10th Anniversary event – what the rail experts said.

For those of you who were lucky enough to bag a seat at our recent 10 year anniversary event with the Rail Experts, we hope you had a great time!

If you weren’t at the event or would like a round-up of what was said, read on for some insight into their discussion and inspiration for future holidays.

As a quick reminder, Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall, long time rail contributor and VP of Experience hosted the discussion. Seat61.com founder Mark Smith, Andy Brabin of andybtravels.com and Tailor Made Rail’s own Simon Hodge, possibly three of the most knowledgeable rail travel enthusiasts in the UK, made up the panel.

Here’s what they had to say.

Sleeper trains, fast trains and regional trains.

To get things started, Tom asked the panel for their favourite sleeper train, fast train and regional train. 

Mark:

Mark is a big fan of the Caledonian Sleeper train from London to Scotland – a fabulous, scenic train and a wonderful experience – right here in the UK.

Italy’s Frecciarossa, which translates as ‘red arrow’, was his pick of high speed services – fast, pleasant and with great views.

And ok, we might not think of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express as a regional train! But we’ll happily include it – he has fond memories of getting engaged to ‘Mrs Seat 61’ en route to Venice.

Andy:

Andy is a huge advocate of Eastern European trains – and this was reflected in his top three.

Night trains in Eastern Europe were his choice for sleepers – they mean you can cover a lot of ground very efficiently.

For service, speed and scenery, he plumped for Spanish fast trains.

And he returned to Eastern Europe for regional services. Despite the more basic nature of regional services, he feels they provide an authentic experience, allowing a passenger to really ‘feel the country’ they are travelling through – a great sentiment which sums up a lot of our customer’s experiences.

Nightjet sleeper train compartment

Simon:

Simon is an advocate of the Berlin to Zurich Nightjet service – a gleaming and clean double decker service which includes en suite cabins.

His fast train pick is the TGV from Paris or Lille to Nice, which then continues along the Cote D’Azur.

And for a regional service, he thinks you can’t beat the regional service from Andermatt in Switzerland to Disentis on the Oberalp Pass.

What’s changed in the past 10 years of rail travel?

Well, a lot! But the biggest change, according to our panel, is the renaissance of sleeper trains. A decade ago, overnight services had started to fall away. But, in recent years, we have seen new night trains, routes and services spring up across Europe. 

Why? Well, Mark thinks it’s because ‘the 21st century traveller has discovered what the early 20th century traveller knew all along – it’s more time-effective to go overnight’. A 12-hour overnight train fits in with a travel schedule much better than the 7-hour day train alternative, and adds to the journey experience.

Another difference – people are consciously choosing to reject the increasingly arduous airport experience and opting to take a slower but more rewarding train journey. It is part of the holiday rather than just a means to get there.

Environmental consciousness is playing a big part too. Mark Smith says that it’s now one of the key reasons people use his seat 61 site and travel by train rather than air. And, the rise of social media and the current trend for ‘slow travel’ have had a significant impact on the popularity of train travel in recent years.

Alongside this, international connectivity has also improved, with streamlined connections, new high speed lines like Paris to Barcelona and increasingly, journeys where it just makes more sense to go by rail – such as London – Frankfurt. In fact, France has banned flights under 2.5 hours where there is a high speed train alternative. And, more changes are coming – a Paris to Berlin direct day train launches in December and others are set to follow. 

All these changes combine to paint a very positive picture for the future of holidaying by rail. 

Train travelling along the French coast

What are the best destinations to combine a love of train travel with an authentic experience?

Andy:

As anyone at the event will know, Andy has a particular penchant for travelling by train in Eastern Europe – where train travel has changed a lot in the past 30 years. Now, the trains and the network are modern and comfortable. His advice was to cross Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia on a slow train. 

But his particular favourite is travelling by train in Romania ‘where you can still ride on 1930s trains with hard plastic seats and no suspension’ – this does not apply to all Romanian trains! Generally, though, Eastern European stations are atmospheric and, whereas on the fast trains you’ll see commuters and smartly dressed students, on the slower, regional trains, you get to see a snapshot of society. People may even jump on board with their chickens!

Mark Smith:

Mark chose rail holidays to Italy – the number 1 destination on seat61.com – as his perfect combination. Specifically, he would choose to get there via the Bernina route – in his opinion, ‘the most spectacular route in Switzerland’. His route would be Zurich – Chur – panoramic or regional train to Tirano, a regional train to Milan before heading to Sicily on the world’s last remaining boat train – a journey that several in the audience had taken! 

This is a unique train, where the sleeper cars are shunted onto a boat and rolled off on the other end. You can stay in your car or go up onto the deck for the 30-minute ferry ride. And once in Sicily, there are plenty of beautiful places to visit. Tailor Made Rail has a very similar route available to book which combines the Amalfi Coast and Sicily, or we can tailor-make Mark’s exact route!

Harbour, Sicily

Simon Hodge:

Simon’s pick was the epic journey from London to Istanbul, one of Tailor Made Rail’s most popular rail holidays, travelling through several countries on the way – France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and then Turkey.

This is a journey where you can see cultures change as you pass through, and stop in some incredible cities on the way. There was a lot of debate around the best route to take, and the panel discussed several different options, but for Simon, the itinerary would include stops in Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Transylvania, Bucharest, Sofia and Istanbul – ‘a truly world class city’.

Top tips for a holiday by train

The conversation then moved to a more practical topic – how to get the best out of travelling by train.

Top of the panel’s list was accessories for a smartphone – which these days tends to hold a lot of ticket and seat reservation information and confirmations. Power banks, chargers and even, for Mark, a back-up phone were seen as essential. Having access to a phone means you can download the apps for rail operators in the country you are travelling in, meaning you have access to platform information and times in advance.

Mark recommended a good pair of walking shoes, Andy suggested toilet paper and wet wipes, and Mark advocates checking there is water in the toilets before applying soap! 

But the best advice from the panel was to ‘travel with an open mind’. Rail travel, particularly in countries further east, can be demanding. Trains can get delayed. Travellers need to go with the flow, savour the experience, look out of the window and take everything in.

Istanbul at sunset

Can you still get a good onboard dining experience?

Dining on board a train conjures nostalgic images of people dressing for dinner and making their way to the restaurant car – and it’s still possible to enjoy a fantastic culinary experience on a train.

For Andy, the żurek soup on Polish trains is a winner – it’s hand made by a chef on the train every morning ‘in a big cauldron’.

Mark rates the dining car on the GWR Pullman trains from London to Cardiff and London to Penzance. ‘It’s a top dining experience on a train, at a reasonable price’. You can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner, but this service is only on a handful of trains – his advice is to check before you book.

In many countries when you travel first class, you will be served at your seat, such as in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic – rather than in a dining car. But Simon’s favourite is the restaurant car when travelling along the Elbe Valley from Berlin to Prague. It’s a scenic route with a wonderful meal and draft beer on tap. He suggests waiting until the Czech border when the prices change from German to Czech – a significant saving!

The big question – what’s your ultimate rail holiday?

Tom’s last question was a tricky one. There are so many options, but what would their ultimate trip be? Here’s what they said:

Simon:

‘A combination of high speed trail travel with scenic rail journeys through the Alps, lakes, the coast and end with a top city.’

So, his holiday would start on the Eurostar to Basel via Lille, then on from Basel to Chur and on the Bernina route to Tirano. From there, he would travel alongside Lake Como to Milan before spending some time in the Cinque Terre region and finishing in Rome.

Mark:

Mark’s holiday is all about dramatic scenery, starting in London, traveling through Germany and ending in Montenegro.

From London to Brussels he would pass through Basel and on through the Rhine Valley, past the castles (schlosses) and vineyards. After his German leg, he would continue east and take the Belgrade – Bar route, which he describes as ‘a bit like the Bernina route, but more rough and ready with rugged mountains and, until recently, the highest bridge in the world’. The route has a night train all year and a day train in the summer, but the scenery is still spectacular at the Montenegro end of the journey when you wake up.

Belgrade to Bar Railway

Andy:

Andy’s ultimate rail holiday was too long to mention in full! Highlights he mentioned included going via Luxembourg, the Glacier Express and the Gotthard route through Switzerland and into Italy via a route that avoids the tunnels. He suggested that travellers to Italy look not just at north-south routes, but also plan in a trip across the mountains, such as from Bologna and Florence or Rome to Ancona. His trip ended with a ferry from Ancona to Greece.

Questions

The evening closed with a number of questions from the audience on everything from the best app to use in Japan to the impact of post-Brexit border checks and the possibilities of traveling in Africa by train. We didn’t have time to go through them all, but the audience had the chance to talk directly to our experts after the main event, over drinks and canapés.

Feeling inspired? We have compiled a list of ten holidays by rail that take in some of the trains, routes and destinations mentioned in the event – or contact our team to tailor make one!

The team at TMR remain on hand to answer any other questions about rail holidays and train travel – just send your question to info@tailormaderail.com.