deals.
You'll need to book in Spanish, but that's no real
problem, just
follow the step-by step instructions here.
If you have any
difficulty using renfe.com, use the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com.
Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not yet their UK one)
has been linked directly to the Renfe ticketing system
so it can sell Spanish train tickets painlessly at
the same prices as Renfe.com, including the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro booking
fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK,
most of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
and Africa can use this system, with payment in euros
and print-at-home tickets. Booking tips:
'Second class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means
'Preferente', it cannot book Club class. If you
live in the UK, you'll find the UK is listed as
'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you
use their site would be appreciated.
Finally, you can
also buy Spanish train tickets by phone with Spanish
Railway's UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). They can sell the cheap Estrella &
Web fares, too.
How to buy tickets by phone...
You
can buy tickets through a number of UK agencies, including
www.raileurope.co.uk on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday,
09:00-18:00 on Saturdays, no longer open on Sundays, £8
booking fee) or
Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, call
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee,
and they can sell the cheap 'web' and 'estrella' fares
too). For more information
about how to buy European train tickets from the UK and
overseas, see the Europe page.
It's easy to travel from London to Alicante
without flying - you simply take an afternoon Eurostar to Paris, the
excellent overnight 'trainhotel' from Paris to Barcelona,
then a connecting high-speed 'EuroMed' train from Barcelona to
Alicante.
London to
Alicante option 1, using Eurostar, the Elipsos Trainhotel,
and EuroMed...
Train times
London ► Alicante
Travel from London to
Barcelona by afternoon Eurostar and overnight trainhotel as shown in the London to Barcelona
section. The trainhotel arrives at Barcelona
França station at 08:05.
Travel from
Barcelona to Alicante, first taking the 09:19 local train from Barcelona Franca to
Barcelona Sants arriving 09:33, then taking the 10:00 'EuroMed'
high-speed train from Barcelona Sants to Alicante,
arriving 14:48. The EuroMed train has a cafe-bar
car, and a meal with wine is included in the first class
fare, served at your seat.
Train times
Alicante ► London
Daily
except Saturdays, leave
Alicante at 14:20 on a
fast air-conditioned 'EuroMed' train, arriving Barcelona Sants
at 19:10. On
Saturdays, depart Alicante 11:09 on the Talgo train
'Mare Nostrum', arriving Barcelona Sants at 16:37.
Transfer by
frequent local train from Barcelona Sants to Barcelona
França, journey time 15 minutes.
Travel from
Barcelona to London by overnight trainhotel and morning Eurostar,
as shown in the London to Barcelona
section.
In Turista: Web fare 23 euros (£20), Estrella
fare 34 euros (£29), full price 57 euros (£49).
In
Preferente:
Estrella 56 euros (£49), full price 93 euros (£81)
each way. Includes hot meal & wine.
Web &
Estrella fares are limited-availability fares, check
www.renfe.com to
see if they're available.
Benidorm..
To reach Benidorm, you first
travel by train to Alicante. On arrival at Alicante
mainline station, walk a few minutes along the Avenida de La
Estacion to the Luceros tram station in the Plaza de los
Luceros. Trams leave Luceros tram station every 30 minutes
or so throughout the day for Benidorm, journey time 1 hour
12
minutes, fare 3.35 euros one-way, 5.70 euros day return (the
tram was extended to Benidorm in early 2009, so there's no
longer any need to switch to a conventional local train to
reach Benidorm). You can find tram timetables
& fares at
www.fgvalicante.com. Alternatively, buses are
available to Benidorm from just outside Alicante station.
Step 2, still
on
www.raileurope.co.uk,
click 'continue shopping' and book the train from
Barcelona
to Alicante & back. Remember that the outward date
will obviously be the day after your departure from
London.
If you book
the Barcelona-Alicante train using
www.raileurope.co.uk
as suggested above, all your tickets can be bought as one
transaction, painlessly, in English. However,
www.raileurope.co.uk
only sells the normal flexible fares, it can't sell the cheap 'Web' or 'Estrella'
fares. You can save quite a bit of money if you book
the Barcelona-Alicante train separately
using the Spanish Railways website
www.renfe.com, looking for these cheap deals.
You'll need to book in Spanish, but that's no real
problem, just
follow the step-by step instructions here.
If you have any
difficulty using renfe.com, use the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com.
Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not yet their UK one)
has been linked directly to the Renfe ticketing system
so it can sell Spanish train tickets painlessly at
the same prices as Renfe.com, including the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro booking
fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK,
most of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
and Africa can use this system, with payment in euros
and print-at-home tickets. Booking tips:
'Second class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means
'Preferente', it cannot book Club class. If you
live in the UK, you'll find the UK is listed as
'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you
use their site would be appreciated.
Finally, you can
also buy Spanish train tickets by phone with Spanish
Railway's UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). They can sell the cheap Estrella &
Web fares, too.
How to buy tickets by phone...
You
can buy tickets through a number of UK agencies, including
www.raileurope.co.uk on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
09:00-19:00 Monday to Friday,
09:00-18:00 on Saturdays, no longer open on Sundays, £8
booking fee) or
Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, call
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee,
and they can sell the cheap 'web' and 'estrella' fares
too). For more information
about how to buy European train tickets from the UK and
overseas, see the Europe page.
Travel overnight from Paris
to Portbou (on the Spanish frontier) leaving
Paris (Gare d'Austerlitz) at 21:53 and arriving Portbou at
08:11 next
morning. This train has reclining seats, 2nd
class 6-berth couchettes & 1st class 4-berth couchettes.
What
are French couchettes like?. Does not run on
24 or 31 December.
Travel from Portbou direct to Alicante on the 'Mare
Nostrum', leaving Portbou at 09:52 and arriving at Alicante at 17:20.
The 'Mare Nostrum' is an air-conditioned articulated
'Talgo' train with a restaurant car.
Train times
Alicante ► London
Travel from
Alicante to Cerebère on the French frontier aboard the
'Mare Nostrum' Talgo train, leaving Alicante at 11:09
and arriving at Cerebère (on the French side of the
frontier) at 19:02.
Travel
from Cerebère to Paris by overnight train, leaving Cerebère at
21:28 and
arriving Paris
Gare d'Austerlitz at
07:22. This train has 1st class
4-berth couchettes, 2nd class 6-berth couchettes & 2nd
class reclining seats. Does not run on 24 or 31 December.
Cross Paris
by metro to the Gare du Nord.
Travel
from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du Nord at
09:13
and arriving London at 10:36.
London to
Alicante option 3, using daytime trains...
Train times
London ► Alicante
Day 1, travel
from London to Barcelona by high-speed train via Paris &
Figueres as
shown here, leaving London at 09:12 Mondays-Fridays,
09:31 on Saturdays or 09:23 on Sundays and arriving in
Barcelona at 21:45.
Day 2, travel
from Barcelona to London by high-speed train via
Figueres & Paris
as shown
here, leaving Barcelona at 08:16 and arriving in
London at 19:36 (20:36 on Saturdays).
How much does it
cost using daytime trains? How to buy tickets?
Then use
www.renfe.com to book train tickets from Barcelona
to Alicante & back. You'll find
advice on using renfe.com here. See the fares
table above for Barcelona-Alicante EuroMed fares.
Travel overnight from Paris
to Hendaye (on the Spanish frontier) leaving
Paris Austerlitz on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays at 22:12, arriving Hendaye at
09:29 next
morning. This is a Lunéa train with 1st class 4-berth couchettes, 2nd class
6-berth couchettes & reclining seats.
What
are French couchettes like? Does not run on 24
or 31 December. A couchette is the recommended option.
Important: This train previously daily, but
from 11 December 2011 it will only run on Mondays,
Fridays and Sundays plus a few other dates such as daily
10 Feb to 5 March and 9 April to 1 May. It runs
via Toulouse rather than the direct route via Bordeaux.
Travel from
Hendaye to San Sebastian by narrow
gauge local service run by
Euskotren. This runs every 30 minutes between Hendaye, Irun (Colon station, near the Irun mainline
station) and San Sebastian (Amara station).
Journey time 37 minutes. At Hendaye, the Euskotren
platforms are just across the forecourt from the main SNCF
station, simply buy a ticket from the machines and go
through the automatic gates onto the platform.
London ► San
Sebastian in a day
Travel from
London to Paris by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 09:12 on Mondays-Fridays,
09:31 on Saturdays or 09:23 on Sundays,
arriving Paris Gare du Nord at 12:47.
Cross Paris
by metro to the Gare Montparnasse.
Travel from Paris to Hendaye
on the Spanish frontier by high-speed TGV, leaving Paris
Montparnasse at 14:29 and arriving Hendaye at 20:24.
A narrow gauge local train run by
Euskotren leaves Hendaye
at 20:33 arriving San Sebastian (Amara) about 37 minutes
later. Don't worry about missing this connection
as these local trains run every 30 minutes until about
23:00. At Hendaye, the Euskotren platforms are
just across the forecourt from the main SNCF station.
Simply buy a ticket from the machines and go through the
automatic gates onto the platform.
San Sebastian
► London overnight
Travel from San Sebastian to
Hendaye by local train leaving after 18:00. There's a
narrow gauge train service run by
Euskotren every 30 minutes from Sebastian (Amara
station) to Hendaye SNCF station. Journey time 37
minutes, but allow plenty of time for the connection at
Hendaye.
Travel overnight from Hendaye to Paris, leaving Hendaye
at 19:28 on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays arriving Paris
Gare d'Austerlitz at
07:07. This is a Lunéa train with 1st class (4-berth) and 2nd class
(6-berth) couchettes plus reclining seats.
A couchette is recommended, not a seat.
What
are French couchettes like? Does not run on 24 or 31 December.
Important: This train used to run daily,
but from 11 December 2011 will only run on Mondays,
Fridays and Sundays plus a few other dates such as daily
10 Feb to 5 March and 9 April to 1 May. It's
diverted to run via Toulouse rather than the direct
route via Bordeaux.
Travel from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du Nord at 09:13
and arriving in London St Pancras at 10:36.
San Sebastian
► London in a day
From San Sebastian, there's a
narrow gauge train service run by
Euskotren every 30 minutes from Sebastian (Amara
station) to Hendaye SNCF station. Journey time 37
minutes, but allow plenty of time for the connection at
Hendaye.
Travel from Hendaye to Paris
by high-speed TGV, leaving Hendaye daily at 07:40 and
arriving Paris Gare Montparnasse at 13:40.
Cross Paris by métro to the
Gare du Nord.
Travel from Paris to London
by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du Nord at 15:13 arriving in London St Pancras at
16:39.
How much does it cost?
Using the daytime TGV,
London to Hendaye can cost as little as £107 return (£69
return for Eurostar plus 22 euros each way for the TGV).
Using
the overnight train, London to Hendaye costs as
little as £135 return including a couchette (£69 return
for Eurostar, £33 each way for a Paris-Irun couchette).
The local
train from Hendaye to San Sebastian only costs around 2
euros one-way. Tickets are easily bought using the
self-service ticket machines at the Hendaye Euskotren
station.
How to buy
tickets online...
This is the
cheapest way to buy tickets, and it's really easy.
1. Go
to
www.raileurope.co.uk
(in English, tickets sent to any UK address, backed by
UK call centre) or
www.tgv-europe.com (in several languages, tickets sent
to any European address or can be picked up in France at
the station).
2. On
Rail Europe, click 'advanced options'.
3. To
book the daytime option, simply enter 'London'
and 'Hendaye' and your dates of travel. Select a
morning departure. It will book your whole trip in
one go, Eurostar and TGV.
4. To
book the overnight option, it's better to split
the trip into London-Paris & Paris-Hendaye. You'll
also need to book the daytime option in two stages if
you want to stop off in Paris, or want 2nd class
Eurostar but 1st class on the TGV, for example.
First book Paris-Hendaye & back. Then click
'add another ticket' and book London-Paris & back as a
separate journey. This way you can select 2nd
class for London-Paris & 1st class for Paris-Hendaye.
Use the train times recommended on this page as a guide.
When
booking the overnight train, make sure you select the
departure with the 'Lunéa' logo, and not the
alternative overnight TGV train which may also be shown
and which only has sit-up-all-night seats. When
you find the Lunéa train, click on the price,
then click the 'choose my place' link which appears, and
make sure the drop-down box shows 'couchette' not
'reclining seat'.
5. Just buy the local ticket
from Hendaye to San Sebastian at the station
when you get there.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
You can buy
tickets by phone from Rail Europe, on 0844 848 5 848,
lines open 09:00-19:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-18:00 on
Saturdays, £8 booking fee.
If Rail
Europe have any difficulty booking the Spanish train,
call Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on 020 3137 4464
(lines open 09:30-13:30 & 14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10
euro per person booking fee, and they can sell the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares too).
Travel overnight from Paris
to Hendaye (on the Spanish frontier) leaving
Paris Austerlitz on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays at 22:12, arriving
Irun at 09:40 next
morning. This is a Lunéa train with 1st class 4-berth couchettes, 2nd class
6-berth couchettes & reclining seats.
What
are French couchettes like? Does not run on 24
or 31 December. A couchette is the recommended option.
Important: This train previously daily, but
from 11 December 2011 it will only run on Mondays,
Fridays and Sundays plus a few other dates such as daily
10 Feb to 5 March and 9 April to 1 May. It runs
via Toulouse rather than the direct route via Bordeaux.
For Pamplona,
leave Irun at 15:55 on an air-conditioned Alvia train
arriving Pamplona at 17:55. The long wait at Irun is
due to the idiots at Renfe re-timing the 08:00
Irun-Pamplona express to leave Irun at 07:30, breaking
the connection with the sleeper from Paris.
For Bilbao,
catch a bus from Irun to Bilbao with
www.alsa.es,
leaving Bilbao railway station at 11:00 arriving Bilbao
at 13:30. The buses run every hour or two, journey
time 1 hour 45 minutes, fare 9 euros one way, 18 euros return.
You can also sail direct from Portsmouth
to Bilbao by ferry.
Train times
Pamplona, Bilbao ► London
From Pamplona, No
suitable connections
From
Bilbao, catch a bus from Bilbao to Irun with
www.alsa.es,
leaving Bilbao Termibus station at 14:15 arriving Irun
railway station at 16:45.
The buses in fact run every hour or two, journey time 1 hour 40
minutes, fare 9 euros one way, 18 euros return.
You can also sail direct from Bilbao to
Portsmouth by ferry.
Travel overnight from Hendaye to Paris, leaving Hendaye
at 19:28 on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays arriving Paris
Gare d'Austerlitz at
07:07. This is a Lunéa train with 1st class (4-berth) and 2nd class
(6-berth) couchettes plus reclining seats.
A couchette is recommended, not a seat.
What
are French couchettes like? Does not run on 24 or 31 December.
Important: This train used to run daily,
but from 11 December 2011 will only run on Mondays,
Fridays and Sundays plus a few other dates such as daily
10 Feb to 5 March and 9 April to 1 May. It's
diverted to run via Toulouse rather than the direct
route via Bordeaux.
From the new timetable
starting 11 December 2011, this train will only run
on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays plus a few other dates
such as daily 10 Feb to 5 March and 9 April to 1 May,
departing Hendaye 19:20 and arriving Paris 07:07.
Existing connections will be broken, earlier departures
from Pamplona/Bilbao will be necessary.
Travel from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du Nord at 09:13 and arriving in London St Pancras at
10:34.
Fares...
London to Paris by Eurostar
starts at £39 one-way or £69 return 2nd class or £107
one-way, £189 return 1st class (non-refundable,
non-changeable, price rises as cheaper seats are sold).
If you book in advance, Paris
to Irun by Lunéa train costs from £33 one-way, £66 return travelling in
2nd class 6-berth couchettes, or from £57 one-way, £114
return travelling in 1st class 4-berth couchettes.
These are special limited-availability 'prems' fares.
If you travel at short notice (or all offers are sold
out), full fare is around £80 one-way, £110 return travelling in
2nd class couchettes.
Irun to Pamplona costs
around 23 euros (£20) each way in turista class, 30 euros (£26)
each way in preferente class.
How to buy tickets online...
Go
to either
www.raileurope.co.uk
(in English, tickets sent to any UK address, backed by
UK call centre, recommended if you're a UK resident) or
www.tgv-europe.com (in several languages, tickets
sent to any European address or can be picked up in
France at the station, see this
advice on using it).
Step 1, book the overnight
Lunéa train one-way from Paris to Irun, using the
train times on this page as your guide.
Always book a couchette, never go for a reclining seat,
it's a false economy.
Step 2, once you've booked from Paris to Irun, click 'continue
shopping' and book the return leg from Hendaye to
Paris, again looking for the direct overnight Lunéa train.
Step 3, now click 'continue
shopping' again, and book the
Eurostar from London to Paris and back. Use the
Eurostar times on this page as a guide, but feel free to
take an earlier Eurostar from London on the outward
journey, or a later one back from Paris on your return,
if it has cheaper seats available or if you want to stop
off in Paris.
Step 4, click 'continue
shopping' again, and book the Irun-Pamplona/Zaragoza
train.
Step 5,
click 'continue shopping' yet again, and book the
Pamplona/Zaragoza to Hendaye train.
Alternatively, you can book the Irun-Pamplona/Zaragoza
trains using the Spanish Railways website,
www.renfe.com.
This can save a pound or two, though not much in this
case, and the booking needs to be done in Spanish - but
it's easy,
see this step-by-step guide to booking tickets with renfe.com.
Note that 'Hendaye' doesn't initially appear in the
drop-down list of destinations, so use 'Irun', and after
the first set of results appear switch it to English
bottom left, then you should see 'Irun-Hend(*)' as a
destination, which means either Irun or Hendaye which is
what you want.
If you have any difficulty booking the
Spanish train, book this bit by phone instead, with
Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, call 020 3137 4464
(lines open 09:30-13:30 & 14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10
euro per person booking fee, and they can sell the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares too).
How to buy
tickets by phone...
You can buy
tickets by phone from Rail Europe, on 0844 848 5 848,
lines open 09:00-19:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-18:00 on Saturdays.
If Rail
Europe have any difficulty booking the Spanish train,
call Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on 020 3137 4464
(lines open 09:30-13:30 & 14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10
euro per person booking fee, and they can sell the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares too).
Regular trains
link Madrid with Segovia and Toledo, and a slightly
less regular one links Madrid with Salamanca. See
www.renfe.com
for train times and fares. It's easy to buy the
Madrid-Segovia/Toledo/Salamanca ticket when you get to
Madrid, or try booking at
www.renfe.com.
Travel overnight from Paris
to Burgos on the excellent Elipsos trainhotel
as shown in the London to
Madrid section, leaving Paris Gare d'Austerlitz at
18:53 and arriving Burgos at 06:22. This train
runs daily from March until October, and on Mon, Thurs,
Fri and Sun from October until March,
see the Madrid section for
full details. This train has sleepers,
restaurant car and cafe-bar.
Now take an
air-conditioned Arco' train called the 'Camino de Santiago' right across Spain, departing
Burgos at 12:14 and arriving Ourense 18:30, Santiago de
Compostela at 20:00 and A Coruña at 20:35. A
portion of this train attached at Miranda de Ebro is
detached again at Ourense and goes to Vigo, arriving at
20:06. The train has a refreshment
counter, or feel free to bring your own picnic and wine. Relax and enjoy the ride - bring your own food
and bottle of wine if you like.
Santiago de
Compostela, Vigo, A Coruña ► London
Travel
right across Spain by air-conditioned 'Arco' train, leaving A
Coruña at 08:48, Santiago de Compostela at 09:25,
Ourense at 11:15, arriving Burgos at 17:12. A
portion of this train leaves Vigo at 09:25 and is
coupled up at Ourense - remember to transfer to the A
Coruña to Hendaye section before the Vigo-Bilbao portion
is detached at Miranda de Ebro. Refreshments are
available on board. Relax and enjoy the ride -
bring your own food and bottle of wine if you like.
Have a
leisurely dinner in a local restaurant, then take the
excellent Elipsos trainhotel leaving Burgos at 22:21 and
arriving Paris Gare d'Austerlitz at 09:03, as shown in the
London to Madrid section. This train runs
daily March to October, and on Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sun
from October until March,
see the Madrid section for full details. This
train has sleepers, restaurant car and cafe-bar.
Travel from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du Nord at 09:13 and arriving in London at 10:36.
Fares...
See the London to Madrid
section for details of fares from London to Burgos.
Fares to Burgos are the same as the fares to Madrid.
Burgos to
Santiago de Compostela costs 41 euros
(£36) full price each way in Turista (2nd class), although
Web & Estrella fares are usually available if you
pre-book, from just 17 euros. In
Preferente class it costs 55 euros (£48) full
price with Web or Estrella fares available from just 33
euros (£29). Burgos to A Coruña or Vigo costs a similar
amount. A 10% discount applies to return trips.
Step
1, book a ticket from Paris to Burgos and back on the
Elipsos trainhotel.
Step 2, click 'continue
shopping' and book a ticket from London to
Paris. By all means choose an earlier Eurostar to
Paris or a later one on your return back from Paris, if
it has cheaper seats, or if you'd like to spend some
time in Paris. Add it to your basket.
If you have any
difficulty using renfe.com, use the Rail Europe 'world' website
www.raileurope-world.com.
Rail Europe's 'world' website (but not yet their UK one)
has been linked directly to the Renfe ticketing system
so it can sell Spanish train tickets painlessly at
the same prices as Renfe.com, including the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares, with just a 4 euro booking
fee and no problems with credit card acceptance.
Anyone from any country worldwide, including the UK,
most of Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
and Africa can use this system, with payment in euros
and print-at-home tickets. Booking tips:
'Second class' means 'Turista', 'First class' means
'Preferente', it cannot book Club class. If you
live in the UK, you'll find the UK is listed as
'England', 'Scotland' & 'Wales'!
Feedback if you
use their site would be appreciated.
Finally, you can
also buy Spanish train tickets by phone with Spanish
Railway's UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on
020 3137 4464 (lines open 09:30-13:30 &
14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10 euro per person booking fee). They can sell the cheap Estrella &
Web fares, too.
How to buy
tickets by phone...
You can buy
tickets by phone from Rail Europe, on 0844 848 5 848,
lines open 09:00-19:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-18:00 on Saturdays, £8 phone booking fee.
If Rail
Europe have any difficulty booking the Spanish train,
call Spanish Railways' UK agents,
www.spanish-rail.co.uk, on 020 3137 4464
(lines open 09:30-13:30 & 14:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, 10
euro per person booking fee, and they can sell the cheap
'web' and 'estrella' fares too).
Above:
A Trasmediterranea ferry from Barcelona to Palma.
Photo courtesy of Acciona Trasmediterranea.
It's easy to travel from
London to Ibiza, Majorca or Minorca without flying.
You take an afternoon Eurostar to Paris, the overnight
'trainhotel' from Paris to Barcelona, spend the day there, then
take an overnight ferry from Barcelona to the
islands. See the London to
Barcelona section for train times and fares to Barcelona, then see the ferry information below:
Barcelona to
Palma (Majorca)
Travel from London to Barcelona as
shown in the London to Barcelona
section, leaving London by Eurostar mid-afternoon and
arriving in Barcelona by Elipsos trainhotel sleeper train next
morning. Or use the
new high-speed
daytime option, and spend the night & following day in
Barcelona.
Spend the day in
Barcelona, then take the overnight ship to Palma de Majorca.
The crossing takes 8 hours, and comfortable cabins are
available. Two companies operate on the
Barcelona-Palma route, Balearia (www.balearia.com)
and Acciona Trasmediterranea, see www.trasmediterranea.es
or call Acciona Trasmediterranea's UK agent,
Southern Ferries on
0844 815 7785. Acciona is the bigger company
with the bigger ships and widest range of cabins and
facilities, but Balearia may have cheaper fares.
Travel from London to Barcelona as
shown in the London to Barcelona
section, leaving London by Eurostar mid-afternoon and
arriving in Barcelona by Elipsos trainhotel sleeper train next morning.
Or use the new
high-speed daytime option, and spend the night &
following day in Barcelona.
An overnight ship sails to Ibiza on most nights of the week,
either at 20:30 or 23:30, arriving either 06:30 or 08:30.
Times and dates vary, so see www.trasmediterranea.es
or call Acciona Trasmediterranea's UK agent,
Southern Ferries on
0844 815 7785 for
details.
Fares
from Barcelona to Ibiza, Minorca or Majorca:
By
overnight ferry: £64 return in a seat, rising to £173 return
in a deluxe single cabin.
By catamaran:
£76 return in tourist class. Club class also
available.
How to buy
tickets...
Book the rail
journey (Eurostar + trainhotel) online or by phone, as shown
in the London to
Barcelona section above.
Book the ferry either online at
www.balearia.com (Tip: 'Camarote' means cabin
berth, 'Sirena' means reclining seat) or
www.trasmediterranea.es
or through
Acciona Trasmediterranea's UK agent,
Southern Ferries on
0844 815 7785.
Two ferry
companies now link Spain with the Canary islands, Acciona
Trasmediterranea and Naviera Armas. Here's how to
travel from the UK to the Canary Islands without flying:
Option 1: UK to the
Canary Islands by train & ferry with Naviera Armas via
Huelva...
www.navieraarmas.com started a weekly ferry from
Huelva in Spain to Tenerife and Gran Canaria in March 2011.
It's reportedly higher quality than the Acciona ferry, but
feedback is welcome!
London ► Tenerife &
Las Palmas/Gran
Canaria
Day 1,
Thursday: Travel from London
to Madrid by Eurostar & overnight trainhotel, as shown in the
London to Madrid section. You leave London at
14:01 and arrive Madrid Chamartin at 09:10 Friday morning.
Day 2, Friday:
Spend the day in Madrid, then take the early evening train
from Madrid Atocha to Huelva as shown in the
London to Huelva section. Spend
the night in Huelva.
Day 3,
Saturday: The Naviera Armas ferry to the Canaries
sails from Cadiz weekly, usually at 13:00 every Saturday,
arriving at Gran Canaria at 17:00 and 22:00 at Tenerife on
the Sunday. You can check times, sailing dates & fares
at
www.navieraarmas.com.
Tenerife & Las Palmas/Gran Canaria ►
London
Day 1,
Thursday: Sail every Thursday from Gran Canaria at
08:00 or Tenerife at 12:00 arriving in Huelva at 18:00
next day (Friday, day 2). Spend the night in
Huelva.
Day 3,
Saturday: Take the morning train from Huelva to
Madrid, as shown in the Huelva to
London section. Spend the day in Madrid.
Day 3,
Saturday: Travel from Madrid to Paris on the
overnight trainhotel, then to London by Eurostar, as
shown in the London-Madrid section. You arrive in
London at 12:30 on Sunday (day 4).
Fares & how to buy
tickets...
Buy your London
to Madrid train tickets either online or by phone
as shown above.
Check ferry fares, sailing dates
and book the ferry tickets online at
www.navieraarmas.com. Fares start at 80 euros
each way with a reclining seat, or 200 euros each way per
person for two passengers travelling together sharing a
2-bed cabin.
Option 2:
UK to the
Canary Islands by train & ferry, with Acciona
Trasmediterranea via Cadiz...
A weekly Trasmediterranea Line
cruise ferry links Cadiz in mainland Spain with Arrecife
(Lanzarote), Las Palmas
and Tenerife in the Canary Islands, a 2-night voyage.
The whole journey from London to Tenerife will take 3 or 4
nights.
Day 1, travel from London
to Madrid by Eurostar & overnight trainhotel, as shown in the
London to Madrid section. You'll need to leave
London on a Sunday afternoon if your ferry sails from Cadiz
on Tuesday, or on Thursday afternoon if it sails on a
Saturday.
Day 3, the
ferry to the Canaries
sails from Cadiz weekly, usually on a Tuesday or Saturday
night, taking 2 days 1 night or 2 nights 1 day, depending on
the sailing.
You can check times, sailing dates & fares at either the
Seat61 Ferry Shop or
www.trasmediterranea.es.
How to buy
tickets...
Buy your London
to Madrid train tickets either online or by phone
as shown above.
Book the ferry tickets either
online at the Seat61 Ferry Shop
or
www.trasmediterranea.es, or by phone with Trasmediterranea's UK agent, Southern Ferries on
0844 815 7785.
It's not cheap! £550
return for two people travelling in a 2-berth cabin, £720
in a single-berth cabin. Check fares with
Southern Ferries on 0844 815 7785
Option 3: UK to the
Canary Islands by train & ferry via Portugal...
A new cruise ferry now
operates to
the Canary Islands from Portimao in southern Portugal, see
www.navieraarmas.com. Ships sail weekly
(Sunday lunchtime) from Portimao to Tenerife & Gran
Canaria, taking 2 nights including a 10 hour stop in
Funchal on Madeira. The return sailing is on
Tuesday lunchtime from Tenerife or Tuesday evenings from
Gran Canaria, also taking 2 nights with a 2-hour stop in
Madeira. The ferry costs around 640 euros return
in total for 2 adults with a 2-bed en suite cabin.
See the Portugal page for train service from the UK
to Portimao in Portugal. This will take two days,
1 night. A night in Portimao will also be
necessary, making the total journey from London to
Tenerife 4 nights each way.
Brittany
Ferries' flagship, the superb 'Pont Aven'.
Photo courtesy of Brittany Ferries...
Take Brittany Ferries direct to
Spain...
Why not cruise to
Spain, on a luxury ferry that has more in common with a cruise
liner than old-style Channel ferries? Brittany Ferries
operates several direct ferry routes from the UK to Spain with
ships capable of 27 knots, so the crossing time from
Portsmouth to northern Spain takes just 24 hours. With
ferry passenger
numbers growing (whilst airline passengers to Spain have been
falling), Brittany Ferries have been steadily expanding their ferry
service to Spain. Starting with just 1 or
2 sailings a week from Plymouth to Santander in northern
Spain, they added a twice-weekly ferry from Portsmouth to Santander in 2009, and
from 2011 they will add yet another twice-weekly
ferry to Spain, this time from Portsmouth to Bilbao (which
handily replaces P&O Ferries' twice-weekly Portsmouth-Bilbao
service which ceased operating in September 2010). This
means that for most of 2011, Brittany ferries will offer an
unprecedented 5 cruise ferry sailings a
week direct to Spain.
Which route & ship to choose? Unless you live in
the West Country, Portsmouth will probably be the easier UK
port to reach, just 74 miles from London. In Spain, Santander is an
attractive seaside city whereas Bilbao is a larger and more
industrial centre, but it's home to the famous Guggenheim
Museum of modern art, well worth a visit. Both cities
have a direct train service to Madrid, but Bilbao also has
direct trains to San Sebastian, Zaragoza & Barcelona. Of the two
vessels operating the service to Spain, the Pont Aven is the
bigger ship with the wider range of facilities, including the
prestigious (and popular!) Commodore Class cabins with lounge
area, satellite TV and private balcony. So choose the
Pont Aven if you have the choice.
Portsmouth ► Santander
This route operates all year round, usually twice a week
leaving Portsmouth on Tuesdays at 17:00 (arriving Santander at
18:00 next day) & Wednesdays at 12:00 (arriving Santander
at 13:00 next
day). However, sailing days & times vary so check online
at
www.brittanyferries.co.uk.
Brittany Ferries' superb flagship 'Pont Aven' usually operates
the Tuesday sailings, and their smaller 'Cap Finistère'
usually takes the Wednesday sailings, although this can vary
in winter. Enjoy the departure from Portsmouth
Continental Ferry Port, as the ship sails right past
Portsmouth's historic naval dockyard with Nelson's flagship
HMS Victory and then Victorian ironclad HMS Warrior clearly
visible from the ferry.
Portsmouth ► Bilbao
This route operates twice a week from late March to early November 2011,
sailing on Fridays at 17:00 (arriving Bilbao at 18:00 next
day) and on Sundays at 23:15, arriving in Bilbao at 08:00 on Tuesdays.
All sailings on this route are operated by the Cap Finistère.
On departure from Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port, the
ship sails right past Portsmouth's historic naval dockyard
with Nelson's HMS Victory and then ironclad HMS Warrior
clearly visible from her decks.
Plymouth ► Santander
This route operates all year, usually once a week on Sundays
at 15:30 arriving 12:00 the next day. Operated by
Brittany Ferries flagship, the excellent 'Pont Aven'.
How much does it
cost? How to buy tickets...
Fares vary by
departure date, rather like air fares. However, ferry
fares to Spain start at £246 return for two people travelling
together in an inside 2-berth cabin (in other words, £123 each return),
or £276 with an outside cabin ('outside' means with
window, well worth the extra cost), rising to £646 return for two
people sharing a Commodore Class suite with private balcony.
Prices for solo passengers start at £228 return with sole
occupancy of an inside cabin.
You can buy ferry
tickets to Spain online at
www.brittanyferries.co.uk or call
0871 244 0744, lines open
08:30-19:30 Mondays-Fridays, 09:00-17:00 Saturdays,
09:00-16:30 Sundays.
Portsmouth is served by direct trains from London (every half hour,
journey time 1hour 35 minutes), Cardiff, Bristol, Brighton,
Southampton, Reading. You should use Portsmouth &
Southsea station, a taxi from the station to the Continental
Ferry Port costs around £5-£6. Remember there's a 45
minute minimum check-in for the ferry, but always allow plenty
of time between train and ferry in case of any delay.
See the UK page for train
information within Britain, and use
www.nationalrail.co.uk to check UK times & fares.
Santander has three daily high-speed trains to
Valladolid & Madrid, journey
time 4½
hours, see
www.renfe.com
for times, fares & online booking. I'd recommend
allowing several hours between the ship's arrival and any
onward train booking, to allow for transfer time and any delay
to the ship.
In Bilbao
the ferry now docks at Zierbena, 16km northwest of central
Bilbao. It's a 3km, 10 euro taxi ride from the ferry
terminal to Santurtzi metro station, from where there are
metro suburban trains every few minutes into Bilbao's Abando
station in the city centre, taking 21-23 minutes and costing about 1.50 euros,
see
www.metrobilbao.net.
There are two daily high-speed trains from Bilbao Abando
station to Valladolid & Madrid, journey time
to Madrid 4
hours 50 minutes, and two direct daily trains to Zaragoza &
Barcelona, journey time, 6 hours 40 minutes, see
www.renfe.com
for times, fares & online booking. I'd recommend allowing
several hours between the ship's arrival and any onward train
booking, to allow for transfer time and any delay to the ship.
Bilbao's Atxuri station has frequent narrow gauge trains to
San Sebastian (Donostia-Amara) every hour or half-hour,
journey time 2 hours 40 minutes, see
www.euskotren.es.
On board the
cruise ferry to Spain...
Both the Pont
Aven and the Cap Finistère offer a choice of
restaurants & bars, standard & deluxe cabins, sun decks & cinema.
All cabins come with en suite toilet & shower, a small
dressing table, and 2-pin European type power sockets for
recharging laptops, cameras or mobiles. The Pont
Aven is the bigger ship, with a wider range of facilities
including a small indoor swimming pool with poolside bar, two cinemas,
and WiFi internet access if you bring your laptop (in public areas but not
in cabins, £4
per hour or £8.50 for 3 hours, cards available from the
information desk). These ships make getting to Spain as
much a cruise as a ferry crossing. A great way to reach
Spain with or without your car, flight-free.
Cabin types: All cabins have a private shower &
toilet, with bedding, towels, soap & shampoo provided.
On the Pont Aven you'll find standard inside cabins (1 or 2
berths), standard outside cabins (1-4 berths with window),
Club cabins (similar to standard outside cabins but with two
lower berths, satellite TV, and tea/coffee facilities), Deluxe
cabins (with TV/DVD player, tea/coffee facilities, twin beds,
complimentary continental breakfast served in the cabin) and
Commodore Class cabins (similar facilities as the Deluxe
cabins but significantly larger & with private balcony).
Commodore
class cabin on Brittany Ferries' flagship 'Pont Aven',
with private balcony, shower & toilet, satellite TV &
DVD player, minibar, tea &
coffee facilities.
La Flora
restaurant on board the Pont Aven. The buffet
hors d'oeuvre & dessert are excellent, as are the main
courses and choice of wines.
The indoor swimming
pool on
Brittany Ferries superb 'Pont Aven'.
Standard outside cabin
on the Pont Aven, with 1 to 4 berths, shower & toilet.
The trainhotel from Paris arrives at Madrid's modern
Chamartin
station in the north of the city. The trains to Seville, Granada, Malaga leave
from Madrid Atocha station (also known as Puerta de Atocha) about 20 minutes walk south of the city
centre. It's easy to transfer between stations by frequent suburban train.
The Spanish for suburban train is 'Cercanias', look for the orange and white 'C'
logo.
Above: An air-conditioned Spanish suburban train at Madrid Chamartin, about to leave
for Madrid
Atocha...
Madrid Atocha station: The old historic trainshed at Madrid Atocha has been turned into
an attractive tropical garden, with café... High-speed trains to
Barcelona, Malaga & Seville leave
from a modern concourse, out of shot directly behind the photographer.
For train departures to Seville, Malaga, Barcelona & Algeciras, you must
climb the stairways or escalators shown in the right and left of this
photo to a first-floor departure area and X-ray check. Suburban trains
to/from Chamartin station (plus a few mainline trains that start at
Chamartin) use underground through platforms shown in the renfe.com
timetables as 'Atocha Cercanias'.
Madrid Chamartin ▶ Madrid Atocha
If you have a trainhotel ticket from Paris to Madrid Chamartin you're
allowed to use the suburban (Cercanias) trains from Chamartin to Atocha free
of charge (although this doesn't seem to be written down anywhere!). Just
show your trainhotel ticket at the suburban (Cercanias) ticket office next to
platform 5 (or if closed, at the suburban window inside the main ticket
office) and they will give you a gate pass to get you through the automatic
ticket gates at Atocha. Alternatively, jut buy a suburban ticket to
Atocha from the self-service machines, which have an English language
facility. The fare is only about
1.15 euros, the machines accept euro notes and coins.
Go to platforms 8 & 9.
Trains from these platforms all go to Atocha, leaving every 5-10 minutes.
The journey is 3 stops and it
takes just 10-15 minutes.
Alternatively, the Madrid metro (www.metromadrid.es)
links Chamartin station with Madrid city centre and Atocha station, though this
takes longer.
Or you can take a taxi. A taxi from Chamartin to
Atocha will cost around 10 euros.
On arrival at Puerta de Atocha
Cercanias platforms,
follow the 'Salida' ('Way out') then 'Grandes Lineas' ('Main Line Trains') signs to the mainline concourse.
For departures, take the escalators one floor up. Your luggage will be
X-rayed before access to the departure area. When your train is ready
for boarding you descend via a travelator to the
platform to board your train. Note that a handful of mainline trains
start at Chamartin and call at Atocha suburban platforms (Atocha Cercanias)
rather than starting from Atocha's terminal platforms like other mainline
trains.
If you have a Preferente or Club
class ticket, you can use the Sala Club (1st class lounge) at Madrid
Atocha station just off the first floor departure area (turn right after going through the
luggage X-ray check, walk along a bit, then the door it's on your right). In the Sala Club
you'll find a quiet, civilised and relaxing lounge in which to wait, with complimentary
tea, coffee, juices and free beer. It's open 06:00-22:00
Mondays-Saturday, 06:30-22:00 Sundays.
Madrid Atocha ▶
Madrid Chamartin
If you have a trainhotel ticket from Madrid Chamartin to Paris you're
allowed to use the suburban (Cercanias) trains from Atocha to Chamartin free
of charge, although this doesn't seem to be written down anywhere! Just
show your trainhotel ticket at the suburban (Cercanias) ticket office and they
will give you a gate pass to get you through the automatic ticket gates.
Alternatively, jut buy a suburban ticket to Chamartin from the self-service
machines, which have an English language facility. The fare is only about
1.20 euros, the machines accept euro notes and coins.
Go to platforms 1 & 2.
Trains from these platforms all go to Chamartin, every 5-10 minutes.
The journey is 3 stops and it
takes just 10-15 minutes.
Alternatively, the Madrid metro (www.metromadrid.es)
links Atocha station, Madrid city centre and Chamartin station, though this
takes longer.
Or you can take a taxi. A taxi from Atocha to
Chamartin will cost around 10 euros.
If you have a Preferente or Gran
Clase trainhotel ticket, you can use the Sala Club (1st class lounge) at
Madrid Chamartin station, through a poorly marked door next to platform 14.
In the Sala Club you'll find a quiet, civilised and relaxing place to wait,
with complimentary tea, coffee, juices and free beer. It's open
06:00-22:45 Mon-Fri, 06:10-22:45 Sat, 07:10-22:45 Sun.
If you want a holiday to Spain by
train not plane, but want someone else to organise all the
train tickets & hotels for you, several specialist companies
do just that, for a holiday without airport hassles or whole
days in cramped coach seats on motorways. Railbookers &
Erail offer tailor-made individual holidays with departure on
any date you like, whereas Treyn Holidays & Great Rail
Journeys offer escorted tours with specific departure dates.
Railbookers can
tailor-make a flight-free holiday or city break to Spain for
you, with train travel, transfers & hotels, leaving on any
date you like. For example, a 2-night short break to
Barcelona starts at £359 per person. A 9-night trip to
Madrid, Granada, Cordoba & Seville starts at £1,029 in
standard class Eurostar and first class 2-berth sleepers on
the Elipsos trainhotel, or £1,599 with first class travel on
all trains. If you tell them what you want, they'll
advise you on the best trains, routes & hotels and sort it
all out for you. They get a lot of repeat business!
See their Spain page for details. You can use
London-based
www.railbookers.com to arrange a European train tour
whatever your country of residence, in fact they now have an
office in Sydney Australia (www.railbookers.com.au)
or you can call their London office from overseas on +44
20 3327 0761.
Erail,
www.erail.co.uk, 020 7619 1080. Please quote 'Seat61.com'
when you call...
Erail can also
tailor-make a holiday to Spain by train for you, with
departure on any date you like. they suggest a Highlights of
Andalusia tour, 10 days to Seville, Cordoba, Granada, from
around £812 per person. A 3-night short break to
Barcelona by Eurostar & Elipsos trainhotel starts at £525. Call 020 7619
1080 to enquire or book, please quote 'Seat 61' when
you call.
Great Rail
Journeys,
www.greatrail.com, 01904 527120:
Escorted tours...
GRJ offers
five-star upmarket rail-based escorted tours to Spain,
including a tour to Barcelona, Madrid and Seville with travel
from London by train and a range of departure dates.
Great Rail Journeys also offer rail-based escorted tours to
other European countries. Check the holiday details
online, then call
01904 527120 to book or use their
online booking form.
The Thomas Cook European Timetable
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
Winter/Spring 2011/12 edition (Dec 2011 to June 2012) or
(when available)
Summer/Autumn 2012 edition (June to Dec 2012)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at
www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
Paying
for a guidebook may seem an unnecessary expense, but it's a tiny
fraction of what you're spending on your whole trip. You
will see so much more, and know so much more about what you're
looking at, if you have a decent guidebook. For the
independent traveller I'd recommend either the Lonely Planet or
the Rough Guide, both provide an excellent level of practical
detail and useful background. You won't regret buying either of
these guides! My own book, an essential handbook for train
travel to Europe based on this website called "The
Man in Seat 61", was published in June 2008, and
is available from Amazon with shipping worldwide.
Or buy Lonely Planet Spain direct from the
Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide.
Alternatively, download just the chapters or areas you need
in .PDF format
from the Lonely Planet Website, from around £2.99 or
US$4.95 a chapter.
www.hotelscombined.com
is probably the best hotel search system I've seen, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Opodo, Expedia,
Booking.com, Hotels.com, AsiaRooms, Travelocity, LateRooms and
others) to find the cheapest hotel rates. Set up in
2005, it's probably the best place to start for booking any
hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Other hotel sites
worth trying...
www.tripadvisor.com
is a good place to find independent travellers' reviews of the
main hotels, and it has the low-down on destination sights &
attractions, too.
www.booking.com is my own preferred hotel booking system
(Hotels Combined being a search/comparison system). It
has a simple interface, a good selection in most countries
worldwide, useful online customer reviews of each hotel, and
decent prices, usually shown inclusive of unavoidable extras
such as taxes (a pet hate of mine is systems that show one
price, then charge you another!).
www.mrandmrssmith.com (no relation!) is the place to start
if you want something special for an anniversary, honeymoon,
romantic break or other special occasion.
www.mrandmrssmith.com lists hand-picked boutique hotels in
Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Ronda, Granada an a few other
Spanish destinations.
Backpacker hostels...
If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about the hostels. For a dorm bed or an
ultra-cheap private room in a backpacker hostel in most
European cities try
www.hostelbookers.com.
For environmentally-aware guesthouses offering walking,
hiking, riding or nature-watching in the Spanish countryside
and national parks, try
www.wildsideholidays.com, a new site listing
independent, environmentally-aware properties across Spain.
It was started by British ex-pats Clive Muir and Sue Eatock,
when they found nowhere to advertise their own wonderful
property deep in the heart of the Sierra de Grazelema near
Ronda in Southern Spain. Clive and Sue can show you the
local sights and wildlife, from wild orchids to ibex (wild
mountain goats) to colonies of Griffon vultures. See
www.natural-images.co.uk for details.
Spanish city centres and
cars don't mix well, so stick with the train for city-based
tours. But if you want to get out of the cities and into
the countryside, hiring a car can be a great idea. Start
by trying
Holiday Autos,
www.holidayautos.co.uk, they're part of Lastminute.com so are reliable and have a wide range of
locations and very good prices.
The award-winning
website
www.carrentals.co.uk compares many different car hire
companies including Holiday Autos, meaning not only a cheapest
price comparison but a wider choice of hire and drop off
location.
Never travel without insurance from a
reliable travel insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself).
Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed
connection, but European international rail conditions of
carriage (known as the 'CIV') contain consumer protection
provisions that entitle you to travel forward by the next
available train if you miss a connection because of a delay to
the first train, irrespective of who operates which train, and
even if your ticket is in theory train-specific and
non-changeable.
Feedback from using
insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get a spare credit card, one designed for foreign travel with no currency
exchange loading & low or no ATM fees...
It costs nothing to take out an extra credit card.
If you keep it in a different part of your luggage so you're
not left stranded if
your wallet gets stolen, this is a form of extra travel insurance in itself. In addition,
some credit cards are significantly better for
overseas travel than others. Martin Lewis's
www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which
UK credit cards
have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something
overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when
you use an ATM abroad. Taking this advice
can save you quite a lot on each trip compared to using your
normal high-street bank credit card! You can save money on ATM charges and exchange rates using a
Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or indeed the
multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card,
find out about these cards & sign up here.
Get an international SIM card
to save on mobile data and phone calls...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're
not careful you can return home to find some huge bills
waiting for you. I've known people run up over £1,000 in
data charges just by leaving their iPhone connected during a
simple trip to Europe. However, if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85% and
limit any damage to the amount you have pre-paid. Go-Sim
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
How
to buy tickets online at
How to buy tickets if you live
in the 
Take
the train to Spain, then hire a car:
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, try
