Table of Contents
A word of welcome 8
Fifty years of Interrail 11
How to use this book 14
Overview: The 50 routes 16
Planning your itinerary 18
Getting the best deals on tickets 21
Key shipping links 29
Europe in colour: Journeys of discovery 33
Routes 49
Discover Britain and Ireland 50
1 Following Brunei to Cornwall 52
London
Reading
Exeter
Plymouth
Penzance
Sidetracks A: Cornish Branch Lines 58
2 Cathedrals, castles and glens 59
London
York
Durham
Edinburgh
Inverness
Kyle
Sidetracks B: The Hebrides 68
3 The rural route to the West Highlands 69
Rotterdam
Hull
Settle
Edinburgh
Fort William
Mallaig
4 Across England and Wales to Ireland 78
Rotterdam
Harwich
Chester
Dublin
Killarney
Sidetracks C: Irish Questions 87
5 West to Europe's Celtic fringe 88
London
Cotswolds
Mid-Wales
Dublin
Galway
The Low Countries and Germany 96
6 Through Flanders to Amsterdam 97
Lille
Bruges
Antwerp
Den Haag
Amsterdam
Sidetracks D: Belgium's Coastal Tramway 103
7 From Hauts-de-France to the Rhine 104
Lille
Brussels
Liege
Aachen
Cologne
Sidetracks E: Creature Comforts 109
8 From the Netherlands to Lake Geneva 110
Amsterdam
Maastricht
Luxembourg
Strasbourg
Lausanne
9 Exploring the Rhine Valley 117
Cologne
Koblenz
Heidelberg
Triberg
Zurich
Sidetracks F: Rhine vs Moselle 125
10 Across northern Germany 126
Cologne
Dusseldorf
Hannover
Helmstedt
Berlin
11 Steaming through the Harz Mountains 133
Hannover
Goslar
Wernigerode
Quedlinburg
Magdeburg
12 From Berlin to the Alps 138
Berlin
Leipzig
Weimar
Wurzburg
Munich
Salzburg
A taste of France 147
13 From London to the Mediterranean 148
London
Paris
Nevers
Clermont-Ferrand
Nîmes
Marseille
14 Paris to Geneva
The slow way 156
Paris
Dijon
Beaune
Lyon
Annecy
Geneva
Sidetracks G: Exploring the Jura 163
15 Exploring the French Riviera 164
Marseille
Bandol
Toulon
Cannes
Antibes
Nice
16 The Seine Valley and Normandy 171
Paris
Giverny
Rouen
Lisieux
Bayeux
Cherbourg
Sidetracks H: Carriage Design 175
17 The Loire Valley and Atlantic coast 176
Paris
Angers
Bordeaux
Biarritz
San Sebastian
18 To the Pyrenees 182
Paris
Dordogne
Toulouse
Latour de Carol
Barcelona
Iberian connections 189
19 From the Alps to Catalonia 190
Geneva
Aix-les-Bains
Avignon
Perpignan
Portbou
Barcelona
Sidetracks I: Mediterranean Islands 198
20 Historic Spain 199
Barcelona
València
Despeñaperros
Cordoba
Seville
Cádiz
Sidetracks J: South from Spain 206
21 High-speed Spain 207
Barcelona
Madrid
Córdoba
Málaga
22 Pilgrim route to Santiago 213
San Sebastián
Burgos
Leon
Santiago de Compostela
23 The Atlantic coast of Iberia 219
Santiago de Compostela
Vigo
Porto
Lisbon
Sidetracks K: Grand Stations 226
Scandinavia and the Baltic 227
24 Great maritime cities 228
Amsterdam
Hamburg
Odense
Copenhagen
Stockholm
25 To the Skagerrak and beyond 238
Fredericia
Aarhus
Hirtshals
Oslo
Stockholm
Sidetracks L: Slow Boat to Icelano 245
26 Sampling Scandinavia 246
Copenhagen
Goteborg
Oslo
Bergen
27 North to the Lofoten Islands 254
Oslo
Lillehammer
Trondheim
Bodø
Svolvær
28 Night train to Narvik 260
Stockholm
Boden
Narvik
Svolveer
Sidetracks M: Norway's Far North 267
29 From northern Sweden to Russia 268
Boden
Oulu
Tampere
Turku
Helsinki
St Petersburg
Sidetracks N: The Communal Carriage 278
30 Baltic adventure 279
Hamburg
Lübeck
Stralsund
Szczecin
Gdansk
Warsaw
Sidetracks O: Baltic Trains 288
Central and eastern Europe 289
31 Bohemian byways 290
Nuremberg
Plzen
Karlovy Vary
Prague
32 Four capitals in a day 296
Hamburg
Berlin
Prague
Bratislava
Budapest
Sidetracks P: Named Trains 304
33 To the Black Sea 305
Vienna
Budapest
Sighisoara
Bucharest
Constanta
34 Exploring Slovakia 314
Vienna
Bratislava
Poprad
Košice
Budapest
Sidetracks Q: Carpathian Connections 322
35 East from Berlin 323
Berlin
Poznan
Warsaw
Kraków
Przemysl
Lviv
Sidetracks R: Through Ukraine 331
36 Through Serbia and Montenegro 332
Budapest
Subotica
Belgrade
Bar
Bari
Sidetracks S: Through Albania 339
37 From Saxony to the Tatra Mountains 340
Dresden
Görlitz
Wroclaw
Kraków
Zakopane
Sidetracks T: Crossing Frontiers 346
Alpine adventures 347
38 Crossing the Alps 348
Munich
Mittenwald
Innsbruck
Bolzano
Verona
Sidetracks U: The Alps by Bus 354
39 The Arlberg route 355
Zurich
Feldkircn
Innsbruck
Salzburg
Vienna
Sidetracks V: Night Train Perspective 364
40 Over the Bernina Pass 365
Zurich
Zernez
St Moritz
Tirano
Milan
41 The classic Gotthard route 370
Basel
Lucerne
Gotthard
Locarno
Stresa
Milan
Sidetracks W: Through the Simplon 377
42 Following the Glacier Express 378
St Moritz
Andermatt
Brig
Zermatt
43 Swiss lakes and mountains 383
Zurich
Lucerne
Interlaken
Montreux
Lausanne
Geneva
Sidetracks X: To the top of Europe 391
Italy and the Adriatic 392
44 Habsburg connections 393
Vienna
Semmering
Graz
Ljubljana
Trieste
Sidetracks Y: Railways and World Heritage 401
45 From the Riviera to Florence 402
Nice
Monaco
Sanremo
Genoa
Cinque Terre
Pisa
Florence
46 Tuscany and Umbria 409
Verona
Bologna
Florence
Siena
Orvieto
Rome
47 North Italian cities 416
Genoa
Milan
Cremona
Mantua
Verona
Venice
Trieste
48 South to Sicily 424
Rome
Naples
Messina
Taormina
Siracusa
49 By rail and ship to Greece 431
Venice
Bologna
Rimini
Bari
Patras
Athens
50 From the Danube to the Adriatic 439
Budapest
Lake Balaton
Zagreb
Split
Ancona
Gazetteer 446
A country-by-country guide to exploring Europe by rail in alphabetical order
Albania 447
Andorra 447
Austria 448
Belarus 449
Belgium 451
Bosnia and Herzegovina 453
Bulgaria 454
Croatia 456
Cyprus 457
Czech Republic 458
Denmark 460
Estonia 461
Faroe Islands 463
Finland 463
France 465
Germany 467
Great Britain 469
Greece 472
Hungary 473
Iceland 475
Ireland 475
Italy 477
Kosovo 479
Latvia 479
Liechtenstein 481
Lithuania 481
Luxembourg 482
Malta 484
Moldova 484
Monaco 484
Montenegro 485
Netherlands 486
North Macedonia 488
Norway 489
Poland 491
Portugal 492
Romania 494
Russian Federation 495
San Marino 497
Serbia 498
Slovakia 499
Slovenia 501
Spain 502
Sweden 505
Switzerland 506
Turkey 508
Ukraine 510
Vatican City (Holy See) 511
Reference Section 512
A word on place names 512
City links: travel times between principal cities 513
Planning overnight stays 518
Night trains 520
Cruise trains 523
When a train is not a train 524
Rail pass briefing 525
A-Z of travel in Europe 529
Index 534
Postscript and feedback request 544
