Lourdes Travel Forum

What's the best way to travel from LOurdes to Barcelona? Any TGV or Eurail?

You will find detailed answers in the this recent thread:

http://forum.virtualtourist.com/discussion-478578-1-1-Travel-0-0-Lourdes-discussion.html

which is the post directly underneath yours inn the Lourdes travel forum.

It is a long way from Barcelona to Lourdes, and there are no easy direct routes.

And please note that EURAIL is a ticket type, not a train operator. TGV is a TRAIN type used in France - TGV = Train a Grande Vitesse = High Speed Train.

There is a comprehensive list of European train operators, sorted by country, at this website I use often:

http://www.railfaneurope.net/

Also, the cheap 'shortcut' from Toulouse through La Tour de Carol and Vic is currently partially closed for repair work, with buses replacing trains on two stretches of line.

Ok, what's the other alternative way..from Lourdes to Barcelona? any flights? what's the closest airport or what airlines fly from Lourdes to Barcelona?

So if that part is under construction, what other way?
Thank you.

As I said on the other thread:

Using www.whichbudget.com I can find no budget carriers flying Barcelona>Toulouse , or Pau, or Lourdes Tarbes (the nearest airports to Lourdes). You might like to explore www.skyscanner.net for your specific dates, to find possible carriers for each of these airports (from which you could take train or bus or taxi).

The train journey from Barcelona takes 8.5 + hours, with changes. Timetables here:

http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml

To find fares you will need to look at the Spanish railway website

http://www.renfe.es

French train fares are best found using the French version of their railway site (the bahn.de link will give you train times):

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/horaires

http://www.eurolines.es/ep35/w2selciudad.csp

will give you long-distance buses from Barcelona to France, and you can book online. You can get to Toulouse for 48 euro one-way, but the journey is long......8+ hours.

Thank you for your inputs.
Unfortunately, we got our tickets already flying out from Barcelona back to US. Looking at the map, since we were going to Lourdes, Barcelona seemed closer than going back to Paris, not knowing it's quite a bit of a headache.
Hmm, we might have to change return flights, and forget about Barcelona for now.

It's a bit disappointing, that with the popularity of Lourdes, that until now they haven't created availabilities of transportation between cities. WHY? Their taxes not enough to support these things? Unbelievable.

With that previous reply, RE:construction..there is really no eurail running at the moment enroute to BARCELONA? that is really CRAZY!

There is transportation, just not of the type which you want.

As mentioned above, Eurail is not a train operator. It is a ticketing agency. Spanish trains are run by Renfe, Spanish trains are run by SNCF.

There is no direct train because presumably there is neither need nor desire to create the required line and provide the required service.

Lourdes may not be quite as popular a destination from Barcelona as you suppose. Those who wish to visit from Barcelona (i.e. those who live in the area) will be able to make perfectly suitable travel arrangements. Those who wish to visit from elsewhere will usually start their journeys from places other than Barcelona, and/or will research travel arrangements beforehand to see if timings fit.

There is a high speed rail line under construction from Barcelona to join the French TGV high speed network at Perpignan. This however will not open until perhaps 2015. From that time there will be fast, frequent and regular services across the border between Paris, Lyon, south-west France and Spain.

The main problem at this time is that the 'classic' railways of France and Spain were built to different gauges (width) so trains cannot cross the border unless they have expensive equipment to change the wheelsets. At the moment therefore there are, in daytime, only two direct trains a day linking Barcelona with southern France, plus night trains to Paris etc.

The 'normal' routing from Lourdes to Barcelona is via Toulouse and Narbonne, a long way round but the quickest normally. The train timings effectively mean that there is only one possible journey, as the morning train from Narbonne to Barcelona leaves too early for any connection from Lourdes.

This route means leaving Lourdes at 1111am, changing trains in Toulouse (1hr 44 minutes wait) and again at Narbonne arriving at Barcelona at 2030. Seats must be reserved.

People seem to forget that Lourdes, despite its attractions, is a small town on secondary road and rail routes. It is about 2 hours journey to the major centre of Toulouse, from where all points can be reached. Trains between Lourdes and Toulouse are very irregular and infrequent.

People also forget, or do not know, that there is a very tall mountain range (The Pyrenees) running along the border between France and Spain. This means that there are only a few crossing places for road or rail.

The short-cut I mentioned earlier between Toulouse and Barcelona via La Tour de Carol and Vic is along two local rail lines used only by slow, stopping trains. These are not included in international or domestic ticketing systems as trains/tickets are unreserved and cannot be purchased in advance. Any connections between French and Spanish trains are more by accident than design, but in normal circumstances there possibilities. It is also a much more scenic route that the route through Narbonne in my opinion.

Within the current timetables, I found these three possible journeys between Lourdes and Barcelona on the slow route:

Lourdes 0553 Toluouse arr 0756/change trains/ Toulouse leave 0850 arrive la Tour de Carol 1152/change to replacement bus/ La Tour de Carol leave 1258 Barcelona arrive 1637 this option weekdays only! Nb one hour waits when train change needed.

Lourdes leave 0731 same route same changes arrive Barcelona 1949, 2 hour wait in la Tour de Carol 1352/1608. Daily in summer, Sundays and Holidays excepted in winter.

Lourdes leave 11.11 arrive Barcelona 2158 same changes - daily for most of the year. A two hour wait in Toulouse is involved (time for lunch maybe?) and the journey is almost one and a half hours slower than the 'normal' routing above.

The first 40 minutes from La Tour de Carol on the Spanish side is by bus until November 2009. The work on the French side is, it would seem, complete as of the weekend just past but then they are on strike tomorrow, 7th July!

Remember that these trains are local trains, buy tickets on the day and no reservations, on-board service etc. You will need separate tickets for the French and Spanish trains ie at La Tour de Carol you will need to buy a Spanish ticket to Barcelona.

Local cross border bus or train travel to and from Spain is not easy (I live in Portugal)the plain fact being that 90% of people making these journeys drive their own cars, so there is little demand for public transportation.

CUBSUR<


Thank you so much for your reply..
Not understanding you with your previous entry, It sounded ridiculous that there was no connection between the two countries..and the problem then, was we are going to be stucked!!!!!!!!

Again, I thank you.

Hi leics,

Why are most of the hotels in LOURDES don't have AIR CONDITIONING UNITS??

THANKS>

Presumably because the hotels do not feel that the more usual weather conditons warrant the expense of installation.

There are few hotels in the UK with air con, for the same reason.