Yes you could use Interrail for this trip. On 2 pass days you may travel in your home country.

Seat reservations cost extra on Intercités, TGVs and most high-speed trains (it depends on the country). Have a look at https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

SNCF offers free reservations for French residents in order to leave the country. You must ask for billets parcours d’approche at SNCF counters. As far as I know this does not apply to international destinations.

Are you looking to do Angers - Barcelona and back only ? It might be cheaper to book advance tickets (although TGV tickets to Barcelona are very expensive).

Je peux répondre en français si jamais.

There are only a few fast trains France - Barcelona at present, the best option for you would be to go via Paris.

06.45 AngersSL - Paris Montparnasse 08.10

09.42 Paris Gare De Lyon - Barcelona Sants 16.31

or

11.45 Angers SL - Paris M 13.21

14.42 Paris GDL - Barcelona - 21.27

If this is your only train travel then you should look at prices direct from SNCF for your dates first and only look at interrail passes if the regular fares are very high.

I’ll also suggest this itinerary as the AVE from Lyon is very often cheaper :

• Intercités Angers - Lyon Part-Dieu 07:11 - 13:10
• AVE Lyon Part-Dieu - Barcelona-Sants 14:32 - 19:34

It takes longer than going through Paris though.

We can help with comparisons between tickets/pass if you let us know your travel dates. :)

Thank you for your replies. Actually, I don’t understand quite well how does interrail work. I’m reading the FAQ but I have plenty doubts. Our plan is to travel with my family (my wife and our 3 girls 7, 8 and 11yo the day of departure). We were thinking about leaving Angers april 20th or 21st and coming back ~2 weeks later. We plan to visit several cities in Spain : Barcelona (4 days), then Madrid (4 days), then Sevilla/Grenada (4 days) and coming back to France (with a connection in Barcelona maybe). Do you thing the global pass 5 days would be the great option? Once the GP bought, how can I book only seats from SNCF and RENFE? Do I need to check before for seats availability?… See, plenty of questions. I continue reading the FAQ  Thank you so much for your help. Laurent

Interrail will surely be good value for 2 reasons :

• children travel for free (only need to pay seat reservations)
• the Paris - Barcelona TGV is extremely expensive otherwise

I’d tweak the itinerary a bit : Angers - Barcelona - Sevilla/Granada - Madrid and back via San Sebastian and the Basque country → it’d make a nice loop in my opinion. Unfortunately connections from Bordeaux to Angers are quite bad : there are a few slow Intercités to Nantes but no TGVs.

A 5 day pass should be good yes and you can always buy separate tickets for Sevilla - Granada for example. Reservations are available through interrail.eu (2€ fee per person per train so it quickly adds up) or through railway companies whenever possible. Have a look at https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm

SNCF and RENFE removed the option to book directly from their website as too many people misused the tool and travelled without a pass. RENFE doesn’t allow online seat reservations for all their trains either… (for no reason) This shouldn’t be an issue for your trip as high-speed trains (AVE) and the morning ALVIA to San Sebastian (if you were to take that route) are all available. The most annoying one is the AVE International from Lyon to Barcelona.

There is no passholder quota so as long as there are regular tickets you’re good. (Eurostar and TGVs from Belgium are the exception). The TGV from Paris to Barcelona is really popular so you should book it well in advance : 35€ per person, the most expensive 2nd class reservation possible…

More concrete advice now :

For the fastest route it would be via Paris as shown above :

• TGV to Paris for free at SNCF ticket counters (or 10-20€ online)
• Interrail not valid on métros or RERs
• 35€ reservation for the direct TGV to Barcelona

It would be possible to save money by taking a TGV as far as Montpellier or Perpignan and then continue on regional trains across the border. It’d take longer though. Feel free to ask for suggestions.

Barcelona - Sevilla : I’d take one of the convenient direct AVEs → 08:35 - 14:33 or 15:15 - 21:25. 10€

Sevilla - Madrid : plenty of AVEs (10€), less trains from Granada but also possible.

Btw Interrail is only valid on trains run by RENFE, not on Ouigo, Avlo or Iryo.

Madrid - San Sebastian : easy direct train at 08:43 in the morning (6.30€ seat reservation). There are Euskotren services every 30 min to Hendaye (3-4€ ticket, Interrail not valid). Feel free to decide whether you wish to spend a night or two in Spain or France !

Hendaye - Angers : there are a few possible routes, all taking quite some time... Either :

• TGV Hendaye - Bordeaux 07:12 - 09:40 (free)
• Intercités Bordeaux - Nantes 09:51 - 14:05 (free)
• TER Nantes - Angers 14:13 - 15:11

Or a later option with a change in Tours :

• TER Hendaye - Bordeaux 10:06 - 12:42
• TGV Bordeaux - St-Pierre-des-Corps 12:58 - 14:52 (free)
• TER St-Pierre-des-Corps - Tours 15:00 - 15:06 on weekends (on weekdays bus to Tours ?)
• TER Tours - Angers 15:59 - 16:59

There are probably other options too !

Questions welcome. I hope you have a good trip !

Wahou what a complete and amazing reply, thank you so much thibcabe for the spended time, I see clearer now!!! Thank you for the Basque country option, I hadn't thought of that.

After some calculations, it’s clear that interrail is THE option.

Let’s draw our roadtrip now!! Best regards.

Laurent

Hi thibcabe, I hope you can help me. I bought our global passes and when I try to book the Angers-Barcelone via Lyon Part-Dieu (7h11), I’m not allowed to book seats in the train from Lyon to Barcelone :

SNCF and RENFE removed the option to book directly from their website as too many people misused the tool and travelled without a pass. RENFE doesn’t allow online seat reservations for all their trains either… (for no reason) This shouldn’t be an issue for your trip as high-speed trains (AVE) and the morning ALVIA to San Sebastian (if you were to take that route) are all available. The most annoying one is the AVE International from Lyon to Barcelona.

This is what I had written above. Unfortunately the international AVE is not available online (because RENFE). Hopefully it changes very quickly.

Your option now is to get reservations on the day on the platform (10€). It might appear a bit risky but right now there are 192 seats left on Saturday 20th April (the train is basically empty). I’d check regularly on renfe.com (you have to go deep in the booking process to find the seat map). This is what I’d do.

Some people here have used that option and staff are used to issuing these reservations, they can even sell the folding seats whenever needed.

Other alternatives would be to buy a regular ticket for this train online (79€) or to take another itinerary via Montpellier/Portbou, both annoying choices… for example there is a direct very early Angers - Montpellier TGV or the fastest/expensive route via Paris.

EDIT : Don’t forget that you can obtain TGV/Intercités reservations for free at SNCF counters.

oups, sorry, information missed

Ok I’d check on the renfe website to find the reservation option or buy regular tickets.

I have friends in spain, do you think it’s easier to book seats directly in the railway station? I could ask them.

Best regards.

Laurent

I tried, I went deep in the reservation process. At the end, there is an option to choose the seats (it coasts 25€) but I’m obliged to buy regular tickets (323€ for 5 people+25€ to choose the seats). Did I do something wrong? I don’t undertand the seat reservation process . I always buy regular tickets… 

Yes they are available at Spanish stations. Your friend would then be able to mail them to you but staff might ask for some proof (send them pictures of the booking confirmation ?).

On renfe.com you search for regular tickets and then click on choose seats (5€ extra). You have access to the seat map but you can't book Interrail passholder reservations easier. It's only to show how many seats are free.

Unfortunately the process to get reservations isn't as straightforward as it should be!

IIRC you can enter the reservation's booking code in the Renfe app and, so you don't need a paper reservation. I haven't tried this myself yes but I think I read it in the Facebook group.

I believe they need your name and pass number. Some staff also want to see a QR code but for future travel days that's useless.

Hi, I went to the Angers railway station this morning but they don’t even see on their screen the train AVI9742 Lyon-Barcelona 14:32… what a mess!!

We (SCNF employee and I) tried with the self machine to book seats of an Angers-Barcelona via Paris with the interrail option (it exists within the machine) but the price is the one of a regular ticket.

I sent all the informations to my friend in Madrid. I hope it will be easier for him.

Have a nice day

SNCF and RENFE don't cooperate anymore (they're even at war) so it doesn't surprise me that they don't show each other's trains anymore...

Angers - Paris should be free but this option is not available at machines. Staff probably need to enter a special code in their booking system to get the free billets parcours d'approche. Not every member of staff is aware of that option though, maybe someone else did know ?

Paris - Barcelona should cost 35€ per person as it counts as an international journey (very expensive I agree!). Tickets are often at 180-200€…

Yes I hope your friend is able to help. The Lyon - Barcelona AVE would be the most convenient option! Let us know.

Hello,

my spanish friend was unable to book seats from Atocha station. The person at the counter didn’t find the no connection Lyon-Barcelona on april 21st… “this train doesn’t exist”, she said. But I can find on Renfe website the April 21st AVE INT 09742 from Lyon 14.32 to Barcelona 19.34, without connection. Whatever, too complicated.

We finally booked another train that will leave Angers at 11.45 with a connection in Paris. And then Paris-Barcelona without connection.

Thank you all for your kind help.

Best regards.

Laurent

RENFE can't find their own trains in their database... wtf.

Glad you found something at least!

Enjoy your trip and don't hesitate to come back. Thanks for the feedback too.

I'm afraid they fobbed your friend off because they didn't feel like helping him.