Railway Journey

[Keith and Jen]

Has anyone travelled by train from London to Alicante?
I believe that the journey involves changes of train in Paris and then Barcelona.

The blurb reckons that it can be done for as little as £111 each way but in reality it's probably much more than that.

It might be interesting to give it a go.  What do you think?

Keith

[Burtonski]

Check out this web site, seat61.com

[Keith and Jen]

What an excellent web site; very informative.  Excellent photos too. Thanks for the recommendation.  I will need to study it but it will certainly save a lot of research.

After looking at the site I'm getting quite enthused.

Keith

[Blue and white stripes]

I've done the journey by train three times.
Once Stourbridge - Portsmouth - Santander - Alicante and twice Stourbridge - London - Paris - Barcelona - Alicante.
I caught the sleeper from Paris to Barcelona once and second time went down during the day, leaving Paris at 7am and arriving in Alicante at 4pm. I flew back every time.
I had to change stations in Paris both times using the metro and also in Barcelona using a local train.

[Blue and white stripes]

Costs of above one way

1) Via Santander, ferry and hotel £269
2) Via Paris using sleeper £138
3) Via Paris with hotel overnight £221

Ryanair BHX - ALC 04.05.2022 £16.99 for comparison.

[John H]

Just to endorse what Keith & Jen said that is great website Burtonski.
I'm going back 60 years to when I was a young lad, my Dad refused to fly for many years much to Mum's annoyance as she really wanted to see Europe and holiday on the Mediterranean.
Until Dad finally gave in we travelled every year by train to Southern Italy or Southern Spain on our holidays.....I can remember those trips clearly, they were real adventures and where a big part of the holiday not just a means of getting from A to B.
For years we drove down to GA often taking a week to do the journey exploring different parts of Spain and France on the way.....far more expensive than flying down, but again a big and very interesting part of the holiday.

Regards all

John