Are you trying to strike a balance between your passion for travel and sustainability? One of the easiest ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to swap planes for trains.
If the idea makes you nervous, I understand. Planning a flightless trip through Europe can feel daunting. My baptism of fire was a high-season train trip from London to Puglia, so I know exactly how you feel.
I also know that it worked wonderfully for me, so it can work wonderfully for you too. By the time you plan your second trip, it will just be so much easier!
Before getting into practicalities, let me share a basic fact. Train travel in Europe is widespread. The European rail network is extremely well-developed and you can get virtually everywhere.
A Swiss Bernina Express train © Andreas Stutz/Unsplash
Whether you are dreaming of a bucket list destination, or want to embark on a multi-stop journey, take a look at the train travel options before finalising your plans. You will be surprised. It is often easier than it seems, and some of the routes are so scenic you'll be grateful you ditched the plane!
Whether you are dreaming of a flightless or your own 3-week Grand Tour, here is an overview of train travel in Europe and a few tips to get you started.
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1. How do I establish if travel by train to a destination is feasible?
If this is your first experience of researching and planning a train holiday, and you cannot bear the idea of sifting through a number of national railways websites with different degrees of English and technical clarity, thetrainline.com is a great way to start. It is fast and efficient - and it is available in different countries and languages.
RailEurope is another excellent option. It allows you to browse routes and sells not only train tickets but also travel passes, which is great if you are planning to go away for week or more.
I also love specialist websites such as TheManinSeat61, which I started following in its infancy. It is a very comprehensive resource when planning train travel, including specific information on the type of train, and what is available in the carriages.
Rome2Rio offers a useful comparison between flying and train travel times to your chosen destination. It can be a great reality check! If, once you take airport transfers into account, your train journey is faster or just marginally slower than a flight, it could persuade you to book that train!
Once you have done your feasibility homework with thetrainline, RailEurope.com, and Rome2Rio, you can get more creative and design a trip that is unique for you. This is where national railway websites come into play.
thetrainline and Rome2Rio tend to give you the routes with the shortest change over time. RailEurope gives you a couple of options. But you may need even more flexibility. You may want to stop over somewhere on your route. If, say, you are going from London to Bordeaux but fancy a lunch in Paris, browsing the Eurostar website and then SNCF's means you could combine the best options to make your Parisian lunch come true.
A lunch stopover in Paris? © Wix
If you are changing trains in Paris, you may need to change stations. The most common change is between Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon. Here are a few ideas for turning that change into a mini-stopover.
Another reason I like browsing the websites of each train operator, is that they all develop their own content, and they often have features highlighting specific cities or destinations at specific times of the year, which may give you inspiration for your trip.
They may also have special deals for accommodation, sightseeing, and local transport, that you may want to take advantage of.
2. Are there different types of trains in Europe, and which type is best for me?
There indeed! In Europe, there is everything from fast services to overnighters that take you to your destination first thing in the morning, to scenic routes, to slower regional services that take you off the beaten path and give you the thrill of discovery.
A German high-speed train © David Abadia/Unsplash
The Eurostar connects the UK with France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
High-speed trains also connect France with the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.
Austria has high-speed links to Germany.
The last couple of years has seen the launch of fast train services s between France and Northern Italy (Milano and Torino) and between France and Spain (Paris to Barcelona).
There is also a growing network of night trains. Currently, the leading operator in the overnight sector is Austrian Railways (Nightjet), with services connecting Austria with Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
European Sleepers connects Belgium and the Netherlands with Belgium and Czechia.
Snälltåget offers very popular overnight services between Berlin and Stockholm.
The night train sector is likely to grow significantly. If press reports are correct, the limit at the moment is a practical one. Producing sleeper trains is a complicated and specialised business, and factories struggle to cope with demand.
Beyond high-speed trains, European countries still have their local and regional train network - the slow trains so to speak. These services, often used by commuters, are incredibly useful as they open up travel opportunities.
Fast trains tend to connect main cities - cities that are likely to also have an airport. These cities are therefore likely to be popular tourist destinations. The traditional regional trains are the ones that really allow you to discover off-the-beaten-path Europe. They take you to cities and villages that may only see day trippers, and sometimes not even those. You'll be steeped in history and surrounded by epic landscapes, without the crowds.
In many cases, these slower trains operate on older tracks not suitable for high speed, that have less tunnels, and are a lot more scenic. For example, the regional route between Bologna and Florence is delightful, with the peaks of the Apennines gradually giving way to rolling hills dotted with cypresses and dream-like villages; similarly, the slow route connecting the main cities in western Germany coasts the Rhine in many places, offering incredible views.
Europe also offers several scenic trains which are attractions in their own right. Some are marketed specifically to tourists - although you can still use them to travel between locations instead of a faster connection. Examples of those are the Centovalli and Bernina trains between Italy and Switzerland.
Other scenic trains are standard regional services riding through particularly scenic parts of the continent. As an example, the track between Milan and Geneva treats you to one of the magnificent train rides on earth, coasting the western side of Lake Maggiore, crossing the Alps, cutting through the magnificent sunlit Valais canton of Switzerland before riding alongside Lac Leman all the way to Geneva.
I cover them in my posts on Europe's, Italy's, Switzerland's and Germany's most scenic train rides.
Each type of train has its pros and cons:
Night trains seem expensive, but you save on hotels. and arrive at your next destination early in the morning.
High-speed trains are more expensive than slower local trains but get you to your destination faster. If you are going for the fast train, check business class as well. Outside business peak hours, you may find a business/first-class ticket (which includes refreshments and wifi) for just a few euros more than an economy ticket.
Slow trains take longer, but the intermediate stops they offer allow you to discover real gems, and corners of unique authentic Europe off-the-beaten-track.
Scenic trains are slow, but you are repaid by incredible views.
A view of Lake Maggiore from the Trenord regional train © Alps2Coast
3. How do I find the best train travel price deals?
From a budgeting perspective, the best approach is to browse each national operator's website. You may spot special accommodation or sightseeing offers - or receive an incentive/cheaper fare if you sign up for their membership programme.
Also, going back to our earlier London-Bordeaux route example, SNCF may have a special deal on a different departure from the one you are planning, which may require a tweak to your journey, such as turning a simple train change into a stopover to benefit from the deal.
So my key piece of advice is to investigate both thetrainline.com, and individual operator websites, and then decide what option is better for you.
4. When I travel by train through different European countries, do I have to go through passport control?
There are no passport nor customs controls within the Schengen area of Europe.
You can hop on a train from Munich to Venice or Amsterdam to Berlin without worrying about customs nor passports. Having said that, random checks are still possible, as I discovered in February. The French border police boarded my train between France and Italy and inspected everyone's passports and visas. It was a very rare occurrence - and the first time in 30 years of free movement that I witnessed that - but travel with your passport if you are a non-EU citizen, and with an ID card if you are. Better safe then sorry!
Globetrotting by train © Wix
Things are slightly more complicated if you begin your European journey in London. Do allow for queues and passport delays in your planning. Things may actually go smoothly, but you never know until you get there.
Eurostar advises its passengers to be at Saint Pancras 90 minutes before their scheduled departure - the gates close 30 minutes before.
On my last trip, on a busy Saturday morning train, the advice felt about right.
If you are booked on a 2 pm departure queues may be more manageable, but the last thing you want is to miss the first leg of your journey!
5. How can I travel to a place which is not served by trains?
If your dream destination does not have a train station, there is often another sustainable way to get there. By combining train and coach, or train and taxi, or train and ferry if you are going to an island, you will find a way to get there.
The best research tool for this type of challenge is Rome2Rio. Its website does what it says on the cover. I have used them to plan flightless trips in Europe and beyond for over a decade. You simply enter departure and arrival points and you get options to choose from - and corresponding travel times.
Let me add that a more challenging journey may compensate you by being more rewarding. Coaches, buses, and ferries allow you to design unique holidays, and go to places where not many tourists have been. So, do not let the lack of a train station in the vicinity put you off. See what the trade-off is. You may be about to discover a real pearl and make unforgettable memories!
You will need a coach to get to Etretat © Allyson Beaucourt
Ready for your European train adventure?
I hope this information helps you plan your first, or subsequent, European train trip. If you have any questions, do reach out to me using the contact form.
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