It is always worth pondering quite where is the best place to change trains. Many journeys across Europe offer multiple options. No sane Brit ever chooses to change trains at Birmingham New Street—a sort of subterranean Hades somewhere in the English Midlands—and few are ever really forced to do so. For many rail itineraries across England give a plethora of possible points for an hour’s leisure time, to enjoy a coffee and a bit of fresh air while waiting for the next train connection.

This is the case in many other European countries as well. Surely no rational human being ever decided that Warsaw’s eastern station (Warszawa Wschodnia) was the ideal place to mull over the affairs of the world for an hour or two between trains. Generous-hearted souls we may be, but it is difficult to find a good word for Wschodnia – unless you want to catch the pulse of what life was like in much of eastern and central Europe two decades ago. Take a look at this architectural gem and the surrounding cityscape.

And then there are the railway stations where it is an absolute delight to linger between trains, the sort of places where changing trains is a blessing. Dresden Hauptbahnhof is emerging from a protracted reconstruction to become one of those. Cologne’s Hauptbahnhof already is. Ignore the frenzied bustle of its shopping mall (a tribute to poor taste and greasy food) and head instead for the cathedral, a mere thirty-second walk from the station’s main entrance.

It doesn’t take a lot to transform an enforced layover into a memorable travel moment. Brussels Midi is the largest of the rail stations in the Belgian capital, and the area of town in which it is located is nothing to write home about. But we change trains there often and La Table du Midi, an unpretentious café just a stone’s throw from the railway platforms, makes it all worthwhile.

There are some stations which are just fabulous places to arrive and linger, unquestionably good spots to change trains. Among our favourites are Zürich Hauptbahnhof (so well placed for the city centre) and Berlin’s new Hauptbahnhof (a crystal cathedral for transport.)

So check those schedules carefully. You simply don’t want to change trains at Warszawa Wschodnia or Birmingham New Street.

This is the seventh in a series of fortnightly blog posts by the editors of hidden europe.

Even the most seasoned European traveller can be caught unawares by rail schedules changes. Most European rail companies introduce major timetable changes over the second weekend in December, and this year there are some big alterations in the offing.

There is no more civilised way of making a big hop across Europe than on a night train, and the new schedules see a whole raft of new night train services. Take Amsterdam for example. The Dutch city has always featured on Europe’s night train schedules, but for 2008 Amsterdam secures new daily services to Copenhagen, Dresden, Milan, Minsk, Moscow, Prague, and Warsaw.

For the first time for many years Switzerland and Bavaria will benefit from direct overnight trains to Poland and points east, with new direct night sleeper services from Basel SBB and Munich to Warsaw and Moscow. Fixed fares apply for travel on most European night train routes, often with little advantage for railpass holders. A one-way journey in a shared sleeper costs from €69. For those on a budget, couchettes are priced from €49 and a one-way overnight in a reclining seat begins at €29.

The changes are of course not limited to night train services. New for 2008 are a daily direct train from both Vienna and Prague to Stralsund on Germany’s Baltic coast, a very handy new daytime train from Kraków to Budapest (less than nine hours on a beautiful route through the mountains that straddle the Polish-Slovakian border), a new fast direct daytime service from Paris to Munich (just over six hours) to supplement the long-standing Paris-Munich night train, a new direct Berlin to Copenhagen link (where the entire train gets shipped on a ferry between Denmark and Germany), and a new direct once daily train from Geneva Airport to Venice.

Rail travel in Europe can challenge even the most competent travel planner. Web sites like those of the Deutsche Bahn can help. But there is really no substitute for the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable, a gem of a book updated each month. For many savvy European travellers, it is required bedtime reading.

This is the fifth in a series of fortnightly blog posts by the editors of hidden europe.

New, nasty, and noteworthy.

1. Polish wonder LCC WizzAir announced this week that they’ll open their 7th base in Poznan in January 2008 by launching new routes connecting the western Polish city to Doncaster, Glasgow Prestwick, Malmö, and Oslo. Hot on the heels of that press release, the Wizzers announced today that they’ll inaugurate a Dortmund-Sofia route on October 29.

2. It looks as though cellphone conversations will soon flavor the air in planes zipping across the European Union. We can’t friggin wait.

3. June 30 sees La Notte Rosa celebration sweeping through various towns along Italy’s Adriatic coast, from Lido di Volano north of Comacchio in the north to Cattolica in the south. “Pink Night” also extends inland to the Republic of San Marino. La Notte Rosa literally turns everything pink. Pink balloons, pink candy, pink cakes, pink flowers, pink flags will all crop up. These towns will be awash in pink. There will also be a massive range of cultural events, concerts, and other public events.

Photo by haberlea

In this weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal we eagerly lapped up Stan Sesser’s “The New Way To Do Europe.” Sesser’s lengthy service-oriented article is devoted to Europe’s “undiscovered gems”—cities and regions just off the tourist track that can be easily visited from London on budget airlines.

Sesser focuses his article on three cities Girona (Spain), Olbia (Italy), and Wroclaw (Poland—see above), providing transportation, accommodation, and dining suggestions for each. He also produces capsule coverage of an additional ten destinations: Balaton (Hungary), Bari (Italy), Bergamo (Italy), Bilbao (Spain), Carcassonne (France), les Iles d’Hyeres (France), Split (Croatia), Stavanger (Norway), Sylt (Germany), and Westport (Ireland). All lovely, though we wonder what Hamburg’s schicki-mickis might make of the idea that Sylt is in any way undiscovered territory.

While we would have loved to see Sesser go farther east, this type of round-up is exactly the sort of article that makes us happy. Stories like Sesser’s offer essential encouragment for Americans hurt hard by the weak greenback—not to mention budget-hungry travelers of all stripes.

This month, Eurail is introducing two new Regional Passes: the Germany-Poland and Czech-Germany passes.

Both passes are valid for five, six, eight, or ten days of travel within a two month period. The Germany-Poland Adult Pass starts at $375 for five days and tops out at $564 for ten days. The price range for the Czech-Germany Adult Pass begins at $355 and climaxes at $536. If you’re traveling with a companion, you can save 15 percent by purchasing Saver Passes, which nudges the $375 Germany-Poland Adult Pass down to $320 per person.

But what’s really exciting about these new passes is that they allow adults to travel second-class. Most Eurail Adult passes are restricted to first-class carriage.

A second-class Adult Pass costs 15 percent less than its first-class equivalent. An individual second-class Saver Pass matches the Youth Pass fare: $272 for 5 days on the Germany-Poland Pass, rather than $320 in first class.

Thank you, Eurail, for dealing a blow to age discrimination in the rail pass industry. Now how about offering this deal on all 18 Regional Passes?

Eurail Passes can be purchased by people not resident in Europe, a designation that includes Russia and Turkey. Eurail defines a European “resident” as someone living in Europe for the past six months.

photograph courtesy of Maciej Godniak

Every now and then we like to bring an overlooked European city to the attention of our readers. Today’s overlooked city? The Polish city of Szczecin, Poland’s biggest and most important Baltic seaport.

Szczecin has a Mitteleuropa ambiance all its own. Its architecture reflects the ownership ping pong the city has experienced as it has passed between Germany and Poland over the centuries. Hanseatic German sits alongside Old Polish, which perches next to not-so-old Communist utilitarianism.

Strolling along the river, you can still catch a flavor of the expansive seafaring life of former days. In the heart of the town and in the castle district, large squares and fountains are spacious.

Prices are low for dining out, with fish dishes a speciality. Shop here for amber and silver jewelry, and take home some Polish sweets for the kids. Candy can be mixed by the kilo at any number of old-fashioned specialist sweet shops.

Szczecin can be effortlessly added on to a visit to Berlin (we recommend traveling by bus, which takes two and a half to three hours). Low-cost carriers serving Szczecin include Ryanair from Stansted and Centralwings from Dublin.