Barcelona Sants Estacio...

It may win the award for Europe's most un-prepossessing station, but Barcelona Sants is clean and modern inside.  It's Barcelona's main transport hub used by virtually all suburban, mainline, & high-speed trains - the TGVs from Paris arrive here too.  A few trains start at the classically beautiful Estación de Franca, but these often call at Sants afterwards.  You'll find plenty of shops, bars & restaurants at Sants station, including a MacDonald's, and there's also a Tourist Information Office.  Travel tip:  For a cooked breakfast before catching your train, I recommend the €19 buffet breakfast in the top-floor restaurant or the Gran Hotel Torre Catalunya, it's the tower block across the road to the right when you walk out of the main station exit.  The top floor restaurant gives great views over Barcelona.

  Hotels near the station for an overnight stop or in the old city for a longer stay

The station...

Baggage is X-rayed before access to long-distance & high-speed trains...

At Barcelona Sants and all other Spanish stations, there's a simple X-ray check of all baggage before you access the high-speed platforms.  This includes boarding a northbound TGV to France.  The photo below right shows the X-ray machines at Barcelona Sants at the entrance to platforms 1-6.  There are no metal detectors, so you can carry what you like on your person, it's only the baggage that's checked (make sure any penknives etc are in your pockets not your baggage so don't get scanned, to avoid a jobsworth refusing to allow them on, as happened to one passenger).  Beyond the baggage checkpoint is a small departures waiting area, with escalators down to each platform. There is no baggage check at any French station, just free & easy access to all trains.  The check only takes a minute, but don't arrive for your train with seconds to spare!

The luggage lockers at Barcelona Sants...		Luggage check at entrance to platforms 1-6...

Left luggage lockers...

There are luggage lockers (pictured above left, signed 'Consigna' in Spanish) on the left-hand side of the building as you walk in the main entrance doors.  See the left luggage page for opening hours & prices.  Bags are X-rayed just inside the entrance before being left.

The platforms:  1-6 standard gauge, 7-14 Iberian gauge...

The station concourse is at street level, the platforms are underneath, reached by lifts & escalators.  There are 14 platforms, platforms 1-6 are standard gauge (4'8½) and used by TGV & AVE high-speed trains to Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Perpignan, Toulouse, Avignon, Marseille, Lyon & Paris, also the Alvia trains to San Sebastian & Bilbao.  Platforms 7-14 are Iberian broad gauge (5'6") and used by suburban trains and Talgo or EuroMed trains to Valencia & Alicante.  Platform numbers are displayed on the various screens and departure boards around the station.

The Sala Club 1st class lounge...

Anyone with a Preferente class ticket (except the cheapest promo type, but including Promo+) can use the Sala Club 1st class lounge.  That includes anyone with a 1st class ticket on the TGV or AVE to Paris or France.  The Sala Club at Barcelona Sants is open 05:30-22:00 Mondays-Saturdays, 06:15-22:00 Sundays, with complimentary tea, coffee, snacks & beer.

Hotels near the station...

• If you just want a hotel near the station for an overnight stop between trains, here are some nearby hotels with good or great reviews:  Hotel Barcelo Sants (4-star, directly above Barcelona Sants station itself, around £79-£120 per night), Gran Hotel Torre Catalunya (4-star, around £95-£110, across the road from the station), Hotel Just Style (around £105), AC Hotel Sants by Marriott (4-star from around £85, located just 50m from the station), Hotel Catalonia Roma (3-star from around £79), Hostal Baler (2-star from around £58), Hotel Transit (1-star from around £58 per night).

Hotels in the centre for a longer stay...

• If you're visiting Barcelona, I'd get a hotel in the old quarter, for example on or near La Rambla itself.  Here are some suggested hotels in good locations with good or great reviews:  Hotel DO Plaça Reial (5-star, fabulous, around £200+), Hotel Espana (4-star, around £190, one of Barcelona's most historic & well-known hotels in a quiet location just off La Rambla), Hotel MonteCarlo (4-star), Hotel Jazz (3-star with roof-top pool, from around £160 per night), Hotel Catalonia Portal de l'Angel (3-star with outdoor swimming pool, Gothic quarter, around £130 for a double), Hotel Curious (2-star, 50m from Las Ramblas, from around £90 for a double).

Barcelona metro:  www.tmb.cat...

Barcelona's modern air-conditioned metro links Barcelona Sants (Estació Sants) with all parts of Barcelona, see www.tmb.cat.  You can buy a ticket from the touch-screen machines (which have an English-language facility) for a couple of euros and hop on the next train.