Kaliningrad's South Station. Photo © hidden europe.

By Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries—

It is almost time for us to put down our quill pens and leave the scriptorium for the last time this year. Three weeks of quiet retreat are in the offing, a chance for us to recharge our batteries and plan a few journeys for 2010. So a good moment, perhaps, to look back and see what 2009 meant for travel in Europe.

We have over the past twelve months spent time in and reported from some twenty countries across Europe. The year has seen a lot of changes. We are pleased to see some governments across Europe beginning to levy heftier taxes on aviation, and we hope that 2010 will see more following in their wake. Higher plane fares within Europe will be a big incentive to encourage more responsible traveling. Britain has taken a welcome lead in this. We applaud the decision in Scotland to subsidize ferry fares on longer routes to the Hebrides - another important step in encouraging travelers to think twice before hopping on a plane.

Over the past year, travelers have benefited from Switzerland joining the Schengen group of nations and Slovakia adopting the euro. Iceland’s financial misfortunes in late 2008, with a slump in the value of the Icelandic króna, suddenly made the island nation much more attractive for travelers from North America and mainland Europe. In ailing economies in eastern Europe, and particularly in the Baltic States, tourism has been a key element in the fragile recovery now underway.

New travel opportunities

Citizens of some Balkan states are today much less well traveled than their parents. But that looks set to change with the new European Union visa regulations that came into effect last weekend, ushering in a more relaxed visa regime for visitors to the EU from Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. For Serbia, this is a tangible reward from the EU to the Belgrade government for playing the great game of European integration. Olive branches from Brussels are being offered to Minsk too, and we predict that 2010 will surely see some thawing of the relations between Belarus and the EU. That will perhaps in time make life easier for travelers bound for Belarus, which remains one of Europe’s most inaccessible and yet most intriguing countries.

Rail links and politics

A new train service would not normally be greeted as a major diplomatic event, but when the new service links Serbia with Bosnia via Croatia then folk do take notice. The Belgrade to Sarajevo route was severed during the conflicts of the nineties. Now it is back, with a very welcome once daily train from the Serbian to the Bosnian capital. The new service started in mid-December.

If train services are a mark of political cooperation, then we must mourn the demise of one of Europe’s key night train links - the daily service from Berlin to Kaliningrad. It ran for the last time ten days ago. The withdrawal of this train now leaves Russia’s Baltic exclave at Kaliningrad even more isolated.

Airlines that left the skies

Finally, a thought for all the staff and passengers affected by over a dozen airline bankruptcies in Europe in 2009. Casualties included the national flag carriers of Lithuania (FlyLAL) and Macedonia (MAT); discount carriers such as Sky Europe, Fly Globespan, and My Air; and niche carriers serving particular markets such as Sky South and KD Avia (with hubs at Shoreham and Kaliningrad respectively).

We shall be back next month, but meanwhile warm best wishes for the holidays from us both.

Susanne and Nicky run a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. You can read more of their writing in their regular e-brief and in the new Notes section on their website.

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The Heathrow Express. Photo by geordieb1.

By Justin Bergman in London—

Every traveler has been there: You touch down in an unfamiliar city and feel immediately discombobulated. Getting out of the airport, sleep-deprived, with all of your luggage in hand is one thing—then you’re faced with the sometimes gargantuan task of figuring out how to get into town. Some of us jump in a taxi—and pay dearly for it.

Fortunately, London has a number of cheap transport options to and from Heathrow, making the journey a much more pleasant—and wallet-friendly—experience.

Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect

Without a doubt, the Heathrow Express express train is the fastest—and most comfortable—way into the city. Heathrow Express departs every 15 minutes from the airport and takes just 15 minutes to reach Paddington station in the city’s West End. (The trains also leave Paddington every 15 minutes going the other way.)

To save yourself even more time, you can buy a ticket online before you leave the U.S. and have the actual ticket sent to your mobile phone—a bar code in the text message will be scanned when you board the train. Plus, another bonus starting this month: Free Wi-Fi on board! What could be better?

Well, the price, for one. A one-way ticket on the Heathrow Express costs a whopping £16.50 online (or £18 at Heathrow); a round-trip ticket will set you back £30 online (or £32 at the station).

A slightly cheaper option is the Heathrow Connect train. It takes slightly longer to reach Paddington (25 minutes), but the price is only £7.90 for a one-way ticket and £15.80 for a return if you purchase online. Watch which train you board—both the Heathrow Express and the Heathrow Connect stop at the same platform at the airport.

The Tube to Heathrow

Heathrow, mercifully, is also served by the Piccadilly line on the Underground. (Why can’t La Guardia be this well connected?) With an Oyster card, which you can buy at the Heathrow Tube station for £3 pounds, the cost of a one-way journey into central London is just £3.80.

The only major drawback is the travel time—allow yourself at least an hour to get to or from the center of the city; sometimes, the journey can even take an hour and a half. Another annoyance: Parts of the Tube are routinely shut down on weekends for maintenance, meaning you may have some difficulty reaching your final destination if it’s not on the Piccadilly line.

Car Service to Heathrow

This is the biggest secret in London when it comes to Heathrow connections. It’s actually how I suggest most of my out-of-town guests go to the airport at the end of their stay—it’s far less trouble than trying to figure out the train schedules and worrying about being late for a flight.

There are numerous car service companies in London that will take you to any destination of your choosing for a flat rate (no tipping necessary). Most companies charge around £30 per trip from central London (anywhere in Zone 1) to Heathrow, which is actually cheaper than purchasing two one-way tickets on Heathrow Express.

It’s simple to find a company if you have a cell phone that works in London. Just text the word “home” to the Transport for London’s information number (62967) and within minutes, you’ll receive a message with the numbers of several car companies near you.

If you aren’t that technologically savvy, fret not. Try calling Bloomsbury Cars, a reliable company that I’ve used before, at 020-7631-1334. They’ll pick up passengers from any location in Zone 1 and charge £30 per trip to Heathrow. The journey usually takes less than an hour.

About the author: Justin Bergman is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Monocle magazine. He’s also previously worked for Budget Travel magazine and the Associated Press.

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Berlin's newest U-Bahn line. Photo by Blogging Dagger.

By Susan Buzzelli in Berlin—

It may only have three stops, but Berlin’s newest (and shortest) subway line, the U55, makes it easier than ever to explore the city’s major sights.

Designed with tourists and politicos in mind, the U55 conveniently links the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) to the Hauptbahnhof (central train station), with a stop in the heart of the Regierungsviertel (the government district, where the Reichstag and the Kanzleramt are located) in between. When the U55 debuted on August 8, 2009, 70,000 passengers hopped on for the three-minute ride.

Situated at the base of the landmark-studded Pariser Platz, the sleek Brandenburger Tor station, sheathed in marbled brown stone, is the most architecturally interesting of the new stops. The station also comes with a free museum: photo collages along the walls provide a history of the 18th-century Brandenburg Gate, which was once blockaded by the Berlin Wall. (Look out for the photo of John F. Kennedy with the city’s then-mayor Willy Brandt.)

Cheapo transit ticket tips

The U55 is only one tiny link in Berlin’s vast transportation chain. Because it’s nearly impossible to explore the sprawling metropolis without catching a U-bahn (subway), S-bahn (commuter rail), Tram (streetcar), or Bus, getting to know the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) is key for a stress-free and Cheapo visit. Even if you prefer the other Cheapo-friendly way to get around Berlin—by rental bike—you’ll inevitably “get on board” at some point during your stay.

Don’t make the mistake of shelling out €2.10 for an “Einzelfahrausweis” (single ticket) or €1.30 for a “Kurzstrecke” (short ride, between 1–6 stops) every time you take a ride. Snap up a “Tageskarte” (day ticket, €6.10) or a “7-Tage-Karte” (7-day card, €26.20) instead, and you’ll not only get your money’s worth, but you’ll also give your feet a break from all that walking.

Check out the BVG’s website for complete details about fares and to download the free “Discovering Berlin by Train and Bus” flier. It includes a transport map and a city map marked with major sights.

The U55's celebratory first ride. Photo by Blogging Dagger.

Free Tourist Bus: The bus 100 and 200

The BVG does more than schlep you from Point A to B. The bus lines 100 and 200 double as unofficial city tour buses. As you travel between Zoologischer Garten in the west and Alexanderplatz in the east, you’ll pass by nearly every major landmark, including the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (Emperor Wilhelm Memorial Church) on Kufürstendamm, the angel-capped Siegesäule (Victory Column) in Tiergarten, and the Brandenburger Tor at the base of Unter den Linden. Climb to the top of the double-decker bus, grab a window seat, and enjoy the view—all for €2.10.

Beer and a tram ride: The M10

To sample Berlin’s nightlife without paying a cover charge, buy a beer at a late-night kiosk and take a ride on the M10 streetcar, which travels between Nordbahnhof (on the Mitte/Prenzlauer Berg border) and Warschauer Strasse (on the Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg border).

When night falls, the so-called “party express” tram turns into club of sorts: club-crawlers and bar-hoppers, beers in hand, hitch a ride on the way to party spots in Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, and Kreuzberg. You’ll see a kaleidoscope of types: hyped-up dance-clubbers, low-key hipsters, pierced punks, and chained gothsters. (If you join them out on the town, a night bus, designated with an N, will take you home after the festivities.)

Sea even more: The F10

The BVG will even take you out to sea. You can cross two of the city’s largest lakes, the Wannsee in the west and the Müggelsee in the east, by ferry.

If you’re out west, pick up the F10, which docks just outside the Wannsee S-bahn stop, for a ride across the tree-fringed lake to the village of Kladow. Over in the east, take either the F23 or the F24 to criss-cross the vast Müggelsee, which includes the smaller Kleiner Müggelsee, a popular swimming hole, and the Grosser Müggelsee, which fills up with sail boats on sunny days.

About the author: A Pittsburgh native, Susan Buzzelli has been a sworn Germanophile since she spent a high school summer as an exchange student in Buxtehude. After stints in Dresden, Munich, and Hamburg she settled (possibly for good) in Europe’s most dynamic city: Berlin. When she isn’t exploring Berlin, she’s traveling throughout Germany (with an occasional hop over the border). Her comprehensive guidebook to Germany, Zeitguide Germany, will be published soon. Look for updates on her website, www.susanbuzzelli.com.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Entering the SNCF train station at Charles de Gaulle.

By Tom Meyers—

Arriving in Paris can be a wonderful experience. Certain aspects, however, can be quite frustrating—especially for travelers who arrive armed only with an American credit card.

Why? Because the RER (regional train) and Paris Metro ticket machines only accept “EC” credit cards that are security-chip enabled. American credit cards are not equipped with this technology and, for the most part, don’t work.

Getting into Paris from Charles de Gaulle Airport… with an American credit card

I think that the easiest (and most economical) way into Paris from Charles de Gaulle is the city’s regional train, the RER. The train departs several times an hour from train stations in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at CDG. The trip takes between 25-35 minutes to central Paris, depending on whether it’s running express or making local stops along the way.

RER tickets cost €8.20 per person, each way. Dozens of ticket machines are located in the airport terminals, making it (hypothetically) easy to grab a ticket and hop onto a train. However, the machines only accept EC credit cards. When we’ve tried to purchase a ticket with an American-issued card, the screen simply states “Card not valid.”

Machines also take euro notes and coins, but if you’ve just arrived in Europe, you may not be arriving with any euro currency. Of course, you could first swing by an airport ATM, although lines can be long and ATMs often dispense bills in high denominations, not exactly handy for an 8 euro ticket.

The solution?

One solution is to buy your ticket from the ticket counter. I have resorted to this in the past—which is never fun, as it usually involves waiting in a long line. However, the ticket agents do accept American credit cards. Many American tourists, faced with this solution, get in line.

I finally got my ticket.

During my trip to Paris this month, I went through all the motions: I tried my MasterCard on two machines and was rejected by both. I then turned and gazed at the line snaking out from the ticket office. I was certain to spend the first 45 minutes of my time in Paris waiting to pay for a regional train ticket. Sad.

But then I noticed several peppy, smiling customer service personnel drifting about the floor, between the machines, asking bemused tourists if they needed help.

Just for kicks, I approached a young woman and explained my dilemma. “The machine won’t take my credit card.”

“You’re trying to use an American card, right?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“This might not work, but there’s one machine over here that sometimes takes American cards,” she said, and led me past several clusters of ticket machines to one particular, inconspicuous machine, which appeared to me to be just like the others.

And sure enough, it worked. For some reason, that one machine accepted my MasterCard and saved me from the RER ticket line of tears.

Good luck with those Metro tickets!

Metro tickets… Rejection, part deux

Over the past several years, Paris has closed down Metro ticket booths in many stations and replaced them with automated vending machines. (In many cases, the ticket booths have been replaced with information booths. But they won’t sell you tickets.)

The ticket machines are pretty easy to use, unless—you guessed it!—you’re trying to use an American credit card. In short: They’re not accepted.

The solution: Pay in cash (some machines only accept coins, while others accept bills) or go to one of the Metro stations that still actually has a ticket counter (these can be found in the most-popular stations in central Paris).

What do you think?

Have you had any issues with using an American (or any other) credit card in Paris or other French cities like Marseille or Lyon? Have you been able to use your card? Do you have another creative solution? Tell us about it!

Popularity: 13% [?]

The station at Schaanwald in Liechtenstein. Photos © hidden europe.

By Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries—

Remember George Dubya? Here in Europe he is still revered as a remarkable pioneer in “alphabetical tourism.”

After all, during his first-ever visit to Europe in June 2001, the presidential itinerary featured Spain, Sweden and Slovenia - or perhaps it was Slovakia. Even Dubya himself was a shade uncertain, but he did a grand job in covering up his doubts.

From Vaduz to Vilnius

In any case, given the fact that most visitors to Europe have only the haziest notion about their intended destinations, alphabetical tourism makes perfect sense. The Netherlands and Norway one year, Poland and Portugal the next.

For urban types, the principal of alphabetical tourism can be extended to capital cities. Tallinn and Tirana find themselves nicely allied as travel partners. And the letter V throws up an improbable handful of desirable spots: Vaduz, Valletta, Vatican City, Vienna, and Vilnius (which if visited in a single long trip, would reveal a peculiarly Catholic Europe).

Think L: Liechtenstein and Luxembourg

For “first timers” to Europe we really think “L” is the place to start. Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg make up the perfect foursome for Europe novices.

Latvia and Lithuania are an object lesson in just how different neighbouring states can be. And Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are among the most perfect countries on the entire continent, both heaving with interest, yet each small enough that the visitor can have a sense of coming to grips with the issues of culture, identity, and language that make up nationhood.

We happen to be great fans of both Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, and were in both countries only last month. If there were an award for the countries on the planet with the finest public transport, it would be shared by Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. Amazing bus services, and in both countries you can travel for a pittance across the entire national bus network (in each case it is just €4 for a one-day ticket).

Trains, too!

The Princesse Marie-Astrid approaches Wasserbillig in Luxembourg.

And both countries have trains, too. Who ever would have thought that Luxembourg could boast more than sixty train stations? Tiny Liechtenstein packs a punch with four train stations, including at Schaanwald, one of the most handsome little station buildings in the Alps. And, what’s more, it’s a border station–the first stop on the line from Austria after the train crosses the Liechtenstein border.

It is too easy to write off Europe’s small countries as undeserving of a visit. We beg to differ. Liechtenstein and Luxembourg are both perfectly formed, and each country deserves a thorough exploration. There are few better European days than listening to cowbells in the Liechtenstein Alps above Vaduz or cruising up the River Moselle in Luxembourg on the Princesse Marie-Astrid.

So if you don’t know Europe from A to Z, think L. It’s as good a place as any to embark on alphabetical tourism. And from there it is an easy hop to M for next year’s tour, with a neat fivesome: Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, and Montenegro.

About the authors: Susanne Kries and Nicky Gardner are regular contributors to EuroCheapo and together edit hidden europe magazine. They live in Berlin. hidden europe 27 has just been published and contains articles on Italy, Georgia, Vienna, Switzerland and more. Have a look at the table of contents.

Popularity: 9% [?]

A Deutsche Bahn train in Berlin's main station. Photo by hidden europe.

By Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries—

Okay, we’ve said it before, but we’ll gladly say it again. Have Cheapos realised just how much rail fares in Europe can vary according to where you purchase your tickets?

We took a day out from our regular work with hidden europe magazine last week and conjured up a tempting palette of trips criss-crossing the continent. And then we compared the ticket prices on a national rail website (that of the Deutsche Bahn) with the prices offered for those journeys by rail ticketing agents based in Britain and North America. We took care to ensure that the tickets we purchased were in every case for exactly the same trains.

So a straight comparison, comparing like-with-like. Same class of travel, same comfy seat, same scenery slipping by outside the window – for all five routes in our basket of European rail trips.

The five routes we tested

1. Berlin to London single (by day, depart after 9:00 AM, any route) on September 3: one adult, 2nd class.
2. Amsterdam to Salzburg single (by day, no more than one change of train) on July 14: one adult, 1st class.
3. London to Cologne via Brussels single (depart at 8:00 AM or later) on September 10: one adult, 2nd class.
4. Berlin to Zagreb single via Hamburg (2 night stop) and Munich (2 night stop) on August 20: one adult, any class.
5. Nuremberg to Dresden same day return (direct trains only) on June 20 for a family of five, 2nd class.

For each of these five journeys, we thought that the German Railways (viz. Deutsche Bahn) website at www.bahn.de would offer some reasonable fare advice, and so it did. Indeed, all five journeys could be booked online through their website.

Then we turned to agents selling rail tickets in North America and Britain to get quotes for precisely the same journeys. This was done first by online research, often followed up by telephone calls to check precise details.

The results

And guess what? The leading agencies specializing in European rail tickets always charged at least twice as much as would the Deutsche Bahn for exactly the same journey.

The key point here is that in most of Europe, rail operators have a whole raft of special promotional fares that massively undercut the regular tariffs (often with discount of more than 80% on the standard fare). But agents rarely offer those discounted fares, preferring to safeguard their hefty commission fees by selling only the full fare.

Comparing the fares

Now take a look at how those fares compared. Listed below are the Deutsche Bahn (DB) fares that were available for purchase around midday of Friday, June 12, 2009 followed by the cheapest fare quoted the same day by a leading North American or British agent (all sterling and dollar fares have been converted to euros just to make things clearer).

1. Berlin to London (2nd class) DB: €49 / Agent Fare: €209
2. Amsterdam to Salzburg (1st class) DB: €79 / Agent Fare: €255
3. London to Cologne (2nd class) DB: €49 / Agent Fare: €106
4. Berlin to Zagreb with stops in Hamburg and Munich (2nd class) DB: €29 / Agent Fare: €322
5. Nuremberg to Dresden day return for family of 5 (2nd class) DB: €37 / Agent Fare: €705

Helpful advice?

We found one leading British agent who was extremely helpful on the phone, going to some lengths to suggest that for certain routes it might be wiser to get the tickets from a German source (but declining to give the specific name of the company or website).

A well-known North American agent emphasized that their dollar fares on offer would undercut anything we might purchase in Europe – a claim which is patently undermined by the results of our survey. The North American agent suggested that a rail pass might be a better bet for some of our journeys, and hinted that we would encounter a range of problems if we attempted to purchase directly from the Deutsche Bahn website.

Booking tickets in advance

The reality is that booking train tickets on www.bahn.de is pretty easy, even without a knowledge of German. The site has a decent English language interface, though in some instances you will find additional functionality on the German language website.

Also, it really helps to have a good knowledge of European patterns of service and railway geography. A good place to start is by studying the latest edition of the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable and the same company’s Rail Map of Europe.

Booking well in advance is often the key to finding cheap fares, but our research found that plenty of discounted promotional fares are still available for travel this summer. And we did not cast around trying to dig up the cheapest possible travel dates, having fixed our palette of routes and travel dates before embarking on our research. If you would like the see the full results of our survey, just click here.

And, oh yes, just in case you were wondering, we were paid not a cent by the Deutsche Bahn to publish this!

About the authors: Susanne Kries and Nicky Gardner are regular contributors to EuroCheapo and together edit hidden europe magazine. They live in Berlin.

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A German train pulls into station. Photo by Francois Roche. 

It is that time of year when many travellers start sketching out their plans for 2009 trips to Europe. And for travel within Europe, many of the continent’s budget airlines will unveil their summer 2009 schedules in the coming weeks. Book early for the best discounts.

Plan ahead: Rail travel for next year

Rail travelers can still take a while refining their travel plans for summer 2009, for although many of the schedules are now becoming available, tickets do not generally go on sale until two to four months prior to travel.

The extension of the Europa-Spezial scheme to encompass many more countries means that canny travellers can now plan long treks across Europe with rail fares that greatly undercut even the lowest air fares.

Europa-Spezial: Great value for money

Europa-Spezial fares can be booked online at the German Railways website. Tickets generally go on sale 90 days prior to travel, so bookings can already be made for January 2009.

Choose your trains carefully and you can travel from Budapest to Cologne for just €39 one way - and you can include stopovers on the way (each for a maximum of 48 hours). We chose a Budapest - Prague - Berlin - Cologne routing, with en route stops for two nights in both Prague and Berlin, and found plenty of availability for mid-January 2009 at the lead-in €39 fare.

Other gems there for the taking are €29 one-way from Hamburg to Vienna (via Prague), €39 from Paris or Copenhagen to any station in Germany, and a €39 fare that will take you from any station in Belgium or the Netherlands to Basel on the Swiss border or to Salzburg in Austria.

First class options: Worth considering, even for Cheapos

If the lowest fare for your selected route is already sold out, you can still buy a Europa-Spezial ticket, but it will be priced at a higher tariff tier (e.g. €49, €69, and up). Europa-Spezial fares are also available for first class, and these are really worth checking.

Berlin to Vienna (either direct or with a one or two night stopover in Dresden) for €49 first class sounds almost too good to be true. If you find little availability for Europa-Spezial fares in second class, just have a look to see if the cheapest first class option is still available. First class sells out less quickly, and we have found many examples of journeys where remaining first class availability is cheaper than heavily-booked second class.

The great thing about these Europa-Spezial fares is that, subject to availability at the time of booking, you really can use them on the fast express services. The only real snag is that you must commit yourself to date and time of travel, but at such rock bottom fares that is scarcely a burden.

The new Europa-Spezial fares, along with long-standing promotions like discounted TGV fares in France, might really tip the balance as you weigh up whether it is worth buying a rail pass for 2009.

This article is by Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries, who together edit hidden europe magazine, which explores people, places and communities across Europe. Every issue of hidden europe includes a lot of tips on budget travel, especially by rail.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries of hidden europe magazine report for EuroCheapo on the pleasures and value of European night trains:

Do you know Tczew? Perhaps not. It’s an unexciting sort of spot. Poland, top right, more or less. We had never imagined that we might enjoy a leisurely breakfast of caviar, crackers, and coffee at Tczew. Sitting in a Russian railway carriage, which lingered for an hour or two in Tczew. Waiting for a connection perhaps? Who knows. Night trains are like that.

The pleasures of the night train

Night trains are extraordinary. They rattle past factories and canals, disturb the deer that graze at the forest edge in the evening. In the wee small hours of the night, they screech round sharp curves in some foreign town. A listless child stirs in her sleep in a house next to the railway tracks, while last night’s unwashed crockery trembles on the scullery table. And then the train is gone, an emissary from another world, and silence returns to the unnamed town. Night trains get to places that other trains never reach.

Night trains are the stuff of poetry, but they can also be extraordinarily good value. There is something undeniably civilized about being able to sip a good malt whisky in the evening, as the night train from London to the Scottish Highlands weaves its way out through the northern suburbs of the metropolis. Supper on the train and then to bed in crisp clean linen to awake in the morning as the train climbs up onto Rannoch Moor. Book well in advance, choose the right day, and you can even travel from London to the Scottish Highlands for £l9 (yes, that’s less than $40).

Germany’s new night trains

The Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national rail network, capitalizes on its location bang in the middle of Europe to run the continent’s most extensive network of night train services. Revamped for the 2008 season, the trains are quiet, comfortable and often a great value. Trains head from Copenhagen or Prague to Basel in Switzerland, from Amsterdam to Milan or Vienna, and dozens of other connections across Europe.

The comfort of the night train is a quiet retort to the frenzy of modern air travel. They’re also an antidote to the breakneck speed of the fastest daytime express trains. Why not try one next time you visit Europe?

Booking a night train

“Special fares apply” says the admonition in the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable, a monthly publication that is the bible for all savvy rail travelers in Europe. That might imply hefty surcharges. But no, night trains are often cheaper than daytime services. From Switzerland to Denmark overnight in a couchette from just €49 cannot be matched by any discount airline or day train. Choose carefully, and you can travel overnight between European cities in a comfortable sleeping berth for €69.

Most European night trains use a global price system with one all-in charge covering both the train fare and the fee for on-board accommodation. Holders of Eurail and other passes don’t often secure great advantage. The best value all-in fares that Europeans buy locally may cost little more than the supplements that pass holders must pay to secure a couchette or bed. It’s a market which rewards travelers who book well in advance, committing them to traveling on a specific day. Find out more about German night trains, now marketed under the “City Night Line” banner, at www.nachtzugreise.de.

This article is the second of a guest series of summer postings by the editors of hidden europe magazine. Check out the magazine for regular features on European rail travel.

Popularity: 29% [?]

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.

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For over a week now we’ve been staring at a postcard sent to us by Miranda Siegel. Postmarked Kangerlussuaq, it bears an image of snow-covered houses in the Greenlandic town of Ilulissat. Miranda reports having eaten caribou, muskox, and arctic bilberries, among other exotic delicacies during her recent Greenland adventure. She also reports that capital Nuuk needs a budget hotel.

In news from another arctic land, we learned today that Karelian Trains—a partnership between Finnish and Russian Railways—have ordered four high-speed trains for the company’s Helsinki-St. Petersburg route. In 2006, the passenger tally on this route jumped 26 per cent over the previous year’s numbers. The company clearly hopes to maintain this momentum.

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