The salidas/platforms at Barcelona Sants station

Lyon to Barcelona by train

How to take the thrilling rail journey from Lyon to Barcelona

The direct trains between Lyon and Barcelona have been removed from the new rail timetable which will be in place after December 11th and into 2023.

Share

Routes

From Lyon Part-Dieu to Barcelona Sants until Dec 10th

Travel Information

Final Destination: Barcelone (Barcelona)

The train also calls at: Figueres-Vilifant and Girona

The train is usually scheduled to depart from Lyon Part-Dieu at 14:35 and arrive in Barcelona at 19:32 in time for connections on to Madrid and on to Valencia.

1 x train per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

When looking for tickets on Oui.SNCF tick the 'direct trains' box - on Trainline tick the 'fastest journeys' box.
Though it can be worth comparing the prices between booking agents for this journey.

The train is usually scheduled to depart from Lyon Part-Dieu at around 14:30 so target that time when looking up this journey.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.

Travelling with an InterRail or Eurail Pass:

Rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding, but these reservations cannot be booked on the ticket agent's websites.

If you want the peace of mind of reserving before arriving at a French station, you will need to use the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service but you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation.
Though you can avoid a booking fee if you do reserve at a station in France

Or avoid paying the rail pass reservation fee, by taking this alernative journey option.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Trainline from €44

Trainline Guide

SNCF Connect from €44

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Happy rail from €44 (in £s)

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)Coastal views

Journey description:

This is a journey of three distinct phases.

1: Between Lyon and Nimes the train travels on the high speed line.

2. From Montpellier to Perpignan the trains follow the coast, don't expect incredible seascapes, but there are some nice views on the left as the train threads through the lagoons, particularly south of Narbonne.

As can be seen in the video above, which was taken on a TGV train, what's unusual and rather fabulous about this part of the journey, is that the 'sea' can be seen from both sides of the train.

3. Between Perpignan and Barcelona, the train reverts back to using a high speed line.

From the left of the train between Lyon and Avignon From the left of the train between Lyon and Avignon
From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan
From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan From the left of the train between Narbonne and Perpignan
From the left of the train between Perpignan and Figueres From the left of the train between Perpignan and Figueres

From Lyon Part-Dieu to Barcelona (from Dec 11th)

Travel Information

The French national rail company SNCF and the Spanish rail company Renfe have opted to terminate their partnership which jointly managed the service of high speed trains between France and Spain.
As a result the long-standing direct trains between Lyon and Barcelona have been withdrawn, without any adjustment to any other train times to provide an equivalent indirect journey on a similar schedule to what had been available.

There will be a daily option for taking the train from Lyon to Barcelona departing shortly after 14:00, which is when the direct train left Lyon.
But this option has a journey time of around 7hr 15min, as it involves spending more than two hours waiting between trains at Nimes Pont Du Gard station.
This isn't the main city centre station in Nimes, which has nearby cafes and bars in which to await an onward departure, instead Nimes Pont Du Gard is a relatively new purpose built high-speed station in the middle of nowhere, so it has comparatively sparse facilities.
Hence taking this afternoon combination of trains is best avoided.

Therefore the better option is to take the train to Montpellier which typically departs from Lyon shortly after 11:00.
This train will usually have a 26 min connection into one of the two daily trains which will be still traveling the Paris to Barcelona route.
So this journey will be straightforward if the train from Lyon arrives on time, which it will do on the overwhelming number of travel days, but if it gets to Montpellier too late the journey will become problematic, as the the connection is in to the only direct train of the day from Montpellier St Roch station on to Barcelona.

Travel on Saturday and Sunday

If you will be departing Lyon on a Saturday and Sunday, it will usually be possible to extend the connecting time between trains in Montpellier to more than an hour by taking the TGV to Montpellier, which will typically be departing from Part-Dieu station at 10:10
Though if you want to take this combination of trains it seems as though you will need to book separate tickets per journey.

1 x optimum connection per day.

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

On SNCF Connect enter 'Gare de Lyon (Paris)' in the from box, on Trainline select Paris-Gare-de-Lyon.

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a rail pass reservation fee prior to boarding.

Using rail passes

The removal of the direct trains has expensive consequences of users of InterRail and Eurail passes, because separate rail pass reservation fees will be need to be paid on both of the TGV trains.

The usual alternative that avoids any reservation fees, but isn't seemingly available on Sundays, is to depart Lyon at around 10:20 on a TER train to Avignon Centre.
If the trains are operating at their usual schedules, it will be possible to arrive in Barcelona before 22:00 having made connections between trains in Avignon, Perpignan and Port Bou.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SNCF Connect *

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Trainline *

Trainline Guide

Omio *

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

Final Destination: Montpellier St. Roch

This train will have travelled from Metz

This is a typical French high speed train journey, when the primary wow factor is provided by the fact that the train will be travelling at more than 275 km/h until it reaches the outskirts of Nimes; look out for the multiple crossings of the River Rhone.

Though the high speed line from the north to the south of France by-passes Lyon, so trains heading south have to travel for around 15 mins on conventional tracks before they reach it.

Journey Features

Coastal viewsHigh Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

Final Destination: Barcelone (Barcelona)

The train on to Barcelona also calls at: Figueres-Vilifant and Girona

Journey description:

From Montpellier to Perpignan the trains follow the coast, don't expect incredible seascapes, but there are some nice views on the left as the train threads through the lagoons, particularly south of Narbonne.

As can be seen in the video above, which was taken on a TGV train, what's unusual and rather fabulous about this part of the journey, is that the 'sea' can be seen from both sides of the train.

Then between Perpignan and Barcelona, the train reverts back to using a high speed line.

Crossing the marshes between Perpignan and Narbonne Crossing the marshes between Perpignan and Narbonne
From the high speed line between Figueres and Perpignan From the high speed line between Figueres and Perpignan
Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge
hand-money

Please support ShowMeTheJourney

Help keep us advertising and paywall free!

Donate

This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.

We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.

Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.

So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.

See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
Leaving From
Going To
ShowMeTheJourney

This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.