I plan on visiting London, Paris and Barcelona with my family (10 yr old, 6 yr old) and was thinking I would fly to Paris return and then take a return Chunnel to London and an overnight sleeper train from Paris to Barcelona and back. Can anyone suggest if there is a better approach - e.g. using low cost airlines? How do I go about pre-booking a sleeper for my family in advance … and which train - e.g. Eurostar? Thanks, any guidance appreciated! -Ariel
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I'd look at flying into London and leaving from Barcelona (so called open-jaw/multi-city tickets). It might be a bit more expensive than flying to Paris return but you avoid double-backing, saving time and money in the end!
There are no night trains to Barcelona as Spain and Portugal use a different loading gauge + other issues. One day they'll come (back) though!
What you can do now is taking a night train from Paris to the border : Latour de Carol in the Pyrénées (daily) or Cerbère along the Mediterranean (not daily outside summer). The following morning it's a 2h30-3h journey towards Barcelona.
I don't think a Eurail Pass would be good value but it's always worth to compare tickets vs pass+reservations. Always book tickets through the railway company : eurostar.com, sncf-connect.com,…
High-speed train tickets vary like air fares so it's worth booking as soon as your dates are set.
Eurostar has the monopoly on the London - Paris route.
SNCF runs direct TGVs to Barcelona and the night trains as far as the border.
RENFE runs trains in Spain + international connections to Lyon and Marseille.
Also note that Paris is hosting the Olympics this summer so expect very high prices, more crowds and extra security measures.
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