Please Help Me Navigate Railway Connections within Europe - Fast Train Connections between Countries

blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 11:13
Last edited 14/02/2020 - 10:18

Hi all,

I'm looking to try finalise my European summer trip (May/June 2020) and a lot of people mention fast trains to travel between countries. I'll be in Europe for a total of 5 weeks.

Apart from paying a lot of money for a pass, it seems to be a wormhole of train networks within each country to connect to another using multiple companies etc.

What I'm trying to find is a central place where I can book trains from country to country without paying a hefty premium for convenience.

I fly in and out of Amsterdam - I am open to traveling wherever in Europe - preferably including France and England, Spain and Italy would be ideal to include as well.

I'm not sure if I should commit to only train travel or combine with cheap flights.

It's the first time I'll be in Europe for their summer, any tips appreciated!

Travel Europe

Comments

  • Domingo on 13/02/2020 - 11:19
    +3

    have you tried Rome2Rio for planning/links to booking etc?

    • jjjaar on 13/02/2020 - 16:57

      Definitely use rome2rio. You can put actual addresses in and it compares all options, so flights v train from hotel to hotel.

  • wiipantz on 13/02/2020 - 11:23

    Flights are superior in all but really two facets. 1) sight seeing is diminished 2) luggage allowances
    I've traveled both ways in Italy and am returning in April, I'll be renting cars and catching planes personally as flights are very cheap and much faster in my limited time. In the past I had booked a Eurail pass at a discount and then you basically have train vouchers and kit around as you need, however if there is a strike your SOOL which happened to myself in Florence and got stuck an extra day. Mixing the two is good, paying in advance was generally cheaper but nothing was straight forward about the Italian rail network ;)

    • blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 11:51

      A lot of European people I've spoken with mention they rather trains over airport queues.

      I have been to Europe before, just never travelled via train extensively (only a few times from Hungary to Serbia)

      Thanks for the input :)

      • thatonethere on 13/02/2020 - 12:04
        +1

        We recently did planes and trains in Europe. Certainly for trains make sure you get onto the fast ones as they will have space for luggage. There are definite benefits in waiting for EU countries - eg just rock up 15 minutes to the railway station which is usually in the middle of the city before the train leaves and get on. Where as the airport is out of town and has much stricter luggage requirements (and extra costs for it).

        If you don't have much luggage then flights will be cheaper - if you have hold luggage then it starts getting expensive eg Air France hold luggage was 25euro a piece.

    • dazweeja on 13/02/2020 - 12:15
      +7

      I'm the opposite. I always opt for a fast train over a flight if it's available. I find that once you factor in travel to the airport (railway stations are usually in the city centre), getting to the airport an hour early, and travel from the airport, the time savings are only apparent over long distances. I find the whole experience much more stressful. And you have to queue which sucks.
      Instead, I get a fast train and book accommodation within walking distance of the station. Each to their own though :)

      • blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 13:08

        I need to learn to keep reading before replying :)

    • jjjaar on 13/02/2020 - 17:06

      It’s so interesting to have such different experiences. I have found Italy’s internal* trains to be very easy to navigate. The ticketing machines are fantastic, key connections offer very fast services, even very regional routes are incredibly frequent. You have the option of slower services to save money too. Most often any route you want has 2-3 options.

      I have never used passes, opting to buy direct once I’m in the country, sometimes right before the train, sometimes days/weeks in advance. Perhaps your experience is related to using these passes, not the actual network/system itself?

      Trains also avoid the hassle of getting to/from the airport (~30-60 mins each way) and arriving at the airport hours before, which you don’t have to do for any trains.

      *trying to cross the border has also been fine, you’re just severely limited in options/times. But I’ve done this ten or so times by train into/out of Italy to all neighbouring countries by public transport, and would gladly do it again.

  • crashloaded on 13/02/2020 - 11:54
    +13

    https://www.seat61.com/index-mobile.htm

    The best website for Europe train travel research.

    • blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 13:10

      I think this is where I started, might need to dedicate an afternoon to researching, thank you!

  • dazweeja on 13/02/2020 - 12:24
    +2

    The German train site (Deutsche Bahn - https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml) is very good for seeing what trains are available, even for routes outside Germany. You don't necessarily need to book through them though so also check the site of whichever network runs the train. Also, if it's international, check the websites of the origin and destination countries. For example, if you're booking from Germany to Czech Republic, it's much cheaper buying from the Czech Railways site even though it's the same ticket.
    Thalys operates fast international trains into and out of Amsterdam so look into them (you'll see that on Deutsche Bahn timetables though).

    • blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 13:20

      Yes i found the same with Serbia/Hungary! But didn't know if you're allowed to do a booking both ways via the one provider, I'll suss it out :)

    • ESEMCE on 13/02/2020 - 13:24
      +1

      The Dutch site is also very good (historically the German site was in German only, but it looks like they've fixed that since I travelled ~20 years ago!)

      https://ns.nl/en

  • GG57 on 13/02/2020 - 12:58

    Surely OP has a list of preferred places of what they want to see and do, rather than "I am open to traveling wherever in Europe - preferably including France and England, Spain and Italy". That is really a large geographical area, and each of those countries have a lot of attactions.

    Then start looking at how best to get to those places of interest, prioritise to fit within the timeframe, etc., with a view to spending most of the time where they want to be rather than travelling.

    I loved train travel in Europe, but we spent just over two weeks in Spain alone (as an example) and still didn't get to everywhere we wanted to.

    • blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 13:07

      I'm one of those 'the plan is no plan' people. So apart from Amsterdam / Eurovision / Rotterdam I'm really not too fussed, but I enjoy seeing other countries as opposed to staying in one place.

      I'm not huge on sightseeing as I did a European road trip a few years ago - Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy then back via Germany. So there's no list of things I wish to see, just list of countries I'd like to try and visit.

      The list is more extensive but if i can get recommendations on what to use to book these fast trains that don't cost a few hundred euro each I can try to make more of a concrete plan.

      • Geoff-bargain on 14/02/2020 - 10:19

        A train pass can be good if you don't want to plan. Although at the time you want to go it will be busy so I would recommend planning. Also booking tickets well in advance is much cheaper than the pass.

  • coblos on 13/02/2020 - 13:25
    +2

    Check out Eurail Passes and find one that suits. You're not paying extra for convenience, it actually works out a whole lot cheaper, especially if you buy your ticket before you arrive in Europe. Get the Rome2Rio app mentioned in the top comment then just turn up and get on the train. When they come around checking tickets just show your pass.

    I was in Europe (France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria) for 6 weeks in 2018. Calculated out that the Eurail pass saved me approx $2400 (family of 4) compared to if I was buying each individual ticket. If you want a first-class ticket don't get tricked into paying an extra booking fee for your seat, still just turn up and get on the train. If first class is full you ride economy, not a big deal. For us 9 times out of 10 we still got the first-class seat.

    One big bonus for trains compared to planes was no airport time and the train station will be in the centre of a city, airports you still need to travel to the city centre. For many trips, if you factor in getting to the airport, arriving an hour or 2 before your flight, then collecting bags and travelling into the city. Sometimes the train trip will be the faster option.

    • blueyez on 13/02/2020 - 13:35

      $559 - $670 AUD for a 1-2 month pass - I just feel like I wouldn't reach that much or am I severely underestimating how cheap I can try to go lol

      • coblos on 13/02/2020 - 13:53
        +1

        It all depends on how frequently and what trips you take. If you were to go from Paris to Barcelona for example, that's $130 - $190 (rome2rio). The $190 is probably a single direct highspeed train. So it won't take many trips to get value on the Eurail pass.

        If you get one of the cheaper Eurail passes with limited days eg. 10 travel days. There is no limit to how many trains you take in that 1 travel day. You can get great value with just a little forward planning.

    • ESEMCE on 13/02/2020 - 13:52
      +1

      And you get to see cool stuff out the train window.

  • try2bhelpful on 13/02/2020 - 17:50

    We’ve been to Europe a few time’s and I much prefer train travel to anything else. To travel between countries, and for travel in Switzerland, we normally look at the Eurail or even Swissrail passes, especially first class. You can do X amount of non consecutive days travel over a time period. Much nicer than plane travel and you leave from the middle of town to the middle of town. Although we did find out the TGV for Aix-en-Provence doesn’t actually stop in the city. Within a country we tend to use the local rail services.

    If you are flying into/out of Amsterdam I would also recommend spending a few days going to places in Belgium, they have a multi ticket pass, then take a train down to Paris. There is a fantastic Nepalese place in Amsterdam. For Paris look into the Carte De Musee to save yourself some time standing in line buying tickets.

    For Italy I would recommend Sienna, Florence, Lake Como, Rome. But there are plenty of other fabulous places. Train travel inside Italy is quite cheap.

    We didn’t use trains in Spain and Portugal, we hired cars and travelled with family. Certainly if you are thinking Barcelona and Madrid I would look at trains. Barcelona has a fabulous rail network and Madrid is very walkable. We got a great air bnb place in Barcelona right next to a market. As long as you are near a train station you don’t need to be central.

    Personally, if you are going in and out of Amsterdam I would leave England to another trip. However, I’ve just notice Eurostar does run between them now.

    If you can squeeze in a couple of days in Interlaken then the trip up to Schilthorn is worth it, or Lucerne and Mt Pilates or Zermatt. Switzerland has the most magnificent scenery.

    As others have said look at the man in seat 61 site.

    Have a great time.

    • blueyez on 14/02/2020 - 10:17

      Thanks for the write up! Which place in Amsterdam are you referring to specifically?

      I have family in Amsterdam and I've never been to England hence why I want to go - have some people to see there as well.

      Belgium I've only been to Brugge but have been meaning to see more.

      During the last roadtrip we only made it to Lake Como and Madrid, would love to see more of Italy!

      I have 5 weeks in total that I'll be in Europe for :)

      • try2bhelpful on 15/02/2020 - 10:02

        The place in Amsterdam was Bhatti Pasal, it is tiny and they don’t take bookings but turn up early and you should get in.
        https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g188590-d14…

        We stayed in Brussels and went to Ghent and a few other towns. Really easy to do day train trips and they have some great architecture.

        Florence is an absolute must, the architecture and art is amazing. We loved Sorrento and Pompeii is worth the visit if you are going south. If you like I can give you the list of what we visited in Portugal and Spain?

  • Waltervp on 14/02/2020 - 08:05
    +2

    I have used the phone app TRAINLINE which works very well too.

  • smalltime0 on 14/02/2020 - 13:09
    +1

    Given your starting location, you can probable book directly using https://en.oui.sncf/en/ and https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
    If you're going into Germany you can use the (albeit slower) Regional day ticket from DB to enter Germany and travel around https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/day-ticket-for-…
    They usually cover the nearest cross-border city, be that France or Switzerland or whatever.

    Do you have a firm itinerary, or are you just going to where ever is convenient/in budget?

    • smalltime0 on 14/02/2020 - 13:10

      Oh also, it was mentioned before, but rome2rio is amazing

    • blueyez on 14/02/2020 - 13:32

      No firm itinerary. Only 'must' visits are England and France :)

      I don't have a set budget but am looking to reduce costs due to how long I'll be away - I don't think my Aussie wage can sustain a European adventure for too long - but at the same time I don't just want to stick with Eastern Europe as I'd like to see more countries I've never visited before :)

      Ie. not scared to credit card bash what my immediate wage can't support >_>

      • wiipantz on 14/02/2020 - 15:51
        +1

        $25 AUD flights from the Damage to Sunny London in just over an hour a pretty swish plus can be ad-hoc with it. There is some great suggestions here on both modes of travel.

      • smalltime0 on 18/02/2020 - 02:29

        I'd highly recommend Germany, especially since you're flying into Amsterdam.
        A Hamburg/Karlsruhe/Heidelburg trip would take you down the French border pretty swiftly. 1 or 2 days in each would suffice.
        If you cut out Heidelburg, you can easily go from Karlsruhe to Strassbourg; but from there you need to go into Paris to go further south.

  • afah0447 on 14/02/2020 - 14:29
    +1

    Www.seat61.com

    All you need.

  • MrBear on 14/02/2020 - 16:30

    https://www.seat61.com/

  • branx on 15/02/2020 - 10:19
    -1

    Hi there,
    This guy is the guru for train travel, we used it for numerous trips and the tips he gave saved us a heap of time and money.
    https://www.seat61.com
    Hope it helps

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