So, vacation time is coming up and you'd like to get yourself on some flight out of here to your destination of choice. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue - you'd go to Arc de Triompf like you always do, go into the RENFE section and wait for the Aeroport train. Unfortunately, the tracks for this line are being torn up to make way for a high speed rail link from Madrid and other goodies. So it's a little more complicated. I could have just looked stuff online and figured out how to get there and just told you to do that. But it's not that easy, unfortunately. So today I decided to take one for the team and actually travel to the airport to figure it out for sure. (And just following my original directions, I got on the wrong train, thus demonstrating the need to go out there.) There are two ways to get there. Both have their drawbacks. I'll start with the most obvious route (which I actually did today):
2) Take the train to the Sants station. This is a pretty big, formal train station, with big board that show the times the trains leave and everything. It has several platforms calls "Via"s. Go up to the station and use your T-Mes card to enter it. Then find which via the next train to St. Veinc leaves, except there's a catch: St. Veinc is the destination of two different lines, only one of which goes to the airport. You'll notice the TV-like monitors in front of each Via entrace in the ticket counter part of the station. Look for one that says St. Veinc and read it carefully. You should be looking for two things: something about "El Prat" and "destino aeroport" or some such. Basically, you need to be on this train to transfer to the train that will take you to the airport. 3) Go down to the platform and board the train. Both the trains I got on for this line were double-decker trains, if that helps any. (I did this on a Sunday, so on other days other routes may have double-decker trains. If you get on the wrong train, see my note below.) 4) See my general instructions below.
General instructions: Once you're on the correct St. Veinc line, you should get off at the second stop, "El Prat de Llobregat". This is a recently reconstructed station, and provided it's structed the way it was when I did this, the Aeroport trains come in on the other side of the platform you just got off on. Follow the station signage for details. On your way back to Barcelona, board the train at the airport. At El Prat, you'll have to switch platforms - follow the instructions for "Barcelona". If you want to transfer to the Metro at El Clot and take the red line back to Arc de Triompf, just stay put. Otherwise find the apropiate transfer at Sants. If you get on the wrong train, don't panic! Just catch your mistake while you're still in Barcelona. The easiest way to do this is to know what your next stop is supposed to be. Namely, after you board the St. Veinc train in Sants, the next stop should be "Bellvitage". If you instead arrive at l'Hospitalet de Llobregat or some such you got on the wrong train. If you need to know more, look at your Metro map (which has a few stations in it) or at for a general map of the commuter rail system. Anyway, good luck. – Disclaimer: Please don't kill me if you get lost and up in some far-flung suburb of Barcelona. I intend this as a set of tips to get to/fron the airport. You should look at the maps and trains yourselves before leaving to make sure you know what I'm talking about. Again, if you do get lost, don't panic!
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