Has anyone travelled to Spain by train - where did you stop off enroute and what ticket?

[ginmcginface]

Just that really. My ds, 10, and I usually fly to Spain to visit relatives in the summer. But I thought he might enjoy the train, with stop-offs enroute.

I see that Interrail is free for him until he's 11 - which is perfect - but there may be a cheaper fare as we aren't doing a full trip. I was thinking the 5 day interrail pass. I guess I need to factor in the trip over to the mainland on top?

Where would you recommend we stop off? I'd love Carcasonne or somewhere like that.

Any recommendations?

I'm afraid I've never done it, so can't help you with recommendations, I'm afraid.

I was just wondering if you've ever come across this website? It's really helpful for planning train journeys and you might get some ideas about where to stop:

www.seat61.com/Spain.htm

Oo, Frederick, no I haven't. Thanks a lot. Off to have a read.

Years and years ago I went inter railing - we only did Barcelona, Nice, Cannes and Monaco in Spain.

It will probably work out cheaper to fly to and from Spain then use train tickets to travel around .

We took 3 kids to Barcelona by train, it was great ! Eurostar to Paris then had to travel to different station and overnight sleeper to Barcelona arriving first thing. Have also done a few train journeys in Spain , mostly out of Madrid. Most recent was to Toledo and you can't buy a ticket half an hour before departure time which caught us out but otherwise haven't had problems

I did interrailing about 20 years ago when I was 19. We went all over - France, Germany, Hungary, Italy amongst others. It was fabulous. But this is a different type of trip.

Flying will be cheaper - especially when I factor in stop overs - but it's more the adventure of it. I don't want to veer too much off the direct route, but would like the opportunity for ds to see other places. I just don't know where to look, so I am asking if anyone has done something similar.

Geog, that sounds good (although I was anticipating visiting places in France, but Barcelona could work I guess).

Where did you book?

Where are the relatives?

My husband did to Barcelona had breakfast in London, Eurostar to Paris ,(lunch in Paris) train to Barcelona he loved it. Took about 11hours including the breaks

Hopping We are in Oxford, they are in Alicante.

maddy Sounds like an interesting day. Except we'd want to do it a bit slower ...

Ok, depending on how direct you want your route to be I would visit one or more of the following in Spain (no idea about France though)
Pamplona, Burgos, Segovia, Madrid, Valencia

This site may be helpful to you:-

www.seat61.com/Europe-train-travel.htm

I saw a Renfe train stopped at Montpellier recently, I think the route is the Paris to Barcelona one. Could be nice to do London, Paris, Montpellier, Barcelona/Girona, depending where else it stops.

For cheap TGV tickets look at the OuiGo SNCF website. Lyon and Nimes would also be good stops.
en.oui.sncf/en/sites/default/files/files/multi-contents-page/img/2019_03_26/wwen.png

Or Paris, Bordeaux (TGV), then Bordeaux to San Sebastian (change at Hendaye) route.

Depends which part of Spain you want to visit..

Here are the RENFE routes through France to compare with the SNCF options: www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/larga_distancia/productos/AVEFrancia/index.html

Thanks all.

Buttermilk that’s especially helpful. The suggestions are great, and actually place I haven’t been to. We’ve been to Barcelona and Valencia (obviously stopping points in Spain) and I remember fondly visiting Dijon when inter-railing 20 odd years ago.

Off to look at your train suggestions!

There's sleepers from Paris that end up in Spain next morning.
We took one that ended in the south of France instead, so London to Paris, metro to Gare d'Austerlitz, left bags in left luggage there, had half a day to mosey round the Botanic Gardens/natural history museum and nearby restaurants, then train at 10pm.

If its you and a 10yo, then check how many are in the cabin. We were 3 so had to pay for a fictional child so we didn't have a stranger dumped on us (it's the same price as the private supplement and the only way to do it online). The train actually left an hour late as they were trying to persuade people to accept an extra person in their cabins - lots of shouting going on. The beds weren't great, you get a sheet made into a sleeping bag and that's it, and it was very bumpy at some points. Not nearly as nice as the pre-refurb sleepers to Scotland,eg no power sockets to charge a phone, though one chap had a cable that plugged into the shaver socket above the communal basin in the corridor.
Seat61 said they would release cheap tickets with about 8 weeks to go, but there aren't any on Fridays or Saturdays in summer- possibly some if you don't mind reaching destinations at 1am or 5am on other days.

Carcassonne is great but swarming with tourists like round Big Ben, all over.

I was disappointed by Carcassonne Cite, thought it was tourist trap hell, all tacky gift shops and mediocre restaurants and a bit like a theme park for tourists as hardly anybody actually lives there. But I know some people like it.

Another good route would be via Lyon, which is a nice city to stop off at, but get the standard SNCF TGV from Paris, not the budget OuiGo one as the latter goes to the TGV station at the airport and you then have to take the expensive 16 euro per ticket tram to the city centre, so it not only takes longer but often wipes out most of the cost savings too.

Always check the destination of all TGV trains as only some stop in city centres and many stop at TGV stations that are miles away, so you have to get a bus/tram/local train.

Other good stop offs, Nimes (like several French cities, surrounded by dull and ugly suburbs, but the centre is very nice and much improved in recent years. Roman arena. Montpellier also very nice, lively city centre with lots of outdoor cafe, bar and restaurant options. Lots of students. Excellent tram network.

Download the SNCF and OuiGo apps and the RENFE app, all have an English version and they will notify you of offers/sales. Cheapest tickets are usually those bought in advance as soon as the dates are released.

buttermilk you’re amazing. That’s exactly the type of info I was after. Thanks. I think I’ll be disappointed by Carcassonne (especially in August!). But Nimes Roman arena sounds good and Montpellier too.

If you go to Carcassonne, pay to go round the city walls, so you can see them properly - it's not very expensive but you see various courtyards and towers and amazing views, and then there's a church with amazing stained glass,but agree the streets are tourist trap central.

Aix, Arles or Avignon could be nice - Avignon TGV is 5 min from the center by train, but unless very into art, don't need to do multiple Provence towns.

Does anyone know if the Paris to Madrid train is a pendalino train?