"The SBB Train Crew welcomes you aboard the Intercity heading to Zurich Airport (Flughafen), Zurich Main Station (Hauptbanhof), Winterthur, Weinfelden, Kreutzlingen, Konstanz and wishes you a pleasant journey."...I can't even tell you how many times I was greeted by this (or a similar) automated message...I miss that train route!
Traveling by train in Europe is really quite convenient. Often times, I would be amazed at how small Europe actually is. It's fascinating how I could get from Konstanz to Paris in a matter of 5 hours or Konstanz to Rome in 12 hours--In America, I could get to Chicago in 5 hours or New York City in 12 hours by car.
I have taken a good ol' Amtrak train in the United States. At the time, I had never been on a long distance train before, so my brother and I chose that as our mode of transportation. It was also the cheaper option...but that's because it took 16-18 hours to get from Michigan to New York. (We did have to take a bus from Michigan to Ohio.)
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| Frankfurt am Main Hauptbanhof |
Eurail Pass & Reservations
If you plan to do a lot of train traveling in Europe, then I would definitely recommend getting a Eurail Pass. Seriously, it is one of the greatest things ever. While I was there, I had the 3 month 2nd class Global Pass (There are other options!--depending on how long you want a pass for and where you want to go. Check out their website
here.) With this Pass, I was basically allowed to go on any train traveling within 24 countries. However, there is a small catch--I still had to get some reservations, which guarantee a seat on the train. Reservations are not required for all rides, so you should check this when planning your trip. You still save money because you don't have to pay for an actual ticket to get you from point A to point B.
It's a very good idea to get a reservation if you are taking an overnight train, and like I mentioned, it is sometimes required--it depends on the route. For my trip to Rome, I got extremely lucky. I went to the train station on the day I was supposed to leave, and was able to get a bed--the train was almost fully booked--after all, it was heading to Rome...during Holy Week. [Side note: If you are on the top bunk, be cautious if you have a laptop with you...this didn't happen to me, but apparently computer data has the potential of being erased somehow since you are very close to the wires above the train.] For my overnight trip to Vienna, I decided to risk not getting a reservation (because it wasn't required) and was fortunate enough to find an available seat.
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I spent the night on that top bunk.
The middle bunk was able to fold down to make the bottom bunk like a bench. |
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| bed chart for one side of the bunk bed cabin |
Depending on the train, there are different styles of seats: regular seats, 6 person cabins [some of these seats can apparently unfold--these two girls who have obviously taken the overnight train before, and they pulled out the seats and even brought along a comforter with them--so it was like they were sleeping on a bed], bunk beds, individual rooms, and first class.
I'm all for spontaneous trips, but make sure you at least look up some sort of schedule to see if reservations are required--if you get caught without a reservation especially on an overbooked train, you could end up paying quite a bit more money than if you got a reservation in the first place!
One of the problems I ran into happened when trying to get to Paris. (I believe reservations were required because it was the fast train.) Apparently, the first 2 weekends that I tried getting there were a French holiday and they claimed that there were no available seats on the train. I was finally able to make reservations for ~27 EUR. Reservation prices vary--my reservations have ranged from 4 EUR to <30 EUR.
I paid around $1500 USD for the Pass. It may sound like a lot, but with the amount of traveling that I did, it was TOTALLY worth it. I probably could've bought 2 Passes with the amount of money I would have spent on the train rides individually.
Obviously, train travel is slower than airplane, but if you have the time (and the Pass) it's probably a cheaper option. You also get to see the beautiful European countrysides, mountains, and lakes--which are GORGEOUS! :)
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| (this one may have been taken from a bus) |
Be Flexible!
One of the keys to train travel is that you have to be prepared to be flexible. Sometimes trains are late and sometimes you miss your connecting train. It happens. All you can do at that point is take a deep breath and go for plan B. Look for the next connecting train or find a different route. The automatic ticket kiosks are usually very helpful, or you can go to the ticket counter and ask a person for help. Like my friends and I did in Nice, we had to take an hour long taxi ride since no trains were coming until morning. Also, sometimes there are mishaps...like tree branches landing on the tracks after a storm (resulting in having to take a taxi the rest of the way to your destination) or a landslide taking out part of a track (resulting in having to take 5 extra trains, a bus ride, and a metro ride). So yeah, be flexible and just roll with it...because that's really all you can do...just consider it part of the experience.
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| The landslide that caused me to be on the bus from where I took this picture...the train tracks are under there... | | |
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Side note: If you are traveling internationally, sometimes you can only see train schedules or get reservations if you go to the ticket counter and make arrangements.
Itinerary
It's a good idea to print out your travel itinerary. It will list the time that the trains are scheduled to arrive and depart, and in many cases, it also tells you what your arriving/departing platform numbers are--which are good to know in case you need to sprint to the next train.
Pay Attention!
If you travel to Italy, and don't know how to speak Italian, I would strongly recommend not falling asleep/resting your eyes on the train (unless you set an alarm for a couple minutes before you're supposed to arrive at your destination according to your itinerary). Most (or at least many) Italian trains do not announce things in English...or any other language for that matter--so look out the window and pay attention to the train stop signs or try to ask people on the train for a translation if you need one.
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| Firenze S.M.N. = Florence |
As you probably should anyway, make sure you are traveling with your passport!--especially if you are traveling through different countries. Sometimes they--as in either the ticket collector or the police--ask for passports...I don't know what happens if you can't present your passport, but I know I wouldn't want to find out!
Also, as always, keep an eye on your belongings! Trains do have luggage racks (overhead and ones that are more like shelves away from the seats), so feel free to use them but make sure to watch your things!
Make New Friends
Especially if you are traveling alone, you may have to depend on other people on the train. I've had to ask people for directions, ask if I'm on the correct train, ask to borrow a cell phone, etc. I hope that you are able to find people who are helpful, nice, and speak your language (in my case, English). Just be friendly (while also keeping your guard up--remember to be smart!) to people--you never know who you'll meet! I still occasionally keep in contact with some people that I met on my train ride to/from Pisa! :)
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Well, that's pretty much all the train info I can think of at the moment. If I come up with anything else, I'll add it on to this post or just make a new post. I'm considering taking a 23 hour train ride this summer (within the US)...I do miss train rides, but I'm not too sure about a 23 hour one haha...Anywho, happy travels! :)
Peace. Love. Happiness.
--TR
