Europe’s 10 coolest railway stations
These stations – some historic, others ultra contemporary – make for spectacular arrivals and departures, writes Brian Johnston.
St Pancras International, London
The pseudo-Gothic exterior of this majestic Victorian-era masterpiece looks like a mad baron’s castle in red brick, presided over by a soaring clock tower. It was once the world’s largest enclosed space. A late 20th-century overhaul has restored the original and added considerable swankiness, including Europe’s longest champagne bar, where you can enjoy your fizz and gaze over the busyness of the terminal. See: stpancras.com
Praha Hlavni, Prague
Prague’s main station is often overlooked thanks to the surrounding roads and car parks and its contemporary entrance, which takes you to an underground concourse. As a result, many travellers miss the superb art nouveau train station that stands above. Ornate ceilings, a cupola studded with statues and coats-of-arms, and lavish decoration, from naked nymphs to geometric patterns, create quite the eye candy. Make time to admire. See: prague.eu
Milano Centrale, Milan
Milan’s main train station (Italy’s second-largest) is vast and has the monumental architecture and heroic statuary to match. The facade is adorned with winged horses, nudes and lions’ heads, the interior with extravagant embellishment. Finished in 1931, its eclectic mix of styles – mainly art deco and art nouveau – had one purpose, to glorify Mussolini’s Fascist regime. Even so, you can’t help but find it beautiful. See: milanocentrale.it
Sao Bento, Porto
The exterior architecture is vaguely Paris circa 1896, but the interior of this station is ravishingly Portuguese, thanks to the 20,000 blue-and-white azulejos ceramic tiles that cover its walls, providing architectural embellishment and cool temperatures. They depict romanticised versions of important moments in Portuguese history, as well as bucolic country scenes and the development of railway transport. See: visitporto.travel
Strasbourg-Ville, Strasbourg
Europe has magnificent historical and contemporary train stations, but this French station combines the two. The 19th-century station is covered in an enormous glass roof that curves to ground level, creating an entrance hall between glass and original stone. From a distance, the structure looks like a giant raindrop or alien cocoon that has engulfed the original. Thumbs up, too, for the seamless link between trains and trams. See: otstrasbourg.fr
Madrid Atocha, Madrid
This late 19th-century train station has a glass and steel Victorian arched roof that looks as though it belongs to a greenhouse. Atocha took that thought one step further and added a turtle pond and 7000 plants to the concourse when platforms were moved in 1992. Soaring palm trees are a green counterpoint to mellow orange brickwork. There is no better space in which to wait for a train. See: esmadrid.com
Gare de Lyon, Paris
This is a train station from the age of optimism in industrial progress: vast in scale and topped by a clock tower. Statues of women enduring French wardrobe malfunctions stand as symbols of electricity and steam. The Belle Epoque decor is sumptuous, but the most eye-popping corner is Le Train Bleu restaurant, an over-the-top ode to old railway glamour with gold-and-stucco ceilings and landscape murals. See: parisinfo.com
Keleti, Budapest
In a city full of monumental architecture, this train station holds its own with a facade resembling a palace or opera house. Train buffs should note the statues of James Watt and George Stephenson flanking the clock. Keleti was Europe’s most advanced train station when it opened in 1884, during the golden age of railways and, though worn inside, still impresses with its flamboyant neo-Renaissance style and Hungarian murals. See: budapestinfo.hu
Liege-Guillemans, Liege
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, best known for his futuristic buildings in Valencia, designed this daring 2009 Belgian train station, a glass and steel counterpoint to Europe’s Victorian-era railway palaces. Dappled light cascades from skylights over white concrete in this seemingly delicate, lacy structure of 39 steel arches. With no walls, it’s barely a building and resembles a flying saucer. See: visitezliege.be
Helsinki Central, Helsinki
Squat, solid and built from reddish granite topped by green roofs, Helsinki’s main station looks like it was designed by Finnish trolls rather than by art nouveau architect Eliel Saarinen in 1919. The four giant, lantern-carrying statues that flank its entrance are national icons. The graceful interior has the elegant simplicity common to art nouveau and Scandinavian design. Even the Burger King outlet is beautiful. See: myhelsinki.fi
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