Europe’s Train Renaissance is charging ahead at full speed!
After $10 trains were launched from Paris to Brussels, and similar low-cost rail journeys were announced between Amsterdam and Berlin, it’s time for yet another historical link to be re-established between two sisterly cities in France and Spain that have had their connection severed for decades.
Soon enough, a new train will link Pau, in the French Pyrenees, to Zaragoza, in the Spanish region of Aragon, making it easier for tourists to explore medieval wonders on both ends of the line for the first time since the 1970s!
What To Know About The New Zaragoza-Pau Train Launching Soon
The Zaragoza-Canfranc-Pau line is among Spain and France’s most-awaited railway projects, since the historic line was shut down in 1970 due to an accident on the French side.
Since then, passengers have been required to make between 2 and 3 train connections commuting between these cities, typically departing from Zaragoza-Delicias, changing to a Toulouse-bound train in Narbonne, in France, and from Toulouse, traveling to Pau.
That’s the shortest, less complicated route, and still, it involves buying 3 individual tickets for 3 different sections, with a combined price of US$55-97, and a total of 8h13 on the road––if you’re just driving, it’s a much shorter 3h30.
For many years, there have been talks of reopening it to allow passengers to transit without unnecessary transfers in larger cities, but those plans have always fallen through—until now.
If Spain’s state-owned railway infrastructure manager ADIF’s involvement in the project, and their goal to transform Zaragoza into a major ‘logistics center’ in Southwestern Europe are any indication, it won’t be long until Pau-bound trains are back on those tracks.
The revitalization of the line is part of a broader plan to improve connections between France and Spain, and it comes hot on the heels of another highly-anticipated train service launching this year between Barcelona, in Spain’s autonomous community of Catalonia, and France’s Toulouse.
So far, an official opening date has not been proposed, though the important thing to note is that there is a growing appetite for the line’s reactivation, and the European countries involved have green-lit the project.
So why visit an unheard-of Pau or even an overlooked Zaragoza when the train launches?
Zaragoza, Spain
The capital of the historic Aragon region, formerly a medieval kingdom now incorporated into modern Spain, Zaragoza is a culturally rich city best known for its well-preserved Old Town and Roman heritage. It started out as a Roman settlement over 2,000 years ago.
There are several surviving remnants of the Roman period, when it was known as Caesaraugusta, from the city walls to the theater, though Zaragoza’s greatest architectural triumph is, without question, its multi-towered riverside basilica, Basilica del Pilar.
It houses the revered image of the Virgin of the Pillar, which is the primary reason tourists go out of their way–namely, the railway line linking Madrid to Barcelona–to visit Zaragoza.
Let’s be honest, it’s probably Spain’s most beautiful Baroque edifice.
Renowned Spanish painter Francisco de Goya was also born near Zaragoza. He was involved in embellishing the monument, having painted the four Virtues that mark the cathedral’s four corners.
Pau, France
As for Pau, it is a hidden gem of France backed by the snow-capped Pyrenees, and centered around a picturesque historic district, which is in itself dominated by the monumental Château de Pau, the castle where King Henry IV of France (and then-Navarre) was born.
For that reason, it features among France’s most historically-significant châteaux, but if you don’t care about medieval history all that much, you can still admire the stunning Renaissance stronghold and its period tapestries, vast collection of art, and lush gardens.
Down in Boulevard des Pyrénées, you can stroll along an elegant, busy thoroughfare lined with shops and laid-back brasseries serving local delicacies, most notably poule au pot, a whole chicken presented in a simmering vegetable pot (reportedly Henry VI’s favorite).
Over in the Hédas district, you’ll find the signature narrow streets flanked by centuries-old houses. If you have some free time for that one museum, the Musée des Beaux-Arts is where you should be headed: from El Greco to Boudin to Rodin, all of Europe’s greatest are here.
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