Rail journey - Lisbon to Vigo via Porto

Took the train the other direction, south from Vigo to Porto, then on to Lisboa at the end of my CP in 2018. It was a wonderful experience and gave me another day in Porto (which I went through in a hurry on my way to Santiago). I spent two more days wandering around Lisboa (and coulda/shoulda stayed for a week -- lots of history and lots to see). Riding the train was a great way to see the countryside from another perspective and reflect a bit on my Camino. Highly recommend it if time allows.

peregrina2000 said:

Ah the memories. As that article describes, until 2020 there was a night train from Lisbon to Madrid and vice versa. I took it once, on my way to the Salvador/Primitivo from Lisbon, I think, and it was really a fun way to travel — I splurged on a private compartment and had dinner in the dining car at a table with linen tablecloths. No doubt it cost many times more than what the discount airlines charge today!

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Agreed Laurie, the memories!
We took the night train from Hendaye/Irun to Lisbon in 2016 to start the Caminho Portuguese.
We had flown to Scotland to see family first, then took the Eurostar from London to Paris, changed from the Gare du Nord to Gare Montparnasse for the TGV to Hendaye, then walked through the station into Irun, Spain and climbed aboard the night train to Lisbon which departed about 6.30pm. We had a double bunk sleeping compartment with ensuite. The beds were very comfortable. But when they were down we had to put our luggage in the shower room! It was a good trip, arriving in Lisbon at 7.30am. Only a buffet car, with few choices on board, which required cash, wouldn’t take card, so we didn’t have much to eat!
Sad that this is no longer running.

The Portuguese and Spanish railway systems are working on getting these routes going again. Given the current emphasis on rail travel through Europe, the Portuguese particularly are very keen to be linked to routes outside the Iberian peninsula. As you can imagine, Spain sees it as lower down its own rail-budget priorities. But there is supposed to be a night-train link, one at least, by summer 2023. We'll see what happens!