Sonar Festival
Beautiful people, beautiful weather, and sublime beats. You don’t even have to know what avant-garde means to enjoy this festival, because simply by being there you’ll be helping to redefine it…
Sonar Festival takes place between the 17th and 19th of June 2010. If you called this event cutting edge, then you’d probably be shunned for trying too hard in your display of coolness. You’ll find beautiful people, beautiful weather, and sublime beats. You don’t even have to know what avant-garde means to enjoy this festival, because simply by being there you’ll be helping to redefine it.
Getting to Barcelona is straightforward and fun and there’s a few ways to do it. We’ve featured what seem the most obvious routes; via Paris with an overnight (‘Trenhotel’) direct to Barcelona, or if you don’t fancy shelling out the supplement for a couchette then we’ve also put in an option to go during the day via Perpignan on the outward journey and Montpellier on the way back.
Tickets for Sonar are on sale here now to be sure you don’t miss out.
Getting there
The train timetables for June have now been published so these details are up to date and accurate as of today. It’s an overcast day Spring day in London – so dreams of a week of sun, fun and frollicks in Spain seems like a very good idea. Do check train details yourself nearer the time.
Taking the ‘Trenhotel’ directly from Paris means that you can travel directly to Barcelona, leaving Paris in the evening, and arriving at Barcelona the next morning fresh-faced and fancy-free. A cheeky itinerary might look a little like this. Time for a beer, maybe some brie…
In Paris, you need to take the Metro from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz. To do this you’ll need to purchase a billet for a couple of €s then hop on metro line 5, direction Place d’Italie for around 15 minutes, easy peasy. From Austerlitz jump on the 20.34 to Barcelona Estacion de Franca, tuck yourself into bed and before you know it you’ll be in Barca for breakfast and some fun times…
Alternatively, you can of course choose to make your trip to Sonar part of an extended break to France or different parts of Spain, and in this case you should buy an Inter-rail pass rather than a straight point-to-point return ticket.
The other option is to depart London St Pancras bright and early and spend the day travelling through France. A typical journey is around 13 hours with transfers in Perpignan or Montpellier. While this may seem like a long time without a bed to rest your head remember that this will probably be cheaper than the Trenhotel, and you actually get to see the lovely French countryside in the day light!
Buying tickets:
The price of the ticket will depend on whether or not there are special ‘Premfares’ available, and if the cheapest Eurostar tickets are still available. If there are, you can do the whole trip for less than £160 (£60 for the Eurostar, £49.50 each way for the Paris-Barcelona night train).
If there aren’t cheap point-to-point tickets left, then your best option is to pick a slightly different route and buy a rail-pass. The cheapest way to do it is to get a reclining seat rather than a full couchette on the night-train or use the day option that we’ve suggested here as you won’t need to reserve a bed, only a seat to accompany your InterRail pass.
* Check alternative options using the Deutshce Bahn European rail timetable.
* Buy a 5-in-10 day Global rail-pass (you need a global one to get through France). It’s £125 if you’re under 26. This lets you travel for any five days within ten from the start date.
Book your inter-rail pass
* Once you’ve bought your rail-pass, contact Rail Europe to make reservations (these are compulsory and cost around €25 per night train, or less for a seat during the day).
* Buy Eurostar tickets. Your Inter-rail pass gets you a discount on Eurostar tickets, and on tickets from any UK station to London St. Pancras.
Things to note
If you choose the Inter-rail pass option, the main factor affecting the overall price of the journey is the Eurostar ticket. It doesn’t matter where you buy your ticket, it will be the same price everywhere, but each train has a certain number of cheap tickets and once they’re gone, that’s it. The cheapest you’ll get a return to Paris for is £60 minus the discount that you’re eligible for with an Inter-rail pass.
Most night-train reservations are compulsory, but the cost differs, with the most direct trains (i.e. straight from Paris to Barcelona) having the highest fees. To save money, inquire about the possibility of forgoing a couchette, and just spending a night in a seat.
Note that for night-train journeys that begin after 7pm, you only use up one day of your inter-rail pass (as long as you haven’t already made a journey using the pass on that day.
Photos: Adriangarcia, bakameh & Sonar
