Some 15 million Americans will visit Europe this year, a small part of a flood that helps reinforce Europe’s position as the most buoyant tourist market in the world. Despite economic uncertainties, Europe recorded a 5 percent increase in international tourist visitors in 2011, in some measure benefiting from the declining fortunes of the Middle » Read more

There comes the moment on the train journey from Paris to Cologne when Aix-la-Chapelle morphs into Aachen, just as when one makes the journey in the reverse direction Lüttich suddenly becomes Liège. Many European cities have multiple identities and it’s always good to know in advance the various possible renderings of your destination station (and » Read more

“I want to see the Alps by train, so I’ve the booked a ride south from Berne into Italy,” said Margot. We didn’t have the heart to tell her that a big chunk of the 90-minute run from the Swiss capital south to Domodossola in Italy is through tunnels. Of course, there is a lot » Read more

Because the French railway network extended its tentacles only slowly north from Paris to the ports, there was a spell in the mid-19th century when the Channel port of Boulogne remained conspicuously isolated from the rest of France. Brits could get there easily from London, using the new rail routes to the Kent coast and » Read more

Railways breed euphemisms. We always smile when we hear railway staff at London’s Paddington station refer to “the lawn.” There is nothing green about the lawn, but that’s what they call the concrete concourse where travelers gather, scanning the list of upcoming departures, at the inward end of the platforms. Another old Paddington euphemism, one » Read more

The great majority of our many rail journeys across Europe work perfectly. Most trains really do arrive punctually. But from time to time Europe’s railways do have bad days, particularly when bad weather rolls in and plays havoc with schedules. When winter strikes In three of the last five winters, we have had at least » Read more

Back in fall 2010, we highlighted some of the key missing links in Europe’s rail network. These are those frustrating gaps, where even the most dedicated rail traveller must switch to a bus: Poprad (Slovakia) to Zakopane (Poland), or the hop south from Narvik in Norway to reach the rail route south to Trondheim at » Read more

Christmas and the New Year holidays are largely done and dusted, and this week much of Europe has returned slowly to work. For us, it is the cue for some travels. And, for those in the know, the period from about January 10 to mid-March is one of the best times of the year for » Read more

Travel is all about surprises, about serendipitous discoveries and transcending expectations. And, yes, we’ve been surprised in 2011. We were startled to move so quickly from serene and sunny spring back to deep midwinter when in March we traveled by train from the shores of the North Italian lakes to eastern Switzerland. The little train » Read more