With European airports and airlines providing unexpected challenges for travellers, rail travel is ever more appealing on a continent where trains are fast, frequent, and convenient. Especially in the northern winter when fog and inclement weather can disrupt air travel, trains provide a more reliable alternative for travellers seeking to experience Europe in the off-season when braving the elements pays dividends with busy cultural calendars and less crowded museums. It is also a more sustainable way to travel, considering the environment.
Antwerp’s central station is one of the most beautiful in Europe.
The convenience of city centre departures and arrivals also adds to the appeal of winter travel by train. The spectacular scenery of snow-covered mountains and picturesque cityscapes dusted in white can be considered a bonus supplementing the transport. Not that European winter necessarily equates to snow; plenty of locations along the Mediterranean coast offer balmy counterpoints to colder locations.
Why not follow up the beauty of Stockholm’s Old Town in winter with Nice’s Promenade des Anglais or the Swiss Alps with the Costa del Sol? It is all possible with a Eurail Pass, now more convenient than ever in its latest incarnation as an app for mobile phones. Longtime Eurail aficionados may fondly recall the paper tickets in their covers and the folded timetables accompanying them. Still, the 21st-century version of the Eurail Pass has won them over with the volume of information it offers at one’s fingertips, on one’s phone. Those travellers who have never used a Eurail Pass for train travel quickly become devotees after their first experience.
Train transport from Point A to Point B, but many special trains are travel experiences. Especially in Switzerland, where beautiful landscapes and an extensive rail network combine to provide passengers with delightful scenery out the window, there are several routes of note through the most scenic parts of the country. The names Bernina Express, Glacier Express, and Golden Pass conjure images of spectacular mountain, valley, and lake scenes, and that is precisely what SBB (Swiss National Railways) deliver.
Eurail Mobile Pass has a wealth of information at one’s fingertips.
National rail entities across the continent have been taking great strides in improving their offerings in comfort and cost. In Italy, the Freccia fleet of high-speed trains is exceptionally comfortable and surprisingly punctual; in Sweden, SJ (Swedish Railways) provides free wifi on board its X2000 trains and a meal in First Class, which is where Eurail Pass travellers can be found enjoying the ride perhaps in one of the quiet cars where travelling in peace is the rule.
Eurail Passes come in a variety of options to suit the individual needs of the traveller best. A Global Pass allows for unlimited travel in more than 30 countries over some time (up to three months) or for a specified number of days within the timeframe of the traveller’s choice. The ten days in 2 months option is very popular.
In Australia, Eurail Passes are available through Rail Europe. Whichever Pass is chosen, it will undoubtedly make seeing the sights of the European continent even more of a pleasure when visiting the Christmas markets around Germany, sipping chocolat chaud in Paris, or taking in a museum exhibition during the continent’s cultural high season.
Written by: Robert La Bua – Global Traveller Deluxe
