Now Here’s A Trip Experience-Travelling Europe By Rail

Posted on March 4th, 2010 by Our Generation

: Image by Matthew Black via Flickr

Most people have in their long term travel view, a plan to explore Europe.

One of the best ways I have found to cover the European continent and to really have a great trip experience, is by rail. Depending on when you wish to travel, how much time you have for your vacation and how quickly you want to get from place to place will determine which type of train travel is best.

Most high-speed trains now require you to reserve a seat and if you hold a rail pass usually the seat reservation cost is reduced. However getting the actual train that you want at your preferred time of departure can be the challenge.

Sometimes buying a point to point ticket can work out to be cheaper or a pretty similar price. If however you want lots of flexibility, and like to get off the beaten track then a rail pass maybe just what you need.

A rail pass is certainly a great way to explore Europe as all passes allow unlimited travel within specified validity boundaries, on the national rail networks of a particular country.You just need to be vigilant and check how long the pass is valid for (usually ranges from 15 days to 2 months)and the number of days that are allowed for actual travel (usually between 3 and 10 days).

Deciding how you want to get from place to place is the next thing. Do you want to go high speed or take the slower option on regional trains?

High speed trains have a big advantage in that they are more direct, linking greater distances and reducing travel times by about one third that of regional trains. They also offer more flexibility, more frequent services, more comfort, but are also more expensive and a reservation is a must.

Regional train services are of course cheaper and tend to include more stops and are less direct(maybe a need for train changes). They usually have the older style carriages with compartments that hold 6-8 people but on the plus side you generally don’t need to make a reservation.

I have traveled on both high speed and regional trains and loved both. It really comes down to the amount of time you have to explore. Combining your train travel with a bargain airfare or, depending on your needs even first class airfares, travelling europe can be the trip of a lifetime.