Madrid – Barcelona – Cerbere – Narbonne – Marseille – Nice
Train Tip: Many travelers ask about the seat reservation systems. Here’s a tip on one of the most popular summer routes, around the Mediterranean, and how to avoid waiting in line to pay for a seat reservation.
If traveling to the south of France from Barcelona, you can take the Talgo, and then the TGV, both requiring seat reservations. Or you can do as I tried on this trip, and take the regional trains from Cebere to Narbonne to Marseille to Nice, no seat reservations required. These regional trains require two more connection changes, and take about an hour longer than the Talgo/ TGV combination. But the regional trains wiz through cattle farms, sunflower fields and marshlands, providing for a scenic, and less costly, alternative.
Benjamin Thomas
Comments
10 Responses to “Madrid – Barcelona – Cerbere – Narbonne – Marseille – Nice”
Leave a Reply
This blog is recommended by Eurail.com.
I purchased a saver global pass for my two daughters and myself as we traveled through Europe for three weeks. The pass itself was a great value, but the whole train reservation system was a real joke. Since our pass was a first class pass there were almost always available seats in first class. I was very upset to realize that I had paid 55 Swiss francs for a reservation on the Cisalpino from Bern to Milan, that the attendant had made in second class! The second class car in which we were placed was hot, crowded with people standing up, was was pretty much like a cattle car. We went to the first class car, which was virtually empty, sat down and were never even asked about reservations. After that we didn’t make any reservations, except for sleepers and the Eurostar (which were very difficult to get and caused us to change our travel plans a couple of times). On the way back from Brussels to Koln, my daughter stood in line for over and hour because we were told that the ICE train that we wanted to travel on required reservations. When she finally got to the counter after an hour, the attendant tried to make second class reservations for us on a later train. My daughter insisted that we wanted to take the earlier train and was then told that she didn’t need a reservation. She was really upset after spending an hour in line. We boarded the train and found that most of the first class section was empty (with a few seats reserved from Koln to Frankfurt). I’m glad I didn’t waste the money making a reservation. We got on the TGV in Stuttgart without a reservation, because there was no one in the station at 6 am with whom to make the reservation. We had no problems finding a seat in first class for that trip.
hi, i am planning to visit paris,nice,rome,florence,venice, madrid,barcelona,ibiza,malaga,faro and any other must see place in portugal. could u please advise me on the roting by eurail and the pass to be selected for the same?
warm regards,arvind
Hello Arvind
It sounds like the Global Pass will be best for you. It allows you travel through many countries, which it sounds like you will do. Those are all great places to visit! Read some of my blogs for ideas. Have fun! Benjamin.
I like to know the price for tickets, from Madrid Spain to Alicante Spain, thanks.
Please refer to one of the individual on-line booking sites if you are booking individual tickets. Try http://www.renfe.com . But if you are using a Eurail Pass that includes Spain, then you don’t need to purchase individual tickets; the Eurail Pass will cover you on this route. Just check at the station if there is a need for any seat reservation. Have fun! Benjamin.
Hi Antonietta,
We (family of 4) traveled around the same period as you (Aug. 2009) from Amsterdam, Brussels, Koln, Munich, and throughout Switzerland on Global Pass and never paid any cents beyond Pass cost. We never paid for any reservations since FirstClass cars are almost empty betwen those cities/countries. While planning, we avoided TGV’s, Cisalpino, and other trains that require reservations, but instead opted for alternatives which travel on the same line.
Next time you travel on ICE (on Global Pass), pick the very front car where the driver cockpit is. The Pass covers it since it is First Class. It was cool!
Percy
We (4: 2A, 2 young boys, 12-18) plan to travel from Paris, Nice, Monaco, Geneva, Zurich, Salzburg, Vienna, Venice and Rome by train.
I surfed internet and found that the train trip Geneva-Zurich and Zurich-Salzburg is quite long and not very convenient, it’s either need a number of changes or long travel and some arrive/depart at midnight.
What will be the better way to travel from Geneva-Zurich, Zurich-Salzburg?
Thanks.
Hello Sisca — There are direct trains from all of those city combinations. Look at deutschebahn.de to find the good times for you. Have fun, Benjamin.
I am planning to visit Aix en Provence this Christmas and from there would like to visit Nice, Monte Carlo, Lourdes and Avignon. Whats the best pass for me and my family all adults. Do I need reservations for these or can I go with regional trains?
hey..me and my sister plan to buy a global pass to travel to muich amsterdam paris , madrid barcelona rome and finally vienna. we plan to strt our trvael from vienna aswell. However, we plan to travel in end of dec and januray. we are evry confused about the reservations. Also its christmas and new years time and we worry tht the trains will be full. how can we paln our trip?