A fellow traveler asked me why I was taking photos of the trains and train stations along the way while I wasn't taking photos of the landscapes and monuments. What can I say? I love trains!
I really wanted to experience travelling around Europe by rail, so I bought a 30-day Global Eurail pass and spent a lot of my time travelling by rail. Within one month, I rode on 36 trains across 10 countries. The nicest trains are the high speed trains. I especially like Spain's AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) and Italy's Frecciarossa. I heard that Thalys, travelling between France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, is also good but I wasn't able to ride on it. Taking a night train is like sleeping in one city and waking up in another. For me, it's the best way to save time. The Elipsos train hotel from Paris to Madrid was the prettiest among the night trains I took but also the most turbulent. Regional and local trains are cheap and you don't need reservations when you have a Eurail pass. These trains are for travelers who don't have a tight schedule since they are slow and don't really run on time (at least, in my experience).
Did I spend more time travelling in the train than actually sightseeing? On my first two weeks, not really. On my last two weeks. Yes! And I made sure I did. I took night trains and high speed trains on my first two weeks. But since part of my goal in this trip was to experience train travel, I took my time taking slow regional trains on my last two weeks.
While my train experiences are too many to include in this post, I'm including here my Eurail travel summary.
| Date | ETD | ETA | From | To | Train | Cost* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 21 |
18:53 |
09:00 | Paris Austerlitz | Madrid Chamartín |
THT 409 | 75€ |
| Apr 24 | 10:30 | 13:15 | Madrid Atocha | Barcelona Sants | AVE 3103 | 10,35€ |
| Apr 25 | 12:22 | 14:03 | Barcelona Sants | Figueres Vilafant | ARC 217 | 6,75€ |
| Apr 25 | 14:20 | 17:38 | Figueres Vilafant | Valence TGV | TGV 6216 | 3€ |
| Apr 25 | 18:44 | 22:33 | Valence TGV | Nice Ville | TGV 6829 | 18€ |
| Apr 26 | 05:25 | 06:13 | Nice Ville | Ventimiglia Stazi | RE 86001 | - |
| Apr 26 | 06:33 | 11:00 | Ventimiglia Stazi | Pisa Centrale | IC 505 | 3€ |
| Apr 26 | 13:32 | 14:32 | Pisa Centrale | Firenze Santa Maria Novella |
R 3120 | - |
| Apr 27 | 09:39 | 11:20 | Firenze Santa Maria Novella | Roma Termini | ES 9561 | 10€ |
| Apr 29 | 06:45 | 10:33 | Roma Termini | Venezia Sta. Lucia | ES 9402 | 10€ |
| Apr 29 | 21:05 | 08:22 | Venezia Sta. Lucia | Wien Westbahnhof | EN 1036 | 9€ |
| May 2 | 10:14 | 14:30 | Wien Westbahnhof | München Hauptbahnhof |
RJ 60 | - |
| May 3 | 06:51 |
07:51 |
München Hauptbahnhof |
Buchloe |
RE 57582 | - |
| May 3 | 08:00 | 08:55 | Buchloe |
Füssen |
RB 57336 | - |
| May 3 | 14:06 | 16:05 | Füssen |
München Hauptbahnhof |
RE 57511 | - |
| May 3 | 22:47 |
09:49 |
München Hauptbahnhof |
Amsterdam Centraal | CNL 418 | 27,50€ |
| May 5 | 10:56 | 11:17 | Amsterdam Centraal | Hilversum | IC 4537 | - |
| May 5 | 11:21 | 17:20 | Hilversum | Berlin Hauptbahnhof | IC 145 | - |
| May 6 | 12:17 | 13:56 | Berlin Hauptbahnhof | Hamburg Hauptbahnhof | ICE 808 | - |
| May 6 | 15:28 | 20:14 | Hamburg Hauptbahnhof | Københavns Hovedbanegård |
ICE 37 | - |
| May 8 | 06:40 | 07:14 | Københavns Hovedbanegård |
Malmö Centralstation |
NoData | - |
| May 8 | 08:11 | 12:50 | Malmö Centralstation |
Stockholm Centralstation | SJ 528 | 65,00 SEK |
| May 8 | 16:45 | 10:00 | Stockholm | Helsinki | boat | 55 € |
| May 10 | 14:02 | 16:00 | Helsinki | Turku | IC 955 | - |
| May 10 | 19:00 | 20:58 | Turku | Helsinki | IC 970 | - |
| May 12 | 09:45 | 14:16 | Københavns Hovedbanegård |
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof | ICE 36 | - |
| May 12 | 15:36 | 17:25 | Hamburg Hauptbahnhof | Osnabrück |
IC 2029 | - |
| May 12 | 17:53 | 20:36 | Osanabrück |
Hilversum | IC 142 | - |
| May 12 | 20:41 | 21:02 | Hilversum | Amsterdam Centraal | IC 4572 | - |
| May 13 | 14:01 | 16:00 | Amsterdam Centraal | Antwerpen Centraal | IC 9244 | - |
| May 13 | 16:34 | 17:55 | Antwerpen Centraal | Brugge | IC 1838 | - |
| May 14 | 14:58 | 15:55 | Brugge | Bruxelles Midi | IC 514 | - |
| May 14 | 16:33 | 19:40 | Bruxelles Midi | Luxembourg | IC 2116 | - |
| May 15 | 16:30 | 17:16 | Luxembourg | Metz | NoData | - |
| May 15 | 18:36 | 19:27 | Metz | Bar Le Duc | 34002 | - |
| May 15 | 19:37 | 21:53 | Bar Le Duc | Paris Est | 39108 | - |
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