Paris has croissants, the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, while Barcelona has tapas, the Sagrada Familia and the Mediterranean – two excellent cities, with two very different vibes. How are you supposed to pick which to visit first?
Well luckily for us all, we can do both – and on the cheap, too. SNCF Voyageurs, a subsidiary of the French National Railway Company, has released 8,000 tickets for the Barcelona-Paris route, and they’re on sale for just €39. The initiative was launched to celebrate the fact that two million passengers have travelled on the TGV INOUI high-speed line between Barcelona and Paris since it began operation two years ago.
Tickets are available now on the company’s website and will be valid for travel between January 13 and March 21 2025. But you’ll need to move fast – the sale ends at midnight tonight, Wednesday December 4.
The promotion also aims to encourage more sustainable travel, since the journey from Barcelona to Paris emits 98% less CO₂ than flying and 93% less than driving. Plus, who wants to spend hours in a car, or have the hassle of squeezing all your things into tiny carry-on bags?
And it’s not just the Barcelona-Paris route (which also stops in the Catalan cities of Girona and Figueres) that’s going for cheap: you can also travel from Barcelona to other French cities, such as Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Montpellier, and Nîmes for just €29. To purchase tickets for these cities, head to the SNCF Voyageurs website.
If you do miss out on the deal, don’t worry: you can still buy tickets on this route; it’ll just cost you a little more, with tickets starting from about €80.
Did you see Paris has become the latest city to crack down on holiday lets?
Plus: Everything you need to know about the new Spain travel rules
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.