TheSmiths82
Member
I have just got back from a 10 day rail trip to France and Northern Spain. I deported on a Monday from Stockport to London Euston. The Avanti train turned up with just a minor delay getting to London. I spent the night in London before getting Eurostar to Paris.
Security at St Pancras was a bit of faff and it seemed like age before all my belongings came out of the X-ray machine. At one point I thought I would be stranded in London with no money or ID on me, it was probably only two minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The train was on time and in the main relaxing although I always a tiny bit nervous when it goes under the tunnel. I am amazed that I had great internet access under the tunnel (more on this later).
I arrived in Paris late afternoon (I will make a separate thread of an issue I had at Gare Du Nord) and as I had a very early (around 6:30am) train the following day to Barcelona I change my hotel to one in walking distance of Gare De Lyon.
As morning fell I travelled first class in a single seat on the SNCF service to Barcelona. This was great although at around 7 hours it was a long trek. I found the double decker TGVs to be a bit cramped and luggage storage was a bit of an issue.
I arrived at Barcelona mid-afternoon with the train being on time and spent a night in Barcelona before spending a few days in Santa Susanna the next day traveling on the rather packed local Rodalies train. I spent a few days here to relax, travelling into Calella for one of the days. I needed a few days not waiting for trains and hanging around train stations.
On Monday I then travelled to Perpignan where my idea was to spend a night there and then get the night train to Paris the next day. I got the Rodalies train to Gerona and then I had to hang around there for a few hours in the sweltering 35c heat. I then had to go through security (actually just a x-ray scans for my luggage) to then be told to wait in a departure lounge. After what felt like an age I was finally on the train to Perpignan. I checked into my cheap hotel and my view was of the mountains. It was amazing. My hotel was opposite some busy bars so I spent a few hours outside these. I was then starting to dread this night train as I had a seat not a bed. It was also sold out and the idea of sitting next to a stranger for 12 hours was started to dwell on me. I woke up the following morning at around 7:00am and knew I couldn’t face it. I looked to see if I could get another train to Paris the following day. I managed to get a I:00pm (ish) fast TVG service for 88 euros (I got a small refund back on the other ticket). I promptly booked that and other night at the hotel. This allowed me to fully explore Perpignan and I fell in love with the place despite it being 40c.
The next day it was time to get the 5 hour train service to Gare De Lyon. This arrived on time and I got to Paris around 6:00pm. I then had a bit of a job getting to my hotel as I had originally planned to be in Paris for an entire day. I finally checked in and got the Eurostar the next day to London. Apart from the confusing passport E-gates the journey was fine with a minor delay caused by signalling problems at Lille. Arriving in London at around 1:30. I then spent a few hours the Euston/Kings Cross area before getting my Avanti back to Manchester.
I was amazed of how good the internet signal was on the TVG, I had good signal the entire journey. On the Avanti services I had barely anything. If France can do it, why can’t we?
All in all, it was a great trip, although I wish I spent more time in Paris, the Olympics were the main reason for not doing so. I also found Paris to be a nightmare in terms of public transport, but I am going to make a separate thread on that topic. The Eurostar needs more Staff at Gare Du Nord, I found the security process a bit confusing and my stress and anxiety levels were extremely high.
I haven’t done of these trips since before Covid but going to areas I know well helped reduce my anxiety levels. Apart from coming back, I have a single day where I had to make vital connections. This helped reduce the stress levels too, as if it a train was late wasn’t really a disaster just annoying.
Thanks for the people on this group for helping me too with some of my questions before I booked this trip.
If I do this trip again to Spain I think I will try and go via Lille and Lyon next time, as I would like to avoid Paris. Paris for several reasons was the cause of a lot of the stress on the trip.
Security at St Pancras was a bit of faff and it seemed like age before all my belongings came out of the X-ray machine. At one point I thought I would be stranded in London with no money or ID on me, it was probably only two minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The train was on time and in the main relaxing although I always a tiny bit nervous when it goes under the tunnel. I am amazed that I had great internet access under the tunnel (more on this later).
I arrived in Paris late afternoon (I will make a separate thread of an issue I had at Gare Du Nord) and as I had a very early (around 6:30am) train the following day to Barcelona I change my hotel to one in walking distance of Gare De Lyon.
As morning fell I travelled first class in a single seat on the SNCF service to Barcelona. This was great although at around 7 hours it was a long trek. I found the double decker TGVs to be a bit cramped and luggage storage was a bit of an issue.
I arrived at Barcelona mid-afternoon with the train being on time and spent a night in Barcelona before spending a few days in Santa Susanna the next day traveling on the rather packed local Rodalies train. I spent a few days here to relax, travelling into Calella for one of the days. I needed a few days not waiting for trains and hanging around train stations.
On Monday I then travelled to Perpignan where my idea was to spend a night there and then get the night train to Paris the next day. I got the Rodalies train to Gerona and then I had to hang around there for a few hours in the sweltering 35c heat. I then had to go through security (actually just a x-ray scans for my luggage) to then be told to wait in a departure lounge. After what felt like an age I was finally on the train to Perpignan. I checked into my cheap hotel and my view was of the mountains. It was amazing. My hotel was opposite some busy bars so I spent a few hours outside these. I was then starting to dread this night train as I had a seat not a bed. It was also sold out and the idea of sitting next to a stranger for 12 hours was started to dwell on me. I woke up the following morning at around 7:00am and knew I couldn’t face it. I looked to see if I could get another train to Paris the following day. I managed to get a I:00pm (ish) fast TVG service for 88 euros (I got a small refund back on the other ticket). I promptly booked that and other night at the hotel. This allowed me to fully explore Perpignan and I fell in love with the place despite it being 40c.
The next day it was time to get the 5 hour train service to Gare De Lyon. This arrived on time and I got to Paris around 6:00pm. I then had a bit of a job getting to my hotel as I had originally planned to be in Paris for an entire day. I finally checked in and got the Eurostar the next day to London. Apart from the confusing passport E-gates the journey was fine with a minor delay caused by signalling problems at Lille. Arriving in London at around 1:30. I then spent a few hours the Euston/Kings Cross area before getting my Avanti back to Manchester.
I was amazed of how good the internet signal was on the TVG, I had good signal the entire journey. On the Avanti services I had barely anything. If France can do it, why can’t we?
All in all, it was a great trip, although I wish I spent more time in Paris, the Olympics were the main reason for not doing so. I also found Paris to be a nightmare in terms of public transport, but I am going to make a separate thread on that topic. The Eurostar needs more Staff at Gare Du Nord, I found the security process a bit confusing and my stress and anxiety levels were extremely high.
I haven’t done of these trips since before Covid but going to areas I know well helped reduce my anxiety levels. Apart from coming back, I have a single day where I had to make vital connections. This helped reduce the stress levels too, as if it a train was late wasn’t really a disaster just annoying.
Thanks for the people on this group for helping me too with some of my questions before I booked this trip.
If I do this trip again to Spain I think I will try and go via Lille and Lyon next time, as I would like to avoid Paris. Paris for several reasons was the cause of a lot of the stress on the trip.