5 Best European Train trips

Air travel and road travel are much more popular compared to travelling by sea or by rail. However, in comparison with these other three forms of travel, train travel is the most stress-free. It is also a cosy way to travel. Some reasons why it is an excellent way of travelling are;

• It costs less

Travelling by train costs less than travelling by air. Also, discounts are better with train travel than others.

• It is stress-free

There are no long queues or security checks with train travel. The process of buying tickets is also more reasonable than air travel.

• There are more comfort and freedom compared to the others.

With trains, passengers can move about freely and are not tied down by seat belts and stringent rules. It is more comfortable to travel on a train.

• Charming appeal

There is also this charm that comes with travelling on a train. It appeals to the sense of mystery and adventure in a human being.

• There is no traffic

Road traffic can be very frustrating, can it not? However, just like air travel, there is no traffic on rails. The journey is always hitch-free, traffic-free, and stress-free.

• No hidden fees

As long as you can handle your luggage, railway lines do not care about it. They do not also charge fees for it. If you need to facilitate and organise your trip, you may contact Omio to help with that. Remember, it is always best to read reviews before engaging any company.

• It offers a lot of natural scenes.

Train travel can be interestingly scenic. You get to see lots of mountains, rivers, lakes, islands, grasslands as you travel, depending, though, on the route you take. For the nature lover, this is a much better way to travel.

Check out Amon Avis for the reviews on travel companies when you decide to travel. Trains cannot take you everywhere in Europe, but there are some wonderful train trips that you will want to take. Check them out;

• La Rhune, France

The length of this railway track is 4.2km. It is an old-fashioned rack or cog railway that starts from a low mountain pass from Saint-Jean-de-Luz. It then stretches to climb the westernmost peak of the Pyrenees. If you are travelling on this railway, you will find beautiful scenes from the Basque coast and the countryside. It is not the only beautiful railway that adorns the Pyrenees, but it is one of a kind.

• El Transcantabrico, Spain

A railway, of length 780km, begins at Irun, which shares a border with France, and can also be reached from London travelling by train. On this route, you will be fascinated with sights that include the cities of San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Santander. You will also see the pre-Romanesque churches of Asturias, the Picos de Europa, some prehistoric painted caves, and beach resorts. This beautiful track stops at Ferrol.

• Glacier Express, Switzerland

The full route of this trip from St Moritz to Zermatt takes eight hours, on a track of 290km. You will cross 291 bridges, pass 91 tunnels, and reach a maximum of about 2033m above the ground.

• Mariazell Railway, Austria

There are many beautiful rail routes in Austria, but this, the Mariazell Railway, is considered the best. It is a narrow-gauge line from St Polten that is the west of Vienna and cuts across the Pielach valley to Mariazell. While there are many train options, it is deemed more romantic to travel in a steam-pulled carriage, a nostalgic train pulled by an old electric engine or a first-class panorama carriage.

• Harz National Park, Germany

Called the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen, it is a 140km network of narrow gauge lines in the Harz mountains. On this railway track, there is about a fleet of 25 trains in operation. The most appealing of the trip is from the Wernigerode that cuts through the woods to the Brocken mountain summit, which takes about an hour and forty minutes on a distance of about 1125m.