Barcelona to Paris ## UPDATED POST 25

[mommasita]

So we are going to Barcelona for awhile to be with my son in September, we then have a 10 night cruise. I have now decided not to come right home, to extend my trip by going to Paris for a week after the cruise.
My son says we should drive, it’s easy, lovely, etc. hmm, I dunno. My husband wants to take the train. Have I mentioned he has never. I just don’t find the hours good.
I would prefer the short flight of course . Not wasting a day, not being tired, etc,

Has anyone made their way on their own from Barcelona to Paris ? If so, what do you suggest.
We are flying home from CDG.

THANKS

 

[Buzz Rules]

So we are going to Barcelona for awhile to be with my son in September, we then have a 10 night cruise. I have now decided not to come right home, to extend my trip by going to Paris for a week after the cruise.
My son says we should drive, it’s easy, lovely, etc. hmm, I dunno. My husband wants to take the train. Have I mentioned he has never. I just don’t find the hours good.
I would prefer the short flight of course . Not wasting a day, not being tired, etc,

Has anyone made their way on their own from Barcelona to Paris ? If so, what do you suggest.
We are flying home from CDG.

THANKS

 

[mommasita]

Thanks Bizz, I’ve seen and read a lot, I wanted people to share their experiences

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

It depends on what your goal is.

Do you want to slow travel, a road trip or interrailing and take a couple of days between Barcelona and Paris to explore North Spain, cross the Pyrenees, see the historic medieval towns and wine regions of France.

Do you just want to get to Paris as quick as possible , as Paris is your main focus?

For me, its two different travel goals.

 

[ronandannette]

We did the exact opposite thing when we cruised the Med just pre-Covid; flew into Paris and spent some days before going to Barcelona to embark. You will LOVE Paris and I’m excited for you!! As to transportation, we didn’t drive over there but I really think we could have. The roadways seem good and they drive on “our” side, with rules that seemed pretty consistent with what we would be used to. And we love the perspective you get from ground-level travel and being able to stop when you want to look around. We’re just home from 5 days driving 1,000 mikes each way through BC’s crazy mountain highways up to Whistler, which replaced a planned road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix that we scuttled. Point being, we are road trip people, so that skews my opinion a little.

All that said, we did a lot of train travel when we were there and the system is awesome - so efficient and easy. If you’re not confident, do it that way - I don’t think you’d regret it. Factor in the cost of the rental car, insane gas prices and having to get an international license.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

So we are going to Barcelona for awhile to be with my son in September, we then have a 10 night cruise. I have now decided not to come right home, to extend my trip by going to Paris for a week after the cruise.
My son says we should drive, it’s easy, lovely, etc. hmm, I dunno. My husband wants to take the train. Have I mentioned he has never. I just don’t find the hours good.
I would prefer the short flight of course . Not wasting a day, not being tired, etc,

Has anyone made their way on their own from Barcelona to Paris ? If so, what do you suggest.
We are flying home from CDG.

THANKS

Last year we went from Paris to Barcelona to get on a Princess cruise in Barcelona. We took the train from Paris Nord station to Barcelona. It was nice - and dare I say even "relaxing". My husband and daughter slept a good bit of the way. I wouldn't hesitate to travel on the train again in either direction.

For what it's worth - we also took the speed train from Paris to London and back. I highly recommend the trains in Europe.

 

[mommasita]

It depends on what your goal is.

Do you want to slow travel, a road trip or interrailing and take a couple of days between Barcelona and Paris to explore North Spain, cross the Pyrenees, see the historic medieval towns and wine regions of France.

Do you just want to get to Paris as quick as possible , as Paris is your main focus?

For me, its two different travel goals.

I would just like to get to Paris, that is my focus.

 

[mommasita]

We did the exact opposite thing when we cruised the Med just pre-Covid; flew into Paris and spent some days before going to Barcelona to embark. You will LOVE Paris and I’m excited for you!! As to transportation, we didn’t drive over there but I really think we could have. The roadways seem good and they drive on “our” side, with rules that seemed pretty consistent with what we would be used to. And we love the perspective you get from ground-level travel and being able to stop when you want to look around. We’re just home from 5 days driving 1,000 mikes each way through BC’s crazy mountain highways up to Whistler, which replaced a planned road trip from Las Vegas to Phoenix that we scuttled. Point being, we are road trip people, so that skews my opinion a little.

All that said, we did a lot of train travel when we were there and the system is awesome - so efficient and easy. If you’re not confident, do it that way - I don’t think you’d regret it. Factor in the cost of the rental car, insane gas prices and having to get an international license.

Wow. Thank you
It sounds like you had a great trip !

I just want to take the small flight over (not exp ) and get on with it.
I think we are leaning towards the train at this point in time

 

[mommasita]

Last year we went from Paris to Barcelona to get on a Princess cruise in Barcelona. We took the train from Paris Nord station to Barcelona. It was nice - and dare I say even "relaxing". My husband and daughter slept a good bit of the way. I wouldn't hesitate to travel on the train again in either direction.

For what it's worth - we also took the speed train from Paris to London and back. I highly recommend the trains in Europe.

Thank you as well
I realize we are doing this backwards from most people. We just don’t want to come back until after the first week of October for personal reasons.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

I would just like to get to Paris, that is my focus.

Well then the flight is what I would advise. Any other transport option you will loose a day.

 

[ronandannette]

Wow. Thank you
It sounds like you had a great trip !

I just want to take the small flight over (not exp ) and get on with it.
I think we are leaning towards the train at this point in time

You’re right about the flights - it takes less than an hour and you don’t have to clear customs on either end thanks to the Schengen Treaty. If seeing the lay of the land isn’t a priority, flying is totally the best choice. We flew from Paris to Barcelona on the morning of the cruise - easy peasy!

 

[mommasita]

You’re right about the flights - it takes less than an hour and you don’t have to clear customs on either end thanks to the Schengen Treaty. If seeing the lay of the land isn’t a priority, flying is totally the best choice. We flew from Paris to Barcelona on the morning of the cruise - easy peasy!

Well then the flight is what I would advise. Any other transport option you will loose a day.

I know, I want to fly. My husband is being obstinate. Come on let’s take the train …

Ughhh. My father worked for CN, and I’ve trained Canada a lot, he has never.

Thank you both! The planning is the fun part

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

While I haven't taken that exact route I've both flown into CDG and taken trains through Europe including through France. Outside of the Deutsche Bahn, the trains were good so I wouldn't have a concern about that (although I haven't done trains yet in Spain). We haven't driven yet in Europe but we're set to in September but in the UK so my points would be towards flying vs train.

I do agree if the goal is to get there quickly flying is your best option. Is your husband thinking he wants to be able to see the scenery and slower pace? The novelty of trains? I could agree that it's nice to see the scenery but a thing he might not have thought about is the number of stops a given route and train schedule may have which TBH after a bit loses its appeal. One of the trains stopped quite a lot (I think it was 17 stops) and ended up triggering my motion sickness (I was prepared to know that might happen).

If your husband is thinking about the novelty of trains (seems like he hasn't done train travel before so I get it) what about a compromise of flying to Paris and then looking for somewhere to go on a day trip from Paris since you're looking at a week in Paris which offers a day to carve out to go somewhere else. It could be somewhere in France or it could be to Belgium (quick to get to) or Luxembourg (bonus once you're in Luxembourg the public transportation is free) but in any case that could be something that offers both a sightseeing adventure for your husband but allowing you to get to Paris faster.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

7 hours on the train (or more if you don’t take a direct one) is going to get old really quickly. That only really makes sense if you want to stop at towns along the way. Otherwise fly and be done with it.

 

[PacificCoaster]

So we are going to Barcelona for awhile to be with my son in September, we then have a 10 night cruise. I have now decided not to come right home, to extend my trip by going to Paris for a week after the cruise.
My son says we should drive, it’s easy, lovely, etc. hmm, I dunno. My husband wants to take the train. Have I mentioned he has never. I just don’t find the hours good.
I would prefer the short flight of course . Not wasting a day, not being tired, etc,

Has anyone made their way on their own from Barcelona to Paris ? If so, what do you suggest.
We are flying home from CDG.

THANKS

My family has travelled to Paris from Barcelona and we flew both times. It's cheap and fast and I wouldn't do it any other way.

 

[Moliphino]

7 hours on the train (or more if you don’t take a direct one) is going to get old really quickly. That only really makes sense if you want to stop at towns along the way. Otherwise fly and be done with it.

The train didn't look all that cheap, either. I picked a random date and it was around $200/person.
The trains in Europe are great and I would usually recommend them, but in this case a flight is probably quicker and less expensive.

 

[Pinkjgray]

I know, I want to fly. My husband is being obstinate. Come on let’s take the train …

Ughhh. My father worked for CN, and I’ve trained Canada a lot, he has never.

Thank you both! The planning is the fun part

It’s his vacation too—if it’s something he really wants to experience, let him. Use the time to relax with a book, take a nap, or enjoy some music. Wishing you happy and safe travels!

 

[MillauFr]

Take the train. You'll see more.

 

[Praying Colonel]

There's a great website called Rome 2 Rio that shows the various ways to get to/from locations around the world.

https://www.rome2rio.com/

Looks like plane is fastest by travel time but when you throw in having to get there early and the time to deplane, I think it would be a wash between flying and train.





I'll say we took the train several times (Toulouse-St. Jean Pied de Port, Santiago de Compostela-Madrid and Madrid-Barcelona) last fall and enjoyed it very much. DW hates to fly and the train is a great alternative in Europe.

Enjoy Barcelona! We were there for a week and didn't come close to seeing everything we wanted to see. Looking forward to returning.

 

[Ronaldo17]

I would fly, it's cheap and way faster. That way you can maximise your time in Paris.