European train travel: fast and fun
Watch the miles roll by in supreme comfort. And don’t forget the restaurant and the bar car
Great European train stations stir my wanderlust. In Munich, about to catch a train, I stand under the station’s towering steel and glass rooftop and study the big schedule board. Every few minutes, the letters and numbers on each line change as, one by one, cities and departure times work their way to the top and then disappear. I’m surrounded by Europeans on the move—businessmen in tight neckties, giddy teenagers, families, porters pushing handcarts.
Train travel isn’t as flexible as driving, but it’s less stressful. I’d rather watch the landscape than fix my eyes on the road. On a train, I can forget about parking hassles, confusing road signs, or Italian drivers.
A train traveler’s biggest pre-trip decision is whether to get a railpass, point-to-point tickets, or a mix of both. It pays to do the math by adding up the approximate ticket costs for your itinerary. European rail fares are based primarily on distance traveled, so if you’ll be on the train for just short trips, point-topoint tickets are usually a better match.
The more miles you’ll cover on the train the more likely it is that a railpass makes sense. The Eurailpass is the most common multicountry pass, and many countries sell railpasses good for use in their country only. Most railpasses give you a certain number of train travel days to use within a longer “window” of time (for example, any ten days within a two-month period). You can sprinkle these travel days throughout your trip (ideally to cover long rides), and pay out of pocket for short trips.
Online schedule sites can help with planning. Each country’s national rail company has its own website, but the site operated by Deutsche Bahn, the German rail company, has schedules for virtually all of Europe and can be the best place to start (www.bahn.com).
Riding the rails is much the same all over Europe. Ticket windows handle your ticket and reservation needs; or you can usually buy a ticket at a travel agency to spare yourself the long lines. Be sure, when necessary, that your ticket or railpass is validated before boarding. Many express trains require an advance reservation; it’s smart to ask.
First class is cushier, generally with three seats across and fewer passengers. Second class comes with four seats across and more people. But today’s trains are so comfortable that the new second class feels as slick as the old first class—at a third to half the cost.
When you’re on the platform, look for the posted train composition charts that show the order of cars (first class, second class, and dining car) for your train. With this chart, you’ll know where to wait on the platform so that when the train stops, you’re already positioned to step right onto your car.
Nowadays, the old clackity-clackity rhythm of the rails has been replaced by the nearly silent swoosh of bullet trains. The speedy Eurostar train barrels between Paris and London in about 2.5 hours via the Chunnel.
Sleeping while rolling down the tracks can save time and money. With night trains, you can easily have dinner in Paris, sleep on the train, and have breakfast in Venice or Madrid. If a train ride is six hours or longer, it’s worth considering whether a flight or an overnight train is best. Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio.