Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By rail
Travelling
bytrain
toBarcelonacan'tcompeteinpricewiththecheapestbudget-airlinefares
-butitcanbearealadventure.Firststopshouldbe
seat61.com
,anamazingly usefulweb-
site that provides route, ticket, timetable and contact information for all European train ser-
vices.
The quickest and most straightforward option from the UK is to take the
Eurostar
service (
eurostar.com
;from£69return)fromLondonStPancrasInternationalviatheChannelTun-
nel to Paris, and then the overnight
Paris-Barcelona “train-hotel”
, which arrives in Bar-
celona at around 8.30am (total journey time around 14hr). This is a sleeper service (with res-
taurant and café), with various levels of comfort available - the cheapest ticket is in a four-
berth compartment, currently from £133 return, depending on availability; you have to book
well in advance to get the lowest prices.
There are other alternatives, but they take longer, can be more complicated to arrange and
sometimesworkoutmoreexpensive.Forexample,youcanusethecross-Channelferriesand
SeacatsandlocaltrainstoParisinsteadofEurostar,andinsteadoftheovernight“train-hotel”
there are regular daytime services through France and Spain.
You can
bookthewholejourneyonline
with one of the specialist rail agents listed here. If
you're booking from outside the UK, you can get Eurostar and “train-hotel” tickets through
the websites
raileurope.com
,
raileurope.ca
and
raileurope.com.au
.
If you plan to travel extensively in Europe by train, a
rail pass
might prove a good invest-
ment.However,ifyou'rejustheadedforBarcelona,InterRail(
interrailnet.com
)andEurail
(
eurail.com
)aren'tagooddeal,andevenifyouintendtotravelaroundCatalunyabytrain,
rail travel in that part of Spain is fairly limited (and quite cheap), so you probably won't get
your money's worth.
RAIL CONTACTS
Ffestiniog Travel
01766 772030,
ffestiniogtravel.co.uk
.
Rail Europe
0844 848 4078,
raileurope.co.uk
.
Spanish Rail Service
020 3137 4464,
spanish-rail.co.uk
.
By bus
Eurolines
(
eurolines.co.uk
) operates a year-round bus service three times a week (five
timesaweekduringJulyandAugust)toBarcelonafromLondon,whichtakesupto28hours.
It usually costs around £153 return, though there are advance deals and special offers - it's
always cheapest to book online. Eurolines also sells Barcelona tickets and transport to Lon-
don at all UK National Express bus terminals.