• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

European Day or Short Trips

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
23 Dec 2008
Messages
301
Just curious where or even if people go abroad on short day trips or maybe for couple of days riding the rails in other European countries?

I've just been to Amsterdam on Eurostar and had a couple of short trips around the Netherlands, Would be nice to hear where other people venture.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

peteb

Member
Joined
30 Mar 2011
Messages
1,073
I've been to Lyon several times. As well as being an interesting city with a really good public transport network it's a great hub from which to do day trips to interesting places with good scenery. Loads of accommodation right by Perrache or Part Dieu stations. When I was last there in May there were plenty of loco hauled TERs to sample going towards Marseille or Dijon or Geneva and a few to Grenoble and Chambery. Several potential round trips possible including Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne but only on DMU/EMU stock. You could get a lot done with 1 night away, especially if you fly one way and Eurostar/TGV the other. From London it seems to be cheaper to fly to/from Geneva which has useful later evening return flights. Loco hauled TER from Lyon to Geneva is a good way to end your trip.
 

morrisobrien

Member
Joined
23 Aug 2017
Messages
128
DAY ONE :south Wales to Freiburg(S.W.Germany)via Eurostar.

DAY TWO :Freiburg to Interlaken.
Paddle Steamer cruise Lake Thun/Lake Brienz(Interrail Pass accepted)
Interlaken to Freiburg.

DAY THREE :Freiburg to South Wales via Eurostar.

Do this 3/4 times a year......especially this year as the Paddle Steamer Waverley
is not running in Scotland!
 

MarcVD

Member
Joined
23 Aug 2016
Messages
1,004
Next month... One week away, 3 days in Lyon, followed by 3 days in Torino, and then back to Belgium. Thalys/TGV all the way. I would have preferred to come back via Switzerland, but the disparition of all direct connections between Italy or Switzerland and Belgium made that impossible.
 

tynesider

Member
Joined
25 Dec 2009
Messages
107
A couple of trips I've enjoyed recently:

Day 1: To Paris
Day 2: Paris - Bordeaux - Toulouse
Day 3: Toulouse - Marseille (On IC Corail stock, via Montpellier Sud de France - Never seems to be particularly busy!)
Day 4: Marseille - Paris - Home

And a day trip from Strasbourg through the Black Forest and around Lake Constance:
Strasbourg - Offenburg - Radolfzell - Friedrichshafen - Lindau - St. Gallen - Konstanz - Offenburg - Strasbourg
It was a long day but had wonderful scenery!

On a trip to the Netherlands once, I decided to go on a random excursion to Den Helder - Simply because it was an end of line destination. I honestly thought I'd rocked up in some crap British seaside town (although the beach is simply a long concrete slope descending into the sea!)… So that's one to avoid!
 

Struner

Member
Joined
13 Dec 2018
Messages
767
Location
Ommelanden, EU
[…]
On a trip to the Netherlands once, I decided to go on a random excursion to Den Helder - Simply because it was an end of line destination. I honestly thought I'd rocked up in some crap British seaside town (although the beach is simply a long concrete slope descending into the sea!)… So that's one to avoid!
well, no proper research there then :( the beaches are across the water & very fine they are too. GIYF...
 

STEVIEBOY1

Established Member
Joined
31 Jul 2010
Messages
4,003
well, no proper research there then :( the beaches are across the water & very fine they are too. GIYF...

Zandvoort and Scheveningen are good seaside resorts and easy to get to by train/tram from Amsterdam/the Hague, (The latter can easily be combined with the model village at Madurodam which has a tram stop about halfway between the Hague & Scheveningen.)
 

Beebman

Member
Joined
17 Feb 2011
Messages
640
I've made a few day trips to European cities by air from Heathrow so I don't know if this is on-topic or not! Only last Thursday I went to Basel. After a leisurely lunch and a little sightseeing on a gloriously sunny day I did the following 3 out-and-back trips from the city centre:
  • Tram across the German border to Weil am Rhein, then SBB S-Bahn to Lörrach Hbf, then another S-Bahn back over the border via Bad Bf to Basel SBB
  • Tram across the French border to St.Louis Gare, then SNCF TER (Sybic on a rake of Corail coaches) back to Basel SBB (the old Bâle SNCF part of the station)
  • BLT tram route 10 on an out-and-back to Rodersdorf via Leymen in France (something that's been on my 'to do' list for many years!)
I still then had time for a little more sightseeing and dinner before getting the bus back to the airport. I used a TNW Tri-regio ticket which was 22 CHF and included the bus to and from the airport.
 

LNW-GW Joint

Veteran Member
Joined
22 Feb 2011
Messages
19,555
Location
Mold, Clwyd
I've done one rail day trip - to Köln.
Ryanair from Manchester to Charleroi (£14.99 each way), local train to Liege via Namur, and on to Aachen on an ancient SNCB EMU.
Then a DB RE to Köln, and after a bowl of goulash soup at the Hbf an ICE back to Brussels Zuid on the Belgian HSL.
Finally a local from Brussels to Charleroi (via the real Waterloo!) and Ryanair back to Manchester.
It rained all day, and it was foggy (it was November).
But it ticked off a gap in my rail knowledge between Brussels and Köln, and I was impressed by the industry along the Meuse/Maas and the brief views of the Ardennes.

I've given up crack-of-dawn flights.
Instead I like 3-4-day trips, fly out to A, train to B, C, D on different days and fly back from E, usually involving several countries en route.
I've just got back from Hamburg-Kyiv via Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow and Lviv. Highly recommended for the variety, interests and contrasts between DE/PL/UA.
Can recommend European fly-rail whistle-stop trips with opportunistic sight-seeing during the overnight stops.
You also learn the best/cheapest way to travel in each country, and in my case any discounts available to seniors.
 

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
I've got a weekend trip to Basel and back coming up in a couple of months. Out Saturday, back Sunday. Eurostar/TGV Lyria via Paris.

Saturday evening and Sunday morning in Basel.

If I was planning it again, might do one or both ways via the Harwich-Hook of Holland ferry overnight then DB ICEs from Utrecht via Frankfurt.
 
Joined
23 Dec 2008
Messages
301
Some good idea's to spread my wings so too speak.

Where do most people gather their information from on train times, Is it mainly specific country web-site or is there a combined European site?

I remember many years ago there was a European trains timetable published available from British Rail
 

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
Some good idea's to spread my wings so too speak.

Where do most people gather their information from on train times, Is it mainly specific country web-site or is there a combined European site?

I remember many years ago there was a European trains timetable published available from British Rail

Mark Smith's website, www.seat61.com is a good place to start.

Then I use a mix of loco2.com and bahn.de
 

Hophead

Established Member
Joined
5 Apr 2013
Messages
1,192
Possibly the very easiest day-trip, assuming St Pancras for Eurostar is convenient, is a ticket to "any Belgian station", which is a £10 supplement on the standard Eurostar fare. There's currently a Eurostar sale on, but don't worry if that's not convenient, there'll be another one on soon (seems to be happen every couple of months).

However, if you do a day-trip over a weekend, the SNCB/NMBS "Weekend Ticket" is an absolute bargain (not that the fares are particularly expensive to start with): it's a discount of pretty much 50%, similar to a day return in South-East England compared to an anytime single.
Hasselt, for example, would be just €14 from Brussels and you could go out via Sint-Truiden and return via Diest. With a bit of planning, there's plenty of possibilities, given the density and frequency of the network.
 

STEVIEBOY1

Established Member
Joined
31 Jul 2010
Messages
4,003
Some good idea's to spread my wings so too speak.

Where do most people gather their information from on train times, Is it mainly specific country web-site or is there a combined European site?

I remember many years ago there was a European trains timetable published available from British Rail

The European Timetable, is good too, it used to the Thomas Cook European Timetable, but changed hands a few years ago.
 

Jamesrob637

Established Member
Joined
12 Aug 2016
Messages
5,209
Manchester to Bordeaux one day in the evening

A little sightseeing in Bordeaux in the morning before boarding a proper loco-hauled train to Marseille

Marseille to Manchester the following afternoon after a little sightseeing in MRS
 

iainbhx

Member
Joined
8 Jul 2014
Messages
211
Flew to Frankfurt (I had Lufthansa miles expiring)

Train to Mainz, stopped three nights in Mainz including a day out in Koblenz including the small DB-Museum there, train to Würzburg via Aschaffenburg, two nights there, train to München (on a Bayern Ticket taking a rather long way round), three nights there including a day out in Herrsching and the ICE back to Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbf.

Next year going to do something similar, but all by train and in Northern Germany, looking at Eurostar to Amsterdam CS, train to Hamburg few nights there, train to Stralsund, few nights here, train to Köln and then back.
 

Wychwood93

Member
Joined
25 Jan 2018
Messages
634
Location
Burton. Dorset.
I did a couple of 'Three Capitals' trips - London/Paris/Brussels and v.v - obviously two E* legs and a Thalys between Paris/Brussels. A longish day, given that I live near Christchurch, but fun. Staff rates, so bank not broken. If you lived close to, or in, London, then not a bad day out.
 

LNW-GW Joint

Veteran Member
Joined
22 Feb 2011
Messages
19,555
Location
Mold, Clwyd
Another "day trip" I have done was from Catania on the east coast of Sicily, round Etna on the Circumetnea narrow gauge railway.
Not quite a circle as you end up at Giarre-Riposto north of Etna on the main coastal line, leaving you to catch a regular train back to Catania.
I then carried on south to Siracusa and then back to Catania to end the day.
A highly scenic and interesting trip, highlights being the passage under the continuous dust stream from Etna (westerly at the time of my trip), and then the beautiful architecture of Siracusa.
The Circumetnea line is a mix of old and new (Polish) DMUs passing through the changing landscapes of the volcanic foothills, with some very recent lava flows.
Etna is always at about 10km distance, on the right for a clockwise trip.
Most trains only go half-way round the volcano, focussed on Randazzo, but there are a couple of connecting trains which let you do the whole trip in half a day.
 

paddington

Member
Joined
19 Feb 2013
Messages
964
I have never done a day trip by rail as it doesn't seem worth it because it takes too long to get there and back.

As flying to Asia from other European countries is often cheaper than the UK, I often do day trips by air. I have done Oslo, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Duesseldorf, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Dublin.

Basically you book a flight like Amsterdam to Bangkok on BA (so via London), then you buy a separate flight to get to Amsterdam (or Eurostar but you only get about 3 hours there), then you fly AMS-LON (go home) with LON-BKK the next day, this is cheaper than the same flight from London to Bangkok minus the cost of positioning yourself to the European starting point, and you get a "free" trip to Amsterdam or some other European city.

I have done plenty of one-night stays though, in fact most of my travels around Europe have been for one night, as it reduces hotel costs but I get almost two full days in the city. I visited every EU/EEA capital city in this way.
 

Jamesrob637

Established Member
Joined
12 Aug 2016
Messages
5,209
I have just returned from Marseille today, a city to which I warmed.

From Fort St Jean, the bay overlooks a line with seemingly a million viaducts hugging the coast. Does anyone know about this? I couldn't tell if it's electrified as I was 10km or more away - the bridges were like models over the bay.

By the way Corail stock are comfortable and smooth: shame they're on their way out!
 

gazthomas

Established Member
Joined
5 Jun 2011
Messages
3,041
Location
St. Albans
I've done Lyon, Cologne and Amsterdam as day trips from London, but flying back to maximise (drinking!) time at the destination. The furthest I've done in a day is North Wales to Hamburg
 

Beebman

Member
Joined
17 Feb 2011
Messages
640
I have just returned from Marseille today, a city to which I warmed.

From Fort St Jean, the bay overlooks a line with seemingly a million viaducts hugging the coast. Does anyone know about this? I couldn't tell if it's electrified as I was 10km or more away - the bridges were like models over the bay.

By the way Corail stock are comfortable and smooth: shame they're on their way out!

I think what you saw was the coastal line which goes the long way round to Miramas via Rognac and Port de Buc. It's not electrified and is served by DMUs but back in 2001 when I spent a few days in Marseille I had haulage from a BB673xx when I made an afternoon trip out to the pretty fishing port of Sausset les Pins. (The date in question was 11/09/2001 and I started to wonder why people in bars and cafes in the town were huddled round TVs looking at news reports from New York...)
 

parkender102

Member
Joined
21 Dec 2010
Messages
421
I quite often go over to Paris just for a night out. Leave work in London late on a Thursday afternoon – Eurostar to Paris, cheap night in a Youth Hostel, explore the city by Velobike. Then dump the Velobike and hit the Pigalle or somewhere similar for drinks and randomly chatting to strangers followed by a few hours kip at the Hostel and on the first Eurostar back to London in the morning. Despite the office being out in West London I’m back in work for 08:30 Friday Morning and half the office still haven’t arrived for work!

When a colleague arrived last time he said ‘Were you out on the beer last night?’, I said ‘Yes – in Paris’, ‘Paris, France?’ was his reply

Have also done similar to Amsterdam on the Eurostar but because there is no direct Eurostar coming back the other way I flew back to Gatwick on the Friday Morning – again arriving in the office at 08:30 before half of the office have arrived.
 

childwallblues

Established Member
Joined
3 Jul 2014
Messages
2,823
Location
Liverpool, UK
In June I did an 0600 Easyjet flight from Liverpool to Amsterdam. With a two country Interrail pass I went Schiphol-Rotterdam-Breda-Antwerp Brussels Nord-Arlon-Luxembourg-Thionville-Metz where I stayed opposite the station for two nights after doing the evening peak All the trains from Schiphol to Luxembourg were loco hauled.
Day 2 was an 0730 start to Thionville and then a CFL emu to Nancy. From Nancy took a TGV to Strasbourg for a few hours. Leaving Strasbourg at 1748 behind Sybic 26148 we fairly bombed along the direct route to Metz.
Day 3 was another early start from Metz to Luxembourg and then loco hauled to Brussels Nord. Up to Antwerp Bercham for a couple of hours before heading up to up to Schiphol for the 1950 flight home.
 

AlbertBeale

Established Member
Joined
16 Jun 2019
Messages
2,695
Location
London
For train times, www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml is pretty good.

For ideas on good routes along with Seat61.com the Europe by Rail book is worth a read. https://www.europebyrail.eu/ A new edition is coming out next month

I find this site helpful
https://hafas.bene-system.com/bin/query.exe/en?L=profi&

It's fairly good a sorting out connections, though not perfect; and I like the way you can easily pull up and print off the complete route for a journey, with timings for all station stops.

For initial planning, and getting an overview of options, I find you can't beat a combination of the seat61 website, plus a copy of the ERT (https://www.europeanrailtimetable.eu) in front of you.
 

philthetube

Established Member
Joined
5 Jan 2016
Messages
3,749
Another "day trip" I have done was from Catania on the east coast of Sicily, round Etna on the Circumetnea narrow gauge railway.
Not quite a circle as you end up at Giarre-Riposto north of Etna on the main coastal line, leaving you to catch a regular train back to Catania.
I then carried on south to Siracusa and then back to Catania to end the day.
A highly scenic and interesting trip, highlights being the passage under the continuous dust stream from Etna (westerly at the time of my trip), and then the beautiful architecture of Siracusa.
The Circumetnea line is a mix of old and new (Polish) DMUs passing through the changing landscapes of the volcanic foothills, with some very recent lava flows.
Etna is always at about 10km distance, on the right for a clockwise trip.
Most trains only go half-way round the volcano, focussed on Randazzo, but there are a couple of connecting trains which let you do the whole trip in half a day.

This one should be on everyone's bucket list, yet seems little known about.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top