Barcelona to Perpignan by train

How to take the rail journey from Barcelona to Perpignan

The number of daily trains from Barcelona to Perpignan has been temporarily reduced to the pandemic, but it remains a very straightforward journey.

Share

Routes

From Barcelona Sants to Perpignan

Journey Summary

Travel Time
1hr 21min (approx)
Frequency
Daily
Travel Information

Final Destination: Paris or Lyon or Marseille or Toulouse

Aim to be at Barcelona Sants a minimum of 20 mins before departure, in order to allow time to pass through the security checks.

At Barcelona Sants station these trains to France depart from the part of the station used by the Spanish high speed trains - vias (platforms/tracks) 1 - 6.
So when you're in the station follow the signs that are pointing the way to the ' Alta-Velocidad' trains.

3 x trains per day
(the usual service is 4 - 7 x trains per day)

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

When looking for tickets on Trainline tick the 'fastest journeys' box, on Oui.SNCF tick the 'direct trains' box,
Though it can be worth comparing the prices between booking agents for this journey.

Seat Reservations:

Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.

Rail Pass users:

Rail pass users will need to be pay a reservation fee prior to boarding, but these reservations cannot be booked on the ticket agent's websites.

If you want the peace of mind of reserving before arriving at a Spanish station, you will need to use the Eurail and InterRail booking services to reserve your seats - and pay the booking fee for doing so.

Though you can avoid a booking fee if you do reserve at a Spanish station.

Or if you will be travelling with a rail pass, you can avoid paying any reservation fees at all by taking a train from Barcelona to Cerbére - and then connecting there for a TER train on to Perpignan.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Trainline from €34

Trainline Guide

Oui.SNCF from €34

Oui.SNCF Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

Though a legacy of when SNCF sold international tickets under the Rail Europe branding is that OuiSNCF is available in multiple translations with the offerings on the site then tailored to international visitors to France.
However, some of the site's features, including the integration of mobility assistance into the booking path, are only available on the French language version.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF 'My Travel' phone app, so it's therefore often a good idea to book on the OuiSNCF mobile service.

Happyrail from €34

Happyrail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

Renfe from €34

Renfe Guide

Renfe is the national rail operator in Spain and it has recently simplified the range of tickets it sells for express and regional train journeys in Spain.
Which is convenient as there are big savings to be made if you book ahead online.

Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge

Newsletter

Sign up to receive the latest travel news stories and to hear about what we've been working on for you.

See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
Leaving From
Going To
ShowMeTheJourney

This is one of more than 1000 journey guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.