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Traveling Europe by train is perhaps one of the most engaging ways to take a vacation or holiday. From fascinating mountain peaks to meandering rivers of pristine waters to lush, green landscapes, your journey by train takes you to sites that you will never want to leave except for the knowledge that each leg of the journey continues the experience. As the scenery sweeps past you in its amazing splendor, the power of the train and of the journey itself energizes you to a new level of awareness.
As if this experience of viewing the wonder of nature isn’t enough, each time you stop to visit one of the fascinating cities on the itinerary, you will get another eyeful of attractive architecture, intriguing historical monuments, and charming scenery. From castles to churches to political buildings to monuments to village homes, the sights you see will make your time go by so quickly that you will find yourself wishing you had booked a longer train journey.
An earful of stimulating dialogue goes along with everything you see showcasing historical facts and detailing interesting trivia. You’ll also get a mouthful of savory cuisine at meal times that lingers not only on the tip of your tongue but also in the inner recesses of your memories. If the sights and sounds don’t lure you to come back again, surely the delightful aromas wafting through each town will entice you to return by rail again.
The European train network is amazing in its extensiveness that allows it to cover more than twenty gorgeous countries and over five hundred exciting cities. Just think of all of the fun you can have taking one train vacation after another throughout the years. From short jaunts to longer ones and luxury train travel to budget trips, traveling Europe by train is the best way to go.
Booking Train Travel
Booking train travel is one of the simplest parts of this grand adventure. All you need to know is where you would like to go, how long you would like to travel Europe by train, and how you are going to pay for this magnificent journey through some of the most wonderful cities and landscape in the world.
You even get to pick whether you will sleep on the train indulging in the soft comfort of a luxurious stateroom or step off to the delightful accommodations at an elegant European hotel. If you elect to sleep on the train, you will get the pleasure of waking up in a completely new location. The entire journey is planned for you according to the specific train travel you select. Guided tours provide a mix of pleasure, fascination, camaraderie, and education all in one exciting package.
The length of the average train tour typically falls somewhere between seven and eleven days. However, a number of lengthier jaunts ranging form 2 to 4 weeks are available for the true train aficionado. Plus, for those high-powered individuals who simply can’t pull themselves away for longer than two to four days, a number of adventurous train journeys are accessible throughout the year. Shorter train journeys will be less expensive and therefore more affordable to the budget. However, for the true train lover, several shorter train trips throughout the year might be more rewarding than a single longer rail journey.
Frommer’s Travel Guides
Frommer’s travel guides offer an easy, user friendly method for selecting your first, second, or one in a long line of many train travel packages. You can search this comprehensive guide by location or area such as Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe, etc. Plus, Frommer’s travel guides break it all down into cultural events, attractions, restaurants, and a whole lot more. Whatever you are looking for by way of information for your train package, you can find it here.
In addition to highlights of European locations, you can peruse through articles, tips, and facts concerning just about anything you want to know about train travel. Frommer’s travel guides offer tips on finding travel companions to share the fun with, bargain train packages to help the budget, the best spas to dip your toes into, the most scenic outlooks to take your camera to, the latest travel tips to keep you healthy, as well as an entire plethora of useful information.
Popular Combination Train Packages
While the sheer number of available train travel packages is staggering, some combinations of stops have become quite popular. If you look at the destinations includes, you will understand why. In particular, rail packages to the following spots are often booked in advance or to full capacity: Many combination trips that include several destinations have special tours designed specifically for those cities. Some of the more popular ones include the following: London, Paris, and Amsterdam; London, Paris, and Nice; Madrid, Cordoba, and Seville; Rome, Paris, and London; Florence and Rome; and Venice, Florence, and Rome.
Many train tours focus on a specific area of a country. Both the Classic European Tour and the Central European Tour do this. These are great tours for travelers who can’t quite pinpoint the places they want to see and experience.
Packing for European Train Travel
Packing for train travel is no different than packing for most other forms of travel. You simply need to pack appropriate clothing, your medications, passport, traveler’s checks or credit cards, and personal essentials such as camera and binoculars. Both the staterooms in the train and any hotel accommodations will provide all the basics and more. Of course, your train travel package will determine how luxurious your accommodations are, thereby affecting the amenities that you are offered.
Why a Train?
Trains have a fascinating history of their own. Train travel is exciting with the sun dipping below the horizon that greets you from your window. Plus, panoramic landscapes filled with wildlife and lush flora present colorful displays that will keep you from nodding off. If you don’t believe it, take a train journey and discover the joy of the rails for yourself.
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,Cosmos European Tour 2009 a European vacation of a lifetime. Begin your trip in London with a full day to tour and discover the UKs capital on your own. Then, cross the Channel by ferry and board your motorcoach to Amsterdam, where a guided sightseeing tour and canal cruise await. In Germany, travel along the castle-dotted Rhine River and join the Romantic Road as it passes by medieval fairytale towns with half-timbered houses. Overnight in Munich, one of Germanys most popular travel …
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About Author
Susan M. Keenan, a professional freelance writer, provided this article for Gold Alliance Travel, Inc. Visit GoldAllianceTravel.com for travel tips and resources, including information on booking your european vacation by train.
ok don’t move my friend, call your bank and be ready
Jew-pan?
I would pay 500 billion dollars to stay in jim morrisons hotel room.
The best guide to the sights of Paris is probably the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide to Paris. You can order one from their website http://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780756615475,00.html Its just vastly better than the usual Rick Steve's/Frommer/Fodor's junk.
I know this sounds silly but being a "good" tourist is hard work and you should spend almost as much time preparing as you do actually being there. So don't just get a guide book but read thru it very carefully BEFORE you go.
Make a list of what you want to see based on your personal interests and the amount of time you have. Of course, its fine to come back to this forum with more specific questions after you have had the time to do some research of your own.
There's also a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.
You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.
You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch. Go the Luxembourg Gardens and feed the pigeons. Watch little kids sailing toy boats in the big pond there.
Be a bit courageous about food. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.
Mainly, don't stay in a tight little tourist cocoon. Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.
Bonne chance!
I have Lonely Planet, Fodor's and Let's Go, but how would I ever be able to send them?
creepy hotel
The above advice is good, it's an excellent idea to get all the free information you can find. However, if you're shopping for a Guide Book I HIGHLY recommend Rick Steves' guide books for both locations. Rick has specific guides just for the cities of London and Paris as well as books on all of England and France in case you are traveling outside the cities. You shouldn't need to buy all 4, if you are leaving the cities, the country books alone should give you plenty of info.
I've always been a fan of Rick's books because he points you in inexpensive and fun directions that help you travel like a local but see all the touristy stuff. He also designs self walking tours of towns and museums. Saves you the money of paying for a tour and you've got all the info at your finger tips.
The Rick Steves books really are the most thorough and interesting. They also seem to be the only line that takes traveling like a local and costs in mind constantly. You can get used Rick Steves books on eBay, amazon or half. He comes out with a new version each year so you can get used 2005 or 2006 books that will still be accurate but will be a lot cheaper. Check out his other travel tips and info for London and Paris at his web site http://www.ricksteves.com
The Lets Go Guidebooks are also heavily recommended, but I find them a lot more boring and I've had bad experiences with hotels and restaurants they recommended.
Hope this helps, enjoy your trip!
Cheers.
I think this can help you:
http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
just give your start city and your end city and voila! you get all info you need
Be sure to request a hotel with air conditioning!!!!!
We stayed a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower and almost died of heat every single night! Because it was so hot during the day, it stormed every single night, which was kind of nice because we opened up our window and caught a breeze.
Be sure to bring a compact umbrella for everyone in your group – you don't want to lug around a huge golf umbrella, but you will definitely need to take one every where you go because the weather is iffy each day.
We visited the American Embassy when we first arrived, and they suggested we buy a pass for the underground train – not a good idea, as the train didn't stop near anything we wanted to see! So…….invest in some really good walking shoes and plan on doing the city by foot. It's the best way to really get close to the Parisians anyway. Remember — it's PARIS, so if you are easily offended, you'll be frequently offended! We witnessed a couple making love on the grass in a park right up from the Louvre! It fascinated my young son, who thought they were wrestling! LOL
Enjoy your stay — and plan to spend several hours standing in line for the Louvre and Tower, but they are SO worth it!
I wish you well!!!
This is probably not the answer you want to hear but my opinion is that all the travel guides are more of less alike and that no one guide is going to really be good for anything more than the usual tourist trip.
As I type this i am looking at my bookshelf of travel books. I must have something like 150 of which 30 or 40 concern France generally or Paris in particular. These include such obscure things as "Seeing Paris," a guide published in 1931.
I go to Paris just about every year and have been doing so for more than 30 years and yet before each trip I spend several weeks planning things out and researching. I read restauant reviews, check the blogs of ex-patriates in Paris, and make extensive notes. I have a database of Paris restaurants and night clubs with hundreds of entries that I constantly update with whatever information I can glean from the internet.
The bottom line here is that you should consider doing your own research from many sources and compiling your own personal guide book.
It will be better than anything someone else can give you and you may find, as I do, that the preparation for your trip is itself an interesting activity.
Give it a try. I know it sounds like a horrible idea but it really works and its fun.
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well after seeing this.. I HAVE BEEN THERE and i thank you .cheers
You won't find it difficult to find your way around. Just get a good guide book, like Michelin, and it will tell you the places to go and how to get there. Much of Paris can be done by walking; just plan your days doing area by area so that you're not running around aimlessly.
Bear in mind that the Metro is easy once you know to look for the station that is at the end of the line. (In London, you look for "Eastbound", etc.)
I've done Paris many times, but spent a little time planning.
It's a wonderful city; have a lovely time.
the RER is complicated and sometimes you have to wait a while.
Better just taking the 3 line (green) to Opera and change for the 8 (purple) to Ecole Militaire.
You will be at the other end of the Champs de Mars, making for a fantastic 1km walk and build-up to the actual tower (it's a park built in the tower's perpective, so you admire it all the time you're walking.
I'm not sure where you found this information, but a ticket on the Eurostar is just that, a ticket to travel on the train from London to Paris. There is no tour guide, or anything else, included. Suggest you check the Eurostar website: http://www.eurostar.com