Europe by rail, any tips

[Wack61]

Just wondering if anyone had any tips on travelling around europe by rail

I've always wanted to experience a high speed railway and my wife has next week off work so we're thinking of going somewhere warm by rail

initial leg would be to St Pancras then eurostar to paris then on to maybe Italy as the route through Switzerland looks interesting , I've no interest in stopping in Paris but somewhere in Switzerland appeals on the way to Italy

I've got a railcard for the UK , but as we're both over 60 I was wondering if there's any significant discounts available in europe

 

[Grantoonriusmo]

I use the high speed railways through Europe when I'm traveling with work. My only advise is to try and use your phone to buy and use the tickets.

You can go on the Trainline App for several countries to buy the tickets, although it's not always cheaper than going direct.

I prefer to use the specific countries direct train website, for example SBB in Switzerland. A lot of the times it's a pain knowing what platform you need to be on. So using the phone app is super easy, rather than rushing to find a signboard and know if you're on the right one.

Not too sure about the discounts though, as I've not approached your age....yet

 

[midlifecrisis]

@philw696 is our SNCF man. He quite often trains about Europe.
My input would be that ze Germans trains are very good. They did an offer of €10 for the whole month of July or August on the regional trains including S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains. That saved me a fortune sightseeing around Berlin, Hamburg and Dusseldorf.

 

[philw696]

Funny that you ask we're off to Paris on Thursday for a few days on the Train.
Certainly get Good discounts being over 60 but not sure if that's only for residents.
Do everything on my phone and it works perfectly.

 

[philw696]

SNCF Connect is the App that I use and can't fault it.

 

[Wack61]

thanks

The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide

How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.

www.seat61.com

this looks like a good site

 

[Doohickey]

If you're travelling through a few countries this might be worth a look. Did this myself many many years ago.

Interrail.eu | 1 rail pass, 33 countries

Travel across Europe and discover 33 countries by train with Interrail. Enjoy the best rail travel experience in Europe with our Interrail Pass!

www.interrail.eu

 

[Wack61]

If you're travelling through a few countries this might be worth a look. Did this myself many many years ago.

Interrail.eu | 1 rail pass, 33 countries

Travel across Europe and discover 33 countries by train with Interrail. Enjoy the best rail travel experience in Europe with our Interrail Pass!

www.interrail.eu

I'll have to do some sums as it seems quite expensive , though if it includes the train to St Pancras maybe not

 

[Oneball]

Remember a lot of European rail services require reservations, you can’t just rock up like here.

 

[Doohickey]

You could travel 2nd class!

It didn’t used to include UK travel but it might be different now.

 

[Ewan]

Define “warm”. I’m in Spain and the weather over the last two weeks has been “average” at best. If you train around Northern Europe next week you could be looking at 15 degrees and rainy. So if you and the Mrs want warm, I suggest flying as far south as possible - Greece maybe?

 

[Ewan]

I’ve no idea about trains in Greece though, so arguably, chasing the sun could be a bad idea.

 

[RoaryRati]

I've just had another snow alert for St Moritz from the snow-forecast.com site I use - the site has webcams and already the snow capped mountains were looking stunning (obviously not warm tho' )

 

[Wack61]

Define “warm”. I’m in Spain and the weather over the last two weeks has been “average” at best. If you train around Northern Europe next week you could be looking at 15 degrees and rainy. So if you and the Mrs want warm, I suggest flying as far south as possible - Greece maybe?

20⁰ + would do

I was trying to plan a route through Switzerland using the bernina railway then down to Florence & Rome but the weather isn't looking great

The price of the interail pass isn't as bad as I thought as the return eurostar to Paris costs almost the same but with interail it's just a €50 supplement

Typical Britain, travel anywhere in Europe free but not the bit that gets you there , oh no we want extra for that

as it's looking like 2k and iffy weather in Italy I'm looking at flying to Spain and maybe zipping about on their high speed rail from Seville

 

[philw696]

On the train to Paris on Thursday just as we're back on a high security alert after this morning's shooting.
As yet I've never seen anything and have made the trip many times.

 

[Wack61]

We ended up in seville , on a plane , though with a lot of time on trainline & booking.com I've managed to book a trip using the bullet trains
Seville
Granada
Cordoba
Madrid , fly home from Madrid

 

[Wack61]

I think I've found my perfect lifestyle , nothing happens until 10am , 2pm is siesta time , then about 5pm it all gets going again



There is overt racism here though, two elderly Japanese couples were turned away by the tapas bar we're in , just an abrupt no , we're full despite the empty tables

 

[Wack61]

Close call last night

I was looking at my phone trying to find the hotel , my wife was a couple of paces behind me when she shouted

I turned round and two women were walking away from her , she'd caught one of them opening her bag , northern lass though , they got some choice words and an elbow in the tit which made her wince

 

[philw696]

Close call last night

I was looking at my phone trying to find the hotel , my wife was a couple of paces behind me when she shouted

I turned round and two women were walking away from her , she'd caught one of them opening her bag , northern lass though , they got some choice words and an elbow in the tit which made her wince

Just coming to the end of our 4 days in Paris and not seen one incident of any kind and we've walked 50 kilometres so far.
Clean, tidy and very peaceful.

 

[CatmanV2]

Just coming to the end of our 4 days in Paris and not seen one incident of any kind and we've walked 50 kilometres so far.
Clean, tidy and very peaceful.

Only been to Paris once and very much liked it

C