Lagos to Barcelona

[clappy]

Quick question, what is the best way to get from Lagos to Barcelona?
Thanks in advance!

[herrbert]

I think that would be getting to Lisbon, and taking a flight to Barcelona with Vueling Airlines, Iberia or Clickair.

For some reason, www.bahn.de gives me very confusing figures when I try to go from Lagos, to Sevilla in Spain, that should also be possible.

There is also a airport in Faro, but that is used more for flights coming from Germany, England, the Netherlands. Air Berlin has flights that go via Palma de Mallorca to Barcelona, but they will be more expensive.

[me]

there's flights from Faro to Gerona (not too far from Barcelona), but the airline isn't a favorite here. it's Ryanair.

the fare is 19 cents on an April fools day flight that i pluged in. total comes to €28.88.

[clappy]

I have a 10 day eurorail flexipass so I had wanted to go by train but I also keep getting confusing figures when I try to put that route in on the raileurope site.

[herrbert]

I think I found the problem, I have a pretty detailed map of Spain and Portugal. On it there is no traintracks between the border in Portugal to Huelva. that's I guess 40-50 kilometres, you should do by bus. and bord the train in Huelva.

That would be 13+ hours on a train (minimum, some trains take 16hrs), plus the trip to the Portugeze border, and the bustrip to Huelva. I think it is better to follow David's advise, and do the RyanAir flight. (I lands in Gerona, but that's a short piece to travel if you compare it with this.

[me]

ah, that's different. at the top you asked:

clappy said:

Quick question, what is the best way to get from Lagos to Barcelona?
Thanks in advance!

you didn't specify "by train."

it takes 20+ hours to rail from Lagos to Barcelona.
1. 17.18 Lagos to Tunes
2. 18.33 Tunes to Lisbon
3. 22.10 HOT night train Lisbon to Madrid
4. go to a different train station in Madrid to catch a 10.25 train to Barcelona.

if you caught the early bus from Lagos to Seville, per HerrBert, you could take a 7 - 8 hour train via Madrid. wouldn't need to change stations there.

Seville is certainly worth a visit!

but, that €30 flight is probably your best bet.

Edit: the reason the tracks don't meet in Huelva is that Spain & Portugal use different gauges of track - historical issues. there are only limited places where there's cross border train traffic. Lisbon to Madrid is the only one i specifically know.

- d

[clappy]

Wow! I really didnt think it would be that long by train! I will definitely be taking a flight then...how come Ryanair isnt a favorite airline?

[herrbert]

Well if you want to fly cheap, you get cheap. This true for the service on the ground, and on board and all the crap they want to sell you during the flight. But my main 'problem' with RyanAir is that they often fly on distant airport. (Beauvais instead of Paris, Bratislava instead of Vienna, Weeze (where?) instead of Düsseldorf. And a lot of these airports, have no good connection to the city mentioned by RyanAir. For Barcelona, they fly on Gerona, but sell it to you like it is Barcelona, but you still need to travel a fair bit.

A personal thing is that they sell tickets Eindhoven-Madrid very cheap, and also Madrid - Eindhoven is very cheap, So this would be a good deal for me, as I like to visit a friend in Madrid quite regular. The problem is that flight from Madrid leave too early to be able to get to the check-in on time, by Metro, this means taking a rather expensive taxi in Madrid in the early morning. (therefor I am sticking to either Iberia or LTU from Düsseldorf).

www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm
For some entertaining reviews (you can also take a look at the star-ranking, and experience for other airlines)

[clappy]

So I guess I will be using Ryanair but they didnt have any flights from faro to gerona on April 17th which is the day I was planning on traveling. I guess I will have to go either a day earlier or a day later. Faro is about a 2 hour bus ride from Lagos and Gerona is a 1.25 hr train ride from Barcelona so I guess it will be a pretty full travel day. It sure beats the 20+ hours it would take going just by train! thanks alot for your help!

[herrbert]

On the right train (6.08am) it is 3 and a half hours to Lisbon. From there you can fly to Barcelona. (it's a longer trip, but you will win back some time, as you don't have to come back from Gerona).

(check Vueling Airlines if you want, and I also believe Iberia is flying this route as well, and although being a major airline, they also have some good low prices)

[madamtrashheap]

herrbert said:

www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm
For some entertaining reviews (you can also take a look at the star-ranking, and experience for other airlines)

Great link Herrbert, nice find!