If you’re headed for Europe this summer and expect to move around a bit, chances are there’s a train trip in your future. The Europeans are intense about minimizing carbon emissions by airlines: Some countries have banned short-haul flights entirely, and others are using various techniques to get you onto trains rather than planes for all but the longest local travel hops.
Your rail experience may well begin as soon as you arrive. Most European international airports provide direct rail service from the airport to the city center. In many cases, you have a choice of dedicated nonstop trains, such as Heathrow Express, with lots of space for your carry-on, and slightly slower stopping commuter trains, such as Heathrow’s Elizabeth Line, that are less expensive but can be crowded in the morning peak commute period when many flights from the United States arrive.
The easiest way to get all the information you need is to Google your arrival airport before you leave home and check the “ground transport” or equivalent button. Or check Terravision (Terravision.eu) for a range of options. In my experience, the train system is almost always the best way to get into town.
An important development in long-haul travel is the growing number of “open access” operators over various national systems. The idea is that the individual countries own and maintain the infrastructure—tracks, roadbeds, stations, and such—and individual operators buy “paths” for their trains. Already, the French system is operating in Spain, and the Italians operate in France, along with a bunch of independent private operators on various routes.
The renaissance of night trains is another important trend. Not only are the rail systems—national and private—operating more trains, they’re also adding new equipment. The latest trains include a mix of sit-up cars, multiple-occupancy couchette cabins, and some private cabins for one or two that even include showers. The blog InterrailPlanner.com/blog/exciting-new-train-routes-in-europe-for-2024-and-beyond does a nice job of summarizing developments.
For travel within Europe, after all these years, it’s still hard to beat Eurail Pass. Sample prices this year for the highly popular pass, providing seven days of unlimited travel over a period of 30 days, are $311 for second class, $385 for first class for most adults, and $355 for first class for seniors 60 or older. Lots of other options are available.
This year, the pass includes a few private-rail trips that once required a separate ticket, most notably the Interlaken-Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen line. And Eurail now includes many, but not all, of the open-access trains. The main gotcha is that quite a few of the best high-speed trains aren’t really “free;” you have to pay a stiff co-pay disguised as a “seat reservation” charge far in excess of the cost of a regular ticket. Check it out here (Eurail.com).
If you decide on individual tickets rather than a pass, the general consensus of the blogosphere is that the three best websites for schedule search and ticket purchase are Trainline (TheTrainline.com/en-us), Omio (Omio.com/trains), and Rail Europe (Raileurope.com), with most giving a slight preference to Trainline as having the widest scope of train choices. Check them out for yourself.
Seniors aged 60 or older and youths get deals on many European rail systems beyond Eurail Pass. For ordinary tickets, they can also score discounts by buying on the national rail site of each country.
Another approach is to buy yearly passes for individual-country systems. Trainline handles a handful of such Railcards for the UK, including cards for seniors, young people, couples, and groups that typically cost 30 pounds (about $38) for a year and give 30 percent discounts on almost all tickets. You find similar passes in France, Italy, and Spain, but no U.S.-based agency sells them—buy after you get there. Of note is the Carta d'Argento in Italy, offering 10 percent to 15 percent discount on most trains; 30 euros (about $32) for a year; free for seniors 75 or older.
However you get your tickets, trains are the way to go around Europe. Enjoy.
