crossing into Spain by train

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sue and paul
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crossing into Spain by train

Post by sue and paul »

I have just read the interesting article by Basil Howitt on here about sea-urchins and the railway at Cerbère.

Before it possibly becomes a thing of the past, we are considering doing the rail journey across the border, say, from Argelès to Girona, or even Barcelona. Has anyone done this? How did they find it? I don't think the timetables are inclined to dovetail, and I think it involves changing trains/stations on the border, because of the different gauge. Any comments or advice welcome.

By the way, I'm not doing a commercial survey for SNCF !!! Just for the doubters out there :roll:
Rose
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Crossing into Spain by train

Post by Rose »

I have done it twice by taking the night train from Paris. We had to get off at Port Bou at about 8.30a.m. and wait for another train for about an hour and a half. There is a clean cafe at the station where we all drank welcome cups of coffee as there was no buffet on the night train. The one time I did it from Nimes we stayed in the train. This was the train we got onto when I took the night train.

I really enjoyed the journey from the north of Perpignan onwards as I could see many familiar sites such as Canigou, Collioure and our house in the Domaine des Alberes. I also recognised several places in Spain.
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sue and paul
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Post by sue and paul »

Thanks Rose
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PaddyFrog
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Post by PaddyFrog »

Use the Talgo it goes direct to Barcelona from Perpignan.

No changing but needs reservation.
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Post by sue and paul »

That's good PG. How do they overcome the different gauge problem?
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PaddyFrog
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Post by PaddyFrog »

They have a Pneumatic system.
to Adjust from the international gauge of 1435mm.
To the Paella Gauge :lol: :lol: :lol: of 1672mm

This link will give you more info on the design.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talgo

http://gospain.about.com/od/traintravel ... france.htm

Here are the times towards Switzerland via Perps.

http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/index.jsp? ... F=NaN&ID=s

Look under Talgo.

Hope this helps
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Post by sue and paul »

thanks very much indeed, PF. Sorry for calling you PG , last post...I was just monkeying around :lol: :lol: ...had my brew now too :D
carol sheridan
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Post by carol sheridan »

I wonder if you clever lot can get your brains round this for me?
My grand-daughter and her boy-friend are coming to stay with me in June. I will meet them at Girona airport - no problems there. However, I am going back to the UK with them on 23rd June, leaving Girona airport at 13.30. I will be coming back on 21st July, so the car parking even at the Vilobi Hotel car park would be 150 euros. I have been looking at various sites to get times of trains - we could get a very early train at Argeles, changing at Port Bou and arriving in good time for our flight.
Coming back, I can't find a train from Girona to Argeles (or Perpignan) that leaves late enough - my flight does not arrive at Girona until 18.40, then I have to get from the airport to the railway station, so I reckon it would have to be after 20.00.

I have thought about driivng to Port Bou and leaving my car at the station there, but I can't find any site which tells me the cost of parking there - it might be as high as at Girona.
As I will be alone coming back, I wouldn't mind spending one night at the Vilobi - I reckon it would still be less in total than 28 days parking at Girona.

Any advice gratefully accepted.
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opas
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Post by opas »

I was just going to say that! Carol, isn`t parking free there if you spend the night at the hotel?
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Marguerite & Steve
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Post by Marguerite & Steve »

sue and paul wrote:thanks very much indeed, PF. Sorry for calling you PG , last post...I was just monkeying around :lol: :lol: ...had my brew now too :D

PG.....He is full of "tips"
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Post by sue and paul »

Is that just before he 'leaves' ? :lol: :oops:
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Post by carol sheridan »

I don't think parking is free with a room any more - I expect too many people were doing it!
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Santiago
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Post by Santiago »

What about parking your car at one of the little railway stations between Figueres and Girona. They you get a taxi to and from Girona RENFE and a short train ride. When I went from Figueres to Barcelona it seemed to stop at every place that had a barn.
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Post by carol sheridan »

That's a good idea, Santiago - I will have a test run on my own and suss out the cost of parking/trains/taxi.
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Post by PaddyFrog »

Carol
I am not "Monkeying " around but the best "Tip" from a lot of the Spanish I know is to Park at "Figueres" station where they "LEAF" their cars for Gerona airport and day trips to Barcelona.

Barcelona bus runs from Figueres to GRO twice a day

Or the shuttle from Barcelona Bus Station.
or even a Taxi from Gerona centre.

My Compliments to M&S and Sue and Paul


8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
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Post by carol sheridan »

I have spent a lot of time looking at sites which give bus times but I can't find anything about car parking charges at Figueres train or bus stations. If they are as expensive as Girona airport, there is no point in having the inconvenience of catching a bus or train.
The navette which runs from Perpignan to Girona airport doesn't seem to have a website.
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Post by Kathy »

We parked for free right outside of Figueras train station last summer.
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Post by carol sheridan »

Thanks, Kathy, that makes it a viable proposition to drive to Figueres, leave my car at the station there and get the train to Girona, then a taxi to the airport. I think there might be buses directly from the bus terminal at Figueres to Girona airport, so I will continue my site-hunting.
The room-rate at the Vilobi in July is 83 euros, which makes it too expensive for an overnight, so I would need to find a route back from the airport to Figueres at about 19.30 hrs.
I have a feeling that I am going to wimp out of all this planning and just pay the 150 euros! I still have to use the Ryanair route because no other airline takes me to an airport which is easily accessible for my daughter from her home in East Yorkshire, so even if I were willing to pay BA, flybe, etc. they wouldn't be of any use.
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Post by Roger O »

Phew... when I read all these kinds of post about parking and costs and travel times etc etc...and all the stress involved... I'm thankful I don't need (nor particularly want) to visit the UK at all!! I cut my umbilical cord in 1970.
Last edited by Roger O on Fri 02 May 2008 08:55, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Marguerite & Steve »

PaddyFrog wrote:
My Compliments to M&S and Sue and Paul


8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

I am please you haven't gone into a "stew" or it, as I thought something was "brewing" for a minute... :lol: :lol:
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Post by carol sheridan »

Roger, I LOVE my umbilical cord, which is getting stronger every year (second great-grandchild on the way). I might live a very isolated life in France, but I am in constant daily contact with one daughter, and get frequent e-mails from the other daughter and from No. 1 grandson in Dubai. Without them, I really would be lonely.
I don't grudge the cost of visiting them for about 10 weeks a year - it is just that, like most UK pensioners, I have seen quite a drop in my monthly income recently.
I feel quite selfish sometimes, as for about 42 weeks a year I do exactly what I want, and I know that a huge proportion of grandparents are tied to child-minding to enable their children to go out to work.
I am having family visits, in four separate batches, throughout the summer, and my trip in July is combined with my annual snorkelling holiday - I am flying from Manchester to Taba. I spend a month at Christmas, which this year I will use to renew my passport in England.
Perhaps it is natural that mothers feel the tug of the umbilical cord more than fathers!
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Post by Roger O »

Carol..
Well, I suppose that as I only have my sister and cousins in the UK - and my sister comes over here regularly (once per year) and we chat on the phone for about an hour once per month.. What I meant was more that I have no need or wish to revisit Torquay itself, as, when I used to do until Mum died in 1989, it always turned out to be a total nostalgia trip - and those I can really do without. Apart from that, there is absolutely nothing to attract me back to the UK in general.

Surely, if I could find a cheap (and, especially, convenient!!!!) way to fly to Switzerland where my two daughters are - and my two grandchildren, I would be happy to do that.. but I can live without it. They also like to come here and the whole crew will be here for my 70th birthday on 05July.. otherwise, I just blend totally into the local life (apart from the forum, of course).

Yesterday Alizée and I visited the 1st May races at the local hippodrome - she as cashier to earn some pocket money and I to take her and then have some beers, chat with the locals (somebody asked if I were "Belge" which I took as a compliment - guess why) and watch the horses. Was quite hot and crowded with the usual air of excitement - especially those who were placing bets - which I didn't! Of course, having a family here with a nearly 18 year old daughter makes a difference.
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Post by carol sheridan »

I don't have ties to any place in the UK - just people. I grew up in Salford, which I loathed, and anyway all the area in which I lived has been flattened and rebuilt as 'loft living' blocks.
My daughters now both live in a very pretty village in East Yorkshire (Nafferton), with a mere with wildfowl. We spend days out on the North Yorkshire moors, which are wild and wonderful.
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