The trip planner recommends a specific rail pass for your itinerary. Is there a reason you think it’s wrong? The trip planner is based on railsaver and is the best general recommendation you’ll get. You MIGHT luck out and find cheaper point to point tickets if you’re willing to search out and buy on-line, non-refundable, tickets for specific dates and times from the national rail company websites several weeks in advance. There’s a fair amount of time, effort, and just plain luck involved in finding and buying on-line specials.

A rail pass serves as your ticket for any train you choose to take in the countries it covers. Some trains require reservations in addition to a ticket. If you buy a ticket for a train that requires a reservation it costs extra because it includes the reservation. If you use a rail pass for your ticket, you have to buy a separate reservation. Most trains do not require reservations, but the express trains between major cities and overnight trains usually do, so you’re likely to take at least some trains that require reservations.

Okay that’s exactly what I was wondering and confused about (:
So the overnight train from paris to barcelona would require a reservation then but otherwise I think that the pass is definitely the best choice, thanks so much for your help!

Rail pass plus reservation will probably be cheapest for Paris/Barcelona. Overnight train would use a day of the rail pass (about $65 value) plus couchette reservation ( about $30). The cheapest point to point special fare I see is around €90 (roughly$120). Normal fare appears to be €155 ($200). I see flights at about €100, although you might find something considerably cheaper. Remember to add cost to get to/from airports (could be pricy in Barcelona as one of the “Barcelona” airports used by low fare airlines is a 90 minute bus ride from town) and any baggage fees, etc. to the cost of flight for comparison.

Be sure to choose a direct (no connections before midnight) train that leaves after 7:00 PM to avoid using 2 days of the rail pass.

You might try pricing some of the trains you’ll take in Spain at renfe.com for comparison to the cost of the rail pass.

Use http://www.skyscanne… to look for flights. There are some for $57-69 but remember the fees oldlady mentioned. Ryan Air flies into Barcelona now, but they leave from Beauvais which is way outside Paris, so decide if it works for you. There are some really good online specials for the Barcelona-Madrid train if you book really soon (as low as €47). Using your pass, you’ll pay a passholder supplement of €10 that includes reservation for the high speed AVE from Barcelona to Madrid, unless you take the overnight train which will cost more.