Complete Guide To Train Travel In Europe

Traveling by prepare is the quintessential technique to tour Europe. It’s romantic. It’s inspiring. It’s super-efficient. It’s snug. Some would possibly say it’s virtually magical. And to these of us who don’t stay in a rustic the place prepare journey is distinguished, it’s slightly mysterious.

In this Complete Guide To Train Travel In Europe, we’ll cowl the whole lot you have to find out about touring Europe by rail—together with the right way to get the perfect value on prepare tickets, rail passes, understanding prepare schedules, driving trains, navigating prepare stations, and coping with different points you would possibly encounter. By the top of this information, you’re going to be a European prepare skilled!

Quick Tip: Most prepare tickets at the moment are digital so that you’ll need quick and dependable cellular information in your telephone when touring through prepare. Check out my information on the right way to use your telephone in Europe and our information to the perfect SIM Cards and Data Plans for Europe.

Europe Train Travel: The Good & Bad

Let’s begin with a fast overview of the nice and the not-so-good features of European prepare journey.

Advantages Of Train Travel In Europe

• You Arrive/Depart From The City Center
  • Unlike airports, European prepare stations are positioned proper in the midst of city. You don’t must spend money and time touring into the town since you’re already there.
    • In distinction, touring from the airport to the town can take anyplace from 20-60 minutes and prices between $10-$80.
• No Long Check-In and Security Lines
  • There aren’t any prolonged check-in procedures or safety screening for many prepare journey. You merely present up a couple of minutes earlier than the prepare leaves, purchase a ticket should you don’t have one (typically from a ticket machine with English directions), and hop on the prepare.
• No Luggage Limits/Fees
  • There aren’t any baggage weight limits or additional charges for a number of items of bags. Just just remember to’re capable of carry your bag onto the prepare.
• E-Tickets
  • Most trains all through Europe now settle for digital tickets—all it’s important to do is present the ticket in your telephone. That means no ready in ticket strains and it makes planning your prepare journey even simpler.
• Bring A Picnic (Don’t Forget The Wine and Beer)
  • You can just about deliver no matter you need on a prepare—together with alcohol. You’re certain to make just a few associates should you give just a few away to your fellow vacationers. So cease by the native grocery retailer and choose up some low-cost meals for the journey.
• A Vast Rail Network and Multiple Trains
  • Europe’s rail community is extraordinarily huge so it’s potential to journey to even small cities by prepare. Most locations supply a number of trains a day. The hottest routes normally have a number of trains an hour so attending to the place you wish to go isn’t tough.
• Sleep On the Train and Extend Your Travel Time
  • If you’re touring an extended distance, take into account taking an in a single day prepare. These trains have particular sleeper vehicles with bunks (normally six-bunk rooms or two-bunk rooms). A bunk in a sleeper automobile will price about $35-$65 additional (about the identical as an evening in a hostel) however you received’t lose out on an entire day of journey. Overnight trains even have regular seats should you don’t wish to fork over the additional money for a bunk but it surely’s form of uncomfortable.
• Spontaneous Travel
  • Train journey permits you to be spontaneous so you possibly can present up at any prepare station, purchase a ticket, and be in your manner.
• Beautiful Views
  • Europe has a number of lovely countryside so touring by prepare is a good way to see some implausible views.
• Peace and Quiet
  • The prepare is the right place to sit down again and calm down. There is one thing very peaceable about staring out the window as you experience silently at 170MPH via the European countryside. The prepare can be a superb time to jot down a postcard to your family and friends, learn a ebook, write in your journal (you’ll be glad you probably did), or proceed planning your future travels.
    • Some trains additionally supply designated quiet vehicles should you actually wish to calm down.
• Comfort
  • Train seats are bigger and extra snug than airplane seats (particularly when in comparison with many low cost airways). You’re additionally free to maneuver concerning the prepare everytime you really feel prefer it. Many trains even have seats that face one another and have a desk between the seats—so it’s nice for teams.
• Reliable and On Schedule
  • European trains run on schedule nicely over 90% of the time however flights are solely on schedule round 65%.
• Beautiful Train Stations
  • Historically, prepare stations had been the central hub for commerce and transportation so European cities confirmed off their standing by constructing grandiose prepare stations. While it isn’t an enormous deal, it’s a kind of good little perks.
• Youth Discounts
  • Many nations supply sizable reductions for folks underneath 26 years outdated so don’t overlook to look into these reductions.
• The Train is Fun
  • We’ve all the time discovered driving the prepare to be enjoyable. It’s oddly magical and stress-free.

Disadvantages of Train Travel in Europe

• The Cost
  • Train journey might be costly—particularly on high-speed trains. Furthermore, there are a number of super-cheap flights all through Europe so flying can typically be cheaper.
    • That stated, you may get some actually good offers should you’re capable of ebook high-speed trains upfront. But you’ll pay a premium should you ebook tremendous final minute.
    • There are sometimes reductions for vacationers underneath 26 years outdated.
• Slow for Long-Distance Travel
  • Many high-speed trains typically journey between 150-180MPH however very lengthy distances can nonetheless take fairly a little bit of time. Additionally, some long-distance routes would possibly require using slower regional trains.
  • That’s why it’d make extra sense to fly should you’re touring lengthy distances. For instance, taking the prepare from Paris straight to Budapest would take round 15 hours by prepare however solely 2.5 hours by airplane (plus, flying could be significantly cheaper).
    • Note: Don’t overlook so as to add in journey time to/from the airport and time to get checked in and thru safety—which can add round two-three hours to your journey.
• Slightly Confusing
  • The prepare schedules is usually a little complicated—particularly for newcomers. Luckily, there are many apps that assist make the method a lot simpler however we nonetheless get tripped up every so often.
  • Many cities have a couple of prepare station (Paris has six!). It’s not unusual to reach at one station and depart from one other. We’ve proven up on the flawed station plenty of instances so ensure you learn your tickets fastidiously.
  • It can be potential to vary stations throughout a single journey. For instance, when touring from London to Lyon through the Eurostar, the Eurostar stops on the Paris North station, however then it’s important to journey to the Paris East station to catch the prepare from Paris to Lyon as a result of there aren’t any direct trains from London to Lyon. This switch would require an affordable Métro (subway) experience.
• Rail Strikes
  • Striking is a nationwide pastime in Europe. It occurs just a few instances a 12 months (or extra if the folks aren’t comfortable) however they announce the strikes nicely upfront so it shouldn’t be a shock (only a trouble). You’ll simply must cope with them in the event that they occur.

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Pre-Trip Train Journey Planning

There are plenty of nice web sites that may make it easier to plan your prepare journey.

The first is Rome2Rio — merely plug in your locations and it offers you all of the prepare routes (in addition to airplane, bus, and automobile routes with price estimates and journey instances) to your journey. Rome2Rio is sweet for evaluating totally different modes of transportation however I discover higher prepare ticket costs and extra full prepare listings on Omio and Trainline.

The German Railways Website (Bahn.de) reveals the schedule of each prepare in Europe (sure, each prepare). We discover that it’s useful for piecing collectively complicated prepare journeys. But it’s additionally good for seeing which trains require reservations and different necessary data. Unfortunately, you possibly can solely ebook German prepare tickets on the positioning so jump over to Omio and Trainline to ebook your tickets.

I’ve additionally written just a few country-specific prepare guides that will help you be taught the quirks of every nation’s rail community.

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How to Buy European Train Tickets

Buying European prepare tickets is usually a little sophisticated—particularly while you’re in search of the perfect offers.

That’s as a result of every nation runs its personal National rail service (many nations even have separate non-public rail networks as nicely) and every does issues barely in another way. Luckily, there are many on-line instruments to make the entire course of simpler and we’ll stroll you thru the method.

Understanding Ticket Pricing

Before we get began, we have to clarify that there are two principal ways in which prepare tickets are priced — mounted value and variable value.

Variable-Price Fares

Variable Fares are all the time altering primarily based on demand, the day of the week, the time of 12 months, and the space to the departure date. Essentially all high-speed trains function on this pricing mannequin.

• To get the perfect value on high-speed prepare tickets it’s finest to pre-book your tickets early — normally just a few weeks upfront. In normal, the costs will proceed to creep up because the departure date approaches — you’ll pay a fortune should you purchase final minute.
• Of course, you lose flexibility if it’s important to purchase tickets upfront as a result of the most affordable tickets are usually non-refundable/unchangeable

Fixed-Price Fares

With Fixed Fares, the value is solely decided by the space traveled. This is commonest on regional and slower trains. With such a ticket, it doesn’t matter while you purchase your tickets as a result of the value by no means modifications.

Where To Buy Europe Train Tickets

There are two principal methods to purchase European prepare tickets — instantly from every nation’s National Rail Service (through their web site or on the prepare station) or via a third-party prepare reserving search engine like Omio and Trainline.

Third-Party Booking Sites

There are fairly just a few benefits to purchasing your prepare tickets with third-party reserving websites:

• Booking Complex or Multi-Country Routes
  • The benefit of reserving with a third-party reserving website is that it permits you to ebook extra complicated multi-country/worldwide prepare routes. Many National Rail Services have bother reserving worldwide routes (i.e. going from France to Italy) — to allow them to’t all the time discover the perfect offers or present all out there routes.
• No Credit Card Processing Issues
  • Many of Europe’s National Rail web sites nonetheless have points processing overseas bank cards so it’s frequent for bank cards to be declined when reserving. These third-party websites received’t have these points.
• No Weird Technical or Translation Issues
  • We’ve discovered that it’s frequent for Europe’s National Rail web sites to be plagued with bizarre technical issues and general poor person interfaces. Many instances you’ll get kicked from the English model of the web page to the native language in the midst of the reserving course of. These third-party reserving web sites handle these points.

Our Favorite Train Booking Websites

• Omio: Omio is a superb prepare reserving engine that allows you to ebook tickets from nearly each nation’s rail service they usually make the reserving course of very user-friendly.
• Trainline.com: Trainline is a brand new European prepare reserving service (similar to Omio) that sells prepare tickets from Austrian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and German Railways railways (and some others).

National Booking Sites

Despite their technical points, generally absolutely the most cost-effective tickets can solely be discovered by reserving instantly with every nation’s nationwide rail service. This is as a result of generally they provide are particular offers that the third-party reserving websites don’t have entry to. So it doesn’t harm to no less than have a look.

Links to Some National Railway Websites:

Austrian Railways¹ – Belgian Railways¹ – Danish Railways – Finnish Railways – French Railways – German Railways – Irish Railways – Italian Railways – Spanish Railways – Netherlands Railways¹ – Norwegian Railways – Polish Railways – Swedish Railways – Swiss Railways¹ – United Kingdom Railways

¹ Domestic tickets (i.e. journeys which might be wholly throughout the nation) are all the time the identical value — no matter once they’re bought they usually by no means require a reservation. Therefore, it’s best to purchase tickets on the station. However, these nations typically have a separate worldwide high-speed prepare system (e.g., Belgium has slower regional trains and high-speed Thalys trains that hyperlink main Belgian cities to different worldwide cities — these tickets must be bought early for cheaper fares).

Quick Note About Eastern Europe Trains

Some Eastern European nations nonetheless don’t have on-line ticket reserving so it’s solely potential to buy tickets on the station or via a neighborhood journey agent. Ask your hostel or lodge they usually’ll let you know the place to find an agent.

Receiving Your Online Tickets

There are plenty of methods to gather your tickets after you buy them.

• Electronic Tickets: Many instances you possibly can have an digital ticket despatched to your telephone (both through electronic mail or the reserving app). Simply present the conductor on the prepare when he checks tickets and he’ll scan the QR code on the display screen. This isn’t out there in all nations however most nations have switched to eTickets.
• Print-At-Home Tickets: Anywhere that provides digital tickets will normally allow you to print tickets at house. You can typically merely save the PDF to your telephone/pill and the conductor can scan it from there.
• Pick Up At Station: Use your bank card or a reserving quantity to print your tickets on the prepare station ticket machines.
  • Note: You’re typically required to make use of the SAME bank card use to buy the tickets to gather the tickets on the station.

Buying Tickets At The Station

You should buy prepare tickets at any prepare station—both from the ticket window or from automated ticket machines. We advocate making an attempt the automated ticket machines because the strains on the ticket window are lengthy, gradual, and understaffed.

When To Buy Train Tickets To Get The Best Price

Fares are mounted for many regional and native trains so there isn’t a purpose to purchase them early.

For high-speed trains, it’s finest to purchase tickets early to get the most cost-effective tickets. In most circumstances, prepare tickets might be bought 60-90 days earlier than the departure date however shopping for just a few weeks early is normally nice.

Let’s have a look at some ticket value examples:

• Paris to Nice
  • Purchased Two Days Before Departure: €69.00
  • Purchased Three Weeks Before Departure: €55
• Paris to Amsterdam
  • Purchased Two Days Before Departure: €135
  • Purchased Three Weeks Before Departure: €97
  • Purchased Six Weeks Before Departure: €54
• London to Paris (Eurostar Train)
  • Purchased Two Days Before Departure: €234
  • Purchased Three Weeks Before Departure: 124
  • Purchased Six Weeks Before Departure: €55

As you possibly can see, reserving just some weeks early can save fairly a bit of cash.

Quick Point About Buying Train Tickets Early: As said above, shopping for tickets upfront is one of the best ways to economize however this additionally limits your skill to be versatile/spontaneous. This is particularly true since lots of the actually low-cost prepare tickets are non-refundable. For optimum flexibility, it could be finest to purchase a rail cross. Here’s our Guide To Using Rail Passes in Europe and our Eurail Pass Review.

Other Train Ticket Discounts

Most rail providers supply varied reductions—some are primarily based on rider age however different reductions are primarily based on area, the day of the week, or different schemes.

• Youth Discount
  • The commonest low cost is a youth low cost — which is normally for folks underneath 27 years outdated.
• Country-Specific Discounts
  • Most nations supply plenty of potential reductions. For instance, Germany has a Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket) the place teams of 2-5 folks can experience as a lot as they need on regional trains from Saturday-Sunday for €44. Check every nation’s rail service web site to see if there are reductions out there.

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Eurail Passes

Many vacationers select to make use of rail passes as a substitute of shopping for particular person tickets. That’s as a result of Eurail passes can prevent a bit of cash (relying on how you utilize them) however most significantly they offer you wonderful flexibility by permitting you to journey without having to plan.

Note: We’ve written lots about Eurail Passes. Check out our Guide To Using Rail Passes in Europe and our Eurail Pass Review for extra in-depth data.

Quick Rundown On Rail Passes

A rail cross (aka Eurail Pass) is a single ticket/cross that permits you to experience any prepare in Europe — merely hop on, present the conductor your cross, and also you’re good to go. Actually, it’s not fairly that straightforward lately as there are just a few stipulations, however the normal concept is that you may experience any prepare with out reserving particular person tickets.

Types Of Rail Passes

1. Global Pass
   • Continuous: Unlimited journey to any Eurail participant nation for between 15 days and three months.
   • Flexi: 10 or 15 particular person journey days (doesn’t must be consecutive days) to any Eurail participant nation inside a two-month interval.
2. Select Pass:
   • Between 5 and 15 journey days in a two-month interval, however you’re restricted to touring to three, 4, or 5 bordering nations. These passes are good when you’ve got a gaggle of nations you’re keen on visiting.
     • For instance, one cross might be 10 days of prepare journey between France, Switzerland, and Italy. You have a two-month window to make use of of your 8 journey days. Each day you journey by prepare counts as one journey day however you possibly can take limitless prepare rides inside every day.
3. Single-Country Pass:
   • Eight journey days in a single nation which should be used inside a month.

Advantages of Rail Passes

• Flexibility: The primary good thing about rail passes is the flexibleness they provide. You merely must stroll onto the prepare and go.  That’s why this can be a nice choice for individuals who don’t wish to plan and who would somewhat wander throughout Europe.
• Long-Distance Trains: It’s additionally a superb deal should you plan on taking a number of long-distance journeys as a result of these tickets are typically costly so a rail cross is an effective manner to avoid wasting cash. On the opposite hand, should you’re taking a bunch of quick prepare rides you then’ll most likely be higher off shopping for single tickets.
• Low Stress: Piecing collectively a bunch of prepare journeys after which pre-purchasing particular person tickets is nerve-racking and take a number of time and planning. For lots of people paying slightly additional for a rail cross is well worth the hours saved having to preplan your whole journey.

Disadvantages of Rail Passes

• More Expensive: It’s normally cheaper if you buy your prepare tickets on-line just a few weeks upfront. That stated, most of those low-cost pre-purchased tickets are non-refundable so that you’ll lose most of your flexibility. However, should you’re buying your prepare tickets just a few days earlier than departure then it’s less expensive to make use of a rail cross.
• Reservations: A couple of nations require rail cross holders to pay additional for a seat reservation on high-speed trains. The price can vary from anyplace from €5-€35 they usually must be made upfront — they will generally be made on-line or instantly on the prepare station. Here’s an in depth information to rail cross reservation necessities from eurail.com. You also can enter your journey into Bahn.de and it’ll let you know if that particular journey requires a reservation.

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At The Train Station

Ok, now we find out about shopping for prepare tickets and rail passes and all that jazz… so let’s study what to anticipate while you get to the prepare station.

The prepare station is the primary transportation hub of most European cities so issues is usually a little chaotic and complicated—particularly should you’re not used to touring by prepare. In this part, we’ll offer you some ideas that will help you discover your prepare.

Navigating The Train Station

First, ensure you have the proper prepare station as a result of many cities have a number of stations. For instance, Paris has six stations and even some smaller cities have two totally different stations.

Once you arrive on the station, you’ll see signage in English so that you shouldn’t have a lot bother discovering your manner. Some stations are big so you’ll have to stroll fairly a bit and navigate stairs and escalators.

Depending on the dimensions of the station, you’ll additionally discover quick meals, cafes, procuring, lounges, and restrooms (though you generally must pay to make use of them). We normally choose up one thing to drink and possibly slightly snack for the prepare. Also, most prepare stations have baggage lockers that you may lease should you want them.

Pickpockets and Scams

Train stations can get very busy, hectic, and stuffed with confused vacationers in order that they’re a standard goal for pickpockets and different scammers. Pay consideration to your stuff and be cautious of “helpful” strangers keen that will help you with the ticket machines. Check out our Guide To Avoiding Pickpockets and Tourist Scams in Europe.

Ticket Machines

If you have to purchase your prepare tickets or print your pre-purchased tickets you’ll wish to first head to the automated ticket machines. Everything is in English are the machines are easy-to-use.

Alternatively, you possibly can nonetheless go to the ticket window or customer support desk however the strains are normally lengthy.

Reading The Departure Board

Once you arrive on the station you’ll wish to search for the departure board. There are normally a number of boards all through the station and one big principal board. This board tells you the place to search out your prepare, when it leaves, and the place it’s going.

The three most necessary issues to notice are the prepare quantity, departure time, and the platform.

Your prepare ticket will present the scheduled departure time and the prepare quantity but it surely normally received’t present which platform the prepare leaves from. You’ll wish to discover the prepare quantity in your ticket and match it as much as the departure board. It’s quite common for the departure board to not present the platform till a couple of minutes earlier than departure so take note of the board.

Find Your Platform

Once know what platform your prepare is departing from you’ll wish to discover that platform on the station. Sometimes the platforms are a bit onerous to search out so that you may need to hunt them out. Don’t fear if there isn’t a prepare there in the meanwhile as a result of trains typically pull in, load up, and depart.

There are normally just a few workers members milling about on every platform so don’t be afraid to ask prepare station workers as most can converse English.

Validate Your Ticket 

Many bodily prepare tickets should be validated (stamped with time/date) earlier than getting into the prepare so search for small validation packing containers close to the doorway of the platforms. Simply place your ticket contained in the machine and it’ll stamp it.

You can obtain a big nice if the ticket checker sees that your ticket isn’t validated (they’ll assume you had been making an attempt to experience without spending a dime). If you forgot, shortly hunt down the conductor, clarify that you just forgot to validate and the whole lot must be nice. Or you possibly can simply play the “I’m a dumb tourist and these scary trains confuse me” card and hope they let it slide.

Note: Electronic tickets don’t should be validated as a result of they’re normally solely good for the particular time said in your ticket. Some paper tickets additionally don’t should be validated however we normally strive doing it anyway to be secure.

Finding Your Train Car

On some trains (normally high-speed trains) you’ve assigned seats so have a look at your ticket to see which prepare automobile your seat is in. The automobile quantity will probably be displayed on the aspect of every prepare automobile. You can enter in any automobile but it surely’s a lot simpler should you enter your automobile (strolling via a number of prepare vehicles is a ache).

Most regional and slower trains don’t have assigned seats so you possibly can merely hop on any automobile.

That stated, you’ll wish to get on pretty shortly as a result of trains are normally solely on the station for a couple of minutes earlier than they depart.

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On The Train

You’ve made it on the prepare. Congratulations! In this part, we’ll discuss settling in and some stuff you would possibly expertise in your experience.

Find Your Seat & Store Luggage

Find your assigned seat (when you’ve got one) or take any free seat if it’s open seating. Also, take the chance to retailer your baggage. Smaller baggage like backpacks and a few suitcases might be saved above your seat on baggage racks. There are normally bigger areas for larger baggage on the finish of every prepare automobile.

Wait For The Conductor To Check Your Tickets

After the prepare begins, a ticket checker will come by and test your ticket. While not extraordinarily frequent in Western Europe, border patrol would possibly board the prepare to test passports. They would possibly ask you some questions however we normally solely bumped into this in Eastern Europe.

Enjoy The Ride

One of the nice issues about prepare journey is the consolation of the experience. Feel free to stroll about, try the bar automobile, get pleasure from a picnic (alcohol is allowed), or sleep. Some trains supply free wifi however we’ve by no means had a lot luck getting it to truly work.

Departing The Train

One of probably the most complicated elements of the experience is figuring out precisely when to go away the prepare. That’s as a result of prepare stations are generally named very equally. For instance, many trains coming into Brussels first cease on the Brussels Nord station (which is positioned on the outskirts of city) earlier than stopping on the principal Brussels Centrale station (which is positioned within the middle of city).

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More Travel Tips

We have much more ideas and methods for touring via Europe on a price range. Here are just a few useful articles we predict you’ll get pleasure from.