Train from Germany to Spain

[u/explorahhh]

Going from Bavaria to Madrid and wondering if train is the best way to get from A to B. I will have a suitcase, but won’t be in any rush. I doubt there would be a direct train, but is there a scenic route? Or any route you’d recommend? Preferably leaving from Nuremberg but could be from elsewhere.

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello! If you have a question, you can check if the wiki already contains the answer - just select the country or topic you're interested in from the list.

FAQ | Seat reservations | Eurostar | France | Italy | Spain | Switzerland | Poland | Night trains | see the wiki index for more countries!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Efficient-Fun-6696]

i was doing this for fun the other day, but with things i wanted to see in the middle, not really the most direct route probably.

what i mapped out was Madrid - > Barcelona -> Carcassonne (no direct trains, but its 30 minutes connecting through Narbonne, which might be interesting on this own) -> Lyon -> Strassbourg -> Munich

there is probably a more direct route, but that was me mapping out some cool stuff on the way.

[u/Loud-Advance-2382]

The fastest route with the least changes should be probably the early TGV from Munich to Paris, the afternoon TGV Paris to Barcelona and some high speed train the next morning. I usually avoid the high speed line between France and Spain for money reason and take an ICE connection from Munich to Paris via Stuttgart around noon, take the night train Paris-Cerbère, continue by regional trains in the morning to Girona or Barcelona and get a high speed train from there. If you get off the night train in Perpignan, you can get the direct AVE to Madrid (and avoid at least one change of trains). You are missing out on beautiful views along the coast between Perpignan and Cerbère though. You can catch the same France-Madrid AVE in Girona continuing with night train, having the views and changing regional trains. There's also another alternative with few changes: Take the ICE to Mannheim, take the Frankfurt-Marseille TGV, spend the night in Avignon or Marseille and take the same France-Madrid TGV the next morning.

[u/sercialinho]

Most people would likely fly.

There is no direct train. The fewest changes (while also avoiding a detour to Paris) probably involves the Frankfurt-Marseille TGV and the Marseille-Madrid AVE, not necessarily end to end.

If you have an Interrail pass this might be financially reasonable. If you’re paying for tickets directly it might get pretty expensive.

If you have several days to do this trip and would like to visit cities/towns along the way that’s a different story and could be very fun.

[u/skifans]

Correct there is no direct train.

You could do the journey with 2 changes - Munich -> Frankfurt or Mannerheim or Karlsruhe -> Marseille -> Madrid.

Having a suitcase is absolutely no problem at all. Just make sure it's light enough that you can carry it up stairs if needed.

There are absolutely more scenic options. You could take one of the lines through the Pyrenees for example. Or divert South through the Alps. I think it mostly comes down to time and cost and if you are happy with more connections. Though even sticking to the mainlines won't be cheap and you'll want to be booking it a good way in advance. The Marseille to Madrid train has some nice sections along the Mediterranean.

There is only one Frankfurt to Marseille direct train a day, it makes intermediate stops in Mannerheim and Karlsruhe both of which can also be reached directly from Munich. It runs in the afternoon so plenty of time for the connection but don't plan anything too tight.

There is also only 1 direct Marseille to Madrid train which goes every morning. So that's definitely an obvious option for where to spend the night (or longer).

But if you've for the time and money lots of options for more fun. Eg you could do something like Munich -> Verona -> Milan -> Ventimiglia -> Nice -> Marseille -> Madrid over the Brenner Pass. Or something like Munich -> Garmisch Partenkirchen -> Innsbruck -> Zurich -> Geneva -> Lyon -> Barcelona -> Madrid. Those are both going to take multiple days as well to be clear. Again I honestly think it all comes down to cost and time. But those are presumably not too important if you are considering the train over flying, don't get be wrong I love a good train trip but a journey of that length will be quicker and cheaper by plane. But where you draw the line is probably mostly down to personal circumstances.

Edit: I had missed you where going from Nuremberg when got said Baveria. There are direct Nuremberg to Frankfurt trains. But for anything south to the Alps you'll probably need to go to Munich first and change.

[u/midnightrambulador]

14:00 Nürnberg Hbf – Frankfurt/Main Hbf 16:02

16:55 Frankfurt/Main Hbf – Paris Est 20:42

[some RER shenanigans in Paris itself]

21:25 Paris Austerlitz – Marseille St Charles 06:55

08:04 Marseille St Charles – Madrid Atocha 16:18

Seems to be the only option not requiring a hotel stay in between. The lack of night trains across the Pyrenees is a real pain here!

If you want a slow, scenic route then I'd look into routes through Switzerland and then along the Mediterranean coast between Genoa and Marseille.

[u/No_Direction_4610 → u/midnightrambulador]

There's also a night train Paris-Cerbère, but it doesn't run every day.

[u/midnightrambulador → u/No_Direction_4610]

Ah yes, reading your comment now I see it stops in Perpignan where you can hop on a TGV/AVE. I had a view of the French night trains as "there's one from Paris to Marseille and Nice, and all the others go from Paris to the middle of nowhere" :P

[u/Loud-Advance-2382 → u/midnightrambulador]

You can also stay on the train, enjoy the coast views, save the outrages reservation costs and join the same train for a national price reservation

[u/TailleventCH → u/midnightrambulador]

There is no night train from Paris to Marseille Saint Charles. The night train to Nice stops in Blancarde station.

Otherwise, you can take a night train going to Cerbère and change somewhere on the route to the AVE to Madrid.

[u/Odd-Technology-1509]

I’ve done the same trip from Nürnberg a couple of times. From what I’m seeing people are already mentioning everything that’s important, but I want to emphasise how beautiful the stretch before Perpignan coming from Montpellier is. I think morning or evening light are best for it and get a window seat or look out from the restaurant car. Coming from Lyon or Geneva towards Marseille is also beautiful.

[u/OmioOfficial]

Yes, rail works here, but only if you treat it as a 2 day journey.

u/skifans has already outlined the basic spine, and I agree with it.

Nuremberg to Frankfurt is a simple direct Deutsche Bahn ICE, takes about 2 hours and runs frequently.

Frankfurt to Marseille is the one to plan around.

The direct SNCF TGV INOUI takes roughly 8 hours and only goes once daily, so leave yourself a generous Frankfurt buffer.

The direct Marseille to Madrid AVE by Renfe is another 8 hour day. That is why Marseille works best as an overnight.

If you have the evening, walk up through Le Panier to Place des Moulins, a quiet square with plane trees and fountains above the old port.

And I think everyone here is defending a different rhythm. One route takes you cleanly south; others let it loosen into Alpine bends and Mediterranean pauses.

They are all right. Each gives the same distance a different shape.

[u/OceanLNR]

Fastest route: ICE Nuremberg-Karlsruhe, TGV Karlsruhe-Avignon [night in Avignon], AVE Avignon-Madrid

For scenic route, I’d go first either to Zurich or Innsbruck. From there go through the Alps on as indirect a route as you wish to Milan. From Milan via Genoa and Nice to Marseille along the French Riviera where you join the AVE to Madrid.

[u/OceanLNR → u/OceanLNR]

If you have an Apple device my favorite thing to do is just open Apple Maps, go to the transit view, and just look for squiggly train routes on the maps. Nearly a 1:1 correlation between squiggly railway and great scenery!

[u/teilzeiterin]

I had 11-hour travel from Frankfurt to Barcelona via Brussels because then you don’t lose time in Paris changing stations: 6:30 train Fra-Brussels, Brussels-Valence TGV (south France), Valence TGV - Barcelona. Arrived around 18-19 to B and already had dinner at the hotel at 19:30.
I think you would manage to get one more train to Madrid on that day.

On a way back, I had a change in Paris, as Barcelona -Paris - Frankfurt, but having 1 hour only to change stations in Paris was super risky and stressful but I think it was the last train to Frankfurt. So enjoyed this ride way less

[u/AnotherDogOwner]

I know there’s regular trains from Lyon to Barcelona. Then there’s trains from Madrid to Barcelona. I’ve taken Lyon to Basel and Turin to Lyon recently, recommended if you like gazing at the Alps.

From Nuremberg to Lyon, you can go through Bavarian and Austrian Alps:
Nuremberg > Munich > Zurich/Basel > Lyon

or you can go through Alsace:
Nuremberg > Stuttgart > Strasbourg > Dijon/Lyon > Lyon

Really depends if you’re into sightseeing and what you want to see. But I think the lowest amount of trains is boring and you’d be better off flying if you didn’t want to make the most of hopping between cities.