EUROPE BY TRAIN | The Five Best Itineraries

With all the different railways, trains and service options available throughout Central and Western Europe, there are countless possibilities for creating the European train journey that's right for you. Again, it depends on what you're looking for and what your travel needs are. Here are five potential itineraries that you can take. Number one, Switzerland. The Swiss railway network is the densest in Europe, covering approximately 3,241 miles or 5,216 kilometers of railway. In terms of length of track per square mile, Switzerland is two and a half times over the European average. This means you can travel effortlessly between Swiss towns and cities any day of the week. Geneva in the morning, Zurich for lunch, Saint Gallen in the evening, why not? Let's see what this can look like. After having an early breakfast in Geneva, you can catch an SBB train to Zurich with a journey time of roughly two hours and 45 minutes. I'd recommend getting this train no later than 10 a.m. so you arrive in Zurich no later than 1 p.m. From there, you can find a nice lunch spot, perhaps overlooking Lake Zurich. Once you've finished, you can board an SBB train to Saint Gallen, which only takes between one and one and a half hours, depending on the route and any station changes. You should easily be able to make it there for a lovely evening dinner. Swiss trains offer the Swiss day pass, which you can take all over the country at your own pace. Rather than getting individual tickets for the journeys that I just described, you can purchase one Save-a-Day pass for the entire route. Save-a-Day passes have great value. They don't need validation or seat reservations. You just turn up and go wherever you like within the GA travel area. A Save-a-Day pass like this is available up to 60 days in advance in first or second class, with prices starting from 29 Swiss francs. Be aware that these tickets can sell out, so be sure to book sooner rather than later. Also, be careful which pass you buy. When you book, there will be an option for a with half-fare travel card or without the half-fare travel card. The half-fare card gives you a 50% discount on the boat, rail and post bus network in Switzerland for an entire year. It is mainly marketed towards people living in Switzerland, and rightly so, because if you're just visiting the country for a few days or even a few weeks, the half-fare card won't be worth the money you'd spend. As I've mentioned many times in this guide, Swiss trains and the landscapes they traverse are incredible. So whether you're looking to go on your very first European train journey or are looking to reconnect with adventure, Switzerland has endless options. Two, heading to Croatia by train. Croatia is one of my favourite countries because it's a great alternative to popular holiday destinations like Switzerland or Italy at a much lower price. Croatia can easily be reached by train with connections from France, Germany and Austria. Here's what this itinerary looks like. You depart Paris-Gare de l'Est at 15.55 and take an almost six-hour journey east to Munich-Hobanhof, Germany, arriving at 21.36. From there, you'll have basically two hours for snacking and stretching your legs before your next train. At 23.20, you board the sleeper train from Munich to Zagreb, which gets you there at 8.30 in the morning. If you wake up about 7am before arrival, you might get to view some of the beautiful Slovenian countryside. Although most people tend to skip Zagreb and head straight down to Split or Dubrovnik, I recommend spending at least a night in Zagreb. In my opinion, it's one of the most underrated European capitals. Zagreb has a fantastic old town and fascinating Yugoslav-era architecture, which, if you've never been to Croatia before, makes for a great introduction to the country. For planning this journey, you can book through the Deutsche Bahn, Trainline, and Omeo websites. It is possible to book the sleeper from Munich to Zagreb on its own, and if this is what you want to do, you're best off using the OBB Nightjet website. Technically, the train you take won't be an OBB Nightjet train, but a different sleeper train with some carriages from Croatia. But don't worry, Nightjet only partners with high-quality, like-minded operators, so you can be assured of a high standard of service. 3. Paris to Sicily This is one of my favourite itineraries. On this journey, the train actually boards a ferry between Sicily and mainland Italy. This is Europe's only remaining passenger train ferry that operates all year round, so it's quite a unique experience. You'll want to leave Paris-Gare de Lyon at 07.26 on a Fretscher Rossa, which has four classes of travel, from basic economy to luxury executive class, with prices to match the level of service. Much of this route is on dedicated high-speed lines, but the highlight is the long, slower section through the Alps, which takes several hours. The entire journey takes almost seven hours in total. You arrive in Milan in time for a late lunch or an early dinner, and then catch the 2010 departure, heading to Palermo and Catania to head to Sicily. Want more luxury in the sleeper? Easy. Take a high-speed Fretscher Rossa, Milan to Rome, and get the 2031 departure to Palermo, with en-suite XL Soir sleepers, available from €150. Paris to Milan is a Fretscher Rossa train, and it can be booked via Trenitalia, or the third-party operators we've talked about earlier. The Milan-Sicily leg of the journey can also be booked via the Trenitalia website, or those third-party sites we mentioned earlier. And remember, this won't be the fastest way to get to Sicily, but it will be an experience you won't forget. Another great route starting in Paris is boarding the night jet in the evening and waking up all the way over here, in Vienna, ready to explore a new city, culture, and country. This is a great option because you can explore two very different European cities on the same trip, and you don't lose a day of travel time. Even if you took this route by plane, you'd lose a morning or afternoon for a journey that would take in excess of 5 hours. This 14-15 hour journey departs from Paris around 7pm, passing through Strasbourg, Munich, Salzburg, Linz, and St. Polten, before arriving into Vienna around 10am. And after an opportunity to sleep, you will feel ready to kick off your adventures in Vienna. You can purchase tickets via the main operators, Nightjet and SNCF, or you can also find tickets through Trainline. Do note that this service only runs on certain nights, usually Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. I'd recommend purchasing a bed option with your ticket, but if you really need to stick to a budget, you can get a seated ticket for about €29, which is equivalent to a night in a hostel dorm. Your other options are a bed in a couchette or a private room, some of which are deluxe sleepers that come with an ensuite shower. The price of the sleeper accommodations range from €50 to €200, about the same as a standard hotel room, which is well worth it to wake up refreshed in a new city, ready to explore. Book this OBB Nightjet train in advance to secure the best price, and be aware that they do sell out. When booking, remember to look at the prices on both third-party ticket sites and on Nightjet's own site. 5. City Hopping Around Europe Because the railway system across Europe is so great, my last suggested itinerary is criss-crossing the continent and taking in several of the major cities in one go. For example, to film this guide, we started in Paris, made our way to Frankfurt in Germany, and ended in Zurich in Switzerland. In five days, we visited three cities in three different countries, which is not something that can be done easily on any other continent. An itinerary that I recommend for this type of adventure is Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin. These cities have their own unique charms, which means you can easily spend two or three days in each one before moving on to the next city. Paris to Amsterdam is doable via the TALIS high-speed service, which gets you there in just over three hours. This train has three travel classes, which gives you plenty of choice for how much comfort you want to pay for. Again, those options are standard class, which is your ordinary second class. There's comfort, which involves seats in a first-class carriage, but no service. And then there's premium, seats in a first-class carriage with hot meals and attendant service. After some time in Amsterdam, you can then take the high-speed ICE to Berlin, which takes about six hours. This is a full service express train and contains a restaurant car, which I definitely recommend visiting. To purchase tickets for the Paris to Amsterdam leg, you can book through TALIS itself, or through Trainline or Omeo. And for the service between Amsterdam and Berlin, you can book through Deutsche Bahn or NS International, which is the national Dutch railway service. But be aware that you can't choose your seat when booking through the Dutch company's website. City hopping is a really popular way to explore Europe by train because it's such an easy and comfortable way to get around. Whether you stick to exploring just one country or you choose to traverse the continent across several cities, you'll be sure to have a great time traveling by train. I hope these itineraries have given you some inspiration for the types of journeys you can take and provided you with the confidence to tailor your very own European train adventure.