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Barcelona by train via Paris

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Gadget88

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I'm planning this trip in addition to my other one but won't be until later in 2018.

What hotels can I stay in near the station and also I hear there's a few options one direct train or one with changes? Where is best to look online to book this journey?

My plan is London to Paris with a night stay over and go to Barcelona next day.
 
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MarcVD

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Seat61.com has all the info. You can do it in one day. Hotels in Paris are quite expensive. If absolutely needed to overnight, Lyon might be a better bet.

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Gordon

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I'm planning this trip in addition to my other one but won't be until later in 2018.

What hotels can I stay in near the station and also I hear there's a few options one direct train or one with changes? Where is best to look online to book this journey?

My plan is London to Paris with a night stay over and go to Barcelona next day.

1) There is more than one direct train a day.
2) You can do it in one day from London in fact, as there is (currently) a 14.07 from Paris
3) For convenience I can recommend the Mercure at Gare de Lyon, right on the station. (or there are a couple of Ibis a short walk away as well)


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Gordon

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Seat61.com has all the info. You can do it in one day. Hotels in Paris are quite expensive. If absolutely needed to overnight, Lyon might be a better bet.

I don't think a hotel in central Lyon would be much cheaper than in Paris, especially if the Paris one was booked a long time in advance. In any case, the Paris - Barcelona TGVs don't stop at Lyon, so I think that would add inconvenience, especially as the P - B service is a double deck TGV and direct in only 6.5 hours. Best to book a top deck seat from Paris and enjoy the ride.



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Gadget88

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I checked flights and it's just as expansive it seems hotels near sants train station are very expensive compared to say Germany.
 

eddp

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If you definitely want to spend a night in France but don't mind where, perhaps Nimes could be an idea? There are three TGVs a day from Lille (to avoid crossing Paris) and six from Nimes to Barcelona.

Another option could be Avignon, with a direct train from London (dep 0719 arr 1408) and the following day a direct train to Barcelona (dep 0843 arr 1238) - both trains serve Avignon TGV though which is outside of the city itself.

There is one direct train a day from Lyon to Barcelona, it's an AVE rather than a TGV (so a RENFE series 100) - dep Lyon Part-Dieu 14:23, arr Barcelona Sants 19:31 (times for the 11th).

voyages-sncf.fr will sell you a through itinerary, there are three connecting services a day (the 0719 changing at Lyon Part-Dieu, or two via Paris, including a change from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon).
 

30907

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We overnighted at Perpignan in a small hotel in the old town, the station is a bit out of town but the buses are good. We then used the old coastal line to Barcelona, nice scenery but slow, but you could wait for the first TGV/ICE. ISTR it was considerably cheaper to split at Perpignan.
 

Gadget88

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Yes I looked at doing it in day so it may be possible but would be more tiring. The train I looked at arrives around 8pm. Just I'd have to find a suitable hotel.
 

30907

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Think ours was the Hotel de la Loge, but there's bound to be a chain hotel by the station. And Perpignan is worth a morning anyway!
 

Polarbear

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Having travelled in France a couple of times over the last year, there are several reasonable hotels in & around Paris as long as you book well in advance.

Near to Nord & Est stations, there are two Mercure hotels (Accor group) that I've managed to book rooms at between £56 and £65 per room per night. Other hotels are available, though personally, I would opt for 3 star & above if you want something reasonable in Paris.

There's also an IBIS just by Avignon station which is also reasonably priced & convenient.
 

FQTV

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3) For convenience I can recommend the Mercure at Gare de Lyon, right on the station. (or there are a couple of Ibis a short walk away as well)


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I'd agree that it's convenient. Otherwise, I'm afraid that I wouldn't ever recommend it. A chauffeur was once booked to pick me up from there and, after a few embarrassed minutes in the car, admitted that he'd been horrified that i might have stayed there.

His relief at being told that I'd simply used the address as a specific pick up location was palpable.

Having toured the hotel for work, I understood his concern.

The equivalents at Lyon (and many in between) are infinitely better in my experience.

EDITED: Quelle Horreur - Good heavens; I thought that you'd referred to the Mercure Gare du Nord. Apologies! I'm leaving the above in place, however, both to admit my error, and also to serve as a warning to other forum members and Google arrivistes!
 
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Gordon

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I'd agree that it's convenient. Otherwise, I'm afraid that I wouldn't ever recommend it. A chauffeur was once booked to pick me up from there and, after a few embarrassed minutes in the car, admitted that he'd been horrified that i might have stayed there.
His relief at being told that I'd simply used the address as a specific pick up location was palpable.
Having toured the hotel for work, I understood his concern.

EDITED: Quelle Horreur - Good heavens; I thought that you'd referred to the Mercure Gare du Nord. Apologies! I'm leaving the above in place, however, both to admit my error, and also to serve as a warning to other forum members and Google arrivistes!

If you are referring to the Terminus Nord, it is an old hotel (the original Nord railway hotel) and suffers from that. The Mercure Gare de Lyon is a modern building grafted on to the side of the Gare de Lyon, so is very different, hence my recommendation. I also recommended the Gare de Lyon Mercure as opposed to Nord, as in my experience it is much less stressful to get the transfer across Paris out of the way and be on site at your departure station.

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eotw

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I have just returned from Barcelona yesterday. Caught the 7:30 service from Barcelona Sants to Lyon, then the 14:00 service to Lille, the 18:35 Eurostar and the 20:00 from Paddington to Swindon. I deliberately avoided crossing Paris as I use a wheelchair.

Despite my best attempts at booking the wrong seats it all went extremely well.

I had a slight scare in Barcelona when they thought I had booked the wrong seat but it turned out okay. Although the train was parked so that it was only just possible to get the ramp in place - I did wonder how they would sort it out if the train needed moving a couple of metres.

Rupert
 

TBY-Paul

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I'm planning this trip in addition to my other one but won't be until later in 2018.

If your not planning to do the journey till 2018, it might be worth remembering that the Nimes-Montpellier bypass should be open (planned to open Dec 2017). I think the bypass reduces the Paris-Barcelona journey time by around 30 mins.

There is a New station planned near Montpellier, I'm not sure if the new Station near Nimes is being built in time for the lines opening.

If the line opens in December 2017, I suspect the new timings will be included in the new December timetable?
 

gazthomas

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I have just returned from Barcelona yesterday. Caught the 7:30 service from Barcelona Sants to Lyon, then the 14:00 service to Lille, the 18:35 Eurostar and the 20:00 from Paddington to Swindon. I deliberately avoided crossing Paris as I use a wheelchair.

Despite my best attempts at booking the wrong seats it all went extremely well.

I had a slight scare in Barcelona when they thought I had booked the wrong seat but it turned out okay. Although the train was parked so that it was only just possible to get the ramp in place - I did wonder how they would sort it out if the train needed moving a couple of metres.

Rupert
That's a long day!
 

gazthomas

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Having travelled in France a couple of times over the last year, there are several reasonable hotels in & around Paris as long as you book well in advance.

Near to Nord & Est stations, there are two Mercure hotels (Accor group) that I've managed to book rooms at between £56 and £65 per room per night. Other hotels are available, though personally, I would opt for 3 star & above if you want something reasonable in Paris.

There's also an IBIS just by Avignon station which is also reasonably priced & convenient.
In my experience hotels of any star in Paris are over rated and generally poor. I worked there for 15 years!
 

Clansman

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I'm planning this trip in addition to my other one but won't be until later in 2018.

What hotels can I stay in near the station and also I hear there's a few options one direct train or one with changes? Where is best to look online to book this journey?
My plan is London to Paris with a night stay over and go to Barcelona next day.
Did this journey in October, and stayed the night in Paris.

We've stayed at the Holiday Inn at Canal de la Villete twice now, which is a great hotel right next to one of the canals which branch off from the Seine (hence the name), and great value compared to all the other rip off independent hotel brands in Paris. All rooms have their own private balcony, and there's a high quality sports bar situated next to reception. Alternatively there's a more traditional pub over the swing bridge directly opposite, as well as another one onboard a moored ship next to it, which also has a hut for motor boat rentals (can drive where ever you choose as long as you return within the time constraits) which I highly recommend; providing you can haggle a little!.

It's within a 5-10 minute walk from Gare du Nord and next to Riquet Metro station, which can be reached from Gare Du Nord by changing at Stalingrad. Given the close proximity, we walked to Stalingrad which is just adjacent to Riquet at the other side of the canal, and within sight from the hotel. For Gare du Lyon we took the metro from Stalingrad (which you change at from Riquet) to Gare du Nord, then the RER to Gare du Lyon. The whole commute took about 10-20 minutes max, although it depends on the RER timetable.

Thoroughly recommend any of the Holiday Inn Express hotels in Paris. Great quality hotels and what you'd expect from a company with a great reputation for consistensy and quality. The one at Gare du l'Est even gives you a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower and a great view of the station facade, although it's smack bang in a the middle of the streets, unlike Canal de la Villete. We booked over the phone with Canterbury travel for European rail fares which were very reasonable compared to what we could find online. :)
 
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Ianno87

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Another option to avoid a hotel altogether (and a scenic route) could be to travel on the sleeper train from Paris Austerlitz to Latour de Carol in the Pyrenees then local train to Barcelona from there. Think seat61.com has the details for this.
 

Gadget88

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Yes the flights with Jet2 are too early for me so I was looking at an alternative either train or flying with a budget airline.

I found one that flys to Barcelona Girona but believe it’s 62 miles away and requires a train anyway. 6 hours and a half is a bit long from Paris but looked at
marseille and it’s only 4 hours from there so I could travel right through London to marseille and stay there.

Not sure what’s the best option just looking at having a good few days in barcelona and ideally out of season any ideas what the tempetures are in either May or around October?

I also looked at flying to Madrid with a train journey to Bacelona around 2 hours so not sure what’s the best way to do the trip.
 

bspahh

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Did this journey in October, and stayed the night in Paris.

We've stayed at the Holiday Inn at Canal de la Villete twice now, which is a great hotel right next to one of the canals which branch off from the Seine (hence the name), and great value compared to all the other rip off independent hotel brands in Paris. All rooms have their own private balcony, and there's a high quality sports bar situated next to reception.

I've stayed there a few times. It is nicer than a lot of other hotels for same price in Paris. Its a new building, so there is a bit more space than hotels in older buildings which weren't designed to have a bathroom with each room.

Massy Palaiseau isn't the most romantic place to stay, but its quick to get there from on the RER from Gare du Nord, and the hotels are quite a bit cheaper than the ones in the centre. Chartes is also a nice place to stay. The hotels are a lot cheaper than the centre of Paris, even if you add on the cost of a train ticket to get there.
 

coupwotcoup

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If one is close to London (St Pancras/Ebbsfleet) and Paris savvy then the 10.07 from GdL is doable.
Worked for me last September and arrived at the latter with 15 minutes spare which allowed for an
hour on the beach following my arrival north of Barça!
 

Gadget88

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So what’s the best solution to fly or get train? Some flights are a tad early for me but a 6 hour train journey is a bit of a pain. Seems to be a lack of good hotels around Santa. Is the subway easy to navigate?
 

30907

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So what’s the best solution to fly or get train? Some flights are a tad early for me but a 6 hour train journey is a bit of a pain. Seems to be a lack of good hotels around Santa. Is the subway easy to navigate?

Assume you mean Sants - autocorrect obviously thinks its still Christmas?
The Metro, and the Cercanias suburban routes, are straightforward enough.

April in Barcelona from experience was pleasantly warm so May should be good.

I assume from the mention of Jet2 your starting point is up North? We (4) did Blackburn to Barcelona with overnights in London and Perpignan, to fit in with other commitments, get maximum time in Catalonia and save on pennies(!); I think the optimum from Northern England would be an overnight in Nimes or Montpellier (or of course Paris) - Marseille is off-route.
 
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Requeststop

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I did the journey in reverse just over two years back. Malaga to Barcelona direct and I overnighted in the Station Hotel. Quite comfortable, then Barcelona - Paris. I had a seat upstairs - first class, very comfortable. Decent refreshments supplemented with a couple of 1/4 bottles of wine. Journey from the French border to Perpignan very slow, but I understand that will have changed now. Passport checked in Barcelona and because of Shengen not required for a check at the border. Arrival in Paris right on time, and across Paris by taxi (cases etc) to connect to St Pancras. I then did the sleeper up to Glasgow before the West Highland to Mallaig for a great holiday.
 
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