Europe Trains

Hello Chaps,
I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I plan to
travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see routes scenery wise? I
am probably going to start in Denmark and work my way down.

Thanks,

Switzerland: the Gotthardbahn
Germany: the Rhine valley between Mainz/Wiesbaden and Koblenz
Austria: the Tauernbahn.

Enjoy your stay!
Turan

Turan Fettahoglu schrieb:
Switzerland: the Gotthardbahn
Germany: the Rhine valley between Mainz/Wiesbaden and Koblenz
Austria: the Tauernbahn.


For Germany/Austria i would add:

Karwendelbahn (Munich - Garmisch-Patenkrichen - Innsbruck(Austria)
Außerfernbahn (Kempten - Reutte(Austria) - Garmisch-Patenkirchen)
can be combined, as Munich - Garmisch-Patenkirchen is not very scenic

If you also like natu

Freilassing (near Salzburg) - Berchtesgarden - Bus to Königssee (King
Lake) a very scenic lake in the national park.

Josef

Joel wrote:

I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I plan to
travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see routes scenery wise? I
am probably going to start in Denmark and work my way down.

I'd try to get a copy of the Thomas Cook European Timetable (see
http://www.thomascookpublishing.com/...ies=Timetables).
Besides schedules for all major European train routes, it contains a
listing of scenic routes by country, so you can always choose to take
a detour over one of these when you're nearby.

.... Martin

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006, Joel wrote:

I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I plan to
travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see routes scenery wise? I
am probably going to start in Denmark and work my way down.

I do not recall routes in Denmark to be *extremely* scenic, the country
is flat, and lines usually run far from the sea. I travelled Kopenhagen
to North Jutland (Skagen) and back. Won't recommend it for the scenery,
but will recommend spending some time in Skagen and surroundings !

Also since you want to work "down" I suspect you are ruling out all
Scandinavia. Some lines in Sweden can be considered scenic although one
may get bored after a while (my mother remained asleep most of the 24 hr
trip from Stockholm to Narvik). The Kiruna-Narvik is definitely scenic,
but trains ends there. One has to come down by bus to Fauske. The
stretch on the high plain crossing the polar circle is scenic, and also
the rest is nice if you like woodlands.

Similarly I'm assuming you rule out the UK (some lines in Scotland are
scenic their way, e.g. Fort William - Glasgow via Rannoch).

Coming down to Germany the most scenic part is the Rhine Valley between
Koblenz and Mainz (but by boat is better).

Also the Schwarzwald (black forest) line from Offenburg to
Donaueschingen (you could have a look at the source of the Danube) is
nice. I also liked the Danube Valley from Tuttlingen to Ulm, but that's
likely to take you out of the way.

I'm not sure if and when you want to straddle westwards. Rail lines in
flat Benelux are not scenic (but you may have glances on canals in
Holland), except in the mountainous part. I have not much knowledge of
France and none of Spain or Portugal by train, and also none of
"eastern" Europe.

Assuming you have reached southern Germany, you have ample choice of
scenic railway lines in Switzerland. Get a pass and spend a week there.

I personally prefer the secondary mountain lines to the main like (like
the Gotthard). You can do Luzern to Goschenen on the main line, than go
up to Andermatt, then west to Oberalp and Brig with the Furka line. From
Brig you can go up to Zermatt (not done) or back via the main line or to
Italy via Simplon.

From Andermatt east to Disentis and Chur via the upper Rhine valley,
then to Davos and St. Moritz (ample choice of different lines all worth
a trip), then to the Bernina pass and down to Poschiavo and Tirano into
Italy. The Tirano-Colico is less scenic, but Colico-Lecco runs along the
shore of lake Como.

Also minor lines in Swizerland are interesting like Luzern-Interlaken
(from there a must, although expensive, is going up to the Jungfrau by
train) and Arth-Goldau-St.Gallen-Romanshorn.

If you do not enter Italy from Switzerland, or skip Switzerland, you can
consider the line on the north shore of Bodensee (say Basel-Konstanz-
or Singen to Friedrichshafen-Bregenz, than the Vorarlberg line into
Austria towards Innsbruck (from there the Karwendelbahn to
Seefeld-Garmisch-Reutte is a nice side trip).

Here you can head down via the Brenner pass to Italy, all the main line
to Verona is scenic (probably also other minor lines in Trentino), and
also the Valsugana line from Trento to Bassano.

Or you can head east from Innsbruck, most lines are rather scenic and
allow to reach interesting places like Hallstatt, Hallein or the
Eisriesenwelt caves.

I do not advise in entering Italy from Austria via Villach-Tarvisio, the
Brenner route is more scenic.

Once in Italy, I do not consider any lines as scenic as those above,
maybe because I'm used to them. Definitely the ones in the Po plain are
rather boring, as any time you go far from the mountains, and so is the
Adriatic main line. Ligury and crossing the Appennines are better.

I have no experience myself of lines crossing the Appennines in central
Italy (e.g. Abruzzi) or of rail in southern Italy (south of Naples and
Bari) ... maybe they are nice but expect a definite slow down.

The following site has a nice collection of railway maps
http://bueker.net/trainspotting/maps.php


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Joel wrote:

Hello Chaps,
I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I plan to
travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see routes scenery wise? I
am probably going to start in Denmark and work my way down.

I toured Europe on a Eurail pass once. It was great. We arrived in Paris and
immediately headed off to Strasbourg. It was raining and we were dog tired so I
don't remember too much about that stretch. Having since driven through the same
area, I would say it is pretty enough. We stayed at a friend's place in the
Black Forest and made day trips to Baden Baden and Rothenberg ob der Tauber and
it was pleasant scenery for the most part. The most spectacular scenery through
he corner of Germany into in Switzerland, through the Alps and into Italy. It
was also very pretty along the coast to Nice and then over to Marseilles. I did
not take the train through the Bavarian Alps, but drove through them, and we
were beside the railway tracks a lot of the way. That area was very nice.

Denmark is a nice place to visit, but I can't say that is is spectacularly
scenic. It is quite flat. I was a little disappointing to be sitting by the
window of a restaurant on a fjord and being able to see right across the fjord
and to the land on the other side and then the water past that. It was my fault
for assuming a fjord would involve some altitude.

Much of Holland is flat. I went there expecting it to be flat, but I was still
surprised to see at how flat it was. There are some pretty spots along the
way, Belgium was not particularly impressive to drive through, but the food was
good and it was worth it for the beer.

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:00:58 +0200, Giovanni Drogo
wrote:

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006, Joel wrote:

I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I plan to
travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see routes scenery wise? I
am probably going to start in Denmark and work my way down.

I do not recall routes in Denmark to be *extremely* scenic, the country
is flat, and lines usually run far from the sea. I travelled Kopenhagen
to North Jutland (Skagen) and back. Won't recommend it for the scenery,
but will recommend spending some time in Skagen and surroundings !

Also since you want to work "down" I suspect you are ruling out all
Scandinavia. Some lines in Sweden can be considered scenic although one
may get bored after a while (my mother remained asleep most of the 24 hr
trip from Stockholm to Narvik).

My impression of a train ride from Malmo to Stockholm:

Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees, lake, trees, trees trees,
trees, clean little town, trees, trees, trees, lake, trees,
trees, trees, (repeat over and over)


************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 17:00:58 +0200, Giovanni Drogo
wrote:

I'm not sure if and when you want to straddle westwards. Rail lines in
flat Benelux are not scenic (but you may have glances on canals in
Holland), except in the mountainous part.

Belgium/Luxembourg does have a wonderfully scenic route from Liège to
Luxembourg via Trois Ponts and Trois Vièrges - the "mountainous part".
The route follows the valley of the River Amblève for quite a while,
then climbs up to a pass through the Ardennes. Delightful. Crags and
castles to be seen, and the train goes fairly slowly so you can gaze
contentedly from the window.


Keith, Bristol, UK

Email: usenet[dot]20[dot]keefy[at]spamgourmet[dot]com

This is a sp*mtrap, but I will get your mail!

Martin Bienwald wrote:

Joel wrote:

I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I
plan to travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see
routes scenery wise? I am probably going to start in Denmark and
work my way down.

I'd try to get a copy of the Thomas Cook European Timetable (see
http://www.thomascookpublishing.com/...ies=Timetables).
Besides schedules for all major European train routes, it contains a
listing of scenic routes by country, so you can always choose to
take a detour over one of these when you're nearby.

... Martin

mind you it's 30+ years when I did interrail.

Routes that impressed me most were in no order:

Lyon - Bordeaux (France) through Central Massiv (did that later both
with MoBike and car), great volcanic landscape there.
La Coruna - Porto (over Vigo) North Spain/Portugal
San Sebastian - La Coruna (Spain) did it partly by bus, but there
is/was a private railway along the northern coast of Spain.
Did it later by car, will do it in futere by MoBike. Beautiful
beaches, Mountains ,yes, fjordlike scenery and cliffs there.
Madrid - Lisbon (Spain/Portugal), never forget to see the cork oak
woods at 4:30 in the morning sunrise
Glasgow - Ft. Williams as Giovanni suggests (but might be out of way)

hth

lg da tom
--
Nobody is perfect
not even in failing
Suzuki Bandit 1200S "Das Eisen"

Joel schrieb:

Hello Chaps,
I am planning a European trip in the next couple of months and I plan
to
travel by train. Can anybody recommend a few must see routes scenery
wise? I
am probably going to start in Denmark and work my way down.

For info on scenic routes in Switzerland, start with www.sbb.ch
especially http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/?L=2 and there
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/Scen....5.0.html?&L=2

The train I prefer is Gornergrat - best in Winter for going skiing,
worth a tour all year ... http://www.gornergrat.ch/en/

And check for passes: close to all tickets are kind of expensive!