Barcelona Airport to Argelès ? Simplest Way ? Train ?

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rhys
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Barcelona Airport to Argelès ? Simplest Way ? Train ?

Post by rhys »

Hello.
Anyone have experience of getting from Barcelona Airport to Argelès sur Mer ?

Does the train now go direct from the Airport to Perpignan ?

Or is there an option to get the train that hugs the coast and actually stops in Argelès ?

Does anyone know what the options are and changes required etc ?

This would be on August 6th., btw, a Sunday :(
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

The train from the airport is a suburban train: you would need to change at Barcelona Sants to get the TGV to Perpignan. The service from the airport is quite frequent and quick, but you need to allow time for security checks at Sants (you may recall that Spain suffered major terrorist attacks on mainline trains a few years ago).

The coastwise train stopping at Argèles requires a change of trains at the border (at Cerbère going north) because older Spanish trains use a diffferent gauge from the European norm. That's in addition to the change in Barcelona, as above. There are a couple of trains a day which are meant to connect, and you could find them with a bit of research, but I wouldn't bother: even at the best, and on weekdays, they take all day.

The TGV is much the more practical, but the last train from Barcelona leaves quite early (since they are mostly going all the way to Paris): renfe.com or voyages-sncf.com or bahn.com or god knows who else can tell you more. And the last train from Perpignan to Argèles is probably quite early too, especially on a Sunday, with info to be had from voyages-sncf.com.
rhys
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Barcelona to Argelès

Post by rhys »

Thanks for this.

My friend's plane lands at Noon 30, so I am assuming an hour or so to get through immigration etc..

As far as I can tell the only TGV to Perpignan departs at 16 something so she should make that.

Are you saying that there IS a direct coastal train from SANTS to Argelès ( with the change at Cerbère ) ? She doesn't have to traipse from SANTS to some other station in Barcelona to get the train to Cerbère / Argelès ?

Time is not of the essence ( provided she gets to Argelès by dinner time ) and I would have thought coastal was the more pleasant route. But yes maybe the TGV to Perp is more practical.

Is there an Information point at Sants where there would be someone with clear info as to the timings for the two separate routes ?
Phip3
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Train info use bahn.de

Post by Phip3 »

Use banh.de Germain trains website v easy to use ( just enter from Barcelona to Argeles sur Mer and untick the direct route box) gives you all train info across national borders with options + some of the bus routes are there too . I think that you'll all the info you need there.

I usually take the coastal train back from Girona . If not pressed for time is much easier than the TGV .
martyn94
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Re: Barcelona to Argelès

Post by martyn94 »

rhys wrote:Thanks for this.

My friend's plane lands at Noon 30, so I am assuming an hour or so to get through immigration etc..

As far as I can tell the only TGV to Perpignan departs at 16 something so she should make that.

Are you saying that there IS a direct coastal train from SANTS to Argelès ( with the change at Cerbère ) ? She doesn't have to traipse from SANTS to some other station in Barcelona to get the train to Cerbère / Argelès ?

Time is not of the essence ( provided she gets to Argelès by dinner time ) and I would have thought coastal was the more pleasant route. But yes maybe the TGV to Perp is more practical.

Is there an Information point at Sants where there would be someone with clear info as to the timings for the two separate routes ?
Both I and Phip3 have directed you to absolutely the slickest and quickest and most complete train-time website in the world (bahn.de or bahn.com).
EDITED DUE TO GRUMPINESS OF ANSWER!!

If you really can't work out how to do it, send me a pm: I don't like to think of her sleeping in a ditch.

I should add, I guess, that there seem to be more connecting services through Cerbère to Argèles than I had understood: that seems to be an advantage of using bahn.com rather than voyages-sncf.com as I usually do. It works remarkably well even a long way from Germany. But not after Brexit, obviously.
martyn94
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Post by martyn94 »

I plead guilty to grumpiness, so by way of compensation

- you can get to Cerbère, and then to Argelès, directly from Sants. But the last train on your Sunday leaves at 1320. Not strictly impossible, but I guess that you'd miss it nine times in ten

- the only alternative (as you've said) is the 1645 TGA/AVE via Perpignan. If their plane is remotely on time, and the weather is nice, that could leave a very pleasant two or three hours to do some tourism. There are left-luggage lockers at Sants, and it is very quick (and frequent) to and from downtown Barcelona: bahn.com reckons that you could leave Passeig de Gracia (chosen not quite at random) at 1625 and still catch the 1645 from Sants
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