Remember that the pass is your ticket. Sometimes you need seat reservations on top of it (extra costs).
Barcelona - Lourdes : yes, there are trains via Latour and it’s a very beautiful route. Definitely the way to go. However trains are quite slow so take your time, relax and enjoy :)
- R3 Barcelona-Sants - Latour 06:01 - 09:23
- TER Latour - Toulouse-Matabiau 10:32 - 13:14
- Intercités Toulouse-Matabiau - Lourdes 13:33 - 15:22
Later (better) option : departure 08:31, arrival 18:22 (weekdays)/18:51 (Saturdays)/19:58 (Sundays). On Sundays you have around 2 hours to explore Toulouse a bit. :)
A few things :
- the R3 doesn’t appear on planners. Use https://rodalies.gencat.cat/en/horaris/ (check closer to travel date, times should remain similar)
- reservations not possible for the first 2 trains, optional for the third (1.60€)
- there might be more trains in August but I’m not sure. Timetables should be published in the coming weeks (later for the Spanish train).
Have a look at this general guide for reservations : https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm
Marseille - Tirano : it’s a long journey for sure but doable in a day. Maybe you could look at sleeping closer to Nice that night? I’d try to do that for a more pleasant experience.
That way you could take a beautiful railway across the Alps : the Tenda line or “railway of wonders” (I’d love to take it haha!). Departure from Nice at around 9am via Cuneo and Torino.
Timetables not available right now, check back in a few weeks.
There are 2 good options via Nice, Ventimiglia and Milan :
- departure 05:57, arrival 18:52 (with 1h20 in Milan, time for an ice cream!)
- departure 09:57, arrival 21:52
Reservations will cost you 3€ for the Ventimiglia - Milan IC.
You could save 23 min by taking the 10:20 TGV between Marseille and Nice but it will cost you 10 or 20€ extra (probably 20€). Is it worth it? Not in my opinion.
Look at good planners such as DB Navigator app. Feel free to ask further questions.
Last general link : https://www.seat61.com/how-to-use-an-interrail-pass.htm
Wow @thibcabe!
Thank yo so much, these kind of advices is exactly what Im looking for. :-D You are a pro when it come to planning trains and your answers makes me so grateful. 
Yes, I know the pass is our tickets, with cheap I ment the reservation cost. They seem to be very high in both Spain and France. But your suggestions makes me happy.
- Barcelona - Lourdes
😍 Nice to have a 2 hours break in Tolouse.
- Marseille (Nice?) - Tirano
Maybe Nice is better than Marseille, we will go from Lourdes on the 7/8. That would be an 11h 16 m journey instead of 6 h. Strange that it takes 5 hours extra, but it seems like the trains don’t connect well. But that might be just great, then we can take a break somewhere on the route. Do you have any idea of what city along that route would be most beautiful to take a break in?
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If you have time, could you pleas help me with the following as well?
- Granada-Barcelona
When I search on interrail several of the trains says “pass not valid”. Do you know what that means? See PrintScreen.
- A better route from Lourdes?
Since you are such a pro, maybe you can find me a better route than I have planned.. since I think its very hard to make this puzzle. We leave from Lourdes 7/8 and have 5 days until we need to take a train to Paris on the 12/9. After Paris we take a train to Sweden.
We have 3 wishes during this 5 days period:
1. I want to show my children the Alps, stunning views with glacier in the summer. If its possible I would love to take them skiing for 1-2 hours.. don’t know if or were that would be possible.
2. My daughter would love to just relax in the nature a few days, swim in a lake and take walks in calm beautiful nature. She has got this earlier on the trip, but we all love this as well so it would be nice with more..
3. My son has only got one wish for the whole trip.. and that is to watch a long movie in Schweiz with an intermission. Its one of few countries that has this in Europe.. It means the move stops in the middle and we go out for a short break to have something to drink. Then the movie starts again. He has special interests.. :-D. This means we need to go to Schweiz, but it doesn’t matter to what city/village as long as they have a Cinema with a long enough movie.
For this I have chosen to travel to Tirano to take the Tirano-Chur trainway with magical view. But, we will not have any time to go skiing or just relax in nature.. We will only have one day Nice and one in Basel (to go to the Cinema and do seightseeing in the city).
The schedule looks like this
7/8: Lourdes - Nice (Marseille)
8/8: One day in Nice
9/8: Nice - Tirano
10/8: Tirano - Chur - Basel
11/8: One day in Basel (Cinema)
12/8: Basel - Paris
Do you (or anyone reading this) have a better ide of how we could get some more free time to visit stunning nature in the Alps? :)
Sure, you’re welcome. :)
Granada - Barcelona : schedules will be published in the coming weeks. There should be a direct AVE (10€) leaving Granada at 15:35 and arriving at 21:54. Another morning connection via Madrid (trains in Spain aren’t very frequent!).
Lourdes - Nice : the regional train timetables haven’t been published yet either. It should be a 9h journey via Toulouse and Marseille (1.60€ for the first train, 10-20€ for the second and the third is reservation-free). For example, departure at 08:40 and arrival at 17:36 (pretty ideal).
Indeed you do not have a lot of time for the Alps, it’s a bit of a shame… the Bernina railway is really beautiful so I wouldn’t skip it.
Skiing would only be possible in Zermatt but I wouldn’t do it : the slopes are horrible in summer, they could be closed too if it’s really hot. Simply come back in winter another time! :)
You should check carefully whether the cinema makes intermissions or not. I know the one in my hometown does but I also know that bigger chains do not (Pathé, etc.).
If you don’t mind 2 long travel days in a row, you could spend only one night in Nice : arrival at 17:36, nice walk and dinner in the evening. The following morning you continue towards Switzerland (either via Cuneo or Ventimiglia). I guess you can’t extend the number of days before Paris? Or to finish in Switzerland instead of Paris?
Thank you for your answer! :-)
Okey, I will skip skiing this time then. Will ask my children where they prefer an extra day!
Will definitely check with the cinema on beforehand, great tip!
Hope you are having a nice evening! Thanks.
