4 August 2008. Train times valid from 15 June to 13 Dec
2008.
UK to Spain by train...
It's surprisingly easy to travel from the UK
to Spain by train. In fact, it's amazing that some
people still think you need to fly. Take an afternoon
Eurostar from London to Paris in just 2 hours 20 minutes,
then the excellent overnight trainhotel
from Paris to Madrid or Barcelona, with onward train
connections for Alicante, Malaga, Valencia, Seville or
Granada. The trainhotel has cosy bedrooms, a
restaurant and a café-bar, see the
photos below. The Gran Clase bedrooms
even have a private toilet and shower... It's
affordable, too, as fares start at £59 return for Eurostar
from London to Paris plus £51 each way for the trainhotel
from Paris to Madrid or Barcelona including a bed in a
4-berth sleeper for the night. Better still, how about
£110 each way per person in a 2-bed Gran Clase sleeper
with private shower & toilet, dinner with wine and breakfast
included in the fare? This page will tell you
train times, fares, and how to buy tickets.
Take the train to Spain - see the video...
It's a PR video, of course, but this 4-minute film shows
how good travelling on the Paris-Madrid or
Paris-Barcelona trainhotels can be. Put the romance
back into travel!
It couldn't be simpler. Take an
afternoon Eurostar from London to Paris, then the
overnight 'trainhotel' from Paris to Madrid. Enjoy
dinner in the restaurant or a drink in the bar before
retiring to your sleeper for the night, then wake up in
Spain to glimpses of snow-capped mountains in the distance
and the royal palace at El Escorial north of Madrid.
Fares start at £59 return for the Eurostar plus £51 each way
for the trainhotel with a bed in a 4-bed tourist class
sleeper, or better still, £110 each way per person in a
2-bed Gran Clases sleeper with private shower & toilet,
dinner with wine and breakfast included in the fare.
Train times
London ► Burgos, Valladolid, Madrid:
Travel from
London to Paris by Eurostar, leaving London
St Pancras at 14:04 and arriving in Paris Gare
du Nord at 17:26. By all means choose an earlier
Eurostar if if you'd like to stop off in Paris, or if this
has cheaper tickets available.
Cross Paris by
metro to the Gare d'Austerlitz.
Travel
overnight from Paris to Madrid on the trainhotel 'Francisco de Goya'
leaving Paris Gare d'Austerlitz every night
at 19:45 and arriving next morning in Burgos at 05:20, Valladolid at 06:22 and Madrid (Chamartin
station) at 09:13.
The trainhotel 'Francisco de
Goya' leaves Madrid Chamartin every night at 19:00,
Valladolid at 21:20 and Burgos at 22:21, arriving Paris
Gare d'Austerlitz at 08:27 next morning. The arrival
time varies on certain dates, so check when booking.
Trainhotel passengers in Preferente and Gran Clase
sleepers may use the Sala Club (1st class lounge) at
Madrid Chamartin near platform 14, with complimentary tea,
coffee, juices and beer.
Cross Paris by
metro to the Gare du Nord.
A Eurostar leaves Paris Gare du
Nord at 10:13 and arrives London St Pancras at 11:28.
By all means choose a later Eurostar if if you'd like to
stop off in Paris, or if this has cheaper tickets
available.
The trainhotel
'Francisco de Goya' is a compact rolling hotel, with Gran
Clase sleepers (1 & 2 berth with private shower & toilet),
Preferente sleepers (1 & 2 berth), Tourist sleepers
(4-berth), reclining seats, a restaurant & bar. See
the photos below, or the
picture gallery and nifty virtual tour at
www.elipsos.com. It is entirely non-smoking.
Paris to Madrid by trainhotel is 1,459 km (906 miles),
London to Paris by Eurostar is 492 km (305 miles).
Gran Clase sleeper, in evening
mode with the seats folded out...
...return from dinner to find the
attendant has made up the beds...
Gran Clase sleepers have a private
toilet & shower...
Above: The
trainhotels from Paris to Madrid and Barcelona are
articulated Spanish 'Talgo' trains, jointly run by French &
Spanish railways.
Travelling
'Gran Clase' sleeper: You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a card key for your door and vouchers for dinner and
breakfast in the restaurant car, which are both included in
the Gran Clase fare. He asks you if you'd prefer the
8pm or 10pm sitting for dinner and takes your table
reservation. He takes your passport and tickets so you
are not disturbed by ticket or passport checks during the
night. Gran Clase rooms are compact but cosy, just
big enough for two armchairs that disappear when the beds
are folded out, see the photos above. The attendant
will make up the berths while you are at dinner, one lower
bed and one upper bed. Each Gran Clase compartment
has an adjoining private shower room, just big enough to
contain a shower, toilet & washbasin. Fluffy towels,
mineral water and a complimentary toiletries pack with soap,
shampoo & shower gel are provided. A 3-course evening
meal in the restaurant car,
complete with aperitif of sherry or sparkling cava, wine,
coffee & liqueurs, is included in the Gran Clase fare, as
is breakfast next morning. In Madrid, Gran Clase
passengers may use the Sala Club (1st class lounge) at
Madrid Chamartin, with complimentary tea, coffee, juices and
beer. 'Gran Clase' is described as first class single
or double 'with shower' on online booking websites.
Travelling
'Preferente' sleeper: You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a card key for your door and vouchers for breakfast in
the restaurant car, included in the Preferente fare.
He takes your passport and tickets, so you are not disturbed
by ticket or passport checks during the night.
Preferente rooms are compact but cosy, just big enough for
two armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded out.
The attendant will make up the berths when you ask, one
lower and one upper berth. Each Preferente compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals and drinks other than
breakfast aren't included in the fare. Preferente
passengers may use the Sala Club (1st class lounge) at
Madrid Chamartin, with complimentary tea, coffee, juices and
beer. If you are travelling alone but do not wish to
pay the single-berth fare, you can book one berth in a
2-berth room and share with another passenger of the same
sex. 'Preferente' is described as first class single
or double on online booking websites.
Travelling
'Tourist' sleeper: You are greeted at the carriage
door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your tickets
and shows you to your compartment. He comes round
later to take your passport and tickets, so you are not
disturbed by ticket or passport checks during the night.
The Tourist sleepers are compact but cosy, just big enough
for four small armchairs that disappear when the beds are
folded out. The attendant will make up the berths when
you ask, two lower berths and two upper berths. These
are not couchettes, but proper beds with mattress, sheets
and blankets freshly made up for you. Each compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided for each passenger. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals
and drinks aren't included in the fare. Berths in
tourist sleepers are sold individually, so you can book one
or two berths in a shared 4-berth compartment and share with
other passengers of the same sex. A family or group of
4 passengers travelling together can of course book a
compartment to themselves. 'Tourist class' is
described as second class 4-berth on online booking
websites.
All sleepers: Your luggage
stays with you, there's luggage space in the recess
above the door, projecting over the ceiling of the corridor.
All sleeper compartment doors have both a normal lock and a
security lock which cannot be opened from outside (even with
a staff key) so you're both safe and snug. The Gran
Clase & Preferente rooms have a card key so you can lock up
when you go to the bar or restaurant.
Reclining
seats: The trainhotel has one small coach of first
class reclining seats, with plenty of legroom and leg
supports, but seats (even first class) are not recommended
for an overnight journey. Travelling with a bed in a
tourist sleeper is far more comfortable, and (as special
fares are available in tourist class) usually cheaper.
Online booking websites simply (and
misleadingly) call these seats 'first class'.
Above: The
trainhotel's full-length bar, serving drinks & food. Grab a barstool early, it gets
crowded later on!
The elegant trainhotel restaurant
awaits first sitting for dinner. Gran Clase fares
include dinner & breakfast.
Cafe-bar,
restaurant: The trainhotel has a café-bar serving
drinks and tapas in the evening, and light breakfast in the
morning. There's an elegant restaurant car serving
à la carte dinner
and breakfast. Gran Clase fares include dinner, for
other passengers a starter in the restaurant car costs about
7 euros, a main course 14-16 euros, dessert 4 euros, a half bottle of wine 7
Euro. All major credit cards are accepted.
Gran Clase and Preferente fares include breakfast, for
other passengers
continental breakfast in the café-bar or restaurant costs
6.50 euros, a cooked breakfast 9 euros. Alternatively,
unlike air
travel, you're free to bring your own picnic,
wine or beer and eat/drink it in your sleeper compartment if you
wish.
Wake up to
the scenery (and smell the coffee!)... In the
morning, enjoy coffee and croissant in the bar or restaurant as the
trainhotel twists and turns through the rocky hills North of
Madrid, with glimpses of mist-filled valleys and mountain
peaks in the distance. Look out for the walled city of
Avila on the right about 1 hour 20 minutes before Madrid,
and for the huge Spanish royal palace at El Escorial, on the hill
to the left of the train about 40 minutes before Madrid.
Who runs the
trainhotel?
The train is run by a consortium
of the French and Spanish railways called
Elipsos.
It is an articulated Spanish 'Talgo' train fitted with
adjustable axles. At the frontier in the small hours
of the morning, it passes through a special shed, and the
axles are adjusted from European standard track gauge (4'
8½") to Spanish track gauge (5'
5.7"). Book early to
avoid disappointment, as the trainhotels are very popular,
and can leave full. Indeed, average occupancy has now
reached 87%.
* Special 'Mini' or 'prems' fares:
Book at least 14 days in advance, no refunds,
places limited at these prices. In Tourist
Class, Mini is available to solo travellers, but in 1st Class
&
Gran Clase 2 people must
travel together.
** Child = 4-11 years old;
Youth = 12-25 years old; Senior = anyone over 60.
***
Fare includes breakfast. **** Fare includes
evening meal with wine in the restaurant & breakfast.
Children under 4 go free, as long
as the parents have sole use of a compartment.
You can save about 6% on the
trainhotel fares by paying in euros at
voyages-sncf.com.
Slightly higher fares (10-20%) apply
mid-June to mid-September & at Easter.
Top tip:
First buy the
trainhotel ticket from Paris to Madrid & back. Then click
'continue shopping' and buy a connecting ticket from London
to Paris & back.
The team at www.raileurope.co.uk
have been quietly working away to create an all-new internet
booking system that will be much easier to use, far more
reliable, and more capable than the old quirky French
Railways (SNCF) system previously imposed on them by
their SNCF parent company. Their new system will
book more trains on more routes in more countries than
before. The new system went 'live' in April 2008.
There's no booking fee, and tickets can be sent to any UK
address or collected at St Pancras. Only UK-issued
credit cards accepted.
Reservations for the Paris-Madrid trainhotel open 90 days before
departure. You can't book before reservations open,
but if you make a journey enquiry at
www.raileurope.co.uk
for a date outside this period, it will offer to send you a
reminder email on the day when reservations open. A
useful feature!
It's best to treat London to Madrid as two
separate journeys, one from London to Paris, the other
Paris to Madrid. This gives you more control, and allows you
to mix and match (for example) 2nd class Eurostar with
2-berth sleepers (which are technically 1st class).
First, book the train from Paris to Madrid and back.
Enter your dates of travel and select 'evening', then click
'search for fares'.
When the results appear, click on 'more details' and it will
show the available prices for each type of sleeper.
Sleepers 'with shower' = Gran Clase.
Select the cheapest fare for the type of sleeper that you
want, enter your gender & name when prompted, and add this
ticket to your basket. On the confirmation page, if
you click 'show itinerary details' it will show the exact
coach number and berth or seat number that you've been
given.
Double-check the trainhotel times on the booking
confirmation page before going ahead to book the Eurostar,
as occasionally engineering work means a
later-than-normal arrival in Paris on the return
(northbound) journey, requiring a later Eurostar
connection back to London.
When you've booked the trainhotel from Paris to Madrid & back,
stay with
www.raileurope.co.uk,
click 'continue shopping' and book the Eurostar from London
to Paris and back as a second separate journey. Use
the Eurostar times on this page as a guide, but feel free to
choose an earlier Eurostar from London, or a later Eurostar
returning from Paris, if these have cheaper seats available
or if you'd like to stop off in Paris. Don't forget
that if travelling by overnight train on your return journey, your departure date from Paris
to London will be the day after your departure date from
Madrid to Paris!
For a one-way
journey on Eurostar, see this advice.
Tickets are sent from Rail Europe's UK office and normally arrive in a couple of
days. If you need any help, you can call Rail Europe's
UK call centre on 0844 848 5 848.
Buying connecting train tickets within Spain using Rail
Europe: You can book most (but not all)
connecting trains within Spain fairly painlessly at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
along with your other tickets.
After booking your London-Paris-Madrid tickets, click
'continue shopping' and book any Spanish domestic trains you
want,
for example Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Granada or Algeciras.
However, be aware that
www.raileurope.co.uk
can't sell the cheap 'web' or 'estrella' fares, it can only
sell the normal flexible fares.
Buying connecting train tickets within Spain using
renfe.es:
You can buy train tickets within Spain online at the Spanish
Railways website,
www.renfe.es.
This is the cheapest way to buy these tickets, as you can
search for all the cheap fares. You need to book in
Spanish, but this is not a huge problem,
see these instructions for using renfe.es.
How to buy
tickets
by phone or in person:
You
can book through a number of UK agencies, including Rail
Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open
08:00-21:00 Monday to Friday, 09:00-18:00 on Saturdays
and 10:00-17:00 on Sundays, £6 booking fee applies) or Ffestiniog
Travel on 01766 772050 (8% booking fee). Rail Europe have a
travel centre for personal callers at 1 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4XT, open 10:00-18:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-16:00 Saturdays. There
is also a Spanish Railways agency in London which can book
trains to and within Spain:
www.spanish-rail.co.uk or telephone 020 7725 7063
(lines open 09:30-17:30 Monday-Friday, £10 booking fee
applies). For more information about how to book
European train travel from the UK and overseas, see the How to buy European train
tickets page.
The Tortoise and the
Hare..?
At
breakfast approaching Madrid, the restaurant car of the
trainhotel is bathed in a warm red glow as the morning
sun rises over distant mountain tops.
We're
running on time, which is more than can be said for most
airline passengers who tried to reach Spain for
Christmas. The day we
left London to spend Christmas week in Andalusia, Heathrow was closed
due to fog and all flights were cancelled for several
days. We arrived in Seville by train from London,
spot on time. A latter-day case of the tortoise
and the hare..?
Residents of any country may use the French Railways
website, voyages-sncf.com, to book both Eurostar and the
Paris-Spain trainhotels.
Tickets can be sent to any address in Europe, including the
UK, or (for journeys starting in France) collected from any main French station. The French Railways website has exactly the same fares and
availability as
www.raileurope.co.uk,
though fares are in
euros rather than pounds. Buying in euros at voyages-sncf.com
is slightly cheaper because of exchange rates,
but if you live in the UK you may prefer dealing with
www.raileurope.co.uk
which is much easier to use and backed by a UK call centre.
Remember that bookings for the Paris-Italy night trains open 90 days
before departure, you cannot book before bookings
open! To buy tickets using www.voyages-sncf.com,
read these step-by-step instructions
first.
It's best to treat London to Madrid as two
separate journeys, one from London to Paris, the other
Paris to Madrid.
How to buy tickets if you live
in the USA, Canada, Australia, etc.
Alternatively, you can buy the
London-Paris Eurostar online at
www.eurostar.com, selecting the option to pick up
tickets at the station. Then book the Paris-Spain
trainhotel online at
www.voyages-sncf.com
following this step-by-step advice and choosing to
pick up tickets at the ticket office at any main station in
France, including Paris Gare d'Austerlitz (or have them sent
to any European address, for example a hotel in Spain).
Arrive relaxed, not stressed... Splurge on
a Gran Clase 2-berth sleeper, and your compartment
comes with a private toilet & shower. Dinner with
wine & a continental breakfast are included in the fare.
A hot shower and breakfast on the trainhotel really sets
you up for the day...
It couldn't be simpler. Just hop on an afternoon
Eurostar from London to Paris, then take the overnight
'trainhotel' from Paris to Barcelona. Enjoy dinner in
the restaurant or a drink in the bar before retiring to your
sleeper for the night, then wake up in Spain. Fares
start at £59 return for the Eurostar plus £51 each way for
the trainhotel, including a bed in a 4-bed tourist class
sleeper. Or better still, £110 each way per person in
a 2-bed Gran Clases sleeper with private shower and toilet,
dinner with wine and breakfast next morning included in the
fare. There's also a
London-Paris-Barcelona daytime option,
although it's not as convenient as the trainhotel.
Train times London ►
Figueres, Girona, Barcelona:
Travel from
London to Paris by
Eurostar,
leaving London St Pancras at 15:30 and arriving in Paris
Gare du Nord at 18:56. By all means choose an
earlier Eurostar if if you'd like to stop off in Paris, or
if this has cheaper tickets available.
Cross Paris by
metro to the Gare d'Austerlitz.
Travel from
Paris to Barcelona overnight on the trainhotel 'Joan Miro', leaving Paris (Gare d'Austerlitz) daily at 20:32 and
arriving next morning in Figueres (for the Salvador Dali
museum) at 06:24, Girona at 06:54 and Barcelona (França
station) at 08:24.
Trainhotel tickets are valid
on the frequent local trains from Barcelona Franca to
Barcelona Paseo de Gracia or Barcelona Sants, if these
are better stations for you. The nearest metro to
the Estacion França is
Barceloneta.
Train times Barcelona, Girona,
Figueres ► London:
The trainhotel
'Joan Miro' leaves Barcelona (França
station) at 21:05, Girona at 22:17, Figueres at 22:47,
arriving Paris (Austerlitz) at 09:00 next morning (08:48 on Saturdays &
Sundays). The arrival time varies on certain dates,
so check exact times when you book.
Cross Paris by metro to the Gare du Nord.
Travel
from Paris to London by Eurostar, leaving Paris Gare du
Nord at 12:13 and arriving London St Pancras at
13:28. On Saturdays & Sundays there's also an
11:13 Eurostar arriving London St Pancras at 12:28.
By all means choose a later Eurostar if if you'd like to
stop off in Paris, or if this has cheaper tickets
available
The trainhotel
'Joan Miro' is a compact rolling hotel, with Gran Clase
sleepers (1 & 2 berth with private shower & toilet),
Preferente sleepers (1 & 2 berth), Tourist sleepers
(4-berth), reclining seats, a restaurant and bar. See
the photos below, or the
picture gallery and nifty virtual tour at
www.elipsos.com. It is entirely non-smoking.
Paris to Barcelona by trainhotel is 1,137 km (706 miles),
London to Paris by Eurostar is 492 km (305 miles).
Gran Clase sleeper, in evening
mode with the seats folded out...
...return from dinner to find the
attendant has made up the beds...
Gran Clase sleepers have a private
toilet & shower...
Above: The
trainhotels from Paris to Madrid and Barcelona are
articulated Spanish 'Talgo' trains, jointly run by French &
Spanish railways.
Tourist class sleepers (4-berth) and Preferente sleepers (1 &
2-berth, sometimes called 'Club' class) are broadly similar to
Gran Clase, but without the
private toilet and shower. There's an impressive virtual tour of the trainhotel at
www.elipsos.com...
Travelling
'Gran Clase' sleeper: You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a card key for your door and vouchers for dinner and
breakfast in the restaurant car, which are both included in
the Gran Clase fare. He asks which sitting for dinner
you'd prefer and takes your table reservation. He
takes your passport and tickets so you are not disturbed by
ticket or passport checks during the night. Gran Clase rooms are compact but cosy, just big enough for two
armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded out, see
the photos above. The attendant will make up the
berths while you are at dinner, one lower bed and one upper
bed. Each Gran Clase compartment has an adjoining
private shower room, just big enough to contain a shower,
toilet & washbasin. Fluffy towels, mineral water and a
complimentary toiletries pack with soap, shampoo & shower
gel are provided. A 3-course evening meal in the
restaurant car, complete with
aperitif of sherry or sparkling cava, wine, coffee &
liqueurs, is included in the Gran Clase fare, as is
breakfast next morning. 'Gran Clase' is described as
first class single or double 'with shower' on online booking
websites.
Travelling
'Preferente' sleeper: You are greeted at the
carriage door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your
tickets and shows you to your compartment. He gives
you a card key for your door and vouchers for breakfast in
the restaurant car, included in the Preferente fare.
He takes your passport and tickets, so you are not disturbed
by ticket or passport checks during the night.
Preferente rooms are compact but cosy, just big enough for
two armchairs that disappear when the beds are folded out.
The attendant will make up the berths when you ask, one
lower and one upper berth. Each Preferente compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals and drinks other than
breakfast aren't included in the fare. If you are
travelling alone but do not wish to pay the single-berth
fare, you can book one berth in a 2-berth room and share
with another passenger of the same sex. 'Preferente'
is described as first class single or double on online
booking websites.
Travelling
'Tourist' sleeper: You are greeted at the carriage
door by the sleeping-car attendant who checks your tickets
and shows you to your compartment. He comes round
later to take your passport and tickets, so you are not
disturbed by ticket or passport checks during the night.
The Tourist sleepers are compact but cosy, just big enough
for four small armchairs that disappear when the beds are
folded out. The attendant will make up the berths when
you ask, two lower berths and two upper berths. These
are not couchettes, but proper beds with mattress, sheets
and blankets freshly made up for you. Each compartment
has a washbasin, and towels, mineral water and soap are
provided for each passenger. Feel free to use the
restaurant or bar, although meals
and drinks aren't included in the fare. Berths in
tourist sleepers are sold individually, so you can book one
or two berths in a shared 4-berth compartment and share with
other passengers of the same sex. A family or group of
4 passengers travelling together can of course book a
compartment to themselves. 'Tourist class' is
described as second class 4-berth on online booking
websites.
All sleepers: Your luggage
stays with you, there's luggage space in the recess
above the door, projecting over the ceiling of the corridor.
All sleeper compartment doors have both a normal lock and a
security lock which cannot be opened from outside (even with
a staff key) so you're both safe and snug. The Gran
Clase & Preferente rooms have a card key so you can lock up
when you go to the bar or restaurant.
Reclining
seats: The trainhotel has one small coach of first
class reclining seats, with plenty of legroom and leg
supports, but seats (even first class) are not recommended
for an overnight journey. Travelling with a bed in a
tourist sleeper is far more comfortable, and (as special
fares are available in tourist class) usually cheaper.
Online booking websites simply (and
misleadingly) call these seats 'first class'.
Above: The
trainhotel's full-length bar, serving drinks & food. Grab a barstool early, it gets
crowded later on!
The elegant trainhotel restaurant
awaits first sitting for dinner. Gran Clase fares
include dinner & breakfast.
How
to buy tickets online at
How to buy tickets if you live
in the 