Four great rail journeys across Europe
Posted: 01 Mar 2009, 13:32
Four great rail journeys across Europe
From The Sunday Times
March 1, 2009
Train guru Mark Smith maps out four great itineraries for civilised continental vacations
Mark Smith
Yes, yes, we know what you’re thinking — and you’re wrong. InterRailing is no longer the preserve of wide-eyed, slack-jawed gap-year students, all heading to Amsterdam and then who cares where.
True, there are still student types around (they’re easy to spot, and avoid), but with the introduction of adult first- and second-class options, InterRailing has become a versatile, fun and cheap way to see Europe for those who might previously have politely declined such an opportunity.
And with month-long passes available, those of us who find ourselves with some unscheduled time on our hands can set off to see where this brave new world can take them.
To start you off, here are four itineraries that offer grown-up adventures across the continent.
There are fabulous, romantic cities to explore, sensational Alpine views to gawp at and glorious, glamorous beaches to pose on. All you have to do is choose which to do first.
For prices and how to buy tickets, see below.
Route 1: EASTERN EUROPE
Amsterdam: leave London for Holland the traditional way, on an 8.38pm train from Liverpool Street station to Harwich. Bed down in a private ensuite cabin aboard the Stena Line superferry to the Hook of Holland, then take a morning train to Amsterdam Centraal. You’ll arrive just after 10am, with a day to explore — the Rembrandt House Museum (rembrandthuis.nl), Anne Frank’s house (annefrank.org) and acres of quiet canals for a wander are all within easy walking distance of the station.
If you don’t fancy the ferry, you can reach Amsterdam by Eurostar to Brussels and a Thalys high-speed train in about five hours. If you live in the north of England or Scotland, you can avoid the trek into London by taking an overnight cruise ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, run by DFDS Seaways, or P&O’s ferry from Hull to Rotterdam.
Prague: just after 7pm each night, the City Night Line sleeper train Kopernikus leaves Amsterdam Centraal, bound for Prague. Couchettes are basic padded bunks in four- or six-berth compartments, supplied with sheet, pillow and blanket — bunk beds on a train, great for kids. The sleeping car offers posher accommodation, with one-, two- or three-bed compartments, including deluxe sleepers with private toilet and shower. Grab a light breakfast in the train’s bar-bistro car before arriving at Prague’s Hlavni station at 9.24am.
Cracow: now it’s on to Poland. A modern air-conditioned EuroCity train called the Comenius leaves Prague for Cracow every afternoon at 2.09pm. Get in an early dinner in the restaurant car, because at 8.07pm the train calls at a seemingly drab and uninspiring place called Oswiecim. You may be more familiar with its German name: Auschwitz. Check in at the Hotel Glob, next to the station on the left. There are two museums: Auschwitz I is 10 minutes from the station, the purpose-built Auschwitz-Birkenau II a 25-minute walk out of town (visit auschwitz.org.pl ). Allow most of a day to see them properly, then catch a late-afternoon bus or local train into Cracow, 90 minutes away. It’s a beautiful city and (unlike Oswiecim) virtually untouched by the second world war.
Budapest: a direct sleeper with a sleeping car and couchettes links Cracow and Budapest every night at 10.15pm, arriving at 8.32am. You’ll find cosy one-, two- or three-bed rooms with washbasins in the sleeper and more basic compartments with four or six bunks in the couchettes.
Vienna: leaving Hungary for Vienna is easy — fast, air-conditioned EuroCity trains link the two cities. Running every two hours throughout the day, they take just over three hours, with refreshments available on board.
Back to Amsterdam: after exploring Vienna, you can complete your round trip with a direct City Night Line sleeper, which leaves the Westbahnhof at 7.54pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday (on other days, there’s A change of train at Cologne). Once again, choose between a one-, two- or three-bed sleeper, some with private shower and toilet, or an economical four-berth or six-berth couchette.
Hit the ’Dam before catching the train or ferry home.
Route 2: THE ALPS
Paris: starting at London’s superbly restored St Pancras International station, board a Eurostar to Paris, reaching the French capital in roughly two hours. Travel in standard class or splash out on Leisure Select (first class), with complimentary at-seat drinks and food. Whether you stop off in Paris or jump straight onto a train to Switzerland, allow time for a meal at the Gare de Lyon’s magnificent restaurant, Le Train Bleu (le-train-bleu. com), while waiting for your train to Lausanne. The food is excellent and the sumptuous belle époque decor makes it easily the most stunning station buffet you’ll ever see. The set three-course menu costs £43.
Lausanne and Zermatt: now relax, as a 186mph TGV whisks you from Paris to Lausanne in four hours. If you’re travelling in first class (and don’t rule it out — there are some remarkably cheap fares available if you book well in advance), ask for Club Duo seats: a pair of armchairs facing each other across an intimate table for two.
Stay the night in Lausanne, then let the famously efficient Swiss rail network carry you on to Zermatt, a ski resort nestling at the head of the Mattertal Valley, beneath the imposing Matterhorn. Zermatt is a wonderful place for a day or two, even if you’re not planning to ski (or climb the Matterhorn). It’s car-free, so you can wander the streets without fumes or traffic — small electric buggies serve as taxis.
Glacier Express to St Moritz: cameras at the ready for one of Europe’s most amazing Alpine rail journeys. The famous narrow-gauge Glacier Express leaves Zermatt at 10 each morning. It’s express in name only — the 180-mile journey to St Moritz takes a stately seven hours, at an average speed of just 24mph. Settle back in your armchair and watch some of the most magnificent scenery on the continent unfold through giant panoramic windows. An excellent lunch can be served at your seat, along with equally fine (though not cheap, it has to be said) Swiss white wine. Or bring your own favourite with you on board — it’s allowed on trains across most of Europe.
The Glacier Express trundles slowly down the Mattertal Valley to Brig, ascends the bleak Oberalp pass, runs along the pretty Rhône gorge and finally snakes through the mountains, past cute villages and ruined castles, into the Engadine skiing region. You can stay in St Moritz itself, but for something different, I’d suggest the nearby Muottas Muragl Berghotel, perched on an 8,058ft mountain and reached by funicular railway from Punt Muragl station. It’s unpretentious and inexpensive for Switzerland, but the views are extraordinary. Doubles start at £48, B&B (00 41 81 842 8232, muottasmuragl.ch ).
Innsbruck and the Arlberg Pass: after a day or two, head back to Zurich and join a modern, air-conditioned EuroCity service to Innsbruck. You’ll find good direct trains at 9.40am (the Transalpin, arriving in Innsbruck at 1.27pm), 1.40pm (the Vorarlberg, arriving at 5.21pm), and 5.40pm (the Kaiserin Elisabeth, arriving at 9.21pm), all with an excellent waiter-service restaurant car. After cutting through Liechtenstein for a few miles, the train snakes through the fabulous Arlberg Pass between Switzerland and Austria. Treat yourself to lunch (£24pp) in the restaurant car as the train hugs first one side of the valley, then the other, past Alpine meadows lifted straight from The Sound of Music.
Salzburg, Verona and Venice: from Innsbruck, head to Salzburg, with its own funicular railway up to a castle. Trains link the cities, centre to centre, every two hours, with the journey taking 1hr 59min. When it’s time to head back, go through Innsbruck to Verona. There are plenty of trains — the 8.56am from Salzburg connects at Innsbruck with the EuroCity train Michelangelo, reaching Verona at 2.57pm after a slow but steady descent of the scenic Brenner pass.
If you’ve a day or two to spare, Venice is only 70min from Verona by hourly fast train; if time is tight, head straight back home on the daily overnight sleeper Stendhal, which leaves Venice at 7.57pm and Verona at 9.24pm, arriving in Paris at 8.19am. It has sleepers (one-, two- or three-bed private rooms with washbasin) and couchettes (four or six bunks per compartment, each supplied with rug and pillow), There’s a restaurant car for dinner and breakfast; the set dinner menu (pasta, meat dish and dessert) costs £25 and is filling, if not gourmet. Then it’s a Métro ride to the Gare du Nord, and the Eurostar will see you back at St Pancras in time for lunch.
Route 3: french riviera and italy
Paris and Avignon: take a morning Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord, then one of the frequent TGV trains that run from the Gare de Lyon to Avignon in just 2hr 40min. The train sweeps down the Rhône Valley at high speed, passing typical French villages and crossing the river several times on spectacular viaducts.
When booking, do your best to get on one of the double-decker TGV Duplexes, as a top-deck Club Duo table for two in first class is perhaps the nicest way of all to reach the south of France. Both raileurope.co.uk and tgv-europe.com show which trains are duplex when you book, though the latter offers a wider range of seating preferences such as top or bottom deck, or Club Duo.
Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo: after a day or two in Avignon, visiting the Palais des Papes and the famous Pont d’Avignon, head for the Riviera. Beyond Toulon, the railway runs along the coast past beaches, rocky promontories, millionaires’ villas and yacht-filled harbours. For my money, Cannes is the better place to stay, but check out the seafood restaurants in Nice’s old town and wander up to the casino at Monte Carlo. Avignon to Cannes takes from 2hr 45min and there are frequent trains.
San Remo, Cinque Terre: when you tire of the Riviera, catch a EuroCity train from Nice into Italy. Stop off in San Remo, about an hour from Nice, if you like, or head straight on via Genoa to the pretty Cinque Terre villages for a day or two. For example, the 10.02am EuroCity train from Nice will get you to Monterosso, one of the five Cinque Terre villages, at 3.02pm, with a simple change at Genoa. The journey is a leisurely scenic amble along the Italian coast.
Pisa and Florence: next stop Pisa, an hour and a half south of Monterosso on the train. You don’t need long to get a number of the now obligatory “me propping up the Leaning Tower†shots before heading for Florence. Florence’s main station, Santa Maria Novella (almost always abbreviated to SMN), is just over an hour away from Pisa by hourly regional train. It’s right in the city centre, a short walk from the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio.
Rome: you can now travel from Florence to Rome in less than 1hr 40min on Italy’s modern high-speed trains, and you arrive at the Stazione Termini, right in the heart of the Eternal City. When you’re ready to head home, the Palatino sleeper train leaves the Stazione Termini every evening at 6.40pm for Paris, arriving at Gare de Bercy at 9.16am. Choose from private one-, two- or three-bed sleepers with washbasin, or more economical four- or six-berth couchettes. There’s a restaurant car for dinner and breakfast, and as long as you don’t expect something by Raymond Blanc, the £25 set menu will do just fine. Take the Métro to the Gare du Nord and the Eurostar will get you back to London by lunchtime.
Andalusia, Gibraltar... and Africa
Madrid: wave goodbye to London on the 2pm Eurostar for Paris and you’ll soon find yourself aboard the train-hotel Francisco de Goya, a sleeper from Paris to Madrid run by Elipsos (elipsos.com ). This little caterpillar of a train is a unique Spanish design called a Talgo, and comes with cosy bedrooms, some with ensuite shower and toilet, a cafe/bar and an elegant restaurant car. No plastic airline forks here, just proper metal cutlery, fresh, clean tablecloths and spotless wineglasses.
Leaving Paris at 7.45pm, you’ll have time for dinner, a good night’s kip in a proper bed and breakfast with the lights of the walled city of Avila twinkling in the distance before you arrive in Madrid’s modern Chamartin station at 9.13am.
Seville and Cordoba: at Madrid’s other main station, Atocha, the historic 19th-century train shed is now a steamy tropical garden, with the station’s travel centre and left luggage tucked away behind the foliage. From a modern annexe next door, gleaming high-speed AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) trains leave every hour for Andalusia, reaching Cordoba in just 1hr 45min and Seville in 2½ hours. And get this — if your train is more than five minutes late, they’ll refund your fare.
Regular train travellers in Britain will find this hard to believe, but they rarely get their wallets out, as in the main trains are extremely punctual. The high-speed line cuts southward through the mountains via a dramatic series of viaducts and tunnels. The preferente (first class) and club (premium first class) fares include an at-seat hot meal and wine or cava.
Gibraltar and Tangier: from Cordoba, take one of several daily trains to the Straits of Gibraltar. For example, the 10.43am, an air-conditioned Altaria train, ambles through rugged, arid scenery to reach Algeciras, the Spanish town across the bay from Gibraltar, at 2.05pm.
Have a look at the Hotel Reina Cristina, a rambling old place set in its own grounds, just 10 minutes’ walk from the station, with double rooms for £50 per night.
Algeciras itself is a modern port with little to write home about, so take a bus (from the bus station across the road from the railway station) to La Linea (bus M-120, every half-hour; journey time 45 minutes) and you can walk across the frontier — and, curiously enough, across an airport runway — into historic Gibraltar.
Algeciras is also the main port for ferries to Morocco, an hour away, so a day trip to Tangier is certainly a possibility. There are plenty of ferries daily — for example, nautasferry.com has a 9am fast ferry out (4.30pm back) and charges £28 each way. The port is five minutes’ walk from the station in Algeciras, and when you reach Tangier, there’s a 10-minute amble into the old town.
Granada: several trains a day link Algeciras with Granada. If you don’t mind an early start, the 7.10am train from Algeciras reaches Granada at 11.30am. There, the Alhambra palace is unmissable: well worth the journey.
Barcelona and Figueres: take the 9.55pm overnight trainhotel from Granada to Barcelona, arriving at 9.29 the next morning. Like the Elipsos train-hotels, the train has cosy bedrooms, a restaurant and bar. Barcelona needs no cheerleading, but Dali fans will want to take one of the frequent local trains a couple of hours north to Figueres, to visit the incomparable Salvador Dali museum (www.salvador-dali.org ).
Finally, when you’ve had your fill of Spain, board the Elipsos trainhotel Joan Miro, which leaves Barcelona’s Franca station every night at 9.05pm, reaching Figueres at 10.47pm and arriving at the Gare d’Austerlitz, in Paris, at 9am. The 11.13am Eurostar from the Gare du Nord will get you back to London at 12.29pm.
HOW TO BOOK
The pass: the InterRail pass offers unlimited train travel across most of Europe. It comes in adult first and second class, child first and second class and youth second-class versions. There are four pass types: five days in 10 days flexi (£242 adult, £155 youth, £117 child); 10 days in 22 days flexi (£349, £232, £171), 22 days continuous (£455, £300, £332) and one month continuous (£582, £388, £285).
Continuous passes offer unlimited train travel for the whole 22-day or one-month period, beginning on any date you specify. “Flexi†passes give five or 10 days’ free travel within an overall validity period of 22 days or one month, beginning on the date you specify. When you want to “spend†one of your travel days, you write the date in one of the boxes printed on your pass. Overnight trains leaving after 7pm count as running on the following day, so require only one pass day.
The itineraries: all four of the trips in this feature could be made with a 10 days in 22 days pass, or, with a bit of ingenuity, a five days in 10 days flexi pass. For a six- or seven-day trip, a five-day pass with one or two normal point-to-point tickets can work out cheaper than a 10-day pass.
InterRail passes cover most European trains, but not British trains, Eurostar services or ferries. Eurostar offers a passholder fare to Paris or Brussels for £50 one-way or £100 return, but if you book in advance on a no-refunds, no-changes basis, normal return fares without a pass start at £59 return.
You can buy an InterRail pass, along with a Eurostar ticket and European train reservations, from Rail Europe (0844 848 4064, (raileurope.co.uk ) or the UK office of German Railways (0871 880 8066). There’s more advice on rail passes at seat61.com/Railpass.htm .
The extras: you should also budget for sleeper, couchette and fast-train supplements. A couchette costs about £17pp per night and a berth in a two-bed sleeper about £35 on most trains. Although rail passes theoretically offer “unlimited free travelâ€, passholders now have to pay a reservation fee/supplement for almost all significant international trains in western Europe, and a few in eastern Europe too. The cost of these varies between £3 and £15 per journey, and you can make reservations at stations as you go, or in advance through UK-based agencies.
InterRails cover most national railway operators and some private railways in Switzerland, but an extra ticket is required (about £49) for part of the Glacier Express route that is not covered by the pass, in addition to the £6 (winter) or £18 (summer) Glacier Express supplement. These are best paid for at the station in Zermatt.
The budget option: InterRail passes are almost always cheaper than buying full-price tickets on the day of travel, and they give you the flexibility to change your plans, heading off on a whim to any destination. Bear in mind, however, that if you book in advance on a no-refunds, no-changes basis, this can often be the cheapest way to travel.
German sleeper trains, such as Amsterdam-Prague or Vienna-Amsterdam, start at £50 each way, including couchette, or £77pp in a private two-bed sleeper. Book online at bahn.de/citynightline .
Through Raileurope.co.uk (the UK-based subsidiary of French Railways) or tgv-europe.com (French Railways’ site for British travellers), you can book the Eurostar from London to Paris and onward trains to or from Spain, Switzerland and Italy. Paris-Lausanne by TGV starts at £23, one-way, in second class, or £51 in first class. Rome or Venice to Paris by sleeper train starts at £33, each way, including couchette, or £129pp in a two-bed private sleeper. Paris to Madrid, or Barcelona to Paris, on the Elipsos trainhotel, starts at £65 each way in a four-berth sleeper; £99 in a two-bed sleeper, with breakfast; or £143 each way in a two-berth sleeper with private shower and toilet, including evening meal with wine and breakfast.
Train tickets within Spain are best booked online direct with Spanish Railways at www.renfe.es . Book in advance and Madrid to Seville can cost as little as £27 each way by high-speed AVE. Granada to Barcelona on the trainhotel starts at £30 with a berth in a four-bed sleeper or £52 with a berth in a two-bed sleeper with private shower and toilet.
For journeys such as Prague to Oswiecim or Cracow to Budapest, don’t be afraid to buy onward tickets at the ticket office when you arrive. It’s often the cheapest way.
The ferries: you can buy combined train and ferry tickets from London or any station in East Anglia to Amsterdam, including private cabin, through Stena Line (0870 545 5455, stenaline.ferries.org). For the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, call 0871 522 9955 or visit dfds.co.uk . For services from Hull to Rotterdam, call 0871 664 5645 or visit poferries.com .
From The Sunday Times
March 1, 2009
Train guru Mark Smith maps out four great itineraries for civilised continental vacations
Mark Smith
Yes, yes, we know what you’re thinking — and you’re wrong. InterRailing is no longer the preserve of wide-eyed, slack-jawed gap-year students, all heading to Amsterdam and then who cares where.
True, there are still student types around (they’re easy to spot, and avoid), but with the introduction of adult first- and second-class options, InterRailing has become a versatile, fun and cheap way to see Europe for those who might previously have politely declined such an opportunity.
And with month-long passes available, those of us who find ourselves with some unscheduled time on our hands can set off to see where this brave new world can take them.
To start you off, here are four itineraries that offer grown-up adventures across the continent.
There are fabulous, romantic cities to explore, sensational Alpine views to gawp at and glorious, glamorous beaches to pose on. All you have to do is choose which to do first.
For prices and how to buy tickets, see below.
Route 1: EASTERN EUROPE
Amsterdam: leave London for Holland the traditional way, on an 8.38pm train from Liverpool Street station to Harwich. Bed down in a private ensuite cabin aboard the Stena Line superferry to the Hook of Holland, then take a morning train to Amsterdam Centraal. You’ll arrive just after 10am, with a day to explore — the Rembrandt House Museum (rembrandthuis.nl), Anne Frank’s house (annefrank.org) and acres of quiet canals for a wander are all within easy walking distance of the station.
If you don’t fancy the ferry, you can reach Amsterdam by Eurostar to Brussels and a Thalys high-speed train in about five hours. If you live in the north of England or Scotland, you can avoid the trek into London by taking an overnight cruise ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, run by DFDS Seaways, or P&O’s ferry from Hull to Rotterdam.
Prague: just after 7pm each night, the City Night Line sleeper train Kopernikus leaves Amsterdam Centraal, bound for Prague. Couchettes are basic padded bunks in four- or six-berth compartments, supplied with sheet, pillow and blanket — bunk beds on a train, great for kids. The sleeping car offers posher accommodation, with one-, two- or three-bed compartments, including deluxe sleepers with private toilet and shower. Grab a light breakfast in the train’s bar-bistro car before arriving at Prague’s Hlavni station at 9.24am.
Cracow: now it’s on to Poland. A modern air-conditioned EuroCity train called the Comenius leaves Prague for Cracow every afternoon at 2.09pm. Get in an early dinner in the restaurant car, because at 8.07pm the train calls at a seemingly drab and uninspiring place called Oswiecim. You may be more familiar with its German name: Auschwitz. Check in at the Hotel Glob, next to the station on the left. There are two museums: Auschwitz I is 10 minutes from the station, the purpose-built Auschwitz-Birkenau II a 25-minute walk out of town (visit auschwitz.org.pl ). Allow most of a day to see them properly, then catch a late-afternoon bus or local train into Cracow, 90 minutes away. It’s a beautiful city and (unlike Oswiecim) virtually untouched by the second world war.
Budapest: a direct sleeper with a sleeping car and couchettes links Cracow and Budapest every night at 10.15pm, arriving at 8.32am. You’ll find cosy one-, two- or three-bed rooms with washbasins in the sleeper and more basic compartments with four or six bunks in the couchettes.
Vienna: leaving Hungary for Vienna is easy — fast, air-conditioned EuroCity trains link the two cities. Running every two hours throughout the day, they take just over three hours, with refreshments available on board.
Back to Amsterdam: after exploring Vienna, you can complete your round trip with a direct City Night Line sleeper, which leaves the Westbahnhof at 7.54pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday (on other days, there’s A change of train at Cologne). Once again, choose between a one-, two- or three-bed sleeper, some with private shower and toilet, or an economical four-berth or six-berth couchette.
Hit the ’Dam before catching the train or ferry home.
Route 2: THE ALPS
Paris: starting at London’s superbly restored St Pancras International station, board a Eurostar to Paris, reaching the French capital in roughly two hours. Travel in standard class or splash out on Leisure Select (first class), with complimentary at-seat drinks and food. Whether you stop off in Paris or jump straight onto a train to Switzerland, allow time for a meal at the Gare de Lyon’s magnificent restaurant, Le Train Bleu (le-train-bleu. com), while waiting for your train to Lausanne. The food is excellent and the sumptuous belle époque decor makes it easily the most stunning station buffet you’ll ever see. The set three-course menu costs £43.
Lausanne and Zermatt: now relax, as a 186mph TGV whisks you from Paris to Lausanne in four hours. If you’re travelling in first class (and don’t rule it out — there are some remarkably cheap fares available if you book well in advance), ask for Club Duo seats: a pair of armchairs facing each other across an intimate table for two.
Stay the night in Lausanne, then let the famously efficient Swiss rail network carry you on to Zermatt, a ski resort nestling at the head of the Mattertal Valley, beneath the imposing Matterhorn. Zermatt is a wonderful place for a day or two, even if you’re not planning to ski (or climb the Matterhorn). It’s car-free, so you can wander the streets without fumes or traffic — small electric buggies serve as taxis.
Glacier Express to St Moritz: cameras at the ready for one of Europe’s most amazing Alpine rail journeys. The famous narrow-gauge Glacier Express leaves Zermatt at 10 each morning. It’s express in name only — the 180-mile journey to St Moritz takes a stately seven hours, at an average speed of just 24mph. Settle back in your armchair and watch some of the most magnificent scenery on the continent unfold through giant panoramic windows. An excellent lunch can be served at your seat, along with equally fine (though not cheap, it has to be said) Swiss white wine. Or bring your own favourite with you on board — it’s allowed on trains across most of Europe.
The Glacier Express trundles slowly down the Mattertal Valley to Brig, ascends the bleak Oberalp pass, runs along the pretty Rhône gorge and finally snakes through the mountains, past cute villages and ruined castles, into the Engadine skiing region. You can stay in St Moritz itself, but for something different, I’d suggest the nearby Muottas Muragl Berghotel, perched on an 8,058ft mountain and reached by funicular railway from Punt Muragl station. It’s unpretentious and inexpensive for Switzerland, but the views are extraordinary. Doubles start at £48, B&B (00 41 81 842 8232, muottasmuragl.ch ).
Innsbruck and the Arlberg Pass: after a day or two, head back to Zurich and join a modern, air-conditioned EuroCity service to Innsbruck. You’ll find good direct trains at 9.40am (the Transalpin, arriving in Innsbruck at 1.27pm), 1.40pm (the Vorarlberg, arriving at 5.21pm), and 5.40pm (the Kaiserin Elisabeth, arriving at 9.21pm), all with an excellent waiter-service restaurant car. After cutting through Liechtenstein for a few miles, the train snakes through the fabulous Arlberg Pass between Switzerland and Austria. Treat yourself to lunch (£24pp) in the restaurant car as the train hugs first one side of the valley, then the other, past Alpine meadows lifted straight from The Sound of Music.
Salzburg, Verona and Venice: from Innsbruck, head to Salzburg, with its own funicular railway up to a castle. Trains link the cities, centre to centre, every two hours, with the journey taking 1hr 59min. When it’s time to head back, go through Innsbruck to Verona. There are plenty of trains — the 8.56am from Salzburg connects at Innsbruck with the EuroCity train Michelangelo, reaching Verona at 2.57pm after a slow but steady descent of the scenic Brenner pass.
If you’ve a day or two to spare, Venice is only 70min from Verona by hourly fast train; if time is tight, head straight back home on the daily overnight sleeper Stendhal, which leaves Venice at 7.57pm and Verona at 9.24pm, arriving in Paris at 8.19am. It has sleepers (one-, two- or three-bed private rooms with washbasin) and couchettes (four or six bunks per compartment, each supplied with rug and pillow), There’s a restaurant car for dinner and breakfast; the set dinner menu (pasta, meat dish and dessert) costs £25 and is filling, if not gourmet. Then it’s a Métro ride to the Gare du Nord, and the Eurostar will see you back at St Pancras in time for lunch.
Route 3: french riviera and italy
Paris and Avignon: take a morning Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord, then one of the frequent TGV trains that run from the Gare de Lyon to Avignon in just 2hr 40min. The train sweeps down the Rhône Valley at high speed, passing typical French villages and crossing the river several times on spectacular viaducts.
When booking, do your best to get on one of the double-decker TGV Duplexes, as a top-deck Club Duo table for two in first class is perhaps the nicest way of all to reach the south of France. Both raileurope.co.uk and tgv-europe.com show which trains are duplex when you book, though the latter offers a wider range of seating preferences such as top or bottom deck, or Club Duo.
Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo: after a day or two in Avignon, visiting the Palais des Papes and the famous Pont d’Avignon, head for the Riviera. Beyond Toulon, the railway runs along the coast past beaches, rocky promontories, millionaires’ villas and yacht-filled harbours. For my money, Cannes is the better place to stay, but check out the seafood restaurants in Nice’s old town and wander up to the casino at Monte Carlo. Avignon to Cannes takes from 2hr 45min and there are frequent trains.
San Remo, Cinque Terre: when you tire of the Riviera, catch a EuroCity train from Nice into Italy. Stop off in San Remo, about an hour from Nice, if you like, or head straight on via Genoa to the pretty Cinque Terre villages for a day or two. For example, the 10.02am EuroCity train from Nice will get you to Monterosso, one of the five Cinque Terre villages, at 3.02pm, with a simple change at Genoa. The journey is a leisurely scenic amble along the Italian coast.
Pisa and Florence: next stop Pisa, an hour and a half south of Monterosso on the train. You don’t need long to get a number of the now obligatory “me propping up the Leaning Tower†shots before heading for Florence. Florence’s main station, Santa Maria Novella (almost always abbreviated to SMN), is just over an hour away from Pisa by hourly regional train. It’s right in the city centre, a short walk from the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio.
Rome: you can now travel from Florence to Rome in less than 1hr 40min on Italy’s modern high-speed trains, and you arrive at the Stazione Termini, right in the heart of the Eternal City. When you’re ready to head home, the Palatino sleeper train leaves the Stazione Termini every evening at 6.40pm for Paris, arriving at Gare de Bercy at 9.16am. Choose from private one-, two- or three-bed sleepers with washbasin, or more economical four- or six-berth couchettes. There’s a restaurant car for dinner and breakfast, and as long as you don’t expect something by Raymond Blanc, the £25 set menu will do just fine. Take the Métro to the Gare du Nord and the Eurostar will get you back to London by lunchtime.
Andalusia, Gibraltar... and Africa
Madrid: wave goodbye to London on the 2pm Eurostar for Paris and you’ll soon find yourself aboard the train-hotel Francisco de Goya, a sleeper from Paris to Madrid run by Elipsos (elipsos.com ). This little caterpillar of a train is a unique Spanish design called a Talgo, and comes with cosy bedrooms, some with ensuite shower and toilet, a cafe/bar and an elegant restaurant car. No plastic airline forks here, just proper metal cutlery, fresh, clean tablecloths and spotless wineglasses.
Leaving Paris at 7.45pm, you’ll have time for dinner, a good night’s kip in a proper bed and breakfast with the lights of the walled city of Avila twinkling in the distance before you arrive in Madrid’s modern Chamartin station at 9.13am.
Seville and Cordoba: at Madrid’s other main station, Atocha, the historic 19th-century train shed is now a steamy tropical garden, with the station’s travel centre and left luggage tucked away behind the foliage. From a modern annexe next door, gleaming high-speed AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) trains leave every hour for Andalusia, reaching Cordoba in just 1hr 45min and Seville in 2½ hours. And get this — if your train is more than five minutes late, they’ll refund your fare.
Regular train travellers in Britain will find this hard to believe, but they rarely get their wallets out, as in the main trains are extremely punctual. The high-speed line cuts southward through the mountains via a dramatic series of viaducts and tunnels. The preferente (first class) and club (premium first class) fares include an at-seat hot meal and wine or cava.
Gibraltar and Tangier: from Cordoba, take one of several daily trains to the Straits of Gibraltar. For example, the 10.43am, an air-conditioned Altaria train, ambles through rugged, arid scenery to reach Algeciras, the Spanish town across the bay from Gibraltar, at 2.05pm.
Have a look at the Hotel Reina Cristina, a rambling old place set in its own grounds, just 10 minutes’ walk from the station, with double rooms for £50 per night.
Algeciras itself is a modern port with little to write home about, so take a bus (from the bus station across the road from the railway station) to La Linea (bus M-120, every half-hour; journey time 45 minutes) and you can walk across the frontier — and, curiously enough, across an airport runway — into historic Gibraltar.
Algeciras is also the main port for ferries to Morocco, an hour away, so a day trip to Tangier is certainly a possibility. There are plenty of ferries daily — for example, nautasferry.com has a 9am fast ferry out (4.30pm back) and charges £28 each way. The port is five minutes’ walk from the station in Algeciras, and when you reach Tangier, there’s a 10-minute amble into the old town.
Granada: several trains a day link Algeciras with Granada. If you don’t mind an early start, the 7.10am train from Algeciras reaches Granada at 11.30am. There, the Alhambra palace is unmissable: well worth the journey.
Barcelona and Figueres: take the 9.55pm overnight trainhotel from Granada to Barcelona, arriving at 9.29 the next morning. Like the Elipsos train-hotels, the train has cosy bedrooms, a restaurant and bar. Barcelona needs no cheerleading, but Dali fans will want to take one of the frequent local trains a couple of hours north to Figueres, to visit the incomparable Salvador Dali museum (www.salvador-dali.org ).
Finally, when you’ve had your fill of Spain, board the Elipsos trainhotel Joan Miro, which leaves Barcelona’s Franca station every night at 9.05pm, reaching Figueres at 10.47pm and arriving at the Gare d’Austerlitz, in Paris, at 9am. The 11.13am Eurostar from the Gare du Nord will get you back to London at 12.29pm.
HOW TO BOOK
The pass: the InterRail pass offers unlimited train travel across most of Europe. It comes in adult first and second class, child first and second class and youth second-class versions. There are four pass types: five days in 10 days flexi (£242 adult, £155 youth, £117 child); 10 days in 22 days flexi (£349, £232, £171), 22 days continuous (£455, £300, £332) and one month continuous (£582, £388, £285).
Continuous passes offer unlimited train travel for the whole 22-day or one-month period, beginning on any date you specify. “Flexi†passes give five or 10 days’ free travel within an overall validity period of 22 days or one month, beginning on the date you specify. When you want to “spend†one of your travel days, you write the date in one of the boxes printed on your pass. Overnight trains leaving after 7pm count as running on the following day, so require only one pass day.
The itineraries: all four of the trips in this feature could be made with a 10 days in 22 days pass, or, with a bit of ingenuity, a five days in 10 days flexi pass. For a six- or seven-day trip, a five-day pass with one or two normal point-to-point tickets can work out cheaper than a 10-day pass.
InterRail passes cover most European trains, but not British trains, Eurostar services or ferries. Eurostar offers a passholder fare to Paris or Brussels for £50 one-way or £100 return, but if you book in advance on a no-refunds, no-changes basis, normal return fares without a pass start at £59 return.
You can buy an InterRail pass, along with a Eurostar ticket and European train reservations, from Rail Europe (0844 848 4064, (raileurope.co.uk ) or the UK office of German Railways (0871 880 8066). There’s more advice on rail passes at seat61.com/Railpass.htm .
The extras: you should also budget for sleeper, couchette and fast-train supplements. A couchette costs about £17pp per night and a berth in a two-bed sleeper about £35 on most trains. Although rail passes theoretically offer “unlimited free travelâ€, passholders now have to pay a reservation fee/supplement for almost all significant international trains in western Europe, and a few in eastern Europe too. The cost of these varies between £3 and £15 per journey, and you can make reservations at stations as you go, or in advance through UK-based agencies.
InterRails cover most national railway operators and some private railways in Switzerland, but an extra ticket is required (about £49) for part of the Glacier Express route that is not covered by the pass, in addition to the £6 (winter) or £18 (summer) Glacier Express supplement. These are best paid for at the station in Zermatt.
The budget option: InterRail passes are almost always cheaper than buying full-price tickets on the day of travel, and they give you the flexibility to change your plans, heading off on a whim to any destination. Bear in mind, however, that if you book in advance on a no-refunds, no-changes basis, this can often be the cheapest way to travel.
German sleeper trains, such as Amsterdam-Prague or Vienna-Amsterdam, start at £50 each way, including couchette, or £77pp in a private two-bed sleeper. Book online at bahn.de/citynightline .
Through Raileurope.co.uk (the UK-based subsidiary of French Railways) or tgv-europe.com (French Railways’ site for British travellers), you can book the Eurostar from London to Paris and onward trains to or from Spain, Switzerland and Italy. Paris-Lausanne by TGV starts at £23, one-way, in second class, or £51 in first class. Rome or Venice to Paris by sleeper train starts at £33, each way, including couchette, or £129pp in a two-bed private sleeper. Paris to Madrid, or Barcelona to Paris, on the Elipsos trainhotel, starts at £65 each way in a four-berth sleeper; £99 in a two-bed sleeper, with breakfast; or £143 each way in a two-berth sleeper with private shower and toilet, including evening meal with wine and breakfast.
Train tickets within Spain are best booked online direct with Spanish Railways at www.renfe.es . Book in advance and Madrid to Seville can cost as little as £27 each way by high-speed AVE. Granada to Barcelona on the trainhotel starts at £30 with a berth in a four-bed sleeper or £52 with a berth in a two-bed sleeper with private shower and toilet.
For journeys such as Prague to Oswiecim or Cracow to Budapest, don’t be afraid to buy onward tickets at the ticket office when you arrive. It’s often the cheapest way.
The ferries: you can buy combined train and ferry tickets from London or any station in East Anglia to Amsterdam, including private cabin, through Stena Line (0870 545 5455, stenaline.ferries.org). For the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, call 0871 522 9955 or visit dfds.co.uk . For services from Hull to Rotterdam, call 0871 664 5645 or visit poferries.com .