At Otesha, it’s no secret that we love trains. When we’re not on our bicycles, you can often find us climbing aboard with all our gear in tow (including a glow-in-the-dark hula hoop, lots of snacks and travel scrabble). In the past little while, we’ve taken the train to Sweden for the European Social Forum, Poland for the UN climate negotiations, Denmark for some more climate negotiations and of course all around the UK at the start and end of cycle tours.
Along the way, we learned a few things about how to make train travel as pleasant, comfortable and convenient as possible. In the spirit of spreading and sharing our new-found wisdom far and wide, we’d like to share our tips with you.
So without further ado, here are our top train tips - toot toot!
1. Book early. If you’re leaving the UK and traveling through more than 1 other country, it’s easiest to book online on the InterRail site or, if you live in London, by visiting the Rail Europe office. Their agents will help you choose good connections and make sure you get the best price. You can also check out brand-new site Loco2 which has loads of low-carbon travel ideas.
2. Bring friends, either of the actual person variety or in the form of books, music, games etc. We enjoy knitting, travel scrabble and glow-in-the-dark hula hoops.
3. Get a sleeper car. If you’re travelling overnight anywhere, this will make your journey about, oh, a million times more pleasant. These little beds don’t cost that much more than a seat and they ensure that you get a good night’s sleep. Plus, it’s oh so romantic to get lulled to sleep by the rocking motion of the train. Depending on how much you want to splash out, you can get a bed in a 2, 4 or 6 person car. Woman-only cars are also available.
4. Make sure to pay a visit to the dining car. This applies especially to night trains, since their bistros are the poshest, with white tableclothes, menus in five languages and flattering soft lighting. Sit yourself down, order a drink and gaze pensively out the window and the scenery passing by the in dark. For bonus points, dress for dinner in your finest apparel.
5. Trains that cross water are pretty cool. From Germany to Denmark, our train drove itself right onto a ferry. So not only did we get to see the scenery in England, Belgium, Germany and Denmark as we travelled along, but we also got to hang out over the Baltic Sea.
6. Speaking of water, fill up your bottles at stations whenever you can, since you won’t be able to do this on the train without buying a bottle. Water in train toilets is never drinkable.
7. Carry around a trusty reusable mug and food container wherever you go. Since we often found ourselves grabbing a quick bite or cup of coffee at train stations, our tup-tup-tupperware became our best friend.
8. Deutsch bahn ist gut. In our experience, German trains are always amazing. They’ve got tons of leg room, run on-time to the minute, and even have separate glass, paper, plastic & compost recycling facilities onboard. Toot toot!
9. Be a moneybags. If you’re heading outside the Euro zone, different currencies can come in handy in case you want to eat at stations or check your baggage. On our recent trip to Sweden, we ate each meal in a different country (dinner in Brussels, lunch in Copenhagen….ah, so continental). Aside from the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Hugary and several countries in Eastern Europe aren’t on the Euro.
10. Finally, if you need a cheaper option, take a coach. They’re less roomy and luxurious for long-distance travel, but they’re half (or less) the price than trains, and they’re very carbon emissions-friendly.
Like we said, we thoroughly enjoyed most of our trips. I mean, what’s not to love about enjoying the scenery in five different countries, embarrassing ourselves trying to speak the local languages (what’s Danish for excuse me?) and feeling truly continential. The only downside is that trains are still much more expensive than short-haul flights. Oh, and the lingering feeling of gentle rocking sometimes takes awhile to subside. Otherwise, we can’t ask for a more perfect way to travel.
You have certainly been very busy writing up this great post, It was very interesting to read. Can’t wait to see what you write about in the next week
Good ideas here. Still looking for more data on travel tips and would be thankful any advice. Thanks a lot!
Some of the tips provided are really useful especially when you are on rail holiday. You might love the scenic view but you definitely need friends to come along.