Transport
How to Book French Train Tickets: A Guide to Painless Trip Prep
On another train. My butt’s been in all kinds of European train seats for 21 years. Trains are hands-down the best way to get around France. If you’re not used to France and/or to European train travel, the ticketing options can seem a bit overwhelming. But I’ve been traveling the French rails for the past …
An Insider’s Guide to Barcelona Sants Train Station—from a Local Who’s Lived next to it for 15 Years
Barcelona Sants is not exactly one of Europe’s more gorgeous train stations, but it effectively connects Barcelona to places throughout Catalonia and in Spain and France Barcelona Sants Station is unlovely but clean and well equipped with a range of services. It’s not huge, but can seem a bit bewildering to newbies. So let me …
How to Get the Best Child and Youth Discounts on European Trains
The value proposition for travelling by train in Europe grows by multiples when it comes to travelling with children. Compared to flying, train operators are quite generous in the age brackets for free travel with babies and toddlers and they offer significant discounts for youth. Also, trains are quite a bit more comfortable, often have …
What Is Iryo? And Are These High-Speed Trains Worthwhile in Spain?
Iryo is one of Spain’s very affordable train services and offers a comfortable, quick connections between key cities. This site’s editor updating this review while on an Iryo train from Barcelona to Zaragoza. Iryo currently runs trains between Madrid and Barcelona more than a dozen times per day in each direction and also runs South …
Schemes for Cheap Train Tickets in France
The minimalist cheapskate writer of this article on a Ouigo train I’ve been whizzing around France on TGV and other trains as cheaply as possible for over two decades. And here, my dear penny-pinching minimalists, is an insider’s guide to the best current strategies, booking platforms, discount cards, sales, and future insights for bopping around …
What Is Ouigo? And Is This Budget Train Worthwhile for Crossing Spain, Catalonia, and France?
Ouigo, put simply, is a railway answer to the budget airline. Here I am riding a Ouigo train in Spain with the distinctive (gaudy?) color scheme of the seats behind me; I’ve taken these budget trains in France for years as well The tickets are cheap, and there are no frills, but you get to …
Late Trains in France: What to Know
This is a look at your chances of having issues due to delays on rail lines with the national operator SNCF in France and what to do if they occur. We have separately covered how to book French train tickets and what to know about French train strikes. The Likelihood of French Trains Suffering Delays …
Solved! The Problems with SNCF Connect and Ouigo Websites — and How We Buy French Train Tickets in Spite of Them
The server for the error-ridden SNCF Connect website is presumably as functional and modern as this train hardware. Credit: David Hellmann. If you are blocked by error messages on the SNCF Connect or on Ouigo.com, you’re not alone. The websites and apps have lots of redirects and undergo constant updates that can render them in some …
We Tested the Legitimate Train Booking Platforms for France—Here’s What Works Best for Cheap Tickets
I’ve been booking train tickets online for French trains for two decades, both with the SNCF’s official websites and the various good competing private booking platforms. There is now a healthy variety of alternatives for booking French train tickets that can get you e-tickets with the same dynamic pricing as you’d get purchasing directly from …
Train Passes Offering Discounts in European Countries—What They Are and How to Get the Deals
Almost every European country offers some sort of a discount card available for purchase for discounts on their train systems. Unfortunately, these cards are often not really worth it unless you make particular trips repeatedly, say for work or visiting family. I’ve lived mainly in European countries over the last few years and ridden trains …