The direct trains between Marseille and Madrid are resuming from July 28th!
Final Destination: Madrid-Atocha
The train also calls at: Avignon TGV, Figueres-Vilifant, Girona, Barcelone, Camp De Tarragona and Zaragoza-Delicias.
The train is usually scheduled to depart from Marseille at 08:03 and it is the only direct train between France and Madrid.
Up to 1 x direct train per day
The plan is for the service to be daily from September
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: 4 months ahead of the travel date
The train is usually scheduled to depart from Marseille daily at 08:03.
Though it can be worth comparing the prices between booking agents for this journey.
Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey, but rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding, but these rail pass reservations cannot be booked on the train ticketing websites, as explained on this guide.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
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Trainline | * | |
SNCF Connect | * |
This fabulous train journey showcases European train travel at its best, with its fantastic contrasts between the coastal views in France and the sweeping vistas across the Spanish plains.
It is also a journey with three distinct phases:
1: Between Marseille and Nimes the train travels through Provence 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 as the train threads through the lagoons, particularly south of Narbonne.
As can be seen in the above video, 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.Though those two video were captured when travelling on a TGV train and not the AVE train that is used for this journey.
3. Then after Perpignan, the train reverts back to using high speed lines for the remainder of the journey on to Madrid.
Initially the train will travel on a high speed line to Barcelona, but the most thrilling section of this journey comes after the train has departed from there.
Between Barcelona and Madrid the train will spend most of the journey travelling at more than 290 km/h
The video clips showcase what gives this journey its wow factor, but they were filmed travelling in the opposite direction, from Madrid to Barcelona.
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.
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.