Taking the trains in Europe has been a popular way to get around the continent ever since the first railways were built in the late 1800’s. There are train tracks connecting Istanbul with the northern reaches of Scotland, Romania with Madrid and many more destinations along the way.
European trains are an excellent way to get around, whether you want to hop on a regional train to take a day trip or use the high speed trains to move on to your next travel destination. Navigating the train routes can be difficult if you’re unprepared however.
Here we’ll be giving you all the details you need to travel by train smoothly and explore Europe, no matter where you’re thinking of going:
Understanding European Trains
Let’s start by talking about the different European trains.
They offer travelers a range of travel options, from high-speed trains to overnight sleeper trains, long distance journeys across different countries and slower regional trains.
The quality varies slightly between the train types and country but in general the conditions are pretty high. Train travel is far more reliable than traveling by air within Europe, with delays and cancellations much less likely to happen.
Of course, journeys can take longer by rail (depending on how far you are traveling) but city train stations are largely much more centrally located than European airports. In some cases your overall journey is faster, when you take into account the time at the airport before your flight and the transfer when you land.
It is also more environmentally friendly to take the train than fly, particularly internally. In 2022 France banned short haul domestic flights that could be done in 2.5 hours or less on a train as part of a wider program to reduce climate change, with the fast trains making it possible to stop these short flights.
Deciding what train journey to take
As there are so many routes available, it can be tough to decide which one to use.
The German railways website helpfully has the schedule of every train in Europe (which you can set to English) so this should always be your first stop when planning a trip. Although if you are only planning a short, local trip, the tourist information available from your hotel or in the city center should be sufficient.
Train travel timetables are not published too far in advance, so keep checking if your route isn’t available yet. Generally you can only book your train ticket a few months in advance due to the time frame of when guaranteed routes and prices are published, and for short, more local journeys you can leave it until much closer to the travel date.
When searching online, start with just the city name not a particular station to make sure you get to see all the travel options. Paris has 6 major train stations so if you only select Paris Gare du Nord you’re cutting off a huge number of routes from your search!
It’s also important to consider the transfer times involved if you cannot take direct trains and need to change somewhere. Navigating an unfamiliar train station, likely with some luggage, takes longer than you may expect. Give yourself at least 20-30 minutes as an absolute minimum (longer for cross-country trains) when planning your train travel.
Buying European Train Tickets
Once you’ve decided where and when you’re traveling, it’s time to actually purchase your tickets.
We’re going to split this guide into two sections, one for taking cross-country trains in Europe and the other for regional trains as there are some differences.
How to buy cross-country train tickets
The main thing to remember with European train tickets is that each country has its own national railway provider. They sell tickets for the routes in their countries and sometimes onward journeys, but not other countries.
So, you can purchase a ticket from London to Nice, France on the French railway website, even though the journey starts in the UK, but you could not book a train between Vienna and Venice.
To make things more complicated, there are also sometimes private companies which operate on the same railway lines. For example, in Italy, Trenitalia is the main rail provider but there is also a private company called Italo which runs high speed trains across the country.
If you want to take international trains there is no single place to purchase all European train tickets online. The German website linked above allows you to see all the schedules but you can still only book German train tickets there.
So, the first thing to do is navigate to the national railway websites for where you want to travel – Google the country and ‘national rail’ to find this. Then add your dates and number of passengers to see the available tickets, select your route, ticket class and make your payment.
There is a way to make the process of booking cross-country train tickets easier, but it depends on what countries you are traveling to and from. If you are traveling between (or within) the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands or Luxembourg, you can use Trainline which allows you to purchase tickets for all parts of your journey in one place. Trains for other countries such as Portugal, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey and more need to be arranged on their national railway websites however.
What class of ticket to choose?
The difference between first and second class is fairly minimal. First class carriages have wider seats, come with some level of food service and tend to be quieter as there are less people in them, but there is not a huge gap in comfort or facilities compared to second class carriages.
It’s always worth looking at the prices as sometimes first class tickets are only a few euro more, but you won’t have a particularly different experience in second class. Cheap train tickets will primarily be second class.
On overnight trains there are three classes to choose from, seat which gets you just a normal chair to sit in (not recommended), couchette which is where the seats turn into basic bunks (usually 6 bunks to a compartment) and sleeper where you have a private room with your own washbasin and more space (often combined with room service and a dining package).
Should you opt for seat reservations?
The short answer is yes, absolutely.
They are mandatory on many high speed trains regardless, but even when they aren’t automatically allocated, it’s good to have your seat reservation in place.
If a seat map is available, take a look and decide what position and seat arrangement suits you best. There are generally some seats with a table in the middle and others without so it’s up to personal preference and group size.
Note that it’s rare that you can reserve a seat that will definitely be facing forward. European train carriages have seats facing both ways and it’s very common to go into a station facing one direction and coming out the other way!
On shorter routes seat reservations generally are not available.
How to buy tickets for regional trains
This advice applies for both high speed trains and slower train journeys within one country.
As the routes operate within one country, it is much easier to buy your train tickets. In advance, simply navigate to the relevant website (or Trainline) and put in the details of your route to get prices and timings.
You can also purchase tickets in person at train stations if your journey is more spontaneous, although for popular train routes it is sensible to book ahead, even if only by a couple of days.
What about rail passes?
In the past, traveling around Europe using a rail pass was very popular. You bought the unlimited travel pass, decided where you were going, wrote it in a little book and off you went!
These days, buying a rail pass is far less common.
You also cannot jump on any train you want to anymore, with seat reservations essential on some routes (which you have to pay extra for) and pre-booking required in some countries.
The combination of increased prices and restriction in flexibility means they no longer offer savings unless you plan to be on trains in Europe a lot, so this is not something we recommend doing.
Preparing for your train journey
Train travel in Europe is straightforward, and the process is the same for both long distance trains and short commuter trains.
When to arrive at the train station
You do not need to be at the train station hours before you leave, you will just be waiting around for most of that time. Aim to arrive around 30 minutes before your train, giving you time to grab a coffee or snack before finding your platform – these are often not announced until just before the train arrives.
The exception to this rule is if you are taking Eurostar trains to or from the UK. You are required to check in at least 30 minutes before your train for them to check passports and go through a security screening.
There are no border checks for travel between Schengen countries, and for travel outside of the Schengen area, checks are done on the train when actually crossing the border, not at the start or end of the journey.
Validating and showing your ticket
If you have purchased your train tickets online, you will most likely have received an email with a PDF or QR code. You can simply show this on your cellphone to the ticket inspectors both at the station or on the train as needed.
If you have a physical train ticket, this likely will need to be validated before entering the train. This validation is necessary for tickets on regional trains that do not have seat reservations, to show that you have used the ticket on a particular day and time.
You can receive a large fine if the ticket inspector sees that your ticket isn’t validated so it’s important to make sure this is done. Ask a member of staff at the train station before boarding if you aren’t sure what to do or where to go to do this.
On board your train trip
Finding Your Seat and Storing Luggage
If you have seat reservations, this will tell you the carriage number as well as the seat number. Carriage numbers are displayed on both the train itself and often on screens along the platform to help you find it. Inside the carriage the numbers are always clearly labelled, along with an icon indicating whether the seat is in the window or aisle.
You will need to carry any luggage you have yourself up the steps onto the train and place it in the available luggage storage. Long distance routes will have more luggage space than shorter, local routes, but there never seems to be enough so this is definitely a situation where less is more! If you can fit your bags into the overhead shelf this is the ideal scenario.
Finding charging points at your seat is common but they usually require an actual plug rather than simply a USB cable so make sure you have a travel adaptor easily accessible for long trips, or bring a portable power bank.
Food
There are no restrictions on bringing food and drink onboard, and the catering facilities can be inconsistent, so make sure to have water and some snacks with you at a minimum. For longer trips, sandwiches and fruit are always in our bag, but you can bring whatever you like – just try and avoid anything particularly pungent or messy!
Safety on board
It’s perfectly safe to explore Europe by train, both in terms of the engineering and crime rate. Video surveillance on the train and at the train station is standard, and there is always a police presence at the main train stations of major cities.
If you have any concerns at any time, speak to a member of staff of the train company or the police for help.
As you can see, taking trains in Europe is not something to be avoided but rather embraced as a more interesting and environmentally friendly way of traveling. The feeling of speeding through beautiful scenery, crossing rivers, spotting the blue sea in the distance before getting glimpses of major European cities is one that is impossible to replicate.
There is so much to see in Europe that if you’re looking to plan an adventure in one (or more) of the many varied countries and cities, we’re here to help. Get in touch today or take a look at our upcoming tours for inspiration.