10 November 2009. Train times valid from 13 December
2009 to June 2010.
UK to Portugal by train?
Why not? It's easy to
reach Portugal by train from London, taking a morning Eurostar from
London to Paris, an afternoon high-speed TGV from Paris to Irun on the
Spanish frontier, then the famous 'Sud Express' overnight to
Lisbon, with sleeping-cars, couchettes, restaurant & bar -
the civilised way to reach Portugal! Or you can take
Eurostar and the overnight 'trainhotel' to Madrid, spend a
day exploring the Spanish capital, then take the 'Lusitania Trainhotel' overnight to
Lisbon. This page will
tell you train times, approximate fares, and how to book.
Travel from Paris to Irun on the Spanish
frontier by high-speed TGV, leaving Paris Gare Montparnasse at
15:50
and arriving at Irun at 21:36. A café-bar is
available. At Irun, it's an
easy change across the platform to the waiting Sud
Express.
Travel from Irun to Lisbon overnight on the famous
Sud Express, leaving Irun at 22:00 and arriving Lisbon
(Oriente station, for connecting trains to Faro) at
10:54 and Lisbon (Santa Apolonia station, for Lisbon
city centre) at 11:03 next morning. A sleeping-car
(1, 2 & 3 bed compartments, recommended) and couchettes
(basic 6-bunk compartments) are available, plus a
restaurant-bar in Portugal. Does not run on 24 or
31 December.
Travel from Lisbon to Hendaye on the 'Sud Express',
leaving Lisbon (Santa Apolonia station) daily at 16:06
or Lisbon (Oriente station) at 16:14 and arriving
Hendaye at 07:10 next morning. In the northbound
direction interchange between Spanish and French trains
happens at Hendaye on the French side rather than Irun on the
Spanish side. It's an easy transfer across the
platform to the waiting TGV train to Paris.
Travel from Hendaye to Paris by
high-speed TGV, leaving Hendaye at 07:53 and arriving in Paris
Gare Montparnasse at 13:45.
Cross Paris by
métro to the Gare du Nord.
Travel from Paris to London by Eurostar,
leaving Paris Gare du
Nord at
16:13 and arriving London
St Pancras at 17:34.
On board
the TGV...
TGV Paris - Spanish
frontier
TGV 1st class
TGV 2nd class
On board the 'Sud Express'..
The Sud Express has an air-conditioned
sleeping-car
with 1- 2- and 3-berth rooms, an air-conditioned
couchette
car with 6-bunk compartments, and (for the part of the
journey within Portugal) a restaurant and bar. Book a berth in the sleeper if you can,
as a
sleeper berth is not much more expensive than a couchette,
but is a lot more comfortable. On the outward journey,
enjoy a leisurely breakfast in the restaurant car. On
the return journey, treat yourself to a waiter-served
evening meal in
the restaurant car (it isn't expensive), then grab a
bar-stool and prop the bar up for a bit before retiring to
your sleeping-car berth for the night...
The Sud Express from Irun to Lisbon. The blue vehicle
is the air-conditioned sleeping-car, the stainless
steel car nearest the camera is the bar-restaurant.
A 2-bed sleeper on the Sud Express,
convertible from bedroom to sitting room for
evening/morning use...
6-bunk couchettes on
the Sud Express - upper, middle, lower bunks each side
with sheet & blanket.
Enjoy a drink at the bar -
wine, beer and spirits are all served...
The restaurant car serves dinner & breakfast.
The 3-course evening menu costs about 19.50 euros...
These Sud Express photos
are all courtesy of David Edge.
You can book all these trains online at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
although booking the Sud Express can be a bit temperamental,
especially in the return (eastbound) direction. But
see if it works, and if you have any difficulty booking the
Sud Express part of the journey in one or both directions,
book this bit by phone. Here's how to book online:
French train
bookings open 90 days in advance, although the Sud Express
opens for bookings 60 days ahead. You can't book
until reservations open.
Make a rough
note of each specific train you want to book, and the date
you want to book it, using the train times above.
Step 1, book the Eurostar from London to Paris & back.
Add it to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 2, now book the
TGV from Paris to Irun as a one-way trip, add it to your
basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 3, now book the
overnight Sud Express from Irun to Lisbon as a one-way
trip, and add it to your basket. Note that at time
of writing,
www.raileurope.co.uk
seems to offer seats, couchettes and single-berth sleepers
on this train, but not 2 berth sleepers. This
teething problem may be resolved in due course. Add
it to your basket and click 'continue shopping'.
Step 4,
now book the eastbound Sud Express from Lisbon to Hendaye.
This may work or it may not. If it works, great, if
it doesn't, book this bit either when you get to Lisbon,
or by phone to
www.spanish-rail.co.uk
on 020 7725 7063.
One thing to
bear in mind:
www.raileurope.co.uk
can only sell the one-way fare, it cannot sell the
discounted return fare. So for a return journey
you'll pay for two one-way fares, which costs more than
the return fare shown above. You may prefer to book
both outward & return Sud Express tickets through
www.spanish-rail.co.uk
so you can benefit from the cheaper return fare, then book
your Eurostar & TGV tickets online at
www.raileurope.co.uk
so you can benefit from the cheap fares through France
available on that website.
In the UK, call
www.spanish-rail.co.uk on
020 7725 7063 (lines open 09:30-17:30 Monday-Friday),
or www.europeanrail.com
on 020 7619 1083. If you live overseas, call or
email www.europeanrail.com
on +44 20 7387 0444, they can send tickets overseas
for a small fee.
Top tip:
By all means ask the agency to book all your tickets (in
other words, the London-Paris-Irun tickets as well as the
ticket for the Sud Express), but it's worth checking the
prices for London-Paris & Paris-Irun trains online at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
as you can then see exactly what cheap fares are available
for yourself. If the agency won't sell you the same
cheap deals as you can see online (or wants to charge you
another hefty booking fee for these!), book London-Paris &
Paris-Irun online at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
and just use the agency to obtain your Sud Express tickets.
Traveller Nick Stone reports:
"...Instead of flying to Lisbon to join friends, earlier
this month for sightseeing in the city, I took the train and
what a marvellous trip it was. Bought a return £59
Eurostar ticket from London to Paris, than a Prem's 43 euros
TGV ticket from Paris Montparnasse to Irun. It would
have been 25 euros if I'd travelled on a day other than a
Friday. From Irun, it was a £72 ticket for the Sud
Express from Irun to Lisbon. I paid for a shared cabin
but ended having it to myself..!
Included in the ticket was breakfast the next morning of
orange juice, coffee and toast. The Sud Express is
highly recommended, especially the scenery the next morning
through Portugal."
You can also
reach Lisbon travelling via Madrid. This takes an
extra night, but gives you a day in the Spanish capital.
The trainhotels between Paris & Madrid and Paris & Lisbon
also offer 'gran clase' sleepers with private shower &
toilet, as well as a restaurant and bar, making this option
a good choice.
Travel overnight from Paris to
Madrid on the excellent 'trainhotel' with sleepers (some
with private toilet & shower), restaurant and bar, leaving
Paris Austerlitz at 19:47 and arriving in Madrid Chamartin
station at 09:10.
See the London to Spain page for more
details. See
www.elipsos.com for a virtual tour of the trainhotel. You can then spend
the day exploring Madrid.Left
luggage in Madrid.The Paris-Madrid
trainhotel normally runs daily, but it will not run
on Tuesday or Wednesday nights from from 8 October 2009
until March 2010, or from 14 October 2010 until March 2011.
See the London to
Spain page for an alternative on these days.
Take the equally excellent
overnight Lusitania Trenhotel from Madrid to
Lisbon, leaving Madrid Chamartin station daily at 22:25,
arriving next morning at Lisbon (Oriente) at 07:30 and
Lisbon (Santa Apolonia) at 07:41.
The Lusitania Trainhotel is identical to the Paris-Madrid
trainhotel, with sleepers, restaurant & bar.
The Lusitania Trenhotel leaves Lisbon
(Santa Apolonia) daily at 22:30 and Lisbon (Oriente) at
22:39, arriving in Madrid Chamartin station next
morning at 09:03. Sleepers, restaurant & bar
available. Spend the day in Madrid.
The Madrid to Paris trainhotel
leaves Madrid Chamartin at 19:00 arriving in Paris at 08:31
next morning. Sleepers, restaurant and bar available.
The Madrid-Paris trainhotel normally runs daily, but it will not run
on Monday or Tuesday nights from 7 October 2009 to March
2010. See
the London to Spain
page for an alternative on these days.
A
Eurostar leaves Paris Gare du
Nord at 11:13 and arrives London St Pancras at 12:29.
See the London
to Spain page for full details of the Madrid to London
journey.
£56 each way. You must occupy the whole compartment.
* Special fares: In Tourist Class the £66
fare (£81 in summer) is called 'Prems', book at least 14 days in advance, non-refundable,
non-changeable. In 1st Class
&
Gran Clase 2 people must
travel together & either the lower (Mini
à Deux) or higher
(Duo) price will be available on a given date.
Mini is non-refundable, non-changeable, limited
availability. Duo is refundable, exchangeable,
usually available.
** Child = 4-11 years old;
Youth = 12-25 years old; Senior = anyone over 60.
***
Fare includes breakfast. **** Fare includes
evening meal with wine in the restaurant & breakfast.
Children under 4 go free, as long
as the parents have sole use of a compartment.
10%-22% higher fares apply
mid-June to mid-September & at Easter (e.g.
£66 becomes £81).
'Web' &
'Estrella' fares are cheap advance-purchase fares only
available direct from www.renfe.es.
*** Fare includes
breakfast.
**** With private shower & toilet.
Fare includes evening meal in restaurant car with wine &
breakfast.
How to buy tickets online...
You can buy
tickets for all parts of this
journey online at
www.raileurope.co.uk,
in both outward and return directions. This is the
cheapest way to book as there's
no booking fee and all the cheap deals are there for you
to see.
When you've
added those tickets to your basket, click 'continue
shopping' and book from Madrid to Lisbon and back,
selecting an evening departure. You can pay for all
tickets at the end of the process, as one transaction.
Note: It's probably a teething problem with their
new system, but
www.raileurope.co.uk
currently seems to offer 4 berth and single-berth sleepers
on the Madrid-Lisbon train, but not 2-berth sleepers.
This may be resolved in due course! If you have any
problems, book by phone.
Alternatively, you can now book the Madrid-Lisbon &
Lisbon-Madrid 'Lusitania trainhotel' online at www.renfe.es.
This is the cheapest way to book this train, as cheap
'Web' & 'Estrella' fares are shown which aren't available
through
www.raileurope.co.uk,
and there are no postage fees, you simply print out your
own ticket. But before going to renfe.es,
see this step-by-step advice on using it.
How to buy tickets by phone...
In the UK,
call
Rail Europe on 0844 848 5 848 (lines open 09:00-21:00 Mondays-Fridays,
09:00-18:00 Saturdays, no longer open on Sundays, £8 phone booking
fee) or
www.spanish-rail.co.uk on
020 7224 0345 (lines open 09:30-17:30
Monday-Friday).
On board the trainhotels
from Paris to Madrid & from Madrid to Lisbon...
Follow the directions for
London to Lisbon shown above, but
get off the Sud Express at Coimbra B (when it calls there on its way to Lisbon) at 08:49.
On Mondays-Saturdays, a fast
modern tilting Alfa Pendular
leaves Coimbra B at 09:52 and arrives Porto
(Campanhã station) at 10:52. On Sundays, leave
Coimbra by by Alfa Pendular at 11:34 arriving Porto at
12:39.
Train times Porto ► London
Take the 15:47
air-conditioned Alfa Pendular tilting train from Porto (Campanhã) arriving at
Coimbra B at 16:45. Seat reservation required.
The Sud Express leaves
Coimbra B at 18:24 overnight to Hendaye on the
French frontier, with connections for Paris, see the
Lisbon
to London section above.
Fares & how to
buy tickets...
See the London to Lisbon section
for an idea of fares and how to buy tickets. If you
have any problems getting an agency to book the final
Coimbra to Porto section, either try booking online at the
Portuguese Railways website,
www.cp.pt or
simply buy this ticket at the station when you get to
Coimbra.
You can easily reach the Algarve by train from London,
either by train all the way via Lisbon (as shown below), or by
train to Seville then bus (further
below). Train service from Lisbon to the Algarve
has just been dramatically improved. The line from
Lisbon to Faro has been electrified and speeded up, and
air-conditioned InterCity trains now run direct from
Lisbon's new Oriente station, crossing the Tagus by bridge
instead of requiring passengers to take a ferry to Barreiro
station across the river from central Lisbon.
Train times London ► Faro
Travel from London to
Lisbon as shown in the
London to Lisbon section, but alighting at Lisbon Oriente station at 10:54.
Travel from Lisbon to the Algarve by modern
air-conditioned 'InterCity' train, leaving Lisbon Oriente
station at 13:20 and arriving
in Tunes at 16:48, Albufeira 16:54, and Faro at 17:21. There are a range
of trains daily between Lisbon and the Algarve, see
www.cp.pt
for the complete timetable and fares.
For Lagos, change at Tunes. A connecting train
leaves Tunes at 17:01 arriving Lagos 17:55.
Above: Modern air-conditioned
InterCity trains
link Lisbon with Faro and the Algarve several times daily.
Photos courtesy of Luisfer
Train times Faro ► London
Leave Faro by modern
air-conditioned 'InterCity' train at 09:20, calling at Albufeira at 09:44, Tunes at 09:52 and arriving Lisbon (Oriente) at
13:12.
Coming from Lagos, leave Lagos at 08:26 arriving Tunes at
09:27. Change trains, arriving Lisbon Oriente at
13:12.
The fare from Lisbon to Faro is about £16 one way, £32
return in 2nd class, £23 one-way, £46 return in 1st
class. For fares London to Lisbon, see the
Lisbon section above.
How to buy tickets...
See the Lisbon section to buy
tickets from London to Lisbon
It's also possible to travel
via Madrid and Seville, if you don't mind a bus journey
at the end. This routing may be cheaper, and just
as fast.
Take a lunchtime Eurostar to
Paris, the overnight 'trainhotel' to Madrid, then a
high-speed AVE train to Seville next morning, as shown
in the London to Seville
section on the Spain page. You arrive at
Seville at 13:30.
Travel from Seville to Faro by
bus, a 3 hour 40 minute trip. Buses run from Seville to
Faro twice daily at 07:30 & 16:15,
returning from Faro to Seville at 08:20 & 15:35.
Previously Mon-Fri only, the buses now run 7 days a
week. The bus service is run jointly by
Damas & Eva-Bus, websites
www.damas-sa.es &
www.eva-bus.com, although you may find
this unofficial British-run website more helpful in
explaining Seville-Faro timetables. The fare is about 15 euros
one-way, 30 euros return. You can book from
Seville to Faro online at
www.eva-bus.com, but not (for some reason)
journeys starting in Portugal. Another company,
www.alsa.es,
also has two daily buses Seville-Faro.
A weekly summer ferry service started in 2008, linking
southern Portugal (Portimao in the Algarve) with Funchal on
Madeira. The ferry crossing takes 24 hours, with fares
from 75 euros each way in a reclining seat. See
www.navieraarmas.com for sailing dates, times, fares and
online booking.
Portimao has a railway station on
the line to Lagos. So see the London
to Lagos train times above - the connecting train from
Tunes to Lagos mentioned in that section calls at Portimao about 15 minutes before
arriving at Lagos.
Thomas Cook European Timetable
The
Thomas Cook European timetable
has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency
& climate
information. Published since 1873, it costs £13.99.
It's essential for any serious traveller
and an inspiration for armchair travellers. Still
not convinced you need one? More information
on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains. You can
buy the latest monthly edition online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com with worldwide delivery or
buy it in person from any UK branch of Thomas Cook (ask at the
bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria or Kings
Cross stations in London.
Or
buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with
laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:
2009 edition (June to December 2009)
The Thomas Cook Rail Map of
Europe is the best and most comprehensive
map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the
west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland
in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south. High speed
&
scenic routes are highlighted. Highly recommended!
Buy online
at www.amazon.co.uk
(worldwide delivery).
See an extract from
the map.
Make
sure you take a good guidebook. I think the best ones out
there for the independent traveller are the Lonely Planets and
the Rough Guides. Both books
provide an excellent level of practical information and cultural
and historical
background. You won't regret buying one of these!
My own book, an essential handbook for train travel to Europe
based on this website called "The
Man in Seat 61", is due to be published in June 2008, and Amazon
will let you pre-order now.
It's
easy to book hotels online to go with your train tickets, just use the search box below. This links to
www.hotelscombined.com, a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites (Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms, Opodo, Venere,
Asiarooms and many
others) to find just about the widest range of hotels with the cheapest rates on the net. Set
up in 2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place
to start for booking any hotel online in any country,
worldwide.
www.laterooms.com: As its name suggests, they negotiate
discounts for hotel rooms booked within 3 months of travel,
making it ideal for anyone booking train travel within the
normal 90 days booking horizon. These discounted prices
are shown in orange.
www.venere.com
(Lisbon,
Porto, or
Algarve pages): Venere has a more personal approach than
Laterooms. The price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extras, and you simply pay the hotel when you get
there. After you've booked, you can change or cancel
your reservation in line with the hotel's own change and
cancellation policy.
www.tripadvisor.com is one of the best places to browse
independent travellers' reviews of the main hotels.
Backpacker
hostels...
www.hostelbookers.com: If you're on a tight budget,
don't forget about the backpacker hostels. Hostelbookers
offers online booking of dorm beds or ultra-cheap private
rooms in backpacker hostels in Paris and most other European
cities at rock-bottom prices.
Sponsored links...
Travel insurance & health card...
Get travel insurance..
Never go abroad without travel insurance from a
reliable insurer, with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover. It should also cover loss of
cash (up to a limit) and belongings, and cancellation. An annual
multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just 2 or 3 trips
a year (I have an annual policy myself). Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy through these
links.
I've used
Direct Line myself and on one occasion, successfully
claimed back the cost of non-refundable Eurostar & trainhotel
tickets to Spain when we cancelled the trip because my mother
fell ill.
Feedback from
using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome!
If you're a
UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free
European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or
reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in
many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with
the NHS. This replaced the old E111 forms
as from January 2006. The EHIC card is available from
www.ehic.org.uk. It doesn't remove the need for
travel insurance, though.
Get an international SIM card...
Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, but if you
buy a global SIM card for your mobile phone from a company
such as
www.Go-Sim.com you can slash the cost by up to 85%. It
cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide,
and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries. It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills
when you get home. It also allows cheap data access for laptops
& PDAs. A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't
expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some
others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone
number' for life.
If you live in the UK, get quotes from
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the
EU, see
If you live in the USA or Canada, see
