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Eurostar trains

Discover Europe's best destinations across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

Where does Eurostar go?

Exploring Europe by train is easier than ever before. Come with us to the heart of Europe's most exciting cities across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. Forget hanging around at baggage carousels or worrying about weight limits on luggage. This is high-speed, low stress travel.

Eurostar top routes

London to Paris trains

Taking the Eurostar from London to Paris is quick, easy and enjoyable. Journey from one world-famous capital city to another in just 2hrs 16 mins.

London to Amsterdam trains

With its canals, cobblestone quays and buzzing art scene. Amsterdam is the perfect city for a weekend of culture.

London to Brussels trains

From comic books to Dutch masters, art nouveau style to ultra-modern, delicious chocolate truffles, hearty ales, Brussels is a city of curious contrasts.

Eurostar route map

Where does Eurostar go? Discover all our routes between the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.

Trains from the UK

London to Bruges trains

Bruges is a bit like stepping back in time with its medieval streets, horse-drawn carriages and cobbled squares. Romantic and charming, perfect for a weekend break.

London to Cologne trains

Discover all the reasons why you should travel on the Eurostar London to Cologne train.

London to Lille trains

At under 1 hour 30 minutes from London, Lille is the perfect place to go for a day trip, especially as the station is just a short walk from the main square and shops.

London to Disneyland® Paris trains

For a magical break from the real world, where better than the place where magic gets real? Disneyland® Paris is sure to be a hit with all the family, adults and kids alike.

London to Rotterdam trains

With our trains direct from St Pancras International to Rotterdam Centraal, it takes just 3hrs 13 mins to speed from city centre to city centre.

London to Antwerp trains

Antwerp is an eclectic mix of high fashion and old-world charm. It’s also a world centre for the diamond trade if you’re ring shopping, or just feeling flush.

Trains from France

Paris to Amsterdam trains

Travelling with Eurostar to Amsterdam is quick, easy and affordable – you’ll journey from city centre to city centre in as little as 3hrs 20mins.

Paris to London trains

Art and culture, theatre and shopping, leafy parks and riverside strolls – the only tricky bit’s deciding where to start.

Paris to Brussels trains

Discover all the reasons why you should travel on the Eurostar Paris to Brussels train.

Paris to Antwerp trains

Discover all the reasons why you should travel on the Eurostar Paris to Antwerp train.

Paris to Schiphol trains

Travelling from Paris to Schiphol Airport is easy - you'll go from the city centre straight to the airport in 3 hours.

Lille to London trains

Head to London in style and comfort with Eurostar. Hop on the train at Lille and, in just 1 hour 22 minutes, you’ll be arriving in the heart of London.

Trains from Belgium

Brussels to Amsterdam trains

Travelling with Eurostar to Amsterdam is quick, easy and affordable – you’ll journey from city centre to city centre in as little as 1hr 52mins.

Brussels to London trains

Art and culture, theatre and shopping, leafy parks and riverside strolls – the only tricky bit’s deciding where to start…

Brussels to Paris trains

Travelling with Eurostar to Paris is quick, easy and affordable – you’ll journey from city centre to city centre in as little as 1hr 22mins.

Antwerp to Amsterdam trains

Discover all the reasons why you should travel on the Eurostar Antwerp to Amsterdam train.

Brussels to Rotterdam trains

Travelling with Eurostar to Rotterdam is quick, easy and affordable – you’ll journey from city centre to city centre in as little as 1hr 10mins.

Antwerp to Paris trains

Travelling with Eurostar to Paris is quick, easy and affordable – you’ll journey from city centre to city centre in as little as 2hrs 02mins.

Trains from the Netherlands

Amsterdam to London trains

From Buckingham Palace to the colourful district of Camden, there are so many things to explore in the British capital.

Amsterdam to Paris trains

Travelling with Eurostar to Paris is quick, easy and affordable – you’ll journey from city centre to city centre in as little as 3hrs 20mins.

Amsterdam to Brussels trains

Discover all the reasons why you should travel on the Eurostar Amsterdam to Brussels train.

Rotterdam to London trains

Travelling from Rotterdam to London has never been easier. Go from the centre of one city to the heart of your destination direct in just 3 hours 30 minutes.

Rotterdam to Paris trains

Travelling from Rotterdam to Paris has never been easier. Go from the centre of one city to the heart of your destination direct in just 2hrs 37mins.

Rotterdam to Brussels trains

Trains from germany, cologne to paris trains, cologne to brussels trains.

Discover all the reasons why you should travel on the Eurostar Cologne to Brussels train.

Düsseldorf to Paris trains

You'll travel from city centre to city centre in under 4 hours.

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10 of the best train journeys in Europe, chosen by Lonely Planet

A new book on rail travel across the continent showcases gorgeous scenery, historic routes and adventures at a slower pace

R ailways in Europe are many things. With their grand stations, history and evocative destinations, they evoke a timelessness that is absent from the uniform experience of flying. In recent decades, high-speed services have complemented classic routes, while the demand for more climate-friendly travel has grown and new options have sprung up, including a recent wave of night trains.

Lonely Planet, which for nearly 50 years has championed a down-to-earth, connected style of travel, has produced a new Guide to Train Travel in Europe aimed at unlocking adventures by rail from any starting point on the continent. Here the authors pick fantastic journeys from the book.

Paris to Berlin – fast or slow

A well-established network of high-speed trains and a huge choice of slower options connects two of Europe’s great cities. A glorious three-country tour would allow you to head from Paris to Brussels, travelling on to Cologne via the space-age architecture of Liège-Guillemins station. Cologne’s cathedral is so close to the station you can hardly miss popping in before boarding an onward ICE German fast service to the capital, which takes less than five hours. To see more than the immediate surroundings of the station buildings in each city, book separate tickets for each leg at trainline.com , or add in a stop of a few hours or an overnight booking via Deutsche Bahn ( bahn.de ). A high-speed connection from Paris via Frankfurt is also possible.

Amsterdam to Vienna on the Nightjet

One of several recent additions to Europe’s sleeper train scene, the Nightjet service operated by Austrian Railways ( oebb.at ) departs every evening at 7pm or 7.30pm from Amsterdam. As you doze off, the train will trundle alongside the Rhine, passing Cologne and Koblenz, then continuing south-east through Germany and entering Austria at Passau. A 9.19am arrival in Vienna ensures time for a lie-in and breakfast. This train can easily be combined with the Eurostar service from London or a ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam , or from Harwich to Hoek van Holland .

Loop the loop in North Wales

Some of the world’s most beautiful narrow-gauge railways can be found in Wales and two of the best can be combined in a loop that takes in the mountains and coastal scenery of Snowdonia. Catch a service from Llandudno Junction – which has main line connections – down the Conwy valley to Blaenau Ffestiniog . Change for the celebrated Ffestiniog Railway , a distinctive steam-hauled service that winds 13 miles down to the coast at Porthmadog. Return via the sublime steam service of the Welsh Highland Railway under the summit of Snowdon to Caernarfon, where you can catch a bus to Bangor and main line services.

From Bastia to Ajaccio through the Corsican interior

The Chemins de Fer de la Corse ( Corsican Railways ) is a narrow-gauge railway centred on Ponte Leccia – from where three main lines head to Ajaccio, Bastia and Calvi, all providing incredible views of beautiful and rugged terrain. The route linking Ajaccio and Bastia is the longest and most celebrated, taking three and a half hours, so is best done with an overnight stop, rather than attempted as a day trip. Corsica is well served by ferries from mainland France such as Toulon, Marseille and Nice, opening up a tempting train-and-ferry route from the UK.

Dublin to Madrid by train and ferry

It is possible to head from Dublin direct to mainland Europe. A largely single-track line skirts the Irish Sea heading south as far as Wicklow before veering inland and stopping in the appealing county town of Wexford, set on the estuary of the River Slaney. It’s a short hop along the tracks from there to the port of Rosslare for the twice-weekly ferries to Bilbao , which take about 30 hours. Then it’s a five-hour rail journey on to Madrid. Recommended stops take in Burgos’s treasured cathedral, the former Spanish capital of Valladolid and Segovia’s Roman aqueduct and Alcázar fortress.

Venice to Palermo – across the water in Italy

Heading from top to toe in Italy, this dramatic journey’s potential stopping points need no introduction. Fast Frecciarossa trains connect Venice to the gastronomic centre of Bologna in 90 minutes, with Florence 40 minutes down the line. An hour and a half further on you’re in Rome. From here the south of Italy opens up. For one of Europe’s most unusual rail experiences take a train service all the way to Sicily. At Villa San Giovanni in Calabria, you and your carriage board a dedicated ferry to Messina, in Sicily, from where the hectic fun of Palermo is a slow-rolling four and a half hours’ ride away along the coast. There are several daily intercity and night services that run from the mainland, via the ferry, through to the Sicilian capital including sleepers direct from Milan, Genoa and Pisa.

From coast to coast, via a mountain high – Oslo to Bergen

A contender for Europe’s best train trip, the Bergen Line ( Bergensbanen ) thunders past southern Norway’s mountains and lakes between Oslo and Bergen, reaching 1,222m at Finse station, where a snowball fight is generally on offer. The trip takes nearly seven hours, which passes quickly in a blur of incredible scenery on a comfortable intercity service. There’s scope to do a longer version of this route taking the Norway in a Nutshell tour, which includes the Flåm Railway – possibly the world’s most scenic branch line – and a boat journey through Nærøyfjord and Aurlandsfjord.

Paris to Barcelona on the slow train

These cities are linked by a fast train , but there’s a leisurely route south through France to the Pyrenees via Limoges, Toulouse and through magnificent rural and mountain scenery to Latour-de-Carol. While it’s possible to reach Latour-de-Carol by direct night train from Paris, you would miss the slowly unfolding views you can enjoy when doing this journey in daylight. From Latour-de-Carol a commuter line runs all the way to Barcelona and takes just over three hours. Possible stops along the way include fortified Ribes de Freser and Ripoll, home to an ancient monastery and a good starting point for hiking trails.

Budapest to Split on a sleeper

During the summer there’s a tempting night service between Hungary’s capital and the Adriatic. In recent years the train has left Budapest at midnight, getting into Split after lunch. En route it passes the Hungarian holiday playground of Lake Balaton and Zagreb, Croatia’s capital. Once on the Adriatic coast, buses head south to Dubrovnik, while ferries and catamarans radiate out to nearby islands.

Locarno to Domodossola through the Swiss Alps

Pretty much any journey in Switzerland promises jaw-dropping scenery, and on several routes trains run slowly specifically to show off the mountains, rivers and lakes that can be seen from the window. Travelling between Locarno in Switzerland to Domodossola in the Piedmont region of Italy, the Centovalli (Hundred Valleys) Railway is a short but scenic service past 52km of waterfalls, chestnut groves, church-topped villages, deep ravines and vineyards. Highlights include the Isorno Bridge near the village of Intragna and Intragna’s gorge.

These routes, plus tips on rail travel, are featured in Lonely Planet’s Guide to Train Travel in Europe by Tom Hall, Imogen Hall and Oliver Smith (£19.99), available at shop.lonelyplanet.com

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The Man in Seat 61

A beginner's guide to

Train travel in europe.

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Train travel UK & Ireland...

Train travel in europe..., train travel in asia..., train travel in africa..., train travel in america..., train travel in australasia.

Breakfast in London, dinner in Barcelona

There's no need to fly within Europe.  It's surprisingly easy, quick and comfortable to travel by train from London to almost anywhere:  Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Prague, Helsinki, wherever.  The difficult bit is finding out how to do it and where to buy tickets.  That's where Seat 61 comes in.

This website explains the best routes, train times & fares from London to major destinations all over Europe, and between major European cities.

It explains the best way to buy tickets for your specific journeys, whether you live in the UK, mainland Europe, the USA, Australia, wherever.

Train times & tickets

If your journey starts in the UK , select your destination country in the upper drop-down box to see the best routes, train times, fares & how to buy tickets.

If your journey starts in another European country , select the city where your journey starts in the lower drop-down box - if it isn't listed, select one nearest to it in the same country.

Return to this page for general information & advice about European train travel.

Planning your trip

How to buy tickets, luggage, bikes, dogs & cars, about specific trains & routes, station guides, how to check train times.

If you only remember one European train travel resource

Apart from seat 61 of course - make it int.bahn.de .  This has an excellent online timetable for the whole of Europe, probably the most useful European train travel resource on the net.  Ask it for Palermo to Helsinki or Lisbon to Moscow and you'll see what I mean.  These tips may help:

Place names

It recognises English-language place names & prompts with station or city names.

If you don't know which station to select

The safest option is to select the plain city name, often in capitals, for example PARIS or BERLIN.  The system will work out which is the relevant station for your journey.

If it only offers specific stations, try to select the main station in that city, which may be shown as main station or (in Italy) Centrale , in the Netherlands as Centraal , in Germany or Austria as Hauptbahnhof, Hbf or HB (= main station in German), Hlavni in Czech or Glowny (Gl.) in Polish.

In Brussels, Brussels South Station is the main station, also known as Brussels Midi or Brussel Zuid .  In Barcelona, select Barcelona Sants .  In Verona, select Verona Porta Nuova .  In Turin, the main terminus station is Torino Porta Nuova , but the TGV trains to/from Paris use Torino Porta Susa , which many trains leaving from Porta Nuova heading for Venice or Rome also call at.  In Venice, Venice Santa Lucia is on the Grand Canal in central Venice, Venice Mestre is on the mainland.  In Lisbon, select Lisbon Santa Apolonia .

It only holds data for the main rail operators

Plus some smaller operators, not for all trains everywhere.  Notably it does not cover:

- Some private open-access operators such as Italo in Italy.

- The Circumvesuviana Railway, Naples-Herculaneum-Pompeii-Sorrento.

- Euskotren in Spain, operating narrow gauge local trains between Hendaye, San Sebastian & Bilbao.

- FEVE in Spain, who run narrow gauge local trains along the north coastal towns.

- Spanish suburban routes including Barcelona to Latour de Carol and Barcelona to Portbou & Cerbère.

- It doesn't always hold complete or 100% accurate data for the Balkans or Greek domestic trains.

For British train times it's better to use www.nationalrail.co.uk as this will show any engineering work alterations.

Timetable changes in June & December

It usually holds data only until the next Europe-wide timetable change , which happens twice a year at midnight on the 2nd Saturday in June & December.  So don't be surprised if it shows no trains running in late December if you ask it in August, that's beyond the December timetable change.  Data for dates after the December timetable change usually starts to come online by mid-October and isn't 100% reliable until early December.  Also note that data for French, Italian & Spanish trains will only be held for the next few months, not for the whole timetable period.

This system is very good, but some railways (typically the Spanish, Hungarians, Polish & Balkan railways) can be late in supplying data, and data can be unreliable in some parts of the Balkans, for example.  If you get strange results you can try the railway operator's own website instead, for example www.renfe.com for Spain or www.ose.gr for Greece.  There's a complete list of rail websites on the useful links page .

You can adjust transfer time

By default the system allows the minimum time to change trains, whether changing into a local train that runs every 30 minutes or into a sleeper train which you can't afford to miss.  It won't suggest impossible connections, it always allows enough time to walk from one train to the other if the first train is on time, but it doesn't take into account the possibility of the first train running 20 minutes late. 

It's a good policy to allow more time for transfers, so click in the From box to open the details panel, then change Transfer time from Normal to (say) at least 40 minutes .

On a through ticket you're legally entitled to later onward travel if a delay means a missed connection ( more info on that here ), but with separate non-refundable train-specific tickets the risk is yours so you should allow more than the minimum, see more about how long to allow for connections here .

You can specify a route or add stopovers

Click Stopovers to set one or two via stations if you want to find journeys via a particular route.  By adding a duration in hours and minutes you can specify stopovers at these stations.

Fares & tickets

int.bahn.de will show train times for virtually any journey in Europe, but will only show fares and sell tickets for journeys to, from or within Germany, plus a few cross-Germany routes such as Belgium/Netherlands to Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic.  To check fares for other journeys, see the How to buy European train tickets page .

DB Navigator is a free online train timetable app for all of Europe, the app version of the German Railways all-Europe online timetable at bahn.de.  It provided a journey planner, train details, and calling points, though it needs a WiFi or mobile data connection.  To download, go to int.bahn.de/en/booking-information/db-navigator (please let me know if that link stops working).

Railplanner is a free offline train timetable app that you can download onto your phone to check train times & train calling points on the move without the need to be on WiFi or to use mobile data .  It's blisteringly quick and covers almost all the train covered by the DB Navigator app.  The whole European timetable sits on your phone, with updates automatically downloaded every month.  It's created with Eurail and Interrail passholders in mind, but is useful for anyone. Download for iPhone or Android at www.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/rail-planner-app - please let me know if the link stops working!

Station arrivals & departures

Click here & enter a station to check scheduled train departures or arrivals at almost any station across Europe.  This is an online equivalent of the printed departure posters displayed at stations.  It shows real-time information for stations in Germany if you pick today's date, but for 'real time' information in other countries, see the real-time section below .

The European Rail Timetable

The world-famous European Rail Timetable is the train traveller's bible, with route maps and up-to-date timetables for trains, buses and ferries for all European countries, plus trains in Asian Turkey and Russia including the Trans-Siberian railway, ferries to North Africa & the Mediterranean islands.

Published since 1873, it had just celebrated 140 years of publication when Thomas Cook pulled the plug on their entire publishing department, and the August 2013 edition was the last to be published by Thomas Cook.  The good news is that the dedicated ex-Thomas Cook team set up a private venture and a reborn European Rail Timetable continues to be published.  Remarkably, the timetable has now survived its parent company, as Thomas Cook collapsed in 2019.  What does it contain?

Buy online at www.europeanrailtimetable.eu for around £16.99 with shipping worldwide.

If you live in the UK you can also buy from www.amazon.co.uk , it's eligible for Amazon Prime next-day delivery.

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How to check fares & buy tickets

This section has turned into a bit of an essay .  If you just want to know how to buy tickets, skip this section, go to the How to buy tickets page , select a specific journey and I'll tell you how to book it.  If you're interested in how European train booking works (or doesn't), read on.

Reality check:  No single website sells tickets for all trains in all countries

Although you can look up train times almost anywhere in Europe using int.bahn.de , there isn't a single website that can show fares & sell tickets for every European train in every country.

So you can't go to europeanrailways.com (there's no such site) and buy a Stockholm to Alicante ticket (there's no such ticket).  It's perfectly possible to travel by train from Stockholm to Alicante, but we're talking 6 trains run by 5 different operators ticketed with at least 4 separate tickets.  Ah, I see from the look on your face that realisation is beginning to dawn...

Each country has its own national operator with its own website

Each national train operator has its own website and its own ticketing system.  Then there are various private operators, either genuinely independent such as Italo , Regiojet or Leo Express , or pseudo-independent such as TGV-Lyria created by the relevant national rail operator(s) to run specific international routes.

In fact, Europe has over 50 different rail operator websites selling train tickets for their own trains, even before considering third-party ticket resellers.  You need to use the right website for the right journey.  So which is the relevant operator for your journey?

If you go to the How to buy tickets page , select your starting city, and on the next page select your destination, you'll find my advice on how to book that specific route.

However, as a rule of thumb, if there's a named operator such as Eurostar or Regiojet you'd go to that operator's website, in this case Eurostar.com or Regiojet.com.  If it's a normal international train jointly run by the relevant national rail operators, your starting assumption should be to use the national rail operator website for the country where your journey starts, then check the one where it ends.

The pseudo-independent operators can also be booked at the owning national operator sites

Eurostar is owned by French Railways (SNCF) and others, and Eurostar tickets can also be bought at SNCF's website www.sncf-connect.com .  TGV-Lyria is owned by SNCF & SBB (Swiss Railways) and can also be booked at www.sncf-connect.com or www.sbb.ch.  The national operator sites can of course book other trains in their respective countries too, in connection with Eurostar or TGV-Lyria.  So London to Avignon by Eurostar & onwards French train can be booked as one transaction at French Railways www.sncf-connect.com , for example.  It can be useful to know that!

International trains can usually be booked at the national operator website at either end

For international journeys, your starting assumption is to book them at the national rail operator website for the country where the journey starts.  But if a train can be e-ticketed, you can also book using the destination country's national train operator website.

For example, Berlin-Prague trains are run jointly by German & Czech national railways, and can be booked at either German Railways int.bahn.de or Czech Railways www.cd.cz with print-your-own tickets.

Now it gets interesting, as this is one of the routes where each partner operator manages advance-purchase price levels independently.  So the price at bahn.de might be €39 (with cheaper €19 & €29 tickets sold out), whilst €19 tickets remain available for the same train at cd.cz.  It pays to check both!

In fact, even the fixed-price full-flex fare can differ between partner operators.  As I write this, Austrian Railways (ÖBB) charge €64 for a full-flex on-the-day ticket from Vienna to Prague, but even if you were in the ÖBB ticket office at Vienna Hbf, it'd be cheaper to whip out your phone and buy exactly the same ticket for the same trains from Czech Railways for €42.

But a word of warning:  Check ticket delivery carefully if buying from the operator at the destination end.  For example, Austrian Railways oebb.at issues print-your-own tickets for Vienna-Venice trains so can be used for either direction.  Trenitalia.com can also book these Vienna-Venice trains, but you must collect a hard-copy ticket from a Trenitalia ticket machine or ticket office in Italy - not much help if you're starting in Vienna!

There are exceptions to this rule, of course.  The Paris-Milan Frecciarossas enter France on an open-access commercial basis, so can only be booked at Trenitalia.com, not SNCF-connect.com.  Whilst the competing Paris-Milan TGVs enter Italy on an open-access commercial basis and can only be booked at SNCF-connect.com, not Trenitalia.com.

Some trains aren't bookable online at all

Another reality check:  Slovenian, Croatian, Bulgarian & Turkish railways don't sell international tickets online, for example.  Trains between Slovenia or Croatia & Germany can be booked online in either direction at German Railways int.bahn.de .  Trains between Slovenia or Croatia & Austria can be booked online in either direction at Austrian Railways www.oebb.at .  But the only way to buy tickets from Ljubljana to Zagreb or Zagreb to Belgrade or Sofia to Istanbul, is at the station.

Longer journeys often need to be broken down into stages

Many international journeys involve a change of train, often this means a change of operator.  Operator websites may not be able to sell tickets for such journeys.  Nice to Milan can't be booked at the French Railways website www.sncf-connect.com , because SNCF can't access prices or tickets for the Trenitalia train between Ventimiglia & Milan (Ventimiglia is the border station where you change trains).  And the Trenitalia website can't book you from Nice to Milan either, because it can't access prices or tickets for the SNCF train between Nice & Ventimiglia.  You need to book Nice-Ventimiglia at www.sncf-connect.com and Ventimiglia-Milan at Trenitalia.com .  Two tickets, two bookings, on two different websites, such is the reality of Europe's rail network in the 21st century.  But there are two specialist retailer sites that resolve this.

Introducing www.raileurope.com & www.thetrainline.com

Two ticket retailer websites deserve a special mention, www.raileurope.com & www.thetrainline.com .  These connect to multiple operators, allowing tickets for trains across much of western Europe to be booked in one place.

They have their own journey planning logic, so (for example) they can work out a suitable journey from Nice to Milan using an SNCF train from Nice to Ventimiglia and a Trenitalia train from Ventimiglia to Milan, they then source the Nice-Ventimiglia ticket from SNCF and the Ventimiglia-Milan ticket from Trenitalia, and add them together to provide you with a Nice-Milan journey as one seamless transaction.

I often recommend www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com as they allow you to book tickets together in one place for journeys that would otherwise require multiple bookings on different websites.  They are designed for international users, so happily accept overseas payment cards (some national train operator sites struggle) and are written in plain English (some national rail operator sites slip back into local language or use poor English translations).  The downside is that they charge a small booking fee, but it's often worth paying that.

Raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com currently connect to the following national railways: Great Britain (National Rail), France (SNCF), Spain (Renfe), Italy (Trenitalia), Germany (Deutsche Bahn), Austria (ÖBB).  They also both connect to private operator Italo .  www.thetrainline.com also connects to Swiss Railways (SBB), the Benelux ticketing system (SNCB, NS & CFL) and private operators Regiojet & Westbahn .

Raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com come as close as you'll get to a pan-European train booking site, but even they don't yet connect to the Portuguese, Czech, Slovakian, Slovenian, Croatian, Hungarian, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Bulgarian, Turkish, Greek, Romanian, or Polish Railways ticketing systems.  So for a €15 Lisbon-Porto ticket you still need to go to Portuguese Railways www.cp.pt and the only place you'll find a €21 Prague-Budapest ticket is Czech Railways www.cd.cz.  You get the picture?

More about who Thetrainline are .  More about who Raileurope are .

Incidentally, you might also come across Omio.com .  Omio has similar connectivity, but at the time I write this it doesn't have any journey planning logic.  So although it can sell you a Nice-Ventimiglia ticket using its connection to SNCF if you ask it for Nice to Ventimiglia, and it can sell a Ventimiglia-Milan ticket using its connection to Trenitalia if you ask it for Ventimiglia to Milan, if you ask it for Nice to Milan it will say there are no trains (and will suggest a flight) because it lacks the capability to plan the journey itself and combine multiple tickets.  It also says there are no trains for journeys where it lacks the necessary connectivity.  For example, Omio says there are no trains from Budapest to Zagreb and suggests a bus, but you can easily buy a train ticket from €19 from Hungarian Railways at www.mavcsoport.hu .  So it's important to understand a site's limitations.  Omio does have some extra connectivity, for example it connects to Swedish Railways sj.se so can be useful to book Swedish trains if sj.se rejects your credit card, and to Portuguese Railways cp.pt which no other site does.

So which website should you use to buy tickets?

Don't worry!  On seat61.com I'll tell you the right website(s) to use for any given European journey (well, almost).  Go to the How to buy European tickets page and select your starting city.  On the next page, select your destination city.  I'll then explain the different ways you can make that specific journey and which website(s) to use to buy tickets.

To check fares & buy tickets in one country

You can check fares & (usually) buy tickets for domestic journeys at each country's national rail website, see the links page for a complete list .

To check fares & buy tickets for international journeys

The national rail websites listed above sometimes sell international tickets to neighbouring countries as well, but often only in a limited way, for example tickets for direct trains.  However, you'll find detailed advice on how to book specific international journeys on the How to buy European tickets page .  Here are some general rules of thumb.

Rule-of-thumb 1, try www.raileurope.com & www.thetrainline.com .

These connect to the British, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Austrian, Benelux systems and can easily book journeys including multi-operator journeys to, from and within those countries.

Be aware of their limitations:  You still need to use other sites for journeys not covered, for example they don't connect to the Portuguese, Norwegian, Finnish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Czech or Hungarian ticketing systems.  They also charge a small booking fee, you can avoid paying any fee by buying direct from train operator websites, using the following rules of thumb.

Rule-of-thumb 2 , if you know that the train you want is run by a specific operator, go to that operator's website:

- www.eurostar.com for Eurostar trains between London & Paris, London & Brussels or anywhere in Belgium.

- www.tgv-lyria.com or www.sncf-connect.com for TGV-Lyria high-speed trains between Paris & Switzerland.

- www.regiojet.com for Regiojet trains between Vienna & Prague or Prague & Bratislava.

Rule-of-thumb 3 , otherwise, simply go to the national train website for the country where your journey starts.  Although there are many exceptions to this rule, as you can see below:

- For journeys starting in London : 

   www.eurostar.com for Eurostar to Lille, Paris, Brussels or anywhere in Belgium.

   www.nsinternational.nl or www.b-europe.com for journeys to Rotterdam, Amsterdam or anywhere in Belgium or the Netherlands.

   www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com for journeys to anywhere in France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Milan, Turin, Germany. 

- For journeys starting in Paris & France :

   The French Railways site www.sncf-connect.com sells many journeys from Paris & French cities to neighbouring countries.

   For journeys from Paris to Germany, it's better to use German Railways int.bahn.de .

   For journeys from Paris & France to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria it's better to use www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com .

- For journeys starting in Brussels, Bruges or Belgium :

   The Belgian Railways international site www.b-europe.com will handle journeys to neighbouring countries.

   For journeys from Belgium to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Rep. it's better to use German Railways int.bahn.de .

   For the Nightjet sleeper from Brussels to Vienna it's better to use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at or www.thetrainline.com .

- For journeys starting in Amsterdam & the Netherlands:

   The Dutch Railways international site www.nsinternational.nl will handle journeys to neighbouring countries.

   For journeys to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Czech Rep., Sweden it's better to use German Railways int.bahn.de .

   For the Nightjet sleeper train from Amsterdam to Munich, Innsbruck & Vienna use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at or www.thetrainline.com .

- For journeys starting in Switzerland :

   The Swiss Railways site www.sbb.ch can book journeys to neighbouring countries, for example Paris.

   For journeys to Paris you can also use French Railways www.sncf-connect.com , it's worth checking prices there too.

   For journeys to Italy, it's better to use Italian Railways www.trenitalia.com as SBB can't sell Trenitalia's cheap fares beyond Milan.

   For journeys to Germany, Benelux & Denmark it's better to use German Railways int.bahn.de .

   For journeys to Austria you'll often find cheaper prices at the Austrian Railways site www.oebb.at .

   For the sleeper train from Zurich to Prague sleeper, book using Czech Railways www.cd.cz as Sbb.ch can't sell it.

   For the sleeper trains from Zurich to Vienna, Budapest, Hamburg & Berlin use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at or www.thetrainline.com .

- For journeys starting in Italy :

   The Italian Railways site www.trenitalia.com can book many international trains from Italy, but not the French-run trains Milan-Turin-Paris.

   For journeys from Milan or Turin to Paris, use French Railways www.sncf-connect.com .  Add connecting tickets from other cities at www.trenitalia.com .

   It's better to use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at for Venice-Vienna day & sleeper trains, Rome-Florence-Vienna/Munich sleeper trains.

- For journeys starting in Germany : 

   German Railways int.bahn.de sells through tickets to most neighbouring countries. 

   For travel to Austria, it's often cheaper to use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at , so check this too.

   For travel to Prague, it's often cheaper to use Czech Railways www.cd.cz , so check this too.

   For Nightjet sleeper trains within Germany & to Switzerland & Austria, it's better to use Austrian Railways www.oebb.at .

- For journeys starting in Austria:

    Austrian Railways www.oebb.at can book journeys to most neighbouring countries.

   For travel to Germany, also check German Railways int.bahn.de as they can occasionally be cheaper for the same train.

   For travel to Prague, check prices at Czech Railways www.cd.cz too as they can be cheaper than ÖBB for the same train.

- For journeys starting in Prague :

    Czech Railways www.cd.cz can book journeys to most neighbouring countries.

  For journeys between Prague & Brussels, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm also try German Railways int.bahn.de .

- For journeys starting in Budapest :

   Hungarian Railways www.mavcsoport.hu can book journeys to most neighbouring countries.

   For journeys to Germany, you can also check prices at German Railways int.bahn.de , but the Hungarians are usually cheaper.

   For journeys to Austria, you can also check prices at Austrian Railways www.oebb.at , but the Hungarians are usually cheaper.

   The sleeper trains from Budapest to Zurich & Munich can also be booked at www.oebb.at .

- For journeys starting in Slovenia or Croatia

  Zagreb or Ljubljana to Germany can be booked at German Railways int.bahn.de .

  Zagreb or Ljubljana to Austria can be booked at Austrian Railways www.oebb.at .

  Other international journeys (e.g. to Belgrade or Budapest) cannot be booked online, you have to go to the station.

- For journeys starting in Poland :

   Polish Railways haven't yet enabled online booking for international trains, except for than Berlin-Warsaw.

   You can book from Warsaw or Krakow to German cities at German Railways int.bahn.de and print out your ticket.

   The sleeper train from Warsaw & Krakow to Vienna can be booked at Austrian Railways www.oebb.at as you can print your own ticket.

   All other international tickets starting in Poland can be arranged through reliable ticketing agency www.polrail.com .

- For journeys starting in Copenhagen :

   Danish Railways www.dsb.dk can't sell international tickets.

   German Railways int.bahn.de can sell tickets from Copenhagen to Germany, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Switzerland.

- For journeys starting in Stockholm & Sweden :

   Omio.com (formerly GoEuro) or www.sj.se can sell tickets to Oslo or Copenhagen or within Sweden. 

   German Railways int.bahn.de can sell tickets from Stockholm, Gothenburg & Malmo to anywhere in Germany.

   German Railways int.bahn.de can also sell tickets from Stockholm, Gothenburg & Malmo to Amsterdam, Brussels, Switzerland & Prague.

Rule-of-thumb 4 , break the journey down

I have lost count of the times I've advised travellers to split the booking and book each section of the journey, or if necessary, each individual train, at the relevant operator's website.

For example, int.bahn.de comes up with silly-money €246 prices if you ask it for Paris to Vienna, a journey which passes through Frankfurt, but it will happily sell you a Paris-Frankfurt ticket from €39 and a Frankfurt to Vienna ticket from €29 if you break the journey down.

Similarly, Prague to Venice can't be booked online anywhere, but the Czech Railways site www.cd.cz/eshop will happily sell you a Prague to Vienna ticket from €14 and Austrian Railways www.oebb.at will book the Vienna-Venice sleeper from €59 with couchette.

There are endless examples of this all over Europe, some creative thinking is often required!

Rule-of-thumb 5 , some trains cannot be booked online

Remember that some trains simply cannot be booked online so will need to be booked by phone or at the station.  For example Zagreb to Belgrade, Belgrade to Montenegro, or Sofia to Istanbul.

I'll say it again, for advice on which website to use for which specific European train journey, see the How to buy European train tickets page .

It matters whom you call!  Some agencies are better for some journeys than others because of the ticketing systems they use.

You'll find a list of agencies with advice on who to call on the How to buy train tickets by phone page .

Maps of the European rail network

Free online rail maps.

This free online rail map of Europe is a good basic overview of the extent of the European railway network. 

It's intended for people using a Eurail or Interrail pass so leaves out many routes in non-Interrail/Eurail countries such as Russia & Ukraine, and leaves out many smaller lines even in countries covered by these passes.

For more detail, try the zoom-able online map of European (and indeed, world) railways at www.openrailwaymap.org .

You can also try the Swiss Railways all-Europe online map at maps.trafimage.ch .  Zoom in for more detail.

For the best (and official) map of the British rail network , click here .

For an online map of the French rail network click here .

For an online interactive map of the German rail network click here .

For the best (and official) map of the Swiss rail network , click here .

But for a decent map of all European train routes, you really need to buy one of the printed rail maps listed below.

Rail Map Europe:  Buy here

Travellers' railway map:  buy here, rail atlas of europe by ian allan:  buy here.

Ian Allan Publishing do an excellent hardback rail atlas of Europe for around £21, available through Amazon.co.uk .  You can also buy it in the USA at Amazon.com .

Rail Atlas of Europe by M Ball:  Buy here

There's another highly-detailed European Railway atlas covering the whole of Europe, europeanrailwayatlas.com , price £24.95 in 122-page paperback book form covering 23,000 locations with free PDF version for your computer, tablet or phone.

Real-time train running information

Are the trains running on time?  Delays, incidents, strikes or disruptions?

London to Paris or Brussels by Eurostar

Changing trains in paris.

Train journeys from the UK into Europe often involve a change of train and station in Paris.  Eurostar arrives at the Gare du Nord , which is an easy 7 minute 500m walk from the Gare de l'Est but a metro or taxi ride from the other Paris stations including the Gare de Lyon .

See the Changing trains & stations in Paris page for advice on metro, RER and taxi travel, and an easy route guide.

The Paris metro website is www.ratp.fr .

If you want to spend some time in Paris, by all means take an earlier Eurostar on the outward journey or a later one on your return.  There are left luggage lockers at several Paris rail stations if you need to leave your luggage somewhere.

You can avoid the hassle of crossing Paris when travelling to many French destinations, by changing at Lille , see the London to France page .

Changing trains in Brussels

The ferry alternatives, london to paris by train & ferry.

London to Paris 'sleeper' option via Portsmouth-Caen:   There's an overnight train-ferry-train option where you can leave London Waterloo around 18:30, sleep in a comfortable cabin with en suite shower & toilet 22:45-06:45 on Brittany Ferries' overnight sailing from Portsmouth to Caen, then take a train from Caen to Paris St Lazare arriving around 11:05.  This is not a bad option if you need an alternative to Eurostar.  Times, fares & info for travelling from London & Portsmouth to Paris by overnight train & ferry are shown here .

London to Amsterdam by train & ferry

Uk to spain by ferry, other useful ferry routes.

DFDS Seaways ( www.dfds.com ) sail overnight from Newcastle to IJmuiden near Amsterdam, see the Newcastle-Amsterdam page .

Should you go 1st or 2nd class?

2nd class is absolutely fine for most travellers.  There's no need to pay for a 1st class ticket to travel in comfort these days, especially on the fast modern air-conditioned express trains.  So if you're on a budget, don't bother with 1st class unless you are offered prices that make it silly not to upgrade.

For most of us, 2nd class is the norm unless the Company is paying.  If you're visiting Europe from overseas, rest assured that there are very few peasants and chickens in 2nd class these days.

What more do you get in 1st class? 

First class gets you wider seats, plusher seats, more leg and elbow room, and fewer passengers per coach.  In most cases, assume that is all.  Luggage room is the same, perhaps with fewer passengers per coach using it, but this is not a sensible reason for paying a 1st class fare as there's always room for luggage in any class.

On a few premier trains including Eurostar , Spanish AVE trains & Lyria , some 1st class fares include an at-seat service of food & drink, but these are the exceptions.  Unless you're told otherwise, you should assume that a 1st class ticket simply gets you a nicer seat with more leg and elbow room, surrounded by more business travellers with laptops and fewer families with kids.  On German ICEs and Austrian railjets , food & drink is not included but in 1st class a steward will take orders and serve you at your seat, in 2nd class you have to go to the bistro or restaurant car.

Tables for two & solo seats:   First class cars generally have seats arranged 2+1 across the width of the car (two seats abreast, then the aisle, then one solo seat), hence the wider seats with more elbow room compared to 2+2 seating in 2nd class.  So in a typical first class car you'll find face-to-face tables for two and solo seats as well as tables for four - if you're a couple, facing each other across an intimate table for two, both of you getting a seat that's both window and aisle, is a key advantage of going 1st class.  As is booking a solo seat if you're travelling alone, a seat that's both aisle and window, where you aren't sitting next to anyone else.

Train seat numbering plans :  Click here for train seating plans

1st class can be an affordable treat

Don't decide until you see the price!  Most train operators have airline-style variable pricing, you might find 2nd class costs €40 and 1st class only €45 because of the way the price quotas have worked in each class.  In which case you'd be crazy not to pay an extra €5 to upgrade!

On sleeper trains, class is irrelevant

On sleeper trains, whether you have a 1st or 2nd class ticket is almost irrelevant, as your comfort depends on the type of sleeping accommodation you pay for:  Seat, couchette, or sleeper.  A 2nd class couchette is more comfortable (and more secure) than a 1st class seat.  A 2nd class sleeper is more comfortable than a 1st class couchette (where such things exist).  In fact, on most routes only a 2nd class ticket is now needed for a 2-bed sleeper.  On nightjet sleeper trains , for example, all accommodation is now classified as 2nd class, even deluxe sleepers with shower.  The options for travelling on overnight trains are explained here .

Should you make a seat reservation ?

Local, suburban & regional trains in most countries don't have seat reservations.  You just get on and sit where you like, like the London Underground or New York Subway.

Long-distance trains in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden & Poland are usually all-reserved and every ticket comes with a seat reservation automatically included, free of charge.  The same goes for international trains to, from or between these countries including Eurostar , TGV-Lyria , Paris-Barcelona TGVs , Paris-Milan TGVs , Paris-Milan Frecciarossas and Paris-Germany TGV/ICE trains .  Such trains often don't have any displays showing which seats are reserved and which free because it's assumed that all passengers have a reserved seat.

Long-distance trains in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark & much of central Europe are usually reservation optional .  You can travel without a reservation (the risk is you may have to stand at busy times) or you can pay a small fee to reserve a seat.  If you don't have a reservation you can sit in any empty unreserved seat - an electronic display above each seat (or on older trains, a little printed slip in a slot) show which seats are reserved.

Making a short journey mid-week in February as a solo traveller I might not bother making a reservation, especially if I'm joining at the station where the train starts so will have my pick of the seats.  But if you're making a long journey or travelling on a busy Friday or Sunday afternoon or travelling with your family or in a small group, I strongly recommend making a reservation to be sure of a seat.  You are usually offered the option of adding a seat reservation when buying a ticket online, if you fail to add one you can sometimes make a separate seat reservation only booking later, the German, Austrian & Czech railway websites can do that, but not all websites.

Forward-facing seats

I know from experience that American visitors in particular (if you'll forgive me for saying so) are obsessed with facing forwards.  Europeans less so, as we are used to trains with half the seats facing one way, half the other, and we know that it's no big deal as trains run smoothly on rails - think cruise liner restaurant, where half the diners are going backwards at 18 knots without noticing!

On most European trains you cannot specify which way your seat faces.  The reservation system knows the carriage seat layout, but it cannot predict which way round the train will enter service that day.  Indeed, on some routes the train reverses en route, for example on a journey from Rome to Venice, seats which are backward-facing from Rome to Florence will be forward-facing from Florence to Venice as the train changes direction at Florence SMN which is a terminus.  Similarly, trains from Zurich to Innsbruck, Salzburg & Vienna change direction at Buchs, before the Austrian border.

There are a few cases where a forward-facing seat can be requested.  Some operators including Eurostar keep their trains a particular way round, for example on Eurostar car 1 is always at the London end, car 16 at the Paris end.  You can often select your seat from a seat map when you book such trains direct with the relevant operator, the direction of travel is often indicated on the plan so you can see which seats face which way.  On a few TGV routes in France a clever dual numbering system allows the correct set of numbers to illuminate depending which way round the train is, which in turn allows the reservation system to offer a choice of forward-facing seat if you book at www.sncf-connect.com or www.thetrainline.com .  In the UK, we have traditionally had a much simpler low-tech system.  Two seats facing each other have the same number, say 15, the one facing is 15F and the one going backwards is 15B.

Remember that on trains where reservation is optional (domestic trains in Benelux countries, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, and much of Eastern Europe) you can sit where you like, and if you find your reserved seats not to your liking just sit elsewhere.  However, in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, all long-distance trains are all-reserved so you usually have to stick with your reserved seats.

My favourite arrangement in first class on most European trains is a face-to-face table for two.  Both of you get a window seat, and both an aisle seat, and one seat is always facing forwards.  My wife usually gets that!  It also means you get the full length of a window to look out of, not half a window.

Which side of the train?

On some routes the best scenery is on a particular side of the train, for example the left hand side going south along the Rhine Valley from Cologne to Mainz, or the right hand side from Switzerland into Austria through the Arlberg Pass.  I try and mention which side to sit on the relevant pages of this site, if it matters.

However, many reservation systems won't let you choose which side of the train to sit as the train or carriage could enter service either way round.  Only in some cases is direction of travel shown.  On trains where reservation is optional (domestic trains in Benelux countries, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, much of central Europe) you can sit where you like so can move if your reserved seat is on the 'wrong' side.

First class lounges at stations

There are first class lounges at some major stations, usually with complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks or even beer and wine, plus WiFi and charging points.  Sometimes the lounge is for anyone with a first class ticket (which may or may not include first class Eurail or Interrail passes), in other cases the lounges are only for holders of the most expensive premium-fare first class tickets or who have that train operator's frequent traveller loyalty card. Here's a quick guide:

Eurostar business lounges at London St Pancras, Paris Nord & Brussels Midi

Eurostar has a business lounge opening off the departures hall after security at London St Pancras , Paris Nord & Brussels Midi with complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks, wine & spirits, beer and snacks.  The lounge has toilets, free WiFi and charging points.  The London and Paris lounges also have a free cocktail bar, open afternoon until evening.

The business lounges are open to holders of Business Premier tickets or holders of Eurostar's top-tier Carte Blanche loyalty card.  They are not open to holders of Standard Premier tickets or railpass holders. 

Paris & France

Anyone with any 1st class ticket for TGV-Lyria trains from Paris to Switzerland can use the SNCF Salon Grand Voyageur at Paris Gare de Lyon in Hall 3 with free WiFi, hot drinks and water.

Apart from this, the Salon Grand Voyageur is only open to travellers with SNCF loyalty cards or the most expensive full-price 1st class Pro tickets.  You can use it with any 1st class ticket if you have a Eurostar Carte Blanche loyalty card.

All the other major Paris termini and many big city stations across France have an SNCF Grand Voyageur lounge with free WiFi, hot drinks and water, but these are only for passengers with SNCF loyalty cards or the most expensive full-price 1st class Pro tickets.  You can use them with any 1st class ticket if you have a Eurostar Carte Blanche loyalty card.

Brussels & Belgium

Eurostar (formerly Thalys) has its own lounge at Brussels Midi, only for Eurostar (formerly Thalys) passengers who have the most expensive Premium class tickets.  Not open to holders of Comfort class (= regular 1st class) tickets or to railpass holders.

Apart from this there is no first class lounge at Brussels Midi , but I consider the bar at the Pullman Hotel to be the best VIP waiting room for the price of a beer.

Amsterdam & the Netherlands

There is an NS International Lounge at Amsterdam Centraal at the western end of platform 2 and there are similar lounges at Schiphol & Rotterdam Centraal .  You can use these lounges with any type of 1st class international ticket including 1st class Eurail & Interrail passes.

Follow the signs for NS International Lounge, check www.nsinternational.nl for opening times.  Tea, coffee, soft drinks and snacks available. 

Switzerland

Unfortunately, SBB closed their first class lounges at Zurich & Geneva at the end of 2016, citing lack of use.

Trenitalia has Freccialounges at major city stations.  These are only for holders of the most expensive Executive class tickets or who have Trenitalia's own frequent-traveller loyalty card.

Competitor Italo also has lounges at major city stations, branded Club Italo.   These are only for holders of the most expensive Club class tickets or who have Italo's own frequent-traveller loyalty card.

There is a Renfe Sala Club lounge at Madrid Atocha , Madrid Chamartin , Barcelona Sants , Malaga Maria Zambrano, Seville Santa Justa, Cordoba, Valencia, Alicante, Girona, Zaragoza Delicias, Valladolid and several other stations. 

The Sala Club is open to anyone who has paid the Premium fare, or who has a 1st class ticket for an international AVE (but not TGV ) to France.  Typically open from 06:00 to 22:00 every day.  You can use them from 2 hours before your train leaves until departure.

Tea, coffee, soft drinks, beer and snacks available.  For details search www.renfe.com .

There are DB Lounges at major stations, but only for holders of the most expensive DB Flexpreis tickets.  You cannot use the lounges if you have a 1st class Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis ticket or Eurail or Interrail pass.

They don't admit holders of tickets for regional trains or trains operated without DB involvement such as Eurostar (formerly Thalys) , Nightjet , European Sleeper or the Munich-Prague trains .

However, if you have a Eurostar Carte Blanche loyalty card you can use a DB Lounge with any ticket.

There are lounges at Berlin Hbf , Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main Hbf , Frankfurt Flughafen , Hamburg Hbf , Hanover, Cologne Hbf , Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich Hbf , Nuremberg, Stuttgart.  Typically open 07:00-21:00 daily, follow signs for DB Lounge , search int.bahn.de for opening times.

There are ÖBB Lounges at Vienna Hauptbahnhof , Vienna Meidling , Linz, Salzburg , Innsbruck , Graz & Klagenfurt.

These Austrian lounges are really useful because you can use them for up to 90 minutes before or after your journey with almost any type of 1st class ticket or with a ticket for any type of sleeper for Nightjet or EuroNight trains and with a 1st class Eurail or Interrail pass.

There's one exception:  You can use the lounge with a 1st class DB Sparpreis or Flexpreis fare, but not with a Super Sparpreis fare.

Typically open 06:00-21:00, for details see www.oebb.at & search for ÖBB Lounge .  Tea, coffee, soft drinks, snacks & free WiFi available.

Budapest & Hungary

Budapest Keleti has an excellent business lounge on platform 9 , open 06:00-21:30 daily.  This lounge is really useful as it can be used by anyone with a 1st class international ticket to, from or via Budapest, or a single or double sleeper ticket, or a 1st class Eurail or Interrail pass with a reservation for a train that day.  Unfortunately, there's no lounge at Budapest Deli or Budapest Nyugati.

Prague & the Czech Republic

CD (Czech Railways) has a lounge at Prague Hlavni with newspaper and free WiFi, but it's also open to 2nd class passengers with tickets for the higher categories of train such as EuroCity and SuperCity so it's more upmarket waiting room than 1st class lounge.  The excellent Fantova Kavárna upstairs in the historic station hall makes a better VIP waiting lounge for the price of a cup of coffee.

PKP Intercity used to have poorly-advertised lounges at Warsaw Centralna & Krakow Glowny , but strangely closed them in 2014 due to lack of users.

Copenhagen & Denmark

DSB Danish Railways have DSB1 lounges for first class passengers at Copenhagen , Aarhus and Odense.  Open Monday-Friday only.  Passengers with 1st class tickets for SJ trains to Stockholm or Intercity trains to Germany can also use it.  For details search www.dsb.dk and use Google Translate.

Stockholm & Sweden

SJ have a first class lounge at both Stockholm Central & Gothenburg Central open to all first class ticket holders   It's open Monday-Friday only morning until mid-evening, for details see www.sj.se .

Travelling overnight

Sleeper trains are a time-effective and romantic way to travel.  Huge distances can be covered while you sleep, using less daytime time than flying and often saving a hotel bill, too.

Forget about first and second class on sleeper trains, these terms become misleading.  The real classes on an overnight train are seat, couchette and sleeper.  In fact, all accommodation on nightjet sleeper trains is now technically 2nd class, even a deluxe single-bed sleeper with shower.  Although some operators still require a 1st class ticket for a single-bed sleeper.

Incidentally, trains don't have sterns or bows or port or starboard as they are not a ship.  They also don't have cabins , the correct term has always been a sleeper or couchette compartment .

Click for sleeper & couchette car berth numbering plans , this answers the typical worry We have berths 21 & 25, are we in the same 2-berth compartment?   Yes, you are!

...in a sleeping-car

A sleeping-car is the equivalent of a hotel :  A cosy bedroom, with comfortable beds, washbasin, and room service.  Sleepers come in 1, 2 & 3 berth varieties, depending on the route, whether you have a 1st or 2nd class ticket, and the price you want to pay.  For the daytime parts of a journey, the beds fold away to reveal a sofa.

If you are travelling alone and don't want to pay for a 1st class single room, you can normally book just one berth in a 2 or 3-berth room and share with other passengers of the same gender (though this is currently not possible in Italian domestic sleepers).

In addition to the normal lock, sleeper compartments have a security lock which cannot be opened from outside even with a staff key, so you'll be both safe and snug.  The most modern sleepers now have CCTV in the corridor, too.

On most sleeper train routes there are inclusive fares covering travel, sleeper & breakfast.  If you have an Interrail or Eurail pass, you can look up the additional cost of a sleeper on the Interrail & Eurail reservations page .

For more detailed information about what to expect when travelling by sleeper, see the Travelling by Sleeping-car or Couchette page or the information about specific sleeper trains, including:

- Nightjet sleeper trains linking Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland.

- Prague to Krakow sleeper train .

...in a couchette

A couchette is rail's answer to a youth hostel or pensione:   Economical and comfortable, it's an ordinary seating compartment for 4 or 6 people by day, with fold-out padded bunks for 4 or 6 people by night, each with sheet, rug & pillow which you arrange yourself.  Male and female passengers normally share the same compartment (although there are 'ladies only' compartments on most routes), and apart from removing shoes & jackets,  passengers do not normally undress.

A berth in a 6-berth couchette compartment costs around €20-€27 per berth per night, in addition to a 2nd class ticket or railpass.  A berth in a less-crowded 4-berth couchette compartment costs around €30-€37 per berth per night, in addition to a 2nd class ticket or railpass.

In addition to the normal lock, couchette compartments have a security lock or chain which cannot be opened from outside, even with a staff key, so you'll be quite safe.  1st class couchettes (4 berths per compartment) are rare, they pretty much only exist in on the few remaining French domestic overnight trains .

There's more detailed information about what to expect when travelling by couchette on the Travelling by Couchette or Sleeping-car page .  For more specific information, if your journey involves a nightjet, see the nightjet sleeper train page .  If your journey involves a French domestic Intercité de Nuit overnight train, see the Intercités de Nuit page .

...in a seat

Although it's the cheapest option, travelling overnight in an ordinary seat is a false economy.  It's not recommended however tight your budget, either for comfort or security, unless there's no other option.  There's no lock on the compartment door, and no staff on duty.  Think of it as the equivalent (almost!) of sleeping in a shop doorway.  Always budget for at least the couchette supplement for a comfortable night's journey. 

How early to be at the station?

There are some exceptions .  Major Italian stations now have a simple manual ticket check between concourse and platform circulating area.  In France some major stations have automatic ticket gates when boarding long-distance trains, scan the barcode on your ticket and they open, they're work until 2 minutes before departure.  But it's still nothing like air travel.

Train composition posters

Is there passport control before boarding, how long to allow for connections , it takes just minutes to change trains, if your onward train is a local one, if your onward train is all-reserved, if your onward train is a sleeper, if connecting out of a sleeper.

Example   You're catching the Cologne-Munich sleeper train, due to arrive in Munich at 07:10.  There are onward connections to Salzburg at 07:25 and 09:30, both with cheap fares available which are only valid on whichever specific train you choose.  Online systems and the European Rail Timetable suggest the 07:25.  But is this a safe connection?  No, it isn't.  Even this excellent sleeper train can arrive 20, 40 or 60 minutes late, and it pays to be on the safe side.  In this case I'd recommend booking the 09:30 and having a leisurely breakfast in Munich.

Through ticket or separate tickets?

Recommended connection times when changing stations in paris, travel tips, what happens if you miss a connection, if things go wrong ..., here's what you should know.

With a through ticket the international conditions of carriage (CIV) give you a cast-iron legal entitlement to travel on by later trains if a delay means a missed connection, so tight connections aren't necessarily a problem.

However, through tickets no longer exist for many journeys and you'll often be given separate tickets for each train.  Unfortunately, CIV protection only applies to connections within each ticket, not between tickets.

The good news is that rail staff will usually help you out if there's a delay, as connections between separate tickets and different operators are often covered by the Agreement for Journey Continuation (AJC) or RailTeam/HOTNAT , which I explain below.

If you miss a connection

If you are on a delayed Eurostar and you realise you're going to miss your onward connection, Eurostar train managers carry a HOTNAT / CIV stamp and will endorse your ticket.  They may walk through the train helping people with connections, or may announce that they are available in a particular car.  Similarly, staff on other European trains can usually endorse or stamp your ticket if their train is delayed.

Tip:  If crossing Paris by metro, buy a metro ticket in the Eurostar cafe-bar car to save vital minutes, you might still make your connection.

It's good to be aware of your rights under the international conditions of carriage or CIV and its limitations, and of AJC & HOTNAT .

An example...   I was travelling from London to Bordeaux on a Eurostar running 40 minutes late.  It looked like I would miss my connection in Paris, and naturally my onward ticket was train-specific & non-changeable!  An announcement was made that the train manager was in the bar car to help passengers with connections.  He stamped my ticket and told me to go to the ticket office at Paris Montparnasse to get myself rebooked on a later train.  In the event, I bought a metro ticket from the Eurostar cafe-bar to save time at the metro station (important tip!), I walked to the front of the train as we approached Paris, I had allowed a little more than the recommended minimum 60 minutes to cross Paris in any case, and I made my connection!

If you miss a Eurostar due to a delayed train

If you miss a connection in brussels, your rights:   civ conditions of carriage.

Unfortunately, this CIV missed connection protection only applies within a single contract for carriage, in other words, within one ticket.

If you have a through ticket from A to C changing at B, your connection at B is protected if there's a delay.

But if you have a ticket from A to B and a separate ticket from B to C, your connection at B is not protected by the CIV as this is two separate contracts for carriage and CIV does not apply between contracts.  These days, many journeys have to be made using separate tickets.

For example, there are no through tickets between London and Germany, so if you book a journey from London to Berlin, even as one transaction on one website, you'll get a London-Brussels Eurostar ticket and a separate Brussels-Berlin DB (German Railways) ticket.  This is two separate contracts for carriage and CIV does not protect you for a missed connection in Brussels, between the two tickets.

The CIV were written when through tickets were the norm for almost all European journeys, these days many through journeys have to be made using multiple tickets.  Frankly, the CIV are no longer fit for purpose.  I have spoken at the EU Parliament in Brussels on the subject!

Railteam & HOTNAT

Agreement on journey continuation ( ajc ).

The signatories to the AJC are:

SNCF (French Railways), DB (German Railways), ÖBB (Austrian Railways), Trenitalia (Italian Railways), Renfe (Spanish Railways), SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), BLS (Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon Railway), CD (Czech Railways), SNCB (Belgian Railways), NS (Dutch Railways), CFL (Luxembourg Railways), DSB (Danish Railways), SJ (Swedish Railways), SZ (Slovenian Railways), ZSSK (Slovakian Railways). 

Eurostar signed up to the AJC in 2023, as did MAV (Hungarian Railways), PKP (Polish Railways), HZPP (Croatian Railways) & European Sleeper .

The AJC doesn't currently cover some open-access operators such as Italo, Westbahn, Regiojet, Leo Express.

To qualify for help under the AJC:

Both trains have to be run by signatories to the agreement.

You have to be making an international journey, not a domestic one.

You must have allowed reasonable period of time between trains, meaning at least the minimum applied by official journey planners.

You may need to get proof of the delay from the delayed operator, which they are obliged to give you.

Onward travel has to be on the same operator on the same route.  It is either the station staff or the train manager for the onward train you gives you permission, you should ask at the interchange station.

Remember that the AJC is a commercial agreement between operators, it's not a passenger right you can claim.  So politely remind staff about it if they don't seem to know about it.

A traveller's report

A traveller reports:   "I got to my local station and there were no trains going anywhere!  There had been an emergency that stopped all trains for half an hour or so in the early morning rush hour, just when I needed to get to London for the 8.30am Eurostar to Paris and TGV down to Toulon, with train-specific tickets all the way.  So what do you do?  I just went to the ticket office when I reached London - they had the emergency flagged up on their computer screens and just wrote me a docket/stamped and signed it and on I went.  At St Pancras, I did the same - went to the Eurostar ticket office and they stamped the unused tickets, issued new ones and off I went.   At Gare de Lyon, I went to the ticket office, showed them all the dockets, stamped, stapled and initialled tickets and again they just issued me a ticket for the next train."

Holidays & tours by train

Railbookers , railbookers.co.uk.

Railbookers can custom-make a holiday or short break by train to most European countries for you, with train travel & carefully-chosen hotels, for however long you like, leaving on any date you like.  If you tell them what you want, they'll advise you on the best trains, routes & hotels and sort it all out for you.  They look after their customers well and get a lot of repeat business, so I've no hesitation in recommending them.

Byway, byway.travel

Byway ( Byway.travel ) is a UK-based eco-holiday firm with a 5-star TrustPilot rating .  If you're nervous about booking train travel yourself, they'll book European trips for you as a package including hotels, starting from any British station.  Byway includes package protection, a 100% Covid refund guarantee, free disruption & re-planning and on-demand WhatsApp support while you're away.

To see pre-configured packages from the UK to various destinations, use the journey planner on their website .

Tip:   First book a one-way outward journey to your destination city on your outward date.  Then change the direction of the arrow and book an inward journey on your return date.  The journey back to the UK can be from a different location if you like, for example if you plan to travel around a bit before your return to the UK.

Alternatively they can build a trip to your requirements, email them or use the contact form .  Please say you heard about them from Seat 61.

Rail Discoveries , raildiscoveries.com

Great rail journeys , greatrail.com, general country guidebooks.

People sometimes think a guidebook is an unnecessary expense, but it's a tiny fraction of what you're spending on your whole trip.  You will see and understand so much more if you have a decent guidebook.  For the independent traveller, I think the best ones out there are either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide.  Both guidebooks are excellent, and you won't regret buying one!

Click the images to buy at Amazon.co.uk or buy in the USA at Amazon.com

H otels in europe, backpacker hostels.

www.hostelworld.com :  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about the backpacker hostels.  Hostelworld offers online booking of dorm beds or ultra-cheap private rooms in backpacker hostels in most European cities at rock-bottom prices.

Car hire comparison:  www.carrentals.co.uk

The award-winning website www.carrentals.co.uk compares many different car hire companies including Holiday Autos.  That means not only a useful price comparison, but a wider choice of hire and drop off location.

Travel insurance & other tips

Always take out travel insurance.

You should take out travel insurance with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover from a reliable insurer.  It should cover trip cancellation and loss of cash & belongings up to a reasonable limit.  These days, check you're covered for covid-19-related issues, and use an insurer whose cover isn't invalidated by well-meant but excessive Foreign Office travel advice against non-essential travel. An annual policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy with Staysure.co.uk myself.  Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, see the advice on missed connections here .  Here are some suggested insurers, I get a little commission if you buy through these links, feedback always welcome.

Get an eSIM with mobile data package

Don't rely on WiFi, download an eSIM with a European mobile data package and stay connected.  Most newer mobile phones can download a virtual SIM including iPhone 11 & later, see device compatibility list .  There's no need to buy a physical SIM card!  Maya.net is a reliable eSIM data retailer with a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating and a range of packages including unlimited data .

Get a Curve card for foreign travel

Most banks give you a poor exchange rate then add a foreign transaction fee on top.  A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month as I write this.  The money you spend on your Curve card goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.  And you can get a Curve card for free.

How it works:   1. Download the Curve app for iPhone or Android .  2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to the UK and most European addresses.  3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app, you can link up to two cards with the free version of Curve, I link my normal debit card and my normal credit card.  4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, exactly like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance in your own currency onto whichever debit or credit card is currently selected in the Curve app.  You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.

I have a Curve Blue card myself, it means I can buy a coffee on a foreign station on a card without being stung by fees and lousy exchange rates, just by tapping the Curve card on their card reader.  The money goes through Curve to my normal debit card and is taken directly from my account (in fact I have the Curve card set up as payment card on Apple Pay on my iPhone, so can double-click my phone, let it do Face ID then tap the reader with the phone - even easier than getting a card out).  I get a little commission if you sign up to Curve, but I recommend it here because I think it's great.  See details, download the app and get a Curve card , they'll give you £5 cashback through that link.

Get a VPN for safe browsing.  Why you need a VPN

When travelling you may use free public WiFi which is often insecure.  A VPN encrypts your connection so it's always secure, even on unsecured WiFi.  It also means you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geoblocking which a surprising number of websites apply.  See VPNs & why you need one explained .  ExpressVPN is a best buy with a 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot ranking which I use myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using this link you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription.  I also get some commission to help support this site.

Carry an Anker powerbank

Tickets, reservations, hotel bookings and Interrail or Eurail passes are often now held on your mobile phone.  You daren't let it run out of power, and you can't always rely on the phone's internal battery or on being near a power outlet.  I always carry an Anker powerbank which can recharge my phone several times over.  Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Buy from Amazon.com .

Touring cities?  Use hill walking shoes!

One of the best things I've done is swap my normal shoes for hill-walking shoes, in my case from Scarpa.  They're intended for hiking across the Pennines not wandering around Florence, but the support and cushioning for hiking works equally well when you're on your feet all day exploring foreign cities.  My feet used to give out first and limit my day, now the rest of me gives up before they do!

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22 of the best rail journeys in Europe

See Europe how it was meant to be seen: from the window of a train! From mountain climbs to luxury sleepers, here’s the rail adventures you must add to your bucket list…

1. Glacier Express, Switzerland

Glacier Express, Switzerland (Shutterstock)

Best for… Seeing Switzerland in the slow lane

The journey: Zermatt to St Moritz (290km; seven and a half hours)

We say… Don’t be fooled by its name: the Glacier Express averages 38kph, but who wants to rush when the scenery is this spectacular?

Linking two of Switzerland’s best-loved ski resorts, the route is an opus of snowcapped peaks, rugged valleys, 291 bridges and wild tangles of alpine forest. The view will keep you glued to the train’s panoramic windows – though the traverse of the towering Landwasser viaduct might have you reaching for a second glass of Valais wine.

Top tip: In Zermatt you can extend your trip by taking Europe’s highest cog railway to the summit of Gornergrat (3,089m). The view of the Matterhorn is worth it.

Read next : Switzerland’s most stunning rail journeys

2. odontotos rack railway, greece.

Odontotos Rack Railway, Greece (Shutterstock)

Best for… Peaks and valleys

The journey: Diakopto to Kalavrita (22.5km; one hour)

We say… Making delightfully slow work of a wild Peloponnese gorge, this heritage railway – built in 1895 – is one of southern Greece’s final remaining narrow gauge lines.

It starts in the seaside town of Diakopto and weaves up to the mountain town of Kalavrita through hand-carved tunnels and plane-tree forests. En route, you’ll cross 49 bridges in total, as the Vouraikos River roils far below.

Top tip: To visit nearby Olympia’s ancient temples and stadium, take the small train from Katacolon – yet another narrow-gauge survivor.

3. Rhine Valley Line, Germany

The Rhine Valley Line, Germany (Shutterstock)

Best for… A riverside ramble

The journey: Cologne to Mainz (152km; two and a half hours)

We say… The Rhine Valley Line finds its muse just after Bonn, where it starts to tightly hug the waterline. Sure, you could take the high-speed intercity route and save yourself an hour on your journey, but then you’d miss out on the patchwork of vineyards, Koblenz’s hilltop fortress and the legend of Lorelei Rock.

Top tip: Interrail passes are valid on this line – and get you a discount on KD Rhine Line boats.

4. Venice Simplon Orient-Express, UK, France & Italy

Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (Shutterstock)

Best for…The ‘golden age’ of rail

The journey: London to Folkestone; Calais to Venice (1,636km; 24 hours)

We say… While the final descendent of the real Orient Express met its end in 2009, a US businessman had long since bought up 1920s and ‘30s carriages (many belonging to the original service) and resurrected its route to Venice.

This journey is played out on two heritage trains – the British Pullman on the UK leg and the VSOE between Calais and Venice – and as the mountains and meadows slip by, you can sip martinis in the piano bar, devour lobster in its Étoile du Nord restaurant car and just dream.

Top tip: Though the southbound journey is popular, the northbound experience is just as fabulous – and doesn’t book up so quickly.

Read next: The best new rail routes around the world for 2022

5. west highland line, scotland.

Glenfinnan Viaduct on the West Highland Lane, Scotland (Shutterstock)

Best for… The wildest of Scottish rides

The journey: Glasgow to Mallaig (264km; five and a half hours)

We say… After slipping away from Glasgow, the West Highland Line weaves some of Britain’s wildest scenery: to lonely moorlands, forest-bound lochs and crumbling castle ruins.

Up here, you’re more likely to spot red deer than humans – though the Glenfinnan Viaduct is familiar thanks to its cameo in the Harry Potter films. If travelling southwards, sit on the right-hand side of the train for the best views.

Top tip: The Royal Scotsman and Jacobite Steam Train are rather luxurious – if pricey – alternatives to this £16.80 (one-way) ScotRail journey.

6. Bernina Express, Switzerland & Italy

Bernina Express (Shutterstock)

Best for… Jaw-dropping (and ear-popping) views

The journey: Landquart to Tirano (163km; five hours)

We say… Starting this summer, you get even more bang for your buck on the Bernina Express , as its trans-alpine journey has been extended for around 50km. It now starts (or terminates) at Landquart before looping through the Prättigau mountains and over Zügen Gorge’s sheer-sided ravines.

Running between May and October, its climax is the 2,253m-high Bernina Pass, the gateway to Italy. It’s a smooth ride but one that’s big on drama, encompassing dizzying and panoramic views from the Brusio Spiral viaduct along the way.

Top tip: For the best views, grab a seat on the rig.

7. Mariazell Railway, Austria

The Narrow Gauge or Mariazell Railway in the Austrian Alps (Shutterstock)

Best for… Alpine hikes and hijinx

The journey: St Pölten to Mariazell (78km; two and a half hours)

We say… Traversing one of the wildest regions of the Austrian Alps, this narrow-gauge service is officially split into two sections: ‘Valley’ and ‘Mountains’.

The former stretches from St Pölten to Frankenfels, a land of pretty grazing meadows and gentle pathways (tickets allow you to hop on and off), while the latter climbs up through the ruggedly handsome Erlauf gorge and the peaks of Ötscher-Tormäuer Naturpark. Allow a full day – at least.

Top tip: For widescreen views, grab a first-class panorama carriage (May to October on weekend and holiday services), while heritage rail fans love the 100-year-old Ötscherbär train that runs from June to late September.

8. Inlandsbanan, Sweden

Inlandsbanan train pulling into Mora, Sweden (Shutterstock)

Best for… A jovial jaunt

The journey: Kristinehamn to Gällivare (1,288km; from two days)

We say… The Inlandsbanan is slow travel at its best, heading up past the Arctic Circle and into Swedish Lapland. In fact, its drivers love an excuse to stretch their legs, and scheduled stops to take a dip in Lake Siljan or visit Sami villages and their reindeer herds along the way are worth it.

Before you know it, you’re cooing over moose and foraging for berries under midnight sun (June to early July) – all thoughts of the timetable long forgotten.

Top tip: At each stop you can order fresh dishes from local restaurants, such as smoked Arctic char and lingonberry crumble.

9. Trenino Verde, Sardinia, Italy

The Green Train travelling through Italy (Shutterstock)

Best for… Island adventures

The journey: Palau to Tempio (59km); Sindia to Bosa (33km); Mandas to Laconi (37km); Mandas to Sadali (58km); Arbata to Gairloch (62km); times vary

We say… The best way to get under the skin of Sardinia is by catching the Trenino Verde – or Green Train – for a picturesque pootle around the island. The Mandas-Laconi line weaves through wild woodlands, the Palau-Tempio track culminates in a town famed for its cork groves, and Sindia–Bosa forges from the island’s untamed interior out to its western coast.

Top tip: Don’t be surprised if the conductor hops out to shoo sheep off the line, or to stop traffic at level crossings. Slow travel at its purest.

Read next: Italy’s most spectacular rail journeys

10. la ligne des cévennes, france.

La Ligne des Cévennes, France (Shutterstock)

Best for… Gallic grandeur

The journey: Clermont-Ferrand to Nîmes (304km; six and a half hours)

We say… Every twist and turn of this train line is an engineering marvel: it ticks off a mighty 106 tunnels and over a thousand bridges, as well as the seriously lofty (46m high) Chamborigaud viaduct.

With 29 long-legged arches arranged in a semicircular loop, Chamborigaud is a scene-stealer – although the track reaches its pinnacle on the summit at La Bastide (1,023m). There are gentler pleasures still to be found in the rolling vineyards of the Auvergne, the chestnut forests of Cévennes National Park and the track’s picturesque dalliance with the River Allier.

Top tip: Visit in springtime to see the area’s wildflowers in bloom.

11. Derry/Londonderry to Coleraine, Northern Ireland

Derry/L:ondonderry, Northern Ireland (Shutterstock)

Best for… A budget Irish beauty

The journey: Derry/Londonderry to Coleraine (55km; 38 minutes)

We say… This route doesn’t need five-star cabins or steam locomotives for wow-factor: it’s all about the scenery. Explore a banquet of windswept beaches, razor-edged cliffs and wild views on the no-frills Translink service.

Sit on the left-hand side (if travelling eastwards) and settle in for a ride that Sir Michael Palin hailed in his Great Railway Journeys series as “one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world”, as you hop-skip peregrine falcon habitats and the thread the longest railway tunnels in Ireland.

Top tip: Stop for a yomp on the wide, wild sands of Benone beach.

12. Linha do Douro, Portugal

Pinhão Station, Portugal (Shutterstock)

Best for…Giving the city the slip

The journey: Porto to Pocinho (160km; three and a half hours)

We say… Don’t take a day cruise from Porto: hop on the Linha do Douro instead. Most boat trips only venture as far as the port-producing village of Pinhão, but this train line ploughs further into the heartlands, past great walls of rock and rambling quintas (wine estates).

Better yet, the track swaps between shores, so there’s no such thing as a duff seat. Pinhão Station must be one of Europe’s prettiest terminals, trimmed with intricate azulejo tilework, but look out, too, for the towering gorge around Régua and the ancient rock art of the Côa Valley at Pocinho.

Top tip: In Pocinho, linger over lunch and local port at Taberna da Julinha (+351 965 398 826) – its steaks are worth the trip alone.

13. Septemvri to Dobrinishte, Bulgaria

Tsepina on the Septemvri to Dobrinishte, Bulgaria (Shutterstock)

Best for… Making new friends

The journey: Septemvri to Dobrinishte (125km; five hours)

We say… Bulgaria’s only operating narrow-gauge railway is a lifeline to its remote south-west, so make room for the babas (grandmothers) heading to market.

The train travels at a glacial speed (you can walk beside it in parts), but it’s a journey to savour, with stops for hiking in Bansko, Velingrad’s hot springs and Belitsa’s dancing bear sanctuary.

Top tip: The train only has a simple café on board, so bring a picnic.

14. El Transcantábrico Clásico, Spain

León, Spain (Shutterstock)

Best for… Exploring the north

The journey: León to Santiago de Compostela (643km; four to eight days)

We say… Never has the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela felt so indulgent. El Transcantábrico ’s lavish compartments and plentiful excursions make for an easy, enlightening ride.

The Clásico itinerary hugs the northern coast, with stop-offs at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, seafood suppers in Santander and, on longer trips, hiking in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Picos de Europa National Park.

Top tip: The rail network actually runs between San Feliz and Ferrol – a few kilometres shy of León and Santiago de Compostela – so the trip is bookended by brief coach journeys.

Read next: 6 of the world’s most luxurious sleeper trains

15. belgrade to bar, serbia, bosnia & montenegro.

Mala Rijeka Viaduct, Serbia (Shutterstock)

Best for… A cross-country caper

The journey: Belgrade to Bar (476km; 10 hours)

We say… This Balkan line can’t be booked online with national operators, so you’ll need to get tickets at the counter, but once on board you’ll hop ravines and rivers with the greatest of ease, thanks to its 254 tunnels and 435 bridges.

It took railway engineers decades to blast through the Dinaric Alps, traverse the thick birch forests, skirt the shores of Lake Skadar and build the 200m-high Mala Rijeka viaduct, which, until 2001, was the tallest railway bridge in the world.

Top tip: Local sources state this train is currently only operating a night time service. Boo we say! But look out for the return of its day time schedule.

16. Golden Eagle Danube Express, Turkey to Hungary

Golden Eagle Danube Express (Shutterstock)

Best for… The east with ease

The journey: Istanbul (Turkey) to Budapest (Hungary) via Bulgaria & Romania (1,832km; seven days)

We say… On the Danube Express ’s ‘Castles of Transylvania’ route, you’ll whizz between two of Europe’s most beguiling cities in the lap of luxury.

Off-train excursions allow for easy exploration of medieval towns and Romanian castles, while the onboard experience includes opulent perks: think plush double cabins, starched linens and piano recitals.

Top tip: Spend your time socialising in the cocktail lounge; this journey tends to attract fascinating souls.

17. North York Moors Railway, England

Vintage passenger train on the North York Moors Railway (Shutterstock)

Best for… A time-travelling treasure

The journey: Whitby to Pickering (38.6km; one hour, 45 minutes)

We say… With a shrill whistle and a scorching blast, this steamy trip into the North York Moors National Park begins in lively Whitby, so spare time to visit its recenty reopened Abbey.

From there, it travels windswept dales, lush carpets of heather and, so it seems, time itself. Though devoid of most mod cons, the NYMR’s hundred-year-old steam trains make surprisingly quick work of these rolling moors, as you stop off for picnics and village walks along the way.

Top tip: For a taste of life at the steamy end, join the railway’s ‘experience days’ and ride on the footplate.

18. Bohinj Railway, Slovenia & Italy

Bohinj Railway, Slovenia (Shutterstock)

Best for… Slovenia made simple

The journey: Jesenice to Trieste (approx 150km; three hours)

We say… To ford the peaks of the Julian Alps to the northernmost sliver of Italian coastline, the Bohinj Railway must slice a route it has plied for over 110 years.

It was built as a strategic network for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, but these days it’s catnip for hikers and cyclists who revel in the easy connections to Most na Soci, Lake Bled and Nova Gorica’s wineries.

Top tip: For a special trip, catch the heritage steam train (May to November) between Jesenice and Nova Gorica, where staff still don the uniforms of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.

19. Semmering Railway, Austria

Semmering Railway, Austria (Shutterstock)

Best for… UNESCO-listed joys

The journey: Gloggnitz to Mürzzuschlag (41km; 40 minutes)

We say… Praised by UNESCO as ‘one of the greatest feats of civil engineering’, the Semmering teeters on two-storey viaducts and narrow mountain passes, with twists and steep inclines aplenty.

The reward for your fortitude? Swoon-worthy views of the Austrian Alps, and opportunities for great hiking or skiing. It took six years and 20,000 labourers to build this track, and this pioneering project from the 1850s became the blueprint for mountain railways all over the world.

Top tip: Gloggnitz is just an hour by train from Vienna, so don’t miss out.

20. Bergen Railway, Norway

Bergen Railway, Norway (Shutterstock)

Best for… Scandi splendour

The journey: Oslo to Bergen (500km; six and a half hours)

We say… Even in the cosy comfort of your compartment, Norway’s desolate Hardangervidda plateau will send a shiver down your spine. While the forests and lakes outside Oslo are beautiful, it’s the Bergen Railway ’s eerily empty mountain passes that steal the show.

Stretch your legs at Finse, the highest station on the line (1,222m), to see where Robert Falcon Scott and his crew trained in advance of their infamous 1912 South Pole expedition. A lonely spot indeed.

Top tip: Hop off at Myrdal and pick up the extraordinary 20km branch line to Flam (one hour), whose spiral tunnels and steep gradient will sweep you up further into these breathtaking mountains.

21. Brocken Railway, Germany

Brocken Railway, Germany (Shutterstock)

Best for… Saving your legs

The journey: Drei Annen Hohne to Brocken (19km; 51 minutes)

We say… The summit of Brocken (the Harz mountains’ loftiest point) is a doddle for these steam trains (which, if you book online, you’ll have to do in German). They climb thick pines and wildflower meadows up to the 1,141m peak, forming one of three lines on the Harz Railway, Europe’s longest network (140km) still running daily steam trains.

Top tip: Buy a one-way ticket and hike back down, walking the famed trail to Torfhaus.

22. Ffestiniog Railway, Wales

Ffestiniog Railway, Wales (Shutterstock)

Best for… Steaming Snowdonia

The journey: Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog (21.7km; one hour 15 mins)

We say… Operated by the oldestsurviving train company in the world, the Ffestiniog Railway has run for almost 200 years through Snowdonia National Park, and has a gleaming troupe of steam locomotives. The route is a rich feast of rivers, waterfalls, mountains and ancient woodlands, with a looping spiral section lending some thrills.

Top tip: Add on the Welsh Highland Railway – Ffestiniog’s sister route – between Porthmadog and Caernarfon to extend your fun.

You may also like:

• Switzerland’s most stunning rail journeys
• Spectacular rail journeys in the USA
• Britain’s most scenic rail journeys

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11 of the best London to Europe train trips for a great escape

You don’t need to fly to flee London: touring by train is a relaxing and pretty way to travel. Here are eleven European train trips with vistas to write home about

It’s hard to embrace the romance of the railway when your standard interaction with it involves pushing your way onto a delayed service during rush hour . But travelling by train can be a relaxing way to get around, especially when the views outside the window are this good. Plus, London has fantastic transport links , which means that finding an aesthetically-pleasing new adventure is easy. Our city’s trains are well-linked to other parts of the UK and across Europe, so you can forget about schlepping to the airport for your next city break . For beautiful train journeys, through picturesque mountain ranges, past rugged castles and over sparkling rivers just take your pick from the list below. Here’s just a handful of the most scenic train journeys in Europe, starting in London and ending somewhere new. No Oyster card needed.

Is there a train from London to Europe?

Yes! Several rail travel providers operate services to mainland Europe from London, all of which depart from St Pancras International.  

RECOMMENDED: The best city breaks in Europe The most underrated travel destinations in Europe The cheapest cities to visit in Europe on a budget The best day trips from London

This article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our  affiliate guidelines .

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Beautiful European train journeys from London

1.  London St Pancras to Avignon via Eurostar

Look out for  Once you hit France it’s all rolling fields and quaint little villages. After passing through the charming, gastro-city of Lyon and on to the vineyard-strewn Rhône Valley, look out for the Massif Central mountains to the right and the snowy French Alps to the left before arriving in the incredibly beautiful, walled medieval city of Avignon.

Journey  London St Pancras to Avignon TGV station, changing at Paris (via Eurostar), to Avignon city centre (via shuttle train).

Journey time 6 hours

Approx cost  £196 (one-way, standard class, advance booking)

2.  London Paddington to St Ives via the Night Riviera Sleeper

Look out for  En route to Penzance, try and spot the giant Westbury White Horse, carved out of chalky Salisbury Plain. Cross engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s famous bridge over the river Tamar and keep a look out for the sign welcoming you to Cornwall in actual Cornish. Trundle along the breathtaking clifftops of St Ives Bay before arriving at the seaside town with its postcard-perfect harbour.

Journey  London to St Erth via the Night Riviera Sleeper, St Erth to St Ives (by bus).

Journey time 8 hours 19 minutes Approx cost £79-£165 (one-way, single sleeper)

3.  London St Pancras to Barcelona via Latour-de-Carol & the Pyrenees

Look out for  More scenic and cheaper than the TGV high-speed equivalent – rolling through the Rhône valley you’ll see countless pretty villages. Notice the Foix Castle emerge on the right before winding your way through the snowcapped Pyrenees. From the grand Latour-de-Carol station it’s a three-hour wobbly descent down the mountains to Barcelona. Look out for cascading waterfalls, tiny houses perched precariously on the hills and ancient ruins.

Journey  London to Paris (via Eurostar), Paris to Latour-de-Carol (via Intercité de Nuit couchette train), Latour-de-Carol- Enveitg – Barcelona (via Rodalies de Catalunya train).

Journey time 2 days

Approx cost £200 (one way, advance tickets)

4.  London St Pancras to Milan

Look out for  Race alongside the banks of Lake Como and into luscious green mountains. From Tirano, enjoy views of the mist-covered Alps, then it’s a fir-tree-lined descent past the vast Lake Poschiavo and over the six-arched curved limestone Landwasser Viaduct. Once in Milan you can hotfoot it on to a high-speed train and take a trip to Florence, Rome or Venice.

Journey  London to Paris (via Eurostar), Paris to Zurich (via TGV plus overnight stay), Zurich to Milan (via local train).

Journey time 2 days Approx cost £116 (one way, standard class, excluding overnight stay)

5.  London Euston to Fort William via Caledonian Sleeper

Look out for Waking up on board the Caledonian Sleeper in Bonnie Scotland is pretty special, but the return leg is even nicer. Unspoilt Scottish scenery will have you glued to the window until bedtime. Pass by Loch Lomond bordered by craggy mountains and make sure you keep your eyes peeled for deer on the marshy flatlands of Rannoch Moor. Add on a train trip to Mallaig at the end of the line, to travel over the Glenfinnan Viaduct – the 21-arch bridge featured in the Harry Potter movies. 

Journey time 13 hours

Approx cost £55 seat/£270 single-bed bunks/£405 double bed (one way advance ticket)

6.  London Euston to The Welsh Coast via Cambrian Railway

Look out for Taking you all the way from Shrewsbury to the edge of North West Wales, you’ll pass the top of the Shropshire hills, the Cambrian Hills, and then Snowdonia. If you want to exit the train, your route takes you near to Ynys-hir Nature Reserve, where you can take a stroll whilst overlooking the Dyfi estuary. Don’t miss Harlech Castle, an impressive Medieval structure situated on the edge of a near-vertical cliff face.

Journey  London Euston to Shrewsbury changing at Birmingham (via Avanti West Coast), Shrewsbury to Pwllheli (via Cambrian Railway).

Journey time 7 hours

Approx cost  £60–180 (one-way, advance booking)

7.  London St Pancras to The Black Forest via Eurostar

Look out for Apparently the sunniest city in Germany, Freiburg is a quant area with delicate miniature streams and cobbled streets. On the journey there, you’ll fly across the vibrant French countryside, through the Regional Natural Park of Lorraine, and then across the border into Southern Germany where you can expect incredible views of The Black Forest. We recommend hopping off and visiting the Forest on foot, or riding in a cable car to get a bird’s eye view of the incredible dark treetops. If you fancy extending your trip, there’s also a Black Forest train route running between Offenburg (30 minutes from Freiburg) and Konstanz.

Journey London St Pancras to Paris Nord (via Eurostar), Paris Nord to Paris Gare de L'Est (via Paris RER), Paris Gare de L'Est to Karlsruhe Hbf (via TGV),  Karlsruhe Hbf to Freiburg. 

Journey time  7 hours 35 minutes

Approx cost £120 (one way, 2nd class)

8.  London Victoria to Venice via Orient Express

Look out for Let’s be honest, once you’re on board the Belmond Orient Express you’ll struggle to take your eyes off the art deco interiors in your vintage cabin. But if you can, you’ll see spectacular views of imposing mountains and lush valleys. Your journey starts as you whizz through the French countryside whilst enjoying a four-course meal and fizz. When you rise in the morning, you’ll be greeted by the all-encompassing Swiss Alps over your morning coffee, just like Hercule Poirot.

Journey  London Victoria to Folkestone (via Belmond British Pullman), Folkestone to Paris (via shuttle), Paris to Venice (via Orient Express).

Journey time  32 hours (overnight, sleeper)

Approx cost  £ 4,500 (single, one way)

9.  London Euston to Carlisle via The Cumbrian Mountain Express

Look out for  On this steam train service, you’ll begin travelling across a patchwork of pretty English hills and farmland towards the Yorkshire Dales. As you weave across the country and towards Carlisle, you’ll pass through tunnels and over impressive viaducts, such as Ribblehead. The train also travels through Mallerstang, home to Pendragon castle, past the River Eden and up to Ais Gill, the highest railway summit in England.

Journey  London Euston to Carnforth (via Electric), Carnforth to Carlisle (Steam).

Journey time  1 day

Approx cost  £110 (one way, advance standard class)

10.  London St Pancras to Budapest via The Balkan Odyssey

Look out for Beginning in Venice, where you’ll see the romantic Venice Lagoon and Grand Canal, the super luxurious Balkan Odyssey follows the Adriatic coast to Budapest, stopping off at beautiful and intriguing European spots. You’ll be taking your time to explore the different places along the way, but when you’re on board make sure you keep your gaze out the window to spy gothic castles, gawp at the Carpathian Mountains in Romania and see the glistening Danube in Hungary.

Journey  London to Paris (via Eurostar), Paris to München (via SNCF), München to Venice (via Nightjet sleeper), Venice to Budapest (via The Balkan Odyssey).

Journey time 10  days

Approx cost  £9,983 (single, one way)

11.  London St Pancras to Prague via Czech Railways

Look out for As you whiz through Germany look for the Elbe River, one of Europe’s major rivers, as you travel south of Dresden. You’ll also spy Bad Schandau, a scenic spa town located on the bank of the river, and Děčín Castle where the Elbe meets Ploučnice river, before travelling alongside the incredible River Vltava on the way into the historic city of Prague.

Journey  London St. Pancras to Frankfurt (via Eurostar), Frankfurt to Berlin (via DB), Berlin to Dresden (via DB), Dresden to Prague (via Czech Railways).

Journey time two days

Approx cost  £215 (one way, not including overnight stay)

More amazing weekend breaks from London

Live the Dreamland in Margate

Recently, 1920s theme park Dreamland has reopened after an 11-year campaign by locals. The UK’s answer to New York’s hyper-kitsch Coney Island, it boasts a mix of retro rides, seaside sauciness and a Tracey Emin-endorsed rollerdisco. Entry costs £17.95 and covers all rides. Skating is £4.95 Fri-Sun and £4.50 Mon-Thurs. With ‘Dreamland’ spelled out like the Hollywood sign across the back wall, it’s the most Instagrammable pleasure beach I’ve ever been to.

Margate retains an eccentric seaside spirit though. We paid £3.50 to pop into the Shell Grotto, a series of caves discovered in Victorian times (FYI, there’s a shell phallus), then visited the Mad Hatter, a tearoom in the old town, which has been covered floor-to-ceiling in Princess Diana memorabilia for the past 20 years. 

And that’s the thing – Londoners are always chasing trends, when we could be heading to Margs for some properly old-fashioned fun. A walk on the beach, a ride on the Ferris wheel, maybe even a stick of rock… Exactly the same things your nan enjoyed on holiday.

By Kate Lloyd

www.dreamland.co.uk

Getting there : By train from St Pancras or Victoria to Margate: around one hour 30 minutes. 

Go post-apocalyptic at Dungeness

Doomsday is upon us, and you are one of the few survivors! At least, that’s how it feels visiting this Kent coastal desert. Splintered remains of old boats litter the large shingle expanse, rusty train tracks run to the middle of nowhere, and a nuclear power station looms over you in the middle distance. Bring your camera and watch out for zombies. 

Getting there: By train from King’s Cross to Appledore (change at Ashford): around one hour 30 minutes. Then taxi.

Sculpt a castle at Sunny Sands

One of the few sandy beaches within an hour of London (and a lovely one it is too), Sunny Sands hosts the annual Folkestone Mermaid Festival and Sandcastle Competition, where the Michelangelos and Da Vincis of the sand-crafting world go head to head. You’d best get practising. www.folkestonefestival.org Getting there: By train from King’s Cross to Folkestone Central: around one hour.

Get down and dirty on a sewer tour in Brighton

You don’t really know a city until you’ve seen its shitty underside. This Southern Water tour (£12 adults, £6 children) will take you beneath the streets of Brighton, through a network of impressive Victorian tunnels that channel waste and water out of the city, before emerging from a manhole into a busy street!  www.southernwater.co.uk/brighton-sewer-tours

Getting there: By train from Victoria to Brighton: around one hour. 

Have a punt in Cambridge

A short train ride away from hordes of sweating sightseers, I find myself setting off on a two-mile punt down the river Cam. Scudamore’s punts can be hired at Mill Lane (£100 a day, £25 an hour), from which point you can drift out of town. Go far enough and you’ll reach the Orchard Tea Garden in Grantchester, once frequented by Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, EM Forster and other dead types. As promised, everywhere is pleasantly scented, truly beautiful and – since the students have gone home for summer – nice and empty. 

The theory of punting is thus: drop the end of a metal pole to the riverbed, push and it will propel you forwards. The journey’s hard going (Scudamore’s also runs one-way guided trips up to Grantchester for the pole-shy) but ultimately worth it. We moor up by the tea room; there’s a charming, sun-dappled little orchard full of deckchairs and nattering locals. As I bite into a carrot cake, I let the tranquillity wash over me. And I’ve got the perfect way to hold on to this feeling: on the way back, I’m not doing the punting. 

By Alexi Duggins

www.scudamores.com

Getting there: By fast train from King’s Cross to Cambridge: around 45 minutes. Then walk (25 minutes) or taxi to Mill Lane. 

Raise a glass at Denbies in Dorking

As well as sampling award-winning wines produced by England’s largest vineyard, you can take indoor and outdoor tours of the estate (£6-£16). 

www.denbies.co.uk

Spoil yourself at The Grove in Hertfordshire

Queen Victoria used to ‘weekend’ at this country estate, 18 miles from central London. It’s now a fancy hotel with luxurious day packages on offer at its spa (£195-£350). Treat yo’self. 

www.thegrove.co.uk

Getting there: By train from Euston to Watford Junction: around 20 minutes. Then taxi.

Chug out West on the Dorset Coast Express

Getting there: Next train, July 22.

Take the plunge in Pangbourne

Pangbourne is a picturesque village with two or three nice pubs – and some of the best wild swimming within reach of London. We arrived in time for a riverside lunch at The Swan, then strolled down the Thames Path to the water meadows, a prime bathing spot (goose shit notwithstanding) with a slipway providing easy access to the river. 

Yes, it was bloody freezing. But only a few minutes in, I was surprised by a genuine feeling of being ‘at one with nature’. I was more literally bonded with some squishy mud near the bank, but a few feet out the bottom dropped away. Suddenly I was doggy-paddling in the clean, clear waters of Big Daddy Thames. 

It was glorious: enough to make you never want to dip a toe in chlorinated water again. On a sunny day I’d have been there all afternoon; but given the weather, a pint at The Cross Keys was a decent alternative. And we were back at Paddington by half six. Next time I go, I might even check the weather forecast.

www.wildswim.com

By James Manning

Getting there: By train from Paddington to Pangbourne: direct, around one hour 30 minutes; change at Reading for a journey of less than an hour.

Grin and bear (Grylls) it in the New Forest

Want to be able to survive in the most inhospitable environment? The place to start is… the New Forest. These family-friendly bushcraft courses (£70 adults, £55 12-18s) will teach you the basics of outdoor survival: how to build a shelter, make a fire, find water and wrestle bears to the death (well, the first three at least). www.newforestactivities.co.uk Getting there: By fast train from Waterloo to Brockenhurst: around one hour 35 minutes. Then taxi. 

Join the wolf pack in Berkshire

You’ll be howling with approval after a visit to the UK Wolf Conservation Trust. Open to the public every Wednesday (£8 adults, £5 children), the centre is home to ten wolves from places including North America and the Arctic. They’re all kept in enclosures, but maybe still err on the side of caution and avoid wearing any sheepskin. 

Getting there: By train from Paddington to Midgham (change at Reading): around one hour. Then taxi. 

www.ukwct.org.uk 

Take a walk on the wool side with llamas in Surrey

Dogs are soooo 2014! When you go for a walk in the countryside these days, you want a freakin’ llama by your side. Lead one of the friendly furries through the beautiful Surrey Hills on a day-long trek (£75 adults, £38 nine-15s), stopping for a picnic en route. Just don’t piss your llama off or you’ll learn the true meaning of ‘spitting distance’. 

www.surrey-hills-llamas.co.uk

Getting there: By train from Waterloo to Milford: around one hour. Then taxi.

Go to shellfish heaven on Mersea Island

The little island of Mersea (pronounced ‘Mersey’) is one of those places you don’t want to shout about. Let everyone else go to twee-on-sea Whitstable, with its bunting and overpriced oysters. Mersea has crept on to the food map in the past few years, but it’s still down-to-earth.

Seafood shack The Company Shed is exactly that – a big shed that grew out of the family oyster-farming business, with cheapo furniture, kitchen rolls plonked on tables and angry lobsters and crabs awaiting their fate in a tank on the back wall. 

Order at the counter then sit back like a Roman emperor as ridiculous piles of shellfish are brought to you. We go for the famous Company Shed seafood platter (£15 per person): a monster smorgasbord of crab, locally cured salmon, smoked peppered mackerel, prawns, crevettes and mussels. 

There’s plenty to do on the island – crabbing, a country park, cycling, boat trips, a tour of Mersea Island Vineyard and its microbrewery. But to be honest, we’re really here to feed our faces.  

By Cath Clarke

www.thecompanyshed.co  

Getting there: By train from Liverpoool Street to Colchester: around 50 minutes. Then taxi (30 minutes), bus or bicycle. You can also pick up a passenger ferry to Mersea from Brightlingsea.

Catch a moving film at the Floating Cinema

London’s favourite (and presumably only) canal boat cinema has gone cruising out west this summer, on a tour from Brentford to Bristol, along the Kennet & Avon Canal. You can take easy day trips to any of the places where it’s mooring for a range of workshops, talks and free outdoor screenings.  www.floatingcinema.info

Getting there: Transport and timings vary. See the website. 

Play the imitation game at Bletchley Park

Follow in the footsteps of Alan Turing (statue pictured) and his legendary team at the very place where brainy Brits cracked the Nazi Enigma code (£16.75 annual adult ticket, £10 12-16s, free under-12s). After taking in the incredible wartime history of the park at its fascinating museum, visit the huts where maths whizzes worked around the clock on German ciphers – work that is estimated to have shortened the war by two years.  www.bletchleypark.org.uk

Getting there: By train from Euston to Bletchley: around 45 minutes.

Stand the chance of a ghost in Pluckley

Steel yourself and head for Britain’s most haunted village. A screaming man, a suicidal schoolmaster, a burning lady and a murdered highwayman are among the 12 spectres said to hang out in this unassuming corner of the Kent countryside. 

www.pluckley.net

Getting there: By train from Charing Cross to Pluckley: around one hour ten minutes. 

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11 of the best value train journeys in Europe (Starting from €9! )

The best and cheapest way to see Europe ? How about travelling by train across Europe. While it is not as cheap as coach travel, trains in Europe, if booked in advance, can offer some incredible deals. It beats flying anyway and also is the most sustainable and one of the cheapest ways to travel across Europe. While for peace of mind and ease of travel, an Eurail pass is incredible, if you do have a rough itinerary in mind and prepared to book the long distance routes 90 days in advance ( or 9 months for trains in France) , there are some incredible  cheap train tickets for Europe. Following my revised guide to the best budget bus companies to see Europe, I’ve compiled a list of the 11 best tips and hacks to find cheap trains in Europe.

1. Use the stopover feature on Deutsche Bahn’s international tickets to travel from Berlin to Prague with stopover in Dresden for €18.90

Plan a stopover at no extra cost thanks to this incredible feature from deutsche bahn.

If you are visiting Berlin for example with plans to continue to Prague, via the Deutsche Bahn website, you can add a 24 hour stopover in Dresden at no extra price.

For example, searching in March 2022, you can buy a ticket from Berlin to Prague for as little as €18.90 with a 24 hour stopover in Dresden.

Or if you are planning to visit Budapest, you can book a ticket from Berlin to Budapest for €46.90 with a 24 hour stopover in Prague.

PS: If you are planning a trip to Prague, checkout my guide to the best budget places to stay in Prague ,  Prague on a budget and also my guide to the best things to do in Prague

These are Deutsche Bahn’s Sparpreis advance-purchase cheap fares.

For an extra €19.90 you can also upgrade your ticket to 1st class where you’ll get a slightly better seat and legspace but honestly in my opinion, there is not really a big difference between travelling 1st and 2nd class on these trains.

2. Prague to Budapest- €16 and Vienna to Budapest- €9 with Regiojet

One of the best value cheap train europe deals- tick off three classic europe destinations with one incredible fare.

Formerly the Student Travel Agency which started out offering low-cost luxury bus services within Czech Republic, the agency has now rebranded as Regiojet offering incredible value low-cost train services within Czech Republic and beyond.

The best value deal of the lot, was launched last summer when Regiojet started a new train service that linked up three key European capitals that are a staple of every Eurotrip- Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Currently there are 2 trains servicing the route daily. Tickets start from as little as €16 between Prague and Budapest and just €9 from Vienna to Budapest.

A quick search pulled up a few of the €16 Prague and Budapest fares in March 2022. The basic fare includes seat reservations and WiFi. For an extra €2.30 you get a better seat, free newspaper water and access to their built-in LCD screens.

3. Prague to Budapest with Czech Railways for €21 in advance

Another slightly more expensive and alternative option is to book Eurocity train from Prague to Budapest for as little as €21 or 514 CZK. You can only book this ticket in advance only via the

Czech Railways website.

4. Prague to Munich for €15 via Czech Railways

Czech railways, portal for czech trains can sometimes offer some great deals on train travel…..

If you are travelling from Czech Republic to Germany, I would also strongly urge you to look up fares on Czech Railways website where they can be often a third cheaper than when booking via Deutsche Bahn website.

For example on 30th March, travelling from Prague to Munich on the direct train, ( 11.38am ) the fare shows up as €42 one way via bahn.de website but if you look at the Czech Railways website, same train and fare shows up as 360 CZK which is €14.76 which is a massive saving.

Promenade Anglais, Nice

5. Paris to Nice €19 with the French low cost train service Ouigo

A low-cost, high-speed train service operated by sncf .

Visiting France soon? While many are familiar with their amazing TGV trains, Voyages SNCF also has a low-cost train service called Ouigo which offers fares as cheap as €10 between Paris Marné la Vallée and Lyon or Bordeaux & €19 from Paris to Nice. These super cheap fares open 9 months in advance so you should book early to get these fares.

For example, a quick search on en.oui.sncf, I can see a bunch of fares for €10 from Paris to Bordeaux in June 2022. It is worth noting that this fare is valid from Marné la Vallée which is the TGV outpost for Disneyland Paris and is a 12 minute , €15 ride from Paris CDG airport. Or you can take the underground to Châtelet-Les-Halles from where you take the RER-line A to Marne-la-Vallée. Journey time is 35 minutes and costs €7.50.

If you are planning to travel to Paris and Nice, Ouigo also operate a low-cost service on this popular route. In June 2022, I can see fares for as little as €19. Trains leave from the more central Gare de Lyon to Nice.

Ouigo also has a few extras to keep in mind. If you want a seat with electric sockets for an extra €2 and if you want to be in the quiet carriage, there is an extra €5 fee.

Trainline’s cheap fare finder feature is a really handy feature to find out the cheapest fares in the next month

PS: Another brilliant value train deal to also keep in mind is the Milan to Paris route. Being offseason, there is a bunch of their cheap €29 fares on sale now on the route ( Trainline’s excellent low fare calendar is a very handy tool )   Journey time is 7 hours. Extra €10 snags you a seat on 1st class.

6. Barcelona to Madrid by €9 with Ouigo Spain

Low-cost, high speed rail service revolution comes to spain.

Last summer ( 2021) Ouigo brought their unique low-cost train services to Spain. From May 2021, Ouigo started offering a 5 times a day, daily return service between Barcelona and Madrid. The service also serves the cities of Zaragoza and Tarragona.

Simple search on Ouigo website, reveals a bunch of the bargain €9 fares on the Barcelona to Madrid route for dates in June and July 2021. Ouigo applies low cost airline dynamic pricing so the sooner you book, the better the fares so keep that in mind.

Worth noting that for the basic €9 fare, passengers can bring a small bag/ handbag and a carry on cabin sized luggage. If you have a rucksack or suitcase, there is an extra €5 fee.

7. Stockholm to Gothenburg with Flixtrain for €12.99

If Sweden is on your itinerary and you are planning to travel between the two main cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg, have a look at Flixtrain who offer fares for as little as €12.99/135 kronor between Stockholm and Gothenburg. To give you a comparison, main operator in Sweden SJ offer fares of 194 kronor/ €18.60 so you make a big saving.

8. Berlin to Frankfurt for €9.99 with Flixtrain Germany

Flixtrain also operates on a number of routes in Germany and is the main competitor to Deutsche Bahn. Frequency is less and they operate on a handful of routes but their fares are much cheaper.

To give you an idea, fares with Flixtrain cost as little as €4.99 from Hamburg to Berlin ( Journey time 2 hours 39 minutes ) €9.99 Berlin to Stuttgart ( Journey time 5.56 hours ) and €9.99-Berlin to Frankfurt ( 4.09 hours )

9. Deutsche Bahn Länder ticket/ Regional day tickets

Unlimited train travel across any of germany’s 16 federal states for as little as €22.

If you are visiting Germany, especially with your partner or a group of friends, another brilliant deal is the Lander regional tickets which offer you unlimited travel within the state for as little as €22. This ticket is valid only on local and regional trains and excludes the faster ICE/IC trains. You can travel with up to four fellow passengers per ticket for as little as EUR 3 per additional passenger.

The tickets are valid from Monday to Friday from 09:00 until 03:00 on the following day.

We used this ticket when visiting Munich last year for a day trip to Zugspitze, beautiful Lake Eibsee and Garmisch Partenkirchen.

The other great thing worth remembering is that you can buy these tickets on the day from any Deutsche Bahn ticket machine in the train station.

10. Paris to Vienna for €60 with Nightjet train service

Night trains in europe a great way to save money on accommodation plus time if you are on tight itinerary.

If you are on a tight budget and travelling between countries, I would highly recommend looking into booking an overnight sleeper train to help you save money on 1 nights accommodation and also you are not wasting the whole day in a train.

For example you can travel from Paris to Vienna on the Nightjet service. It leaves Gare de l’Est at 6.58pm and reaches Vienna at 10.12am in the morning.

The basic fare for a seat in a 6 seat compartment carriage is €60. From the picture above, as you can see, not the most comfortable seat to be cooped up and try and sleep.

I f you are on a tight budget, it will get you from A to B. If you splurge on a couchette , you pay an extra €20 which might be worth the investment if it means getting a decent night sleep.

I’ve taken the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Edinburgh and also the Helsinki to Kolari ( Prices start from €49 for private cabin and with shower, €69 ) overnight train on my way to the 7 Fells Hostel in Finnish Lapland- ( Read more about my trip to Finnish Lapland here ) great way to travel and the journey itself is an experience that will remember.

Other great services on Nightjet train worth keeping an eye include the Munich to Zagreb service ( leaves Munich at 23.20pm and reaches Zagreb at 8.32am) -booking in advance, you get a seat in the compartment for as little as €29.90 or for an extra €45 on top, you can get a sleeper bed.

11. Buy a Eurail pass

The first entry on my first Interrail pass from 2012: ICE 36, Copenhagen to Hamburg, The journey begins…

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Hi I am Kash aka the BudgetTraveller I'm the Luxury Hostels guy and for the last 14 years are sharing ways of how you can travel in style on a budget. Say hello to me here or on Instagram/Twitter. Lets connect!

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Decoding Europe’s Train Tickets: A Guide to Budget-Friendly Journeys

T here’s nowhere else in the world where you can jump on a train and be in another country within minutes. Europe is a continent where you can have a morning coffee in Brussels and sit in a Parisian cafe overlooking the Seine for lunch. As a person who grew up in a vast country (Australia), I have always found the concept of country-hopping novel. Here’s why you should consider train tickets for your next visit to Europe.

Why Train Tickets Are a Great Way To See Europe

From the moment I wanted to travel, I started looking into the best way to go about it, and one of the first things I saw was Eurorail. The idea is simple—one fare and you can travel on any train within Europe. It sounds convenient and straightforward until you know the price. One of my first thoughts was, “Surely, there has to be a better way. Surely, this isn’t what people in Europe pay to travel.”

The Basics of European Train Ticketing Systems

Each country in Europe operates its own unique train ticketing system. Travelers can save a significant amount of money by comparing the cost of individual tickets to the options available with Eurail passes. Various factors influence ticket prices, but with flexible plans and early booking, you can bypass expensive ticketing systems and secure more budget-friendly fares.

Most countries have easy-to-use online ticketing systems. It’s just a matter of doing a Google search for the place you’re traveling to. For example, you’ll find Spain’s railway system is called  Renfe . Finding the right operator is essential for optimal savings, as each country’s train operator offers discounted fares for early bookings. For example, booking a Brussels to Paris train ticket through the RailEurope site costs from USD 55 for a one-way ticket and the same on SNCB International, but you’ll be paying a USD 9.50 booking fee on RailEurope.  

Other Factors To Consider

The European train ticketing system varies based on the type of train and the country you’re traveling in. Buying train tickets directly at the station is usually convenient for local, regional, and suburban trains since prices are fixed, and reservations are not typically required. However, fares operate similarly to airlines with dynamic pricing for long-distance trains in countries like France, Italy, Spain, and others. 

Booking in advance can offer significant savings, but tickets have specific terms like limited refunds or changes. Traditional ticketing methods apply in countries like the UK, Germany, and Austria, with flexible and advance-purchase options available, each with its pricing and reservation rules. Understanding these nuances, including booking options, stopover policies, and special fare considerations like senior or youth discounts, is essential to navigating the system effectively and securing the best travel deals.

15 Best Books To Read Before Visiting Europe

When to use eurail.

If you take our Brussels to Paris example from above, you’d be paying $141 if you bought a Eurail pass for the same trip plus seat reservation fees. Eurail does have its advantages, though. If you plan on traveling frequently during your trip, the pass may be worth it. For example, if you plan on visiting six destinations over a month, a Global Pass will cost you $391 and allow you seven days of unlimited travel. If you plan on more than seven days of train travel, you can get an unlimited pass for a month, costing $991. 

With Eurail, you can choose your travel days within a specified period, freeing you from rigid dates and allowing for plan adjustments. Additionally, the ease of booking and modifying your itinerary through online platforms and mobile apps streamline your travel planning. Moreover, certain Eurail passes offer extra benefits like discounted or complimentary access to attractions, ferry routes, or buses, further enriching your journey with additional options.

Remember you can also use your Eurail pass for train tickets within one country, but it is only available for some forms of transport. For example, you can use the London Overground in the UK, but not the Underground. If you have the time, do some research and see what your options are. If the Underground seems like your best choice to get to places you want to visit, Eurail isn’t for you.

Understanding Fare Classes and Seat Reservations

Some trains offer multiple fare classes, each with its amenities and pricing. Additionally, understanding when seat reservations are mandatory versus optional helps travelers plan better. For instance, while regional trains may not require reservations, high-speed or intercity trains in countries like France and Spain often do, sometimes at an additional cost.

On trains such as Eurostar, which travels through the UK, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, you’ll have an option for first and second-class seating. Sometimes, the price difference might not be a lot; if that’s the case, opt for first class—it provides seats offering additional space and amenities, which may even encompass complimentary food and beverages.

Seasonal Considerations

Seasonal fluctuations impact train tickets and their prices across Europe. High tourist seasons, such as summer or significant holidays, often increase demand, leading to higher prices. Conversely, traveling during off-peak seasons can result in more affordable fares. Being flexible with travel dates or opting for shoulder seasons can be an intelligent strategy for budget-conscious travelers.

Loyalty Programs and Rail Passes

Some European countries offer loyalty programs or discount cards that provide perks like reduced fares, lounge access, or priority boarding. While it might seem strange to join a loyalty program when you’re only going to be in a place for two weeks, joining up can sometimes have benefits. Exploring these options could lead to substantial savings for frequent travelers or those planning an extended European stay. Similarly, aside from Eurail, consider other regional rail passes tailored to specific countries or regions, such as France’s SNCF pass or Italy’s Trenitalia offerings, which might offer better value depending on your itinerary.

Navigating Language and Currency Differences

Many European train ticketing platforms offer English translations. If they don’t, you can ask Google to translate the page for you—right-click on the page and choose “Translate to English” from the drop-down list. Additionally, being aware of currency conversion rates and potential foreign transaction fees when booking from abroad ensures you get the best value for your money. At the moment, there’s not a massive difference between Euros and US Dollars; however, it’s still worth converting the fares to your local currency.

Benefits of Train Travel Over Air Travel

Trains are more environmentally friendly than airplanes or cars on a per-passenger basis, making them a greener option for those concerned about sustainability while touring Europe. A standout benefit of Europe’s rail system is the efficient boarding process. Unlike airports where you might arrive hours in advance for baggage checks and security screenings if your train departure is at 9 am, you can typically arrive closer to that time without extensive waiting or security procedures. While some countries implement a simple luggage scan, others may have minimal to no security checks, streamlining your travel experience.

So, when considering your options to travel between European countries, consider grabbing train tickets and embarking on an unforgettable journey through Europe’s rail network, where convenience, affordability, and sustainability harmoniously converge. Whether indulging in a morning coffee in Brussels or immersing yourself in the scenic beauty along the Seine, the experience transcends mere transportation.

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One train, three countries and a £7 ticket: Europe’s newest rail trip

Have a mini interrail adventure through italy, slovenia and croatia on an affordable route that takes in the adriatic’s aristocratic history.

I ’m riding a Slovenian train from Italy to Croatia, on a line built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire 150 years ago. Back then railroading Viennese royalty could breakfast in Trieste, shoot Slovenian game for lunch, then catch a show in a theatre decorated by Gustav Klimt in Rijeka, Croatia. A five-hour version of the route continued into the 1980s.

Now, after more than 30 years, the line between the port cities of Trieste and Rijeka was reinstated to run until late September, with a view to operating long term. It’s now a two-hour dash across three countries that costs £7. But since Croatia joined the Schengen zone last year you can hop on, hop off at any of eight Italian, Slovenian or Croatian stations on the new route. I chose to travel over a long weekend, buying a new ticket from the conductor for a few euros each leg. I was one of the first passengers.

My journey started in Trieste. Until 1918 the Italian city was the principal port of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. The port ran like clockwork to import coffee beans from the Ottoman Empire to perk up the Austro-Hungarians. Trieste remains a regular Vienna-on-Sea. Locals pause punctiliously at zebra crossings. Triestini are still thought to sip more coffee than the inhabitants of any other Italian city.

At Antico Caffè Torinese I go local by ordering a capo in B (a heart-starting cappuccino in a bicchiere , or glass). This grand Trieste establishment stocks a zany selection of liqueurs forgotten in newer cafés: amaro d’erbe made with iris and mugwort; infuso di rabarbaro powered by rhubarb and a high alcohol content. However, café patrons wear blue jeans and puffer jackets rather than stylish Italian garb — this is Mitteleuropa meets the Med.

Outside the café I ride a bus to Miramare Castle, Trieste’s Habsburg must-see. The neo-gothic mansion was built by charismatic Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, the spare-heir to Emperor Franz Joseph, who ruled the empire until 1916. The castle’s Aztec eagle motifs hint at the Habsburg’s global gallivanting, which climaxed in Maximilian becoming emperor of Mexico — where he was eventually executed by a firing squad.

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I stay at funky new hotel the Modernist. Imagine a stylish Italian escape meticulously run by Austrians — perfect (B&B doubles from £103; themodernisthotel.eu). James Joyce wrote and drank around the corner during the final days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and once reflected: “[Trieste] was a ramshackle affair but it was charming, gay.” Habsburg machinations would result in Joyce’s departure in 1915, when the empire’s twin ports of Trieste and Rijeka became divided by politics. I’ll cross that former Cold War border tomorrow.

On day two I board the 7.50am train to Rijeka from a small station in the ritzy northern Trieste suburb of Villa Opicina, a ten-minute cab ride from Trieste’s main station. En route I savour a breakfast box prepared by the Modernist: a child’s fantasy consisting of one cake, three biscuits, two fruit yoghurts and a brownie. At 8am my phone pings as I cross mobile networks into Slovenia and gaze out from the new train’s picture windows. Drystone walls are razor straight. Rows of winter cabbages stand to attention. Unlike in Italy, everything is organised just so.

At 8.54am I alight at the charming Slovenian town Ilirska Bistrica, which has been governed by five regimes since 1918: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, the German Reich, Yugoslavia and now Slovenia. During the interwar period Ilirska Bistrica’s Italian overlords built 60 miles of tarmacked forest roads. These have been turned into cycle tracks in Slovenia’s most bike-mad town. I navigate them on one of the eight ebikes for rent from the tourist office in the town’s centre (£22 a day; visitilirskabistrica.si). The topography is Austria for softies: a green sheen of forest ringed by the snow-dusted Julian Alps, plus mossy streams that could double as a screensaver.

I pedal my ebike past some of the town’s 40 watermills. They once milled flour for the Austrians and sliced wood to box up Italian lemons. Ilirska Bistrica (population about 4,500) has always been international. I sample the town’s signature dish of sauerkraut, introduced by French engineers who helped to build the railway for the Austrians in the 1870s, before pedalling over to the honey producer Andrej Bergoc and the floral artist Sonja Prosen’s freshly renovated 18th-century cottage Belakapa (one night’s self-catering for six from £171; belakapa.si).

The couple give me their homestay’s honey-tasting experience (£34pp). It starts with sparkling honey wine and Slovenian sheep cheese that Bergoc traded for several jars. The highlight is the honey degustation. I try my host’s linden honey (menthol, chewy) and chestnut honey (spicy, smoky) chased by three shots of apple-honey liqueur, before settling into a sweet sleep. The next morning Bergoc makes me an omelette with his hens’ eggs and asparagus plucked from his garden. If only all Airbnbs were like this.

The next day, I board the new train at 8.55am. For 40 minutes we barrel through plum blossom and poppies before punching through a tunnel onto Croatia’s sunny coast. Opatija-Matulji railway station is choked in bougainvillea and has its own rose garden and vegetable plot. Plus a wooden swing from which to enjoy the sun-licked, clickety-click mise en place. I’m betting the adjoining resort of Opatija is fabulous.

And it is. Fifteen years after the train line arrived in 1873, 85 grand hotels and villas graced this rococo resort. These include the Heritage Hotel Imperial, where I check in. The Imperial has an imposing staircase wide enough for a hussar to gallop a horse up, and a ballroom (now the breakfast room) ceiling of Sistine complexity. At the turn of the 20th century hotel staff hailed from across the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Prague, Lviv, Krakow, Sarajevo. Last month several new staff arrived from the Philippines and Nepal (B&B doubles from £99; liburnia.hr).

To get my bearings I hike the seven-mile Lungomare seafront promenade. It’s a gorgeous symphony of Austrian architecture, Italian peacocking and Croatian coast. Greenfinches serenade the trail. Terraces edge towards the Adriatic carrying the scent of jasmine, iris and rose. This is Croatia’s answer to Capri or Cannes.

Lunch is fancy. Restaurant Bevanda could cater for an oligarch’s daughter’s wedding. Vast window panes overlook a shimmering Adriatic. I start with a tartare of Opatija’s famous prawns drawn from the Kvarner Gulf. Anchovies that taste like seaside jerky and octopus as crunchy as seafood chips follow. Just offshore, tuna hunt sardines that jump from the water. Seafood doesn’t get fresher.

The next morning only a ten-minute journey remains along the new train line. At 9.37am we meander to Rijeka like a clinking voyeur, past balcony breakfasters and laptop-tappers. Rijeka’s seafront railway station looks like a Habsburg wedding cake, built to impose. I arrive to witness a marathon, an outdoor jazz festival and a superyacht leaving port. Trieste’s twin brother is buzzing.

I visit the Sugar Palace opposite the station first. The former headquarters of the city’s sugar refinery is now a museum that shows — using blocks of sugarloaf, ocean liner models and fin de siècle fashions — how the port became Vienna’s window on the world. Nearby hotels such as the Lloyd and the Europa welcomed wealthy migrants, including the newsman Joseph Pulitzer and the inventor Nikola Tesla, who took ships directly to the New World from Rijeka.

My accommodation is even more central. Botel was once an Adriatic ferry that served Mali Losinj, an island that tempts across the bay. It has been sympathetically converted into a floating hotel with wooden panelling, exposed engines and deckchairs on the roof (room-only doubles from £83; botelmarina.com).

On my final morning I’m up early. Rijeka’s fish market looks like a Viennese palace filled with gilthead bream, clams of all sizes and swordfish spears. Michael Palin called it a “cathedral of fish”. This architectural wonder was completed in 1916. Two years later the polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire was a train wreck. Its motto of “indivisibiliter ac inseparabiliter” (indivisible and inseparable) was sliced like the train tracks from Rijeka onwards. Miklos Horthy, the vice-admiral of the empire’s navy, who had attended naval academy in Rijeka, became the leader of land-locked Hungary.

There’s time for one last lunch. Since 1885 Conca d’Oro has served local fish in an alleyway frescoed with portraits of city figures. My waiter Dominik Mihic tells me how wasabi and sesame oil have infiltrated the city’s salty soul. A seafood platter that might cost £100 in London is £30 here, and could fill a family with carpaccio of octopus and prosciutto-style dried tuna. I’d love to lie down on the pine-scented beaches of Sablicevo, a 20-minute walk from Rijeka city centre, but I have a train to catch. On the 6.25pm to Trieste the sun sets on Slovenian hills and Italian villas. The aristocratic Adriatic is back on track. Tristan Rutherford travelled as a guest of the Croatia National Tourist Board ( croatia.hr ), Belakapa and the Modernist. Trains run daily in both directions from Trieste to Rijeka from £7 one-way (tickets bought on board). Fly or take the train to Trieste

Where to stay in Rijeka

1. hilton rijeka costabella beach resort & spa.

A 15-minute cab ride from downtown, this is Rijeka’s prime address. It’s the resort with it all: a 43m-long infinity pool, private (pebble) beach, kids’ club (ages 4-12) and six restaurants. The biggie is the Michelin-starred Nebo (tasting menu £125; neborijeka.com), which elevates local amberjack and shellfish with foraged asparagus and heirloom apple varieties. Rooms including suites and two-bedroom family apartments are contemporary: the Costabella opened in 2020 to coincide with Rijeka’s Capital of Culture celebrations. Most rooms enjoy a thumping panorama over Croatia’s Istria peninsula. Saltwater fiends can try wakeboarding, flyboarding or paddleboard yoga on the calm Kvarner Bay out front. Details B&B doubles from £135 (hilton.com)

2. Old Town Inn

This vintage charmer is just off Korzo, Rijeka’s buzziest boulevard. Built in the 19th century, stone arches frame the foyer, while vaulted brick ceilings grace the guesthouse’s fancier rooms. The Old Town Inn is individual and highly rated — but petite. Some of the clean, white en suite showers are shaped to fit slanting ceilings. Steep steps mean the hotel, welcoming though it is, is not accessible to all. Details Room-only doubles from £54 (oldtown.rest)

No accommodation captures Rijeka’s salty soul like Botel. Built in the 1930s, this former ferry chugged to nearby islands including Silba and Mali Losinj until 2007. It is now reincarnated as a floating hotel with exposed engine parts and steep naval staircases. The location is unsurpassed: slap bang in the centre of this port city. One, two, three and four-person rooms are basic and bright. Most have portholes that peep out onto yachts anchored alongside. The best part? Botel’s alfresco bar on the stern. Sink a flinty malvasia white wine or local Pan Zlatni lager on tap. Details Room-only doubles from £66 (botelmarina.com)

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How risky can the train connections be in Europe?

Simon calder answers your questions on train travel in europe, cabin baggage and split-saver tickets, article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

Q Like most people, I guess, I would like to travel to Europe more by train rather than plane. But I’ve heard a couple of horror stories of enormous disruption and expense when friends have found one train delayed, missed their connection and then had to pay a fortune to change or buy a new ticket. How risky is it?

Name supplied

A I share their pain. The last time I travelled through Brussels , the Belgian Railways train was late and I arrived at Midi station with only 20 minutes to spare before my Eurostar train was due to leave for London . The station staff were still letting through Business Premier passengers; they can check in up to 15 minutes ahead, unlike the half-hour deadline for the rest of us. I was told I was too late, and from memory, it ended up costing me around £60 to put right.

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Eurostar reveals plans for 50 new trains – as well as additional routes to Europe

• Hope Brotherton , Travel Reporter
• Published : 16:33, 16 May 2024
• Updated : 11:03, 17 May 2024
• Published : Invalid Date,

NEW routes could be on the horizon for Eurostar, after the train company revealed plans to significantly expand its fleet.

Train operator Eurostar plans to place an order with train manufacturers in a bid to expand its fleet and replace its older rolling stock.

After the train operator has replaced its older carriages, it will be able to expand its fleet by 33 per cent from 51 to 67 trains.

This means that 16 will be brand new, while the rest will replace older trains as they need improvements.

According to the Financial Times , Eurostar Chief Executive Gwendoline Cazenave revealed that the train company was considering new route options from London to Europe .

This would mean adding to its existing services between London , Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

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She said: "With a new fleet we will study new routes, new European routes  . . . I think by the end of the year or early 2025 we will be able to say more."

The train operator will choose the manufacturer based on how quickly stock can be delivered, with Cazenave adding: "It’s a race . The sooner the better.

"The market is pushing so hard, that we really need to see which manufacturer is going to be able to be ready as quick as possible."

Eurostar isn't the only train operator hoping to establish new routes and connections from London to Europe , with a swathe of other businesses announcing plans to launch services in recent years.

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She also said that the new fleet would coincide with the new improvements at some of the destination stations.

This includes the expansion of the Eurostar terminal in Amsterdam as well as renovations of Paris Gare du Nord and St Pancras in the next few years.

She added: "At the stage of the new fleet, we will have bigger stations."

Biometric border checks are also due to be introduced at London St Pancras International later this year.

The new Entry/Exit System (EES) checks will require residents from outside the EU or Schengen area to register before entering the zone.

While there has been much worry over lengthy queues and wait times when the biometric border checks come into force, Cazenave remains confident that passengers won't be facing huge queues.

According to the Eurostar chief executive, parts of the London train station will be redesigned to make more space for passengers.

The train companies hoping to rival Eurostar

Last year, start-up operator Evolyn revealed plans to connect London St Pancras International and Paris Gare du Nord by 2025.

It is hoped that the first service will launch in 2025, with a full service expected by 2026.

Meanwhile, new Dutch operator Heuro has also announced plans for routes between London, Amsterdam and  Paris .

The train company plans to operate 15 daily return services between London and Amsterdam, rivalling Eurostar's four direct services.

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains could also be looking to launch a new route between the UK and Europe.

A source told the Telegraph that Virgin has a "strong chance of succeeding" on the new route - although a Virgin spokesperson wouldn't comment on the speculations.

At present, around 400 trains per day use the tunnel between London and Europe - despite having a capacity for 1,000.

Three scenic train journeys you can take in the UK

Cornish Coast - One trip that rail enthusiasts seem to love is along a stretch of the  Cornish  coast and takes just 10 minutes to complete.

The route from St Erth to  St Ives  only stops at Carbis Bay en route to its final destination, but the views out the window for the whole journey are pretty spectacular.

Another highlight of the journey is that St Ives station is situated right next to  Porthminster beach , meaning the sand and sea can be accessed almost immediately.

Meanwhile, the station is less than a ten minute walk into town, where the harbour, shops, galleries and  pubs  can be explored.

Durham to Edinburgh - Another train route that people in the UK love is the East Coast train line between Durham and Edinburgh, with coastal views and city landscapes among the sights that can be seen out the window.

Newcastle , Berwick, Lindisfarne and Durham Cathedral are all among the highlights on that route.

Scotland's West Highland Line - While  Scotland  is home to plenty of famous landmarks and top attractions, it also has one of the most breathtaking train routes in the world.

Scotland's West Highland Line has previously been dubbed the best rail journey in the world by  Wanderlust  - and it's easy to see why.

The journey from Glasgow to Fort William is one of my favourite train routes - and I've  interrailed through mainland Europe .

With mountain landscapes, serene lochs, wistful moors, and wildlife all visible through the  train window , it's certainly a route all holidaymakers should consider doing at least once.

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Meanwhile, a new train service is set to launch in the UK next year.

The new service will be called the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway, with routes operating between  London  Euston and Wrexham.