Europe’s Trains: Rail Really Rocks

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

 

Flying across America has lost much of its charm now but we don't have many alternatives unless we love long drives. Europeans are luckier. They have what once worked in the United States: trains. Journeys in Europe less than three hours or 350 miles are faster by train – a lot faster if the cities are serviced by the developing network of TGV (trains à grande vitesse) which rocket along at speeds up to 186 mph.

Baggage can be a problem. Air or automobile travel spoils Americans who characteristically carry too much on vacation. The less you bring, the better. Even though there’s plenty of room in overhead racks on trains and luggage carts are usually available, you’ll end up sometimes carrying your own bags. Pack lightly.

Europeans embrace rail travel for many reasons, says Chris Lazarus, spokesperson for Rail Europe a company headquartered White Plains , NY. “Rail, unlike aviation, is reliable and prompt,” she says, “unaffected by weather. It's a lot more comfortable than flying. It can also be less expensive for Americans who, before they leave the United States, buy a railpass – that gives them unlimited travel in one or more countries, depending on the pass – or even by buying point-to-point tickets substantially in advance. In France and Italy, the railroads offer good discounts on a limited number of seats --- and if you book these early, you can save as much as 45 percent over normal fares ”

Rail Europe has special deals with 17 countries and more than 1500 hotels including Pullman and Sofitel, hotels that have worked with the rail system for years. Stay in hotels that work with Rail Europe  for at least the first night in a city. What you save in Amsterdam, for example, on a few nights in the very adequate Hotel Pullman Capitool, a hotel right in the heart of the old city might make you feel better about an extra night in the luxurious Hotel de l’Europe, one of the Leading Hotels of the World.

"Rail offers other attractions," says Lazarus, "like better sightseeing because tourists aren't flying above the clouds or driving with eyes glued to the road." Furthermore, she continues, people traveling by train like to chat -- and often locals provide useful, even vital, information for visitors. Finally, the trains, in contrast to aircraft, go from city center to city center and many railway stations lie close to historic hotels and classic city attractions.

Tourists traveling on a Selectpass valid in France, Italy and Switzerland find those points accurate. It's a mere 10 minute covered stroll from baggage carousels at the Charles de Gaulle. Paris airport to the railway platforms for TGV service. The trains, electrically driven like most in Europe, are clean and silent -- and in 2 hrs 40 mins you've reached Avignon slap in the middle of Provence. The TGVs sometimes have new specially-built stations so here you need a cab for a five minute-trip to the Grand Hotel which is perfectly situated just outside the historic city walls. A simple wander through this town that hosted the Popes in their long exile from Rome brings tourists to the Pont d'Avignon over the Rhône, famous in French children's songs. The Chateauneuf-du-Pape vineyards, the Nîmes Roman arena and the Pont du Gard, the tallest Roman aqueduct in the world can all be seen easily in one day in a rental car.

After their fill of Provence, train travelers on the Selectpass can continue on through Nice into Italy. Genoa, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, is just over the border, for example and its aquarium, beside the Jolly Hotel Marina always creates a buzz. Then, via Milan, an easy venture into Switzerland brings tourists to one of its prettiest towns , Lucerne. A two minute-taxi ride away stands a lodging serving travelers since 1517, the Romantik Hotel Wilden Mann. 

Like Avignon, Lucerne has its famous bridge, one dating back to 1300, the Chapel Bridge, long Lucerne's trademark. Another trademark in town is the red dragon of Mount Pilatus, whose 7000 foot summit is reached by a gondola ride that would scare the pants off James Bond. The descent is in the world's steepest cogwheel railway where the plunge sometimes reaches 48 degrees. Those wishing to see trains from a different angle can check out the many exhibits at Lucerne's Swiss Transport Museum including the famed "Crocodile" engine.

Beyond, on the Golden Pass Line at the end of one of the world's greatest panoramic train journeys lies Geneva. The cool, avant-garde Hotel Cornavin, only 100 yards from the Geneva station, can be your home till you zoom up to Paris -- again on the TGV -- and walk to your American Airlines desk for your flight back to this great country we live in.

TRAVELING EUROPE'S TRAINS

"On trains you meet interesting people," our friend Jay Brunhouse, author of “Traveling Europe's Trains”, tells Anderson’s World readers. "They make your trip more pleasant and can give you more information about where you're going than you could ever find in a guidebook. People ask me, don't you mind traveling alone? I never travel alone (for very long). When you are on a train inevitably you meet someone going your way and you become friends.

Brunhouse points out that train travel in Europe caters to your needs. The railroads want to get you from place to place as fast, as comfortably, and as conveniently as possible lest other passengers defect to auto and air. He believes Europeans drive their cars to points less than an hour away and fly to destinations more than four hours distant but, in the one- to four-hour trip range, railroads shine.

"Throughout all of Western Europe," he says, "trains are convenient, comfortable, and economical highways of travel, free of gridlock. Europeans prefer them and, once aboard, you learn why. They give you the opportunity to dart from one city center to another. With insight, you see and enjoy Europe's beautiful rivers, lakes, Alps, and hillside chateaux from panoramic windows.

"Travelers on Europe's trains save money, learn from Europeans in congenial, give-and-take surroundings, explore corners of Europe where scenery dazzles their eyes, eat and sleep well, and arrive fully ready to go. They enjoy more than just a trip. They create a memory.

"Trains steal into hidden corners uncorrupted by automobile exhaust. Those who have traveled in the past are thrilled to discover European trains' time-warp speed, efficient infrastructure, and old-fashioned ambiance.

"The TGV stations at the new Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and Satolas airport in Lyons make it a snap to join Europe's high-speed networks. And at the same time, narrow-gauge, cogwheel trains take you to the North Face of the Eiger; lonely lines reach the Midnight Sun at the most northerly station of Western Europe; rickety trams teeter along the cliffs of the Isle of Man, through the feudal highlands of Sardinia, and down Alpine ridges to the French Riviera.

"You find that Europe's trains give you more time to enjoy yourself, smoother and more social travel, flexible and simple planning, and—with one of the new crop of cheap rail passes—your best value in Europe.”