Wake up in Cerdanya, party in Barca

This is a great summer or winter option for creating a cocktail of experiences - think of yourself as a travel mixologist. Take the night train down to the Pyrenees and pick from a suite of options on your journey down to Barcelona.

Eurostar to Paris

Take a morning Eurostar from St. Pancras to Gare du Nord and head over to d'Austerlitz, which is on the banks of the Seine. You could take the Metro but why not take the bus? Number 91 runs between Gare du Nord and Gare d'Austerlitz. If you have itchy feet and are travelling light, you could even walk it. See if this video tempts you (or puts you off). It goes to Gare de Lyon which is just the other side of the Seine and you can see one station from the other.

Evening in Paris

With an evening ahead of you, why not see what you fancy doing here.

Night train to Latour de Carol - Enveitg

The station of Latour de Carol - Enveitg may seem a little oversized for two little hamlets which form part of French Cerdanya - the only bit of France that is technically on the Spanish Peninsula. From here you can get a train all the way to Barcelona, but we are going to take a little look at some of the stops on the way.

Puigcerdà

The first stop is Puigcerdà - a little town and health spa resort that is also in Cerdanya, but the Spanish bit. If you walked from Gare du Nord to Gare d'Austerlitz and that got you wanting more, you could walk along the smugglers route which connects the two places. Here's a little video about it, but going the other way.

In the winter, there are two resorts to choose from if you fancy some time in the snow.

La Molina

La Molina is probably the easiest resort to get to from the train.

If you want some adventure but haven't come prepared, you can get taken on a tour and hire what you need here.

https://www.lamolina.cat/

Ribes de Freser & Vall de Núria

Leave the train at Ribes de Freser and hop on the rack railway to get to the slopes in Vall de Núria.

https://www.valldenuria.cat/

Ripoll

Ripoll is home to Santa Maria de Ripoll, a Benedictine monastery, and founded by Wilfred the Hairy in 879 who also invented the Catalan flag using his fingers dipped in his own blood just before he died. Well we all suffer for our art.

Vic

This town is known for its sausages but it's also the location of a Cathedral with a unique set of murals. Whatever you think of them, it's hard not to get drawn in to Sert's world.

Barcelona

Wend down to Barcelona where the last few stops are in places you might wish to get off - it's worth checking the map first. If you want some ideas and practical information on Barca, check out this age here.

Heading back

You could come back the same way you came or you could take the TGV back to Paris. For more details, see here.

Practical info

Tickets and timetables

I've been using SNCF's website, https://sncf-connect.com to look for train times and book tickets, but there are many other options available. Check out seat61.com for a comprehensive guide.

For details of the trains to Latour-de-Carol and from Barcelona see here:

https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/train/timetables/Paris/Latour-de-Carol

https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/train/timetables/barcelona/paris