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Amsterdam - Barcelona Travel
Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya and second largest city in Spain. It is a principal business and tourist hub in the Mediterranean and is located some 1,250km south-west of Amsterdam. Let's look at the options for travel between these 2 cities by air, train and bus... |
1. Amsterdam-Barcelona by Air
Amsterdam-Barcelona is a very popular and well served air route with flights between Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) and Barcelona (BCN) taking about 2h 10 minutes. Flying is by far the quickest and easiest way to travel between the 2 cities.
Dutch airline KLM (Skyteam) has 6x daily non-stop flights from Amsterdam to Barcelona using Boeing 737 aircraft. Prices start from €99 return.
 | No frills airline Vueling (which is an Iberia codeshare partner) flies AMS-BCN 4x daily using Airbus A320s. Return fares start from around €90 including the extra luggage fee. |
Transavia (a KLM no-frills subsidiary) flies up to 3x daily from Amsterdam to Barcelona with Boeing 737s - prices start from €75 return plus checked luggage fees.
Easyjet flies daily between AMS and BCN - base fares start from around €55 return if booked well in advance - but note that Easyjet also charges extra fees for luggage and for paying by credit card.
Other airlines that serve Amsterdam and Barcelona are Air France (via Paris), Swiss (via Zurich), Lufthansa (via Munich) and Alitalia (via Milan).
2. Amsterdam-Barcelona by Train
While there are no direct rail services between Amsterdam and Barcelona, it is possible to travel by train from Amsterdam to Barcelona via Paris and the French rail network.
The easiest way to make the trip is to take the Thalys high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris Nord in the early afternoon. You then transfer over to Paris Austerlitz (by metro or taxi) and take the Elipsos 'Trainhotel' sleeper service departing 2041 which arrives at Barcelona Estacio de Franca at 0824 the next morning.
Coming back the other way, the Elipsos leaves Barcelona at 2105 and arrives the next morning at Paris Austerlitz at 1055. You then transfer over to Paris Nord to take the Thalys to Amsterdam central. See here for more on Amsterdam-Paris by Thalys.
You should buy separate tickets for the Thalys and Elipsos which means more flexibility in finding the lowest fares and the possibilty of a stopover in Paris. The Elipsos is a popular service so try to book your ticket (up to 90 days) in advance.
There are a different types of tickets available on the Elipsos service -
Reclining Seat - single carriage of seats reclining to 140 degrees.
4-berth 'Tourist Class' sleeper - can be either booked by a family or group, or assigned to a single traveller who shares with those of the same gender. Look for special fares (such as "Primavera" or "PREM's") from €69 one-way; the standard fare is €152. Club Class Single or Double cabin - includes a bed and washbasin plus breakfast at the train restaurant. |
Grand Class Single or Double with en-suite shower - includes 3 course evening meal and breakfast at the train restaurant. The very cheapest Grand Class fare ("Mini a Deux" fare on the basis of 2 people sharing) is €186 per person; the next cheapest is the "DUO" fare of €229 per person.
TGV alternative - It is also possible to do the rail journey during the day. Take a morning Thalys to Paris Nord, transfer over to Paris Lyon station (RER or taxi) and then take the TGV train to Figueres Vilafant (departs 1520, arrives 2048). From there take the RENFE Altaria train (departs 2103) which arrives at Barcelona Sants station at 2245. Total journey time from Amsterdam will be 11 1/2 hours. |
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If you stay the night in Paris there is also an early morning TGV from Paris Lyon to Figueres Vilafant (departs 0720, arrives 1247) - this connects to the Altaria train leaving at 1303 which will get you to Barcelona by 1446.
Coming back the other way you can leave Barcelona at 0900 or 1300, connecting onto the Figueras TGV arriving in Paris at 1641 or 2041, respectively. The earlier option will leave you time to catch a Thalys back to Amsterdam.
You can find PREM's fares for the Paris-Barcelona trip from €68 2nd class and €84 1st class.
3. Amsterdam-Barcelona by Coach
Eurolines runs a 5x weekly overnight coach service from its Amsterdam Amstel terminal to De Sants bus station in Barcelona. The bus leaves Amsterdam at 0900 and arrives at 1115 the following day in Barcelona - total journey time being a whopping 26h 15mins. Promo returns are priced from €47 if you avoid weekend travel.
 | Book a cheap hotel (rates up to 80% off) in: Barcelona or Paris or Amsterdam |