There are 250 thousand kilometers of railways in Europe. Hundreds of railway companies each have their own equipment, lines, connections and rates. Booking an international train holiday is therefore often not easy. Some carriers sell their tickets online, others only at the counter. On one train you are obliged to reserve a seat, on the next you can’t do that at all. With one you are cheap if you buy your ticket long in advance, with the other just if you book last minute. In short: a train holiday requires preparation. With these tips you will not be faced with surprises.
10 practical train travel tips
• Plan your trip. Traveling on the spec is fun and spontaneous, but can also be impractical and expensive if you get stranded somewhere and have to book a hotel or miss your next connection. With good planning you get the most out of your trip.
• Plan B. Take into account delays, broken trains and blockages. Don’t plan your route too tight, take the time to transfer. Always take your charger and a power bank for your smartphone with you, so that you can look for alternatives.
• Book in time. How far in advance tickets become available and exactly how the prices fluctuate varies per carrier and per train type. Rule of thumb: you will find the cheapest rates from three months to three weeks before departure.
• Be flexible. A train ticket can cost 200 euros one day and suddenly only half the next day. By being able to shift in your travel planning you save money; for example, compare the prices on the weekend with the weekdays and avoid the rush hour.
• Split your trip. Sometimes it is cheaper (or even necessary) not to book a train journey with one or more changes as one ticket for the entire route, but to split it up and book it with different providers.
• Double check. Usually the price of a return ticket is equal to that of two one-way tickets, but that is not always the case. For the Eurostar, for example, return tickets are significantly cheaper.
• Be a sleuth. By diligently and patiently searching for smart connections and low fares, and calculating whether individual tickets, a discount subscription or a rail pass are cheaper, your train journey can be reduced by half.
• Read the fine print. Early booking pays off, but the cheapest tickets also have the strictest conditions for changing and exchanging. If you don’t catch your train, you often don’t get anything back and you have no choice but to buy a new ticket.
• Tips are just tips. Every country and every railway company has its own rules, so what applies to Germany may be completely different in Serbia. Therefore, always find out what is best specifically for your situation and for your travel schedule.
• Do not hurry. The train is usually not the fastest way to get from A to B. Adjust to that and consider the trip as part of your vacation. Spend a little more on extra comfort, sit back and enjoy the view.
1. The Belgrade-Bar railway was built by the Yugoslav dictator Tito and takes 12 hours via 435 bridges and 254 tunnels from the Serbian capital to the Adriatic Riviera of Montenegro.
2. Across the Linha do Douro in Portugal, a loop meanders through the World Heritage-listed river valley of the Douro, from Porto via Pinhão to Pocinho, past port vineyards and stations with azure-colored tile pictures.
3. The famous Swiss Bernina Express runs in four hours from Chur in the German-speaking canton of Graubünden across the Alps and across the language and national border to Tirano in Italy.
4. From the beaches of the Côte d’Azur through the mountains to a spa town atop a French Alpine peak, the Train des Pignes runs from Nice to Digne-les-Bains in just over three hours.
5. From the Swedish capital of Stockholm in 24 hours to the Arctic Circle, past snowbound mountain villages, endless expanses of ice and frozen waterfalls: the Norrlandståget aka ‘Arctic Circle Express’ is a grand tour through winter wonderland.
Sander Groen (1971) is a travel journalist for de Volkskrant and other newspapers and magazines in the Netherlands in Belgium. This spring, Het Spectrum will publish his book about the 32 most beautiful train journeys in Europe.