The arrival of Christmas bring with you the precious Christmas markets, where you can purchase everything from spectacular decorations to artisan products to experience the most special time of the year in an unforgettable way. In Spain there are multitude of these positions which are perfect to visit before Christmas Eve, although in Europe You can also see others just as spectacular.
Almost everyone dreams of going to the christmas markets from Alsace or some big European city like Prague or Vienna, but you don’t have to travel that far: in the Occitania region, Located in the south of France, there are also cities with impressive stalls that are perfect to visit at Christmas. The best of all? That you can visit them first-hand by taking a train from Barcelona.
The train from Barcelona to Paris and the Christmas markets
The INOUI TGV train offers train trips from Barcelona to Paris in less than seven hours, and along the journey between Barcelona and the capital of France, numerous stops, many of them in the beautiful region of Occitania. From beautiful locations as Sete or Perpignan, the towns where the carriages stop are incredible, and in some of them Christmas is experienced intensely.
After passing several towns and cities, like Narbonne, After more than four hours of train travel you arrive at the city ​​of Montpellier, where every year the ‘Las Hivernales’ Christmas market. It has more than a hundred stalls where you can buy all kinds of products and taste some of the dishes and sweets of the second largest city in the Occitania region. Plus, you can always discover the wonders that hides this undervalued population in the south of France.
The third largest in the region is Nîmes. It is reached just half an hour after Montpellier on the train route, and although the numerous activities that there is in the city during Christmas are unmissable, you cannot miss making a tourist visit to the ‘French Rome’, and this city is known for the large number of enclaves that are preserved from the time of the Roman Empire.
Therefore, taking this train during the weeks before Christmas arrives is a perfect option for a getaway a bit different but full of Christmas spirit. Furthermore, you can always take advantage of get to know Barcelona before you get on the train.