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 are resuming from July13th!

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Routes

By direct train from July 13th

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.

Up to 1 x direct train per day
The plan is for the service to be daily from September

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

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 14:35 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 €29

Trainline Guide

SNCF Connect from €29

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 €29

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.

Renfe from €29

Renfe Guide

Renfe is the national rail operator in Spain and it has recently simplified the range of tickets it sells for express and regional train journeys in Spain.
Which is convenient as there are big savings to be made if you book ahead online.

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
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