Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this (general) video guide on how to take trains in Europe! Let me know in the comments if you'd like any country-specific guides in the future :) PS: Written version of the guide is here: happytowander.com/how-to-travel-europe-by-train/
My husband and I love train travel in Europe. We've travelled all over Europe by train. Definitely better than renting a car in most countries and avoiding airports for many journeys. Although we've travelled pretty much to every country in Europe in spring and autumn, since 2018 we've now been repeating destinations for Christmas market season. Currently planning to spend the entire month of next December in Benelux and part of Germany. All the best to you and safe travels!
Wow, thanks for the exhaustive video explaining not only how to get tickets, but also how to find the platform, the car, the seat, and how to ride and disembark! I thought I had already seen all your train/rail videos because the thumbnails & titles seem similar, but this was 100% more helpful than the others.
I really appreciate all the detail in this video! A lot of creators forget important steps that might seem obvious to them but are not obvious to many others. My neurodivergent brain thanks you.
Love the Ch. and your videos. Still a little confused on Eurail vs Omio. If I get a Gloabl pass can I book trains on Omio or do I have to use the Eurail pass? We are visiting 4 countries. Thx for ANY guidance. 😊
5:53 (Arriving at the station) - Trains don’t have nearly the boarding & baggage ritual that planes do, so you don’t need to be at the station as early as you would for a flight. Getting to the station 45-60 minutes before departure is good if you’re concerned about finding your way around or if you need assistance from the staff. Otherwise 30 minutes should be fine. (That’s not a hard limit, it’s just more of a gamble as you cut it closer.) That could be a factor in your choice between train or plane travel. For a shorter trip like Munich-Berlin, your door-to-door travel time may be about the same either way. The train itself isn’t as fast obviously, but flying may mean you have to get out to an airport on the edge of town and then sit around for an hour.
Your guide is very informative. I know the world prefers digital/cell phone apps for ticketing needs. I have tried to create accounts on the Swiss national rail network, the Austrian one and the German one (SBB/OEBB/DB). However, they all have their own issues with recognizing me and my account. As a result, I have opted yet again for a paper Eurail pass, since we shall be in Germany, Switzerland and Austria for a duration of 15 days with daily treks on trains. For most of our trains seat reservations are not even optional, but the occasional EC/ICE/IC trains suggest seat reservations. Since I can't get the phone app to register my needs correctly, I shall need the paper version. Waiting in the long ticket lines manned by rail personnel waste too much of our holiday time, so we're left with using the kiosks/ticket automats in the stations. Can you advise or better yet, do a step by step demo on how to purchase seat reservations without purchasing an actual ticket. You can cancel your demo ticket, once we have the button sequences viewed. Each time we try the online versions of the SBB/OEBB/DE, the reservation only cost is nearly as high as the regular ticket. Reservations should cost no more than 10 Euros for most trains, if one has a Eurail pass. The online versions are showing like 30-90 Euros; that cannot be correct. Once I know how to buy one seat reservation on the kiosk, all I need to do is repeat the steps and exchange the new train info into the fields. Thank you in advance.
Hi please speak little slower, it is hard to catch everything you said. Can you do video on how to use train, bus., etc., especially to and from the airport. How best to get around the specific city London and Rome. Thank you.
Specific country information is more clear. This is so general, too general, could be this could be that. Most adults understand general railway travel.
Thanks for the video😊. Its very informative? I got two kids, 6year and 3.5year and planning a trip from Ljubljana to Munich, visiting our friends in january. Is there any more advice ? Is it a smart idea, we never traveled by train?😂
Hi. I am planning to travel by train from Paris to Zurich, Zurich to Milan, Milan to Prague. What trains will you recommend for scenic view? Also is Euro pass is more economical in this case.
Hi Christina, great ch and great advice. I am more than a little confused with train travel. If I buy a Eurail pass, (global) can I use Omio for seat reservations or do I ONLY use the Eurail app? SO CONFUSED 🤷♀️ Going to Paris, then Switzerland, eventually Amsterdam, Brussels and back home from Paris. Thx for any advice. Been through MOST of your videos!
Hello. I loved the video! The one that I am looking for. Trip by train. I’m planning a solo trip to Europe this year. Hope you can help me to guide steps by steps. Is there a possibility that I can travel by train the whole Europe?
Happy wanderer question we recently booked 4 trains connecting our destinations. My visa bill lists 3 Trainline charges which are much higher than the price on my tickets. What to do?? How can I fix this? Credit Card company states this is the amount presented to us. Something is not right here. Have you as a train traveler had this happen?
Hello, I bought my tickets on Omio to get around Belgium. but I have two doubts; Do the tickets have to be printed? And the platform doesn't come but there is a legend that says Intercity and a number, would that be the # of the train? Hope you can answer, thanks!
Thanks for putting this together! I learned a lot. One question: Do trains have luggage limits like the planes, specially those budget planes like Ryanair, EasyJet etc? In another word, can I have a decent size backback and a suitcase without paying additional fees?
Nope! You can bring as much as you can carry. I've seen people carry art projects, pets, musical instruments etc on trains. It's all fine. However, big luggage can be annoying for other passengers, especially at busy times or if your luggage is blocking seats. I often take the IC in the direction of Schiphol airport to get to my university and it's honestly quite frustrating when I'm just trying to get to school or work and people are blocking seats or hallways with their gigantic luggage, rubbing their vacation joy all in my face while I have to stand because there are no seats left available 😂
@@LoveQuimper Thank you and I am sorry, the travellers are creating not so fun experience for you. I am not planning on bringing too much. One under 30L bag (like the size of a normal college/school bag and a 20-22 inch suitcase that most of the US airlines allow as carry on. I would like to take trains to most of my destinations.
In most cases, there are different sizes of the lockers, plus - most major train stations have "luggage room" with personel to look after your luggage if you have many suitecases, you don't want to use the lockers or they are full.
Within the Schengen zone there are no border checks. But as I'm assuming you're not in possession of an EU passport, you will ofc need it to enter the EU from your home country. So you'll already have it on you anyway.
i'm going to freakin cry if I'm traveling alone in a foreign country and the station is that huge with all these specifications. I mean yeah they're pretty easy to follow but nerve-wracking when it's your first time, I am shit in directions, I just wanna be with someone who knows what to do while I float around and not use my head 😭 But i also wanna travel alone and feel independent with all these buying tickets and getting on my trips alone💃 does that makes sense? idk either sdhajgf
jesus christ tell me about it. trying to plan my honeymoon and i want to blow my brains out. Edit: I just got backed from my Honeymoon, it is now Mid-October. it was really easy. basically everyone in europe speaks english, so if you can't figure something out just ask someone. train travel is easy as pie, the worst part is sometimes track number isnt specified until about 30 minutes before the train leaves. if your seat number isnt specified then there are no assigned seats... overall pretty easy. if you can navigate an airport youll be just fine at a train station. navigating public transportation in europe wasnt as scary as i thought it would be. however, one caveat... it is neither clean, nor fast, nor cheap... glad we travel primarily by car in the USA.
Can you do a video on transferring trains? We are planning on going to Europe in September and I don't know if that is a peak season or a more slower season. We're looking into taking the train from Amsterdam to ravensburg Germany and there isn't any direct flights to ravensburg from Amsterdam but there is a line that goes to ravensburg... The issue that I am worried about is that there is 3 to 4 stops on some of the trips depending on the times that we book and in those stops it says that there is about 5 to 7 minutes to transfer in between. This part stresses me a little cause to me it seems like there isn't much time to transfer trains in 5 minutes... But am I to assume that the station is smaller and that the trains would be near each other? Also how do I know if the train that I am arriving in is the same train that I should stay on and the 5 minute "transfer time" is just to fuel up or change out conductors?
@lingLuo-ol5nz thank you for the reply but your answer did not answer my question. It is okay though cause we went in 2023 and knowing what we know now. If you were to go on German trains and if you are on a train with short transfers (5-8 min transfer time to get to your next train) you can guarantee that you will not make your transfer trains. If the train was the last train coming out of that station through no fault of your own and it is deutsche bahn fault they will give you a new ticket for the next train out and will give you a voucher for a hotel near the station for a room up to $250 usd but you will have to pay for the room up front and get reimbursed at a later time. French trains are constantly being delayed. One train we were on was stuck on the tracks for an hour with the smell of gasoline in the air. Trains in Spain are treated like an airport and you have to be there 2 hrs ahead of time to go through security and their trains are always on time with very few to minimal delays/cancellations.
This video has to be the worst video for the year. It adds ZERO benefits. Example “seat selection depends on time the distance and the country” what a marvels discovery is that?
Ma’am why are you ending the majority,of your sentences , using vocal fry ?. It is very very annoying and a turn off. Unprofessional. It appears that you have great information, however it’s a struggle, to listen.
Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this (general) video guide on how to take trains in Europe! Let me know in the comments if you'd like any country-specific guides in the future :)
PS: Written version of the guide is here: happytowander.com/how-to-travel-europe-by-train/
Hello I’m visiting in the summer 2024. What’s the best way to travel from FCO airport to a hotel in Milan
I’m leaving out of FCO that’s why I flew in to FCO
My husband and I love train travel in Europe. We've travelled all over Europe by train. Definitely better than renting a car in most countries and avoiding airports for many journeys. Although we've travelled pretty much to every country in Europe in spring and autumn, since 2018 we've now been repeating destinations for Christmas market season. Currently planning to spend the entire month of next December in Benelux and part of Germany. All the best to you and safe travels!
There are train cards now on sale! We can purchase together to get discounts!
Sounds great!🎉 and now buy EU rail tickets can get a discount!!
Actually there is a discount that you can apply for buying train tickets now
Hello, please suggest some nice night trains?
Wow, thanks for the exhaustive video explaining not only how to get tickets, but also how to find the platform, the car, the seat, and how to ride and disembark! I thought I had already seen all your train/rail videos because the thumbnails & titles seem similar, but this was 100% more helpful than the others.
U should know how to use TrainPal to buy EU tickets, it has super discount🤣
Actually there is a discount that you can apply for buying train tickets now
I really appreciate all the detail in this video! A lot of creators forget important steps that might seem obvious to them but are not obvious to many others. My neurodivergent brain thanks you.
I really wanna do a train trip through Switzerland and Austria the views look amazing.
U should! The most beautiful route I have ever taken 🥹 do u heard about TrainPal? I just saw it has discount for European rail tickets😮😮😮
For someone that’s been traveling by train for 8 decades @ 0:12, you sure look YOUNG!
For “a decade”. Not 8. Lol.
@@soniiabaybee thanks for clarifying, me and @kwfown were having a hard, hard time figuring that out.
YESSSSSS!!!! I'm doing a month of eurobackacking this summer, this is just what i needed
Let's buy the train cards ogether to save more! Just found it
Wish your joy through journey's end! BTW why not try TrainPal which has a discount code for EU railways😂😂😂
That’s an absolute guide .. after that we must do it with eyes closed 🎉
Detailed and clear expression🙏 Thx for ur devotion😘 I tried the app mentioned by comments section, amazingly it is 💥super save🤩
Very informative- to the point - thank you.
Love the Ch. and your videos. Still a little confused on Eurail vs Omio. If I get a Gloabl pass can I book trains on Omio or do I have to use the Eurail pass? We are visiting 4 countries. Thx for ANY guidance. 😊
5:53 (Arriving at the station) - Trains don’t have nearly the boarding & baggage ritual that planes do, so you don’t need to be at the station as early as you would for a flight. Getting to the station 45-60 minutes before departure is good if you’re concerned about finding your way around or if you need assistance from the staff. Otherwise 30 minutes should be fine. (That’s not a hard limit, it’s just more of a gamble as you cut it closer.)
That could be a factor in your choice between train or plane travel. For a shorter trip like Munich-Berlin, your door-to-door travel time may be about the same either way. The train itself isn’t as fast obviously, but flying may mean you have to get out to an airport on the edge of town and then sit around for an hour.
Yes, definitely agree! Join me for the train card discounts I just found! Let's save more for getting trains.😆
The train is my favorite way to travel.Btw there is a great discount on UK train tickets now.❤
This is a great concise video! Very informative and helpful.
This video helps me a lot!! Last time, my friends told me a way to get bigger discounts for rail trips. so i plan to have a rail trip
I found a discount too
omg I also know there is a way to save money with ➎% discounts
@@code-TRAINPAL-XY777B do you have more info? thanks
Your guide is very informative. I know the world prefers digital/cell phone apps for ticketing needs. I have tried to create accounts on the Swiss national rail network, the Austrian one and the German one (SBB/OEBB/DB). However, they all have their own issues with recognizing me and my account. As a result, I have opted yet again for a paper Eurail pass, since we shall be in Germany, Switzerland and Austria for a duration of 15 days with daily treks on trains. For most of our trains seat reservations are not even optional, but the occasional EC/ICE/IC trains suggest seat reservations. Since I can't get the phone app to register my needs correctly, I shall need the paper version. Waiting in the long ticket lines manned by rail personnel waste too much of our holiday time, so we're left with using the kiosks/ticket automats in the stations. Can you advise or better yet, do a step by step demo on how to purchase seat reservations without purchasing an actual ticket. You can cancel your demo ticket, once we have the button sequences viewed. Each time we try the online versions of the SBB/OEBB/DE, the reservation only cost is nearly as high as the regular ticket. Reservations should cost no more than 10 Euros for most trains, if one has a Eurail pass. The online versions are showing like 30-90 Euros; that cannot be correct. Once I know how to buy one seat reservation on the kiosk, all I need to do is repeat the steps and exchange the new train info into the fields. Thank you in advance.
Very informative. Thanks.
Hi please speak little slower, it is hard to catch everything you said. Can you do video on how to use train, bus., etc., especially to and from the airport. How best to get around the specific city London and Rome. Thank you.
Thank you for making this video!
You’re welcome!! Thank you for watching :)
Fantastic. Love to travel by train
Do you have a video for train travel from Frankfort, Germany to Koblenz? Also from Merzig, Germany to Frankfort, Germany?
Specific country information is more clear. This is so general, too general, could be this could be that. Most adults understand general railway travel.
♥ Your videos.
Thanks for the video😊. Its very informative? I got two kids, 6year and 3.5year and planning a trip from Ljubljana to Munich, visiting our friends in january. Is there any more advice ? Is it a smart idea, we never traveled by train?😂
helps me a lot!! My friends told me a way to get bigger discounts for train tickets.
Hello , nice video , thank You.
Will there be helpers who may no English there? This just raised my anxiety I never been to Europe and I’m coming solo soon
Hi. I am planning to travel by train from Paris to Zurich, Zurich to Milan, Milan to Prague. What trains will you recommend for scenic view? Also is Euro pass is more economical in this case.
Nice idea! Travel on train!!
Great description 👌
I also think it's very helpful~Btw there is a great discount on UK train tickets now🤩
Thank you for sharing. Actually there is a discount that you can apply for buying train tickets now
I also know that Info. I got 5% discount on TrainPal.
Hi Christina, great ch and great advice. I am more than a little confused with train travel. If I buy a Eurail pass, (global) can I use Omio for seat reservations or do I ONLY use the Eurail app? SO CONFUSED 🤷♀️ Going to Paris, then Switzerland, eventually Amsterdam, Brussels and back home from Paris. Thx for any advice. Been through MOST of your videos!
Thanks for a detailed explanation 👏👍
If you're traveling to the UK, there are some great deals available now😊Enjoy your days~
Can I start my train trip from Budapest to Munich but get off at Salzburg for a quick stop and resume my trip to Munich with the same ticket? Thanks!
Hello. I loved the video! The one that I am looking for. Trip by train. I’m planning a solo trip to Europe this year. Hope you can help me to guide steps by steps. Is there a possibility that I can travel by train the whole Europe?
Happy wanderer question we recently booked 4 trains connecting our destinations. My visa bill lists 3 Trainline charges which are much higher than the price on my tickets. What to do?? How can I fix this? Credit Card company states this is the amount presented to us.
Something is not right here. Have you as a train traveler had this happen?
This was very helpful! Thank you.
Agreed!I just bought a very affordable train ticket and I am looking forward to the upcoming train journey🤓
Good image ❤😊
I’ve seen eurorail bundles of train fare plus hotel. Like from Paris to London or Amsterdam to London. Any thoughts on this?
Hopefully someone replies. I'm planning on doing paris, Brussels to Amsterdam in the fall
I have a plan to do a solo trip in Europe ,i may choose the train too better than airports, is there any app that i can use it in all Europe?
This is a great video
Places where you need to validate tickets do they also give you an option to buy online so you can skip the validation process
Hello, I bought my tickets on Omio to get around Belgium. but I have two doubts; Do the tickets have to be printed? And the platform doesn't come but there is a legend that says Intercity and a number, would that be the # of the train? Hope you can answer, thanks!
Hello! Is there any site that displays the visual map of train connections between countries in Europe?
I will be coming to budapest and want to travell to debrecen which train should i choose and which website should i use to book my ticket
can you do Italy. Rome to Pompeii in particular.
this is unusual ~ farewell! amigo-😮
Thanks for putting this together! I learned a lot. One question: Do trains have luggage limits like the planes, specially those budget planes like Ryanair, EasyJet etc? In another word, can I have a decent size backback and a suitcase without paying additional fees?
Nope! You can bring as much as you can carry. I've seen people carry art projects, pets, musical instruments etc on trains. It's all fine. However, big luggage can be annoying for other passengers, especially at busy times or if your luggage is blocking seats. I often take the IC in the direction of Schiphol airport to get to my university and it's honestly quite frustrating when I'm just trying to get to school or work and people are blocking seats or hallways with their gigantic luggage, rubbing their vacation joy all in my face while I have to stand because there are no seats left available 😂
@@LoveQuimper Thank you and I am sorry, the travellers are creating not so fun experience for you. I am not planning on bringing too much. One under 30L bag (like the size of a normal college/school bag and a 20-22 inch suitcase that most of the US airlines allow as carry on. I would like to take trains to most of my destinations.
I need help !! Which trains and passes do I need ? Going to different places
I have question... What happens if i miss the train? Most of the train have a 8 min transfer time....
Is there a size limit to the luggage lockers or do they come in multiple sizes?
In most cases, there are different sizes of the lockers, plus - most major train stations have "luggage room" with personel to look after your luggage if you have many suitecases, you don't want to use the lockers or they are full.
Planes, Trains AND flights?
Do you need to travel with your passport when traveling in the EU via train or bus?
Within the Schengen zone there are no border checks. But as I'm assuming you're not in possession of an EU passport, you will ofc need it to enter the EU from your home country. So you'll already have it on you anyway.
All the trains have WiFi?
i'm going to freakin cry if I'm traveling alone in a foreign country and the station is that huge with all these specifications. I mean yeah they're pretty easy to follow but nerve-wracking when it's your first time, I am shit in directions, I just wanna be with someone who knows what to do while I float around and not use my head 😭
But i also wanna travel alone and feel independent with all these buying tickets and getting on my trips alone💃
does that makes sense? idk either sdhajgf
i feel u im going to japan with 2 other friends who have been before but i want to solo travel europe by train but im scared im gonna get lost
jesus christ tell me about it. trying to plan my honeymoon and i want to blow my brains out.
Edit: I just got backed from my Honeymoon, it is now Mid-October. it was really easy. basically everyone in europe speaks english, so if you can't figure something out just ask someone. train travel is easy as pie, the worst part is sometimes track number isnt specified until about 30 minutes before the train leaves. if your seat number isnt specified then there are no assigned seats... overall pretty easy. if you can navigate an airport youll be just fine at a train station. navigating public transportation in europe wasnt as scary as i thought it would be. however, one caveat... it is neither clean, nor fast, nor cheap... glad we travel primarily by car in the USA.
me too i want to travel solo but m scared 😮😅i been to germany n france wit my frnds
Can you do a video on transferring trains?
We are planning on going to Europe in September and I don't know if that is a peak season or a more slower season.
We're looking into taking the train from Amsterdam to ravensburg Germany and there isn't any direct flights to ravensburg from Amsterdam but there is a line that goes to ravensburg... The issue that I am worried about is that there is 3 to 4 stops on some of the trips depending on the times that we book and in those stops it says that there is about 5 to 7 minutes to transfer in between. This part stresses me a little cause to me it seems like there isn't much time to transfer trains in 5 minutes... But am I to assume that the station is smaller and that the trains would be near each other? Also how do I know if the train that I am arriving in is the same train that I should stay on and the 5 minute "transfer time" is just to fuel up or change out conductors?
@lingLuo-ol5nz thank you for the reply but your answer did not answer my question. It is okay though cause we went in 2023 and knowing what we know now. If you were to go on German trains and if you are on a train with short transfers (5-8 min transfer time to get to your next train) you can guarantee that you will not make your transfer trains. If the train was the last train coming out of that station through no fault of your own and it is deutsche bahn fault they will give you a new ticket for the next train out and will give you a voucher for a hotel near the station for a room up to $250 usd but you will have to pay for the room up front and get reimbursed at a later time. French trains are constantly being delayed. One train we were on was stuck on the tracks for an hour with the smell of gasoline in the air. Trains in Spain are treated like an airport and you have to be there 2 hrs ahead of time to go through security and their trains are always on time with very few to minimal delays/cancellations.
Omggg I just found a train card that will help everyone save !! Let me know if you guys are interested:))))
MAN PHOQUE
You sound like I’m watching at 1.25x speed. Slow down. This is hard to follow.
This video has to be the worst video for the year. It adds ZERO benefits. Example “seat selection depends on time the distance and the country” what a marvels discovery is that?
aggression level now 2/10. ty
You talk too fast and we lose tne end of sentences.
Ma’am why are you ending the majority,of your sentences , using vocal fry ?. It is very very annoying and a turn off. Unprofessional. It appears that you have great information, however it’s a struggle, to listen.
Get a life
Because she’s American. Lol.
@@EMVelez tried again and finally made through too the end.
@@EMVelez do you know why do Americans speak with vocal fry ?