Back in March I travelled from the UK to Porto and return by train and thought I'd offer a few observations on my trip.
My route was (excluding the thrilling trip to London and back from Lewes):
London - Paris - Hendaye - Saint Sebastian (Overnight)
Saint Sebastian - Madrid - Vigo (Overnight)
Vigo - Porto (though did a little trip to Pontevedra and back during the day)
Porto - Vigo - Santiago de Compostela (Overnight)
Santiago de Compostela - Madrid - Barcelona (Overnight)
Barcelona - Montpellier - Paris (Overnight - could have got back to London but dropped in on a friend)
Paris - London
My outward Eurostar trip was totally uneventful and I was through security within 15 mins.
I was most impressed with the TGV Oceane down to Hendaye. The train was very stylish and fairly comfortable. We boarded 45 mins prior to departure too which was great. The rather polarised two tier nature of the French rail system was on display though in that while of course we sped along on the High Speed Line as soon as we were off it we were often crawling along at speeds that even Amtrak would frown at. While I know TGVs are entirely reserved it would still be quite good (as with UK trains) to know which seats are reserved and when to avoid the roulette of people chancing their luck on an unoccupied seat. And then another. And another.
The little Eusko train was great and I was soon in San Sebastian.
I'd not ridden on Renfe in years, and generally travelled in Confort class. None of my trains were indicated as having catering in the European Rail Timetable and I was relieved to find that in fact they all did. The trains were in general pretty comfortable if quite basic in decor and showing the need for a refurb. I think every single train in Spain was late, if only 15/20 mins at worst. Catering was great with both trolley and buffet.
Madrid Charmartin was awful - overcrowded, noisy, very few places to sit. I think all major Spanish stations I used were pretty horrible, and Vigo Urzaiz while being new seems to have copied the worst of Birmingham New Street with the station buried at the bottom of a shopping mall with terrible wayfinding. On my day trip out to Pontevedra passengers were all kept in a tiny area with no seating prior to boarding 5 mins before departure. It was also odd on such a short trip to apparently HAVE to reserve a specific train, which rather reduced flexibility on a short hop like this.
The trip to Porto and back was pretty basic comfort wise (somewhat disconcerted by having a rather 'spongy' floor on my return train), but the scenery is beautiful. I noted that all the stations on the Spanish side of the line seemed to be closed and wondered what was going on here?
I was also pleasantly surprised by much of the scenery from Spanish High Speed Lines too, having been expecting to spend much of the journey in tunnels or cuttings.
I used the Preferente class from Madrid Atocha to Barcelona, though only got 10 minutes in the lounge as working out the connection from Charmartin with all the construction going on took a while. After departure I was offered a literal thimbleful of Cava and my request for water was denied as it was 'one drink only'!! Happily things improved after this - with a top up of Cava and a decent if airline style meal (but in quantity far better than LNER/Avanti's stingy offerings). Was not expecting to pass through a snow storm!
I had a stressful morning at Barcelona Sants - arrived a good 30 mins before my train but this was barely enough for the long security queue there. I've no idea why this is necessary as people are barely looking at your bags. Of course at smaller stations its takes about 10 seconds but queues at major stations tended be quite long.
I took the AVE to Montpellier as the direct train to Paris was over £200 one way (!), and whiled away a pleasant few hours there (of course the left luggage was closed for some reason) before my TGV to Paris, which was busy and totally uneventful.
My return trip on Eurostar was again relatively plain sailing with a 15 min check in and the usual horrible experience at Gare du Nord with nowhere to sit and chaotic boarding with one escalator down to the platforms out of service.
All in all one of the longest and more complex trips I've done but I enjoyed it enormously - while not the quickest I considered the journey part of the holiday and enjoyed the opportunity to see a few cities en route. I'd recommend it!
My route was (excluding the thrilling trip to London and back from Lewes):
London - Paris - Hendaye - Saint Sebastian (Overnight)
Saint Sebastian - Madrid - Vigo (Overnight)
Vigo - Porto (though did a little trip to Pontevedra and back during the day)
Porto - Vigo - Santiago de Compostela (Overnight)
Santiago de Compostela - Madrid - Barcelona (Overnight)
Barcelona - Montpellier - Paris (Overnight - could have got back to London but dropped in on a friend)
Paris - London
My outward Eurostar trip was totally uneventful and I was through security within 15 mins.
I was most impressed with the TGV Oceane down to Hendaye. The train was very stylish and fairly comfortable. We boarded 45 mins prior to departure too which was great. The rather polarised two tier nature of the French rail system was on display though in that while of course we sped along on the High Speed Line as soon as we were off it we were often crawling along at speeds that even Amtrak would frown at. While I know TGVs are entirely reserved it would still be quite good (as with UK trains) to know which seats are reserved and when to avoid the roulette of people chancing their luck on an unoccupied seat. And then another. And another.
The little Eusko train was great and I was soon in San Sebastian.
I'd not ridden on Renfe in years, and generally travelled in Confort class. None of my trains were indicated as having catering in the European Rail Timetable and I was relieved to find that in fact they all did. The trains were in general pretty comfortable if quite basic in decor and showing the need for a refurb. I think every single train in Spain was late, if only 15/20 mins at worst. Catering was great with both trolley and buffet.
Madrid Charmartin was awful - overcrowded, noisy, very few places to sit. I think all major Spanish stations I used were pretty horrible, and Vigo Urzaiz while being new seems to have copied the worst of Birmingham New Street with the station buried at the bottom of a shopping mall with terrible wayfinding. On my day trip out to Pontevedra passengers were all kept in a tiny area with no seating prior to boarding 5 mins before departure. It was also odd on such a short trip to apparently HAVE to reserve a specific train, which rather reduced flexibility on a short hop like this.
The trip to Porto and back was pretty basic comfort wise (somewhat disconcerted by having a rather 'spongy' floor on my return train), but the scenery is beautiful. I noted that all the stations on the Spanish side of the line seemed to be closed and wondered what was going on here?
I was also pleasantly surprised by much of the scenery from Spanish High Speed Lines too, having been expecting to spend much of the journey in tunnels or cuttings.
I used the Preferente class from Madrid Atocha to Barcelona, though only got 10 minutes in the lounge as working out the connection from Charmartin with all the construction going on took a while. After departure I was offered a literal thimbleful of Cava and my request for water was denied as it was 'one drink only'!! Happily things improved after this - with a top up of Cava and a decent if airline style meal (but in quantity far better than LNER/Avanti's stingy offerings). Was not expecting to pass through a snow storm!
I had a stressful morning at Barcelona Sants - arrived a good 30 mins before my train but this was barely enough for the long security queue there. I've no idea why this is necessary as people are barely looking at your bags. Of course at smaller stations its takes about 10 seconds but queues at major stations tended be quite long.
I took the AVE to Montpellier as the direct train to Paris was over £200 one way (!), and whiled away a pleasant few hours there (of course the left luggage was closed for some reason) before my TGV to Paris, which was busy and totally uneventful.
My return trip on Eurostar was again relatively plain sailing with a 15 min check in and the usual horrible experience at Gare du Nord with nowhere to sit and chaotic boarding with one escalator down to the platforms out of service.
All in all one of the longest and more complex trips I've done but I enjoyed it enormously - while not the quickest I considered the journey part of the holiday and enjoyed the opportunity to see a few cities en route. I'd recommend it!
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