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Groningen (Northern Netherlands) to Barcelona

  • 24 July 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 164 views

Hi everybody,

My name is Adrian, 22 years old, and I just bought an Interrail pass with 5 travel days in one month. I am really excited! I am planning to go to Barcelona (not back and forth) and would love to explore 4 other cities along the way to make sure I make the most of my trip and use up all my travel days. It has proven to be difficult to map out my itinerary though! Initially I was thinking of visiting the following cities: Groningen (starting place) - Zürich/Vienna - Genua - Nice - Bilbao - Barcelona. To go from Nice to Bilbao is very difficult however and takes more than one day.

I am sure I will figure it out and find a nice route to Barcelona eventually, but I would be very interested in some suggestions from the community. There is no one city in particular that I must go to except for Barcelona and I am open to all suggestions. In general, I would be interested in larger cities (preferably by the mediterranean/atlantic coast (Portugal)) where I can meet new people and experience the “summer lifestyle”. As for accommodation, I would like to stay in hostels and go on some pub crawls. What are some cities I should go to? I am thinking of being away for 10-14 days.

Thank you very much in advance. All suggestions are welcome!

2 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

Vienna seems like a huge detour but you can take advantage of the night trains. However you need to book them in advance and please travel in a couchette/sleeper. Seats are awful.

Otherwise I'd consider the French Atlantic Coast (Bordeaux, Nantes) even if you need to bother with the French mandatory reservations. Again, book them in advance in summer.

Connections between France and Spain are bad but there are a few options:

- regional trains via Portbou: slow but scenic.

- high-speed train to Barcelona: 4 trains per day with mandatory reservations (TGV expensive, AVE unavailable online)

- regional trains via Latour -> convenient connection with the Paris night train

- Euskotren every 30 min between Hendaye and San Sebastian: 3€ ticket, not included

Thank you very much for your detailed comment! :)

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