Train Travel in Europe & Britain

“All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.”

Samuel Johnson

Here in the states, train travel is not something we think much about. I know that on the east coast it is more common, but at least here on the west coast, and all the areas in between, train travel is not considered to be that convenient.  I suppose that part of the reason is that we are such a big country, it takes several days, even by train, to get from one side to the other.  And Americans are all so tied to their cars, so we haven't made train travel that convenient.

But in Europe particularly, train travel is an excellent way to get from one place to another. The trains run frequently and on time, for the most part. And you can get just about anyplace you want to go. Once you arrive at your destination, then you can rent a car, or use public transportation, depending on whether you are in a large city where there is plenty of public transportation, or whether you are in a small town or village.



Picture taken from internet - Eurail train

You can purchase your train tickets before leaving home. In fact, if you plan on doing most of your traveling by train, you can save a lot of money by purchasing your Eurail or Britrail tickets before departing the U.S. I would suggest going to your local AAA office and purchasing them there, or with any travel agent. The travel agent can answer all your questions, and can get the pass that is best suited for your needs. You can also go on line and purchase them. http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes or for Britrail passes go to http://www.britrail.com/passes/britrail-pass for Britain, Scotland and Wales.

The Eurail pass can be purchased for just one country, for 2, 3, 4, or 5 bordering countries, or you can purchase a Global Pass that you can use in all 23 countries that Eurail travels through. You can purchase tickets for as few as 10 days within a 2 month traveling period, or you can get a pass to travel every day for 3 months. Only non-European residents can use a Eurail Pass. The pass must be activated within 6 months of the issuing date.

Some trains require you to have seat reservations in advance, and particularly during high season (May-Sept.).  The overnight trains always require reservations for sleeping accommodations.  So you may need to do some advance planning as to when you will be taking the train, and make those reservations as far in advance as possible, to be sure you get what you want.

You are free to start from any country, and can travel back and forth between the countries, but you must decide which countries you will be in and purchase the pass for those countries. You are not allowed to travel through a country where your pass is not valid, even if you don't stop there, unless you buy a separate ticket that covers just that one portion of the journey.

When traveling between 2 countries that are considered bordering, but that are actually separated by water, the ferry is quite often covered by your Eurail pass. For example, Greece and Italy are considered bordering countries, but to go from one to the other you must take a ferry. The ferries operated by Superfast Ferries, Blue Star Ferries and Minoan Lines are covered by your pass.

Benelux is three countries in one. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are considered one country for Eurail purposes. And Benelux and Ireland are considered to be bordering countries, though they have no direct rail or ferry link. While Finland and Norway are not considered to be bordering.

Picture taken from Internet - Britrail train

If you are under the age of 25 you can get a youth pass, which will save you 35%, but it is good for 2^nd class travel only. If a youth wants to travel first class, then they must purchase an adult ticket. There is also a Family Pass, which covers adults and kids all on one pass.

The Britrail pass is good in England, Scotland and Wales only. It can be purchased for as few as any 3 days within a 2 month period, and up to 15 days within 2 months. Another option is a consecutive days pass for 3 days up to 1 month. It provides access to all trains on Great Britain's National Rail Network and you can hop on and off the trains as you wish. You also get a discount on the Eurostar, which is the train that goes through the Chunnel to Paris or to Amsterdam. Once you get there you would need a Eurail pass to continue traveling by train.  The Britrail pass can only be purchased by non-UK residents.

Train travel in Britain and Europe, is relatively inexpensive, easy, comfortable, and a great way to get around. I recommend you give it a try.

Countries that Eurail covers:

Austria                  Finland          Italy                  Slovakia

Belgium                 France           Luxembourg        Slovenia

Bulgaria                 Germany        Netherlands        Spain

Croatia                  Greece           Norway               Sweden

Czech Republic       Hungary         Portugal             Switzerlad

Denmark                Ireland           Romania

Going on your own

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."  
St. Augustine

                                                     Independent travel

The Shambles, York, England

In my last posting, I talked about the pro's and con's of escorted tours vs. independent travel. If you have never given thought to taking off for a foreign country on your own, then there are some things to think about before going.

Just how independent do you want to be? The first time I went to England it was in March, which is definitely off-season. There wasn't a big need to have hotel reservations in advance. My daughter had been a student in London for 4 months, and I flew over at the end of her semester to join her. She had a flat in London, so I had a place to stay there. We had 3 weeks, and a rough itinerary of places we wanted to go. I had done research, and had purchased Britrail tickets in advance. After several days of staying in London and seeing the sights, we headed for Dover and took the hovercraft to Paris. We had no reservations, but I had written down the name of a hotel that looked good and was not too expensive. The cab took us there, and they had rooms available. We spent several days in Paris seeing the sights, then took the train to Dieppe and the ferry back to Brighton, England, We spent the next 2 weeks traveling and exploring places like Penzance and Bath, then over to Dublin, Ireland, then up to Edinburgh, Scotland, and our last stops were York and Cambridge, before returning to London. We didn't have a reservation anywhere we went, and hadn't decided how long we would stay in each place, but we knew when we had to be back in London, so we worked with that. It was fun, exploring on our own. Sometimes we stayed in hotels, quite often it was a private home (Bed & Breakfast) and in Bath we stayed at the Y for $5 a night. If it had been high season, this would not have worked, as we might have found places were completely booked.

So if you want to just go and wing it, that's fine, but keep in mind that hotels might not be available where you want them. Some planning in advance might be a good idea.

Harbor in Rethymnon, Crete

Monastery in Meteora

The way my husband and I usually travel when we head for Europe is to plan the trip out in advance. We pick the country, then I research the places we want to go and decide how long we will stay in each place. From there I start making hotel reservations in the different cities or towns. Once I do that I start looking at transportation. Do we want to drive or take the train? Or a combination of both?

 My husband is getting to the point where he has decided he doesn't like to drive all over a country, not knowing where he is going, so the train will get us to the destination, and then if we want to rent a car for the day to go outside the city and see some things, then that works too. So if we are going by train, I buy the Eurail pass before we go. Next I think about the cities we are going to be in, do I want a city tour? Those can also be purchased in advance, through a travel agent. Also, day tours from most locations are available. When we were in Athens, Greece we did a tour, which I had pre-purchased, that took us over to Delphi and Meteora. It was a 3 day trip and it included transportation, sightseeing, and hotels. They took us by van, and it was a wonderful side trip. Getting to those places on our own would have been difficult, so this was a nice option. I also pre-purchased a 3 day Greek island cruise as part of our trip to Greece. But a good portion of our 3 weeks in Greece, we were on our own. We even did the rental car for our week on the island of Crete.

 So you can go independently but have plans and reservations in place, and even have city tours set up at each location, which will orient you to the city when you first arrive. Then you are free to spend your time doing what you want, eating the local food, people-watching, shopping and seeing the sights. To me, this is the best way to travel.