I’m headed to Hawaii today for a few days for some work projects and meetings, but while I’m flying across the Pacific, I thought I’d return to my Travel Tips series with a post on traveling around
Europe by train.
Europe by train.
One thing I feel like the US, especially the West Coast is missing out on, are trains.
While we have Amtrak on the West Coast, it’s not convenient, it takes forever to get places and is hardly ever on time.
In Europe, that is the complete opposite (for the most part).
Whether you’re traveling between countries, cities or just from the airport into downtown,
Europe has nailed train travel.
Waiting for the RER line to Versailles from Paris |
Departure board in Verona, Italy |
Nick and I do a lot of train travel in Europe whenever it’s possible.
To start, we always take the trains in from the airports (which most major European cities I’ve been to have some sort of train/tram into the city centre).
Paris and London are especially great at this for both of their major airports.
Charles de Gaulle is so easy to jump on the RER and head straight into Paris, and Orly (Paris’ smaller airport) has a great link up tram with the RER.
Heathrow and Gatwick both have trains from major train stations in central London
that are fantastic as well.
These options are inexpensive and you beat all the traffic into the city,
totally worth it.
Riding the Gatwick Express from London Victoria Station |
As far as traveling longer distances, between cities and between countries, it’s just as easy.
We’ve done train travel between:
Milan to Verona – Italy
Milan to Nice – Italy to France
Nice to Monte Carlo – France to Monaco
Paris to Versailles – France
On the train from Milan to Verona in Italy |
Milan’s Central Train Station |
Waiting for our train from Nice, France to Monte Carlo |
Whether the train ride is 35 minutes or 5 hours or more, trains can
offer many things that plane travel can’t.
On a train, you have a much larger seat for a much less expensive cost.
On a train you can work on your computer, be on the internet or on your phone, all of which are difficult on airplanes.
It also most of the time offers beautiful scenery throughout the course of your trip.
Obviously, it depends on the distance being traveled and what your other travel options are, whether car or plane. But for so much of Europe, hopping on a train can be quite a fun and worthwhile experience.
Monte Carlo’s train station |
Some tips though for your next European railway excursion:
-For longer trips, book your ticket ahead of time online through a service like RailEurope
-For shorter trips (day trips and such), it’s sometimes easier to just buy your ticket the day of at the station so you have more flexibility and often, many online ticket purchases can’t be changed if you need to grab a different train
-For long trips, I’d highly recommend paying a little extra for a first class cabin.
It’s not really that much more and so comfortable.
-Travel light. Don’t have a ton of huge bags as they are hard to manage on the train.
Bon voyage!
Bonnie Rose says
One of my favourite trips to date is my family’s trip through Europe when I was a small girl living abroad because we traveled on the train. A lot of times we slept on the overnight trips to get to our new destination.
Bonnie Rose | A Compass Rose
Melissa Williscroft says
Great tips — especially the packing light part!
Isn’t the train station in Monte Carlo gorgeous? I felt like I was at a mall!
ifs ands Butts says
I’ve been on at least 100 trains in Europe and had only one bad experience (my first one) when the Italian trains were on strike. It’s just the best way to travel!
Casey Martin says
Yea, they really are a great experience I think the majority of the time!
Erica says
I do love using trains when possible- it often gives you a glimpse of the countryside that you might not have otherwise seen. I always get the aisle seat on a plane because I’m all about efficiency when flying, but I’m all about the window seat on a train!
I really do recommend getting tickets early in Europe- at least for the UK, as pricing works kind of like it does for airlines. However, in Japan, bullet train tickets can go on sale, but pricing never goes up just because the departure date is approaching! 🙂
Casey Martin says
Totally! You see such beautiful scenery on trains! And interesting fact on the UK tickets… because it does depend on places on whether to buy early or not.
Alyson says
great tips! and I’ll def have to consider upgrading to a first class cabin for longer train rides. Thanks!
tiarenie says
i love train travel! i’ve always wished that there was more of it in the US. its so much more comfortable than air travel!
Casey Martin says
I know!! I don’t know why the US sort of gave up on that form of transportation… it’s too bad really!
lost in travels says
we took our first train in thailand and fell in love with that way of traveling. it’s so roomy and the difference between first and second class was a few dollars (too bad first class was sold out by the time we booked!) we’d definitely do it again and look forward to doing it when we make it to europe. thanks for the tips!
Casey Martin says
the trains in Asia are amazing too… I’ve done it around Korea and they are fabulous! It’s a great way to travel!
Brittany says
We used a Eurorail pass on our last trip and loved it. Because we were over 25, we were automatically placed in 1st class and it really made a big difference. I would definitely recommend the upgrade. The only problems we had with Eurorail specifically were in France, which required more fees/advance reservations. However, everything else was incredible, we especially loved being able to sip a cocktail while enjoying the scenery 🙂
Casey Martin says
I’ve heard that Eurorail passes are great.. haven’t used one yet though. I’ll have to try it out sometime!