A European Rail Trip Blog

Light, airy and ribbed with dazzling steel girders, the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras is an impressive spectacle. Much more central than the old terminal at Waterloo, if you ignore the horribly naff statue, ‘The Meeting Place’, that greets you as you enter, the effect is staggering.

‘The Meeting Place’ – spoiling the view!

We were setting off on a quick rail trip around Europe. The itinerary? Starting off in London, we were taking the train to Brussels; from Brussels, it was on to Amsterdam, Berlin and then, finally, Paris. The timetable? A rapid twelve days… Everything was going to have to run (more or less) like clockwork.

It could obviously be done the other way round, too. Or starting from somewhere else. Or a different itinerary altogether! The fact is that across the couple of hundred thousand kilometers of rail track that snake their way around Europe, the options are practically endless.

At first glance, it seems like there’s an awful lot to know about train travel. Booking tickets, the train times, the changes… But really, when you get down to it, it’s all so simple. You buy a pass for the time period you’re traveling before you set off. And then you set off. That’s it.

London – Brussels by Eurostar

Getting on the train was easy. Not for the rail traveler, the interminable waiting of airports. Nor is there any need, obviously, to check your luggage in; security issues, meanwhile, are minimal and quickly dispensed with.

On the train, there were acres of space for two enormous backpacks in the overhead luggage compartments. The train positively flies along, and we pulled into Brussels at about lunchtime on a blustery, grey day, the rain streaking the windows of the train.

It’s generally held to be a good idea to book a seat on the train you want to take the day before your journey. If you’re on a strict budget, you can skip the (small) reservation supplement, but you might well be sitting on your bags the whole way.

Having a fixed itinerary, we played it safe and tried to reserve a seat on from Brussels Midi to Amsterdam Centraal. “I have only one question”, the man at the ticket office said unblinkingly, and in flawless English. “Why are you trying to reserve a seat on a train that doesn’t accept reservations?” And pondering that unanswerable question we wandered off again.

Brussels is a bit different. Unusual, even. Aside from the magnificent, twiddliness of the Grand Place, there are some interesting quarters to explore to the southeast of the city center, some good street art dotted around and some great bars. That night – the first of our trip – our minds were firmly focused on the latter…

On to Amsterdam

After a couple of days in Brussels, we got up and headed to the train station again – with the obligatory pounding head from the delicious Belgian beer. As it turned out, trains leave from Brussels to Amsterdam at regular intervals throughout the day. We were soon scudding through the Low Countries, passing tiny, redbrick villages, flooded fields shimmering in the sunlight and scattered patches of woodland.

As the train rumbled into the station, it was hard to suppress a ripple of excitement. It was Amsterdam, after all. Wherever you go in the city, you feel a sense of possibility; whether it’s the twinkling neon of the Red Light District by night, or a long walk through the Jordaan, it’s a beguiling place.

On to Berlin

We’d got up insanely early, leaving our warm, comfy Amsterdam hostel and hurrying through the half-light to catch our train. Shattered (after a fairly busy couple of nights!), we were fast asleep in our seats before the grey suburbs of Amsterdam had even slipped noiselessly past.

We were woken up with a jolt by a cheery Dutch policeman, his scowling counterparts and one mean looking dog. From bag to person, person to bag, the dog viewed us – a couple of scruffy backpackers leaving Amsterdam – with the utmost suspicion. It cast us a last withering glance and then headed off down the corridor, its human minders in tow.

After they’d left, we chatted for some time to our interesting (and interested) Dutch traveling companion. During the course of the journey, she asked us about all sorts of things, and explained – at some length – the ins and outs of the famous Dutch liberalism.

And that’s another thing about rail travel: unlike on a plane – crammed in, stressed and disagreeable – travelers are far more likely to start chatting to one another on a train. We listened attentively until she got off at Hamburg, where we promptly fell straight back to sleep, and woke up in Berlin.

Escher’s 'Relativity' or Berlin Hauptbahnhoff?

Berlin is very much the European city of the moment. There are the museums and galleries, obviously. But more interesting still are areas like Kreuzberg and Prenzlauerberg that are stuffed with hip bars, laidback cafés and hours of browsing through fashionable shops and secondhand stores. It was a busy couple of days.

The Night Train from Berlin to Paris

Eventually – and slightly reluctantly – it was time to move on. Picking our bags up from our hostel in Berlin in the early evening, we still had plenty of time for a good, cheap meal (the usual: currywurst washed down with a few beers). After eating, we sleepily stumbled into the train station.

As you enter Berlin Hauptbahnhof it immediately conjures up images of ‘Relativity’, M.C. Escher’s weird, upside-down staircase painting. Escalators go off in every direction, while down below in the bowels of the station, trains pull in; up above you, disorientatingly, another train pulls away.

We’d booked a couple of beds in a couchette (it’s essential to book ahead for the sleeper trains as they fill up quite quickly.) After a long day pounding the pavements, there’s nothing more welcome than slipping into a well-made bunk bed.

The night passed uneventfully, and we pulled into Paris Gare de l’Est station refreshed and raring to go. Breakfast consisted of a couple of strong cups of coffee being drunk and croissants devoured standing up in a scruffy bar next to the train station.

Rail travel: Endless possibilities

And then it was straight onto the Metro on a Friday morning in Paris, the whole city rippling with that peculiarly Parisian energy. On the agenda that weekend were flea markets (les Puces), celebrity cemeteries (Montparnasse and Pere Lachaise), catacombs, and a couple of Paris hostel visits.

All in all then, a great way to end a great trip. Brussels was brilliant; Amsterdam, awesome; Berlin, beguiling and Paris… well, Paris was just Paris – practically perfect. We didn’t regret a single moment of it. Well, maybe one thing: a little heavy on the fast food, perhaps – the budget travelers’ lament!

But in some ways it was the journey itself that was the standout. It was a revelation. It really bound the trip together, to the extent that, come the end of the trip, we’d actually almost come to look forward to getting back on the train…

Excited by Eurailing? Intrigued by Interrailing? Find the perfect rail pass at RailEurope.com