The view from the train window, when traveling from Paris to Sevilla.

After a week of cat sitting in a nice Paris apartment a couple of weeks ago, I was bound for Sevilla in Spain. But I decided to spend a few days on the journey and take the train from Paris to Sevilla. instead of another boring plane trip. I felt like a nice overland trip, opposed to just another boring plane ride.

Why did I decide to take the trin from Paris to Sevilla?

The bar on the TGV train.

I fly 80 to 100 times per year. And that can sometimes be extremely boring to sit in the tin box up in the air. So I decided to take the slow and expensive way when I went from Paris to Sevilla recently, instead of having yet another flight, where I am bored. I Took the train from Paris to Sevilla with stops in Barcelona and Madrid. And that was a very nice trip, with nice trains, great views and some nice experiences along the way.

Taking the train from Paris to Barcelona first.

People from all over the world travel with the TGV train.

I first boarded the train at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris and headed for Barcelona with the TGV high speed train. Super nice experience to drive with the TGV, with very nice seats and a very classy bar, where I spend some time looking out of the panorama windows. All while sipping french wine from the bar. The journey was very smooth and the french countryside did not fail to impress. When we finished off taking s journey along the sea in southern France. All in all a very nice experience to drive with the TGV.

Then from Barcelona to Madrid with the fast train.

Cute girl serving food and drinks on the train between Barcelona and Madrid.

After spending a nice evening and having a good nights sleep in a small Barcelona hotel, I boarded the fast train from Barcelona to Madrid. Once again I was very happy with my seat. And the service onboard was very good. There was both a train bar and a girl walking around with a trolley with food and drinks. I opted for the bar even if the trolley girl was very cute and enjoyed watching northern Spain pass by. Even if it was maybe not quite as scenic as the trip through France. And with a short journey of 3 and a half hour, the trip was quickly over and I was in Madrid.

The train is fast, but very smooth.

Taking a break in Madrid.

Happy evening in Madrid.

In Madrid I visited my good danish friend Ole, who lives there and works as a camera man on TV. We went for a nice dinner and some wine with two other friends and had a lively evening, where we were also watching some football on TV. Always nice to pop by Madrid every now and then for some good food and some good wine.

Madrid is wonderful.

Then the fast train from Madrid to Sevilla.

Lively bar on the train from Madrid to Sevilla.

I walked down to the Atocha train station in Madrid. Boarded the train to Sevilla the next day, after having a nice walk in Madrid. Going through Retiro Park. For the first time on my journey I was not really happy with my seat. I had one of these seats with a person facing me. This is normally something I like as it’s very social and I often end up having a nice chat with the person across me. But this was a guy who just tried to steal all the space and his legs were almost on my seat all the time. So I headed out to the train cafe, where things were very quiet at first. But then the train stopped at Ciudad Real and a lot of Andalucian commuters boarded the train, to return home to southern Spain and in 5 minutes the train cafe was packed with people chatting away and being social. This really turned the journey in to being a potential pain in the ass, to being a very nice journey where I was drinking red wine with two young spanish mothers and their kids who were playing on the floor in the cafe. The scenery was also very nice and with a journey of less than 3 hours, it was no long trip. Train travel is not the slow thing it once was, as long as you are using the new high speed trains.

Finally in Sevilla.

Is it worth going that far by train?

In my opinion, absolutely yes. I love the movement of the train and unlike sitting on a plane, where I feel claustrophobic most of the time. The train offers me the chance to walk around. Go to the cafe/bar and socialise with fellow passengers. For someone like me, who is on the road 12 months a year. This is a very nice change to being stuck in a narrow plane seat.

Was it expensive to take the train from Paris to Sevilla?

Looking at rural Spain through the train window.

I decided to buy all my ticket just a few minutes before departure and pay full price. I did not like the idea of having a fixed schedule. But you pay extra for the luxury of not having a fixed schedule. I ended up dishing out a total of 350€ for the 3 journeys I Took, but this could have been considerably cheaper, if I had been ready to book online in advance.

Will I do it again?

Yes absolutely. To travel is to live and life is good onboard a modern high speed train.

This is the bottom of the blog post, so here is a nice bottom from Sevilla 🙂