One of the best ways to discover Europe is by train.
Most European countries have very efficient rail systems (although in Italy, trains often run late), and it is very interesting to sit in a comfortable seat next to a panoramic window and watch the countryside roll by.
If you are only going to visit one country, then just use the local rail network. If, however, you are visiting several countries consecutively, then it’s worthwhile to invest in a Eurail Pass.
The Pass can be used in 33 European countries. You can purchase a Eurail Pass for either Second or First-class travel.
My wife and I travelled through 10 European countries by train, and our Eurail Pass proved to be very handy.
There are also two types of passes: A pass for which you can travel on a certain number of days during a certain time frame. For instance, we had passes that allowed us seven travel days in a 30-day time frame. This suited us as we just wanted to travel between those cities in which we would base ourselves for several days.
Other passes allow you to travel every day within a particular period. Say, seven days of continuous rail travel.
If you are over 60, you can get Seniors’ passes.
Normally, the cost of the pass would include the cost of any journey you intend to make. On local trains, it’s easy to just hop on and off at your convenience. However, on many intercity express trains you need to pay an extra seat-booking fee.
In our case, we chose to travel on Eurostar from Paris to Amsterdam (it saved us about four hours by not using local trains that would have needed several changes of trains). The seat booking fee on Eurostar was €59 each, but it was worth that for us because we found our seats, then just relaxed for the journey. And, we didn’t have to manhandle luggage between various trains (more of that later).
There is a Eurail app that you can use for your bookings, but we discovered that the local train apps (RailEurope and Rome2Rio were both good) gave us slightly more information about train connections.
When onboard you just show the train conductor your Eurail Pass, if the train doesn’t require a booked seat. When on a train that requires a booked seat, the conductor just checks to ensure that you occupy the correct seats, but either way, it is easy.
Generally speaking, we loved travelling by train through Europe. There is one problem though, when travelling with luggage. Platform heights are not uniform throughout Europe. It was rare to just walk onto a train straight from the platform without having to haul your luggage up several steps.
My wife’s suitcase was huge and weighed just a speck under 23 kgs. That became an issue when we had to clamber on and off trains, and to change trains several times in order to complete a day’s journey.
Then there was the storage problem.
If we weren’t the first ones into the carriage, we would often have to lift the luggage to shoulder height, to stack it onto the highest luggage rack.
Then there were the hassles of dragging the cases (plus hand luggage) along very long platforms, up and down escalators and (worst of all) steep and wet cobblestone streets. They look attractive but are otherwise useless when carting around heavy luggage.
On one occasion, we did make a good discovery.
We had a very tight connection in Visp, Switzerland.
Our train arrived right on time (this is Switzerland, the driver would have been drawn and quartered if the train was late). We rushed off the train, carrying our luggage down a flight of stairs, ran through the underpass trying to find the correct platform. Found it! Hauled the luggage up another flight of stairs, and rushed onto the soon-to-depart train.
We found ourselves in the bike carriage, which is a feature on many European trains. Nirvana! There was plenty of room for our luggage. Not a lot of seating, but we found some.
Travelling by train through Europe was brilliant. Even though our luggage was too heavy, we got used to it, and after the first couple of trips, planned our embarkation a lot better.
Trains in Europe were generally very good. They get busy, because it is easier to travel by train than to fly. If you are going to book seats on premium trains, do it as early as you can because they fill up.
Watching Europe passing by those huge windows whilst we relaxed in comfort was wonderful.
The Eurail Pass worked well for us, but you do need to do some planning in order to use it effectively.
Next time, we would be much more economical with our luggage. Carting around too much was a hassle, but, really, that inconvenience was still worth enjoying the adventure that we had.
We learnt our lesson, but have no regrets.
Ed’s note:
We too used a Eurail pass travelling through Europe and although it can be hard work when you’re visiting in winter and have more luggage, there is nothing better than utilising a pass and soaking up the views of the countryside.
