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Lonely Planet's Guide to Train Travel in Europe
Looking for a sustainable and stress-free way to explore Europe? Hop on board the continent's railway network with this ultimate guide to train travel. Whether you want to take it slow on the scenic route or make the most of the newest high-speed services to get straight to your destination, Lonely Planet's experts show you how to plan your journey.
Packed with detailed gatefold route maps and insider tips, we cover everything from how to piece together a long-distance trip to the must-see stops and best ways to book value-for-money tickets. As airlines cut back flights and airfares rise, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the increasing overnight services and flexible fares being offered. We also reveal the quirks of different operators and countries, such as luggage allowances, rules and regulations, and what facilities are on board.
If you're looking for a more eco-friendly, convenient - and sometimes quicker - way to get from A to B as you travel throughout the continent, Lonely Planet's Guide to Train Travel in Europe will equip you to make the most of your time and budget.
high-speed services in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Spain scenic local routes in key countries including the UK and Scandinavia sleeper and long-distance services across the continent About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, eBooks, and more.
Packed with detailed gatefold route maps and insider tips, we cover everything from how to piece together a long-distance trip to the must-see stops and best ways to book value-for-money tickets. As airlines cut back flights and airfares rise, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the increasing overnight services and flexible fares being offered. We also reveal the quirks of different operators and countries, such as luggage allowances, rules and regulations, and what facilities are on board.
If you're looking for a more eco-friendly, convenient - and sometimes quicker - way to get from A to B as you travel throughout the continent, Lonely Planet's Guide to Train Travel in Europe will equip you to make the most of your time and budget.
high-speed services in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Spain scenic local routes in key countries including the UK and Scandinavia sleeper and long-distance services across the continent About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, eBooks, and more.
- GenresTravelNonfictionTrains
262 pages, Hardcover
Published February 22, 2022
About the author
Lonely Planet
4,089 books963 followersOUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 20, 2022
This is more of a teaser to possibilities than a practical travel book -- but oh, the possibilities! I see many places that I want to go and a few that I might even get to. I do, however, feel a slight amount of regret about living in a country that has a great regional train system but no easy connections to the high-speed network.
June 27, 2023
It was ok, but not enough in depth information to make me confident in booking a trip.
May 30, 2022
This guide to train travel in Europe gives both a good overview of what you need to make a successful holiday traveling by train and it shows detailed route descriptions and suggestions.
This entire book is worth it just for the map at the very start of the book. It shows six grand rail trips across Europe. Starting from up in the North going South or West to East. Each of these trips would take you a month or more if you really wanted to experience everything along that route. It's a great starting point to pick the sections that sound interesting to you and that match your schedule.
Each of those trips contains an overview of the most important cities you'll encounter and gives multiple alternatives to travel between those cities. Each important landmark also gets a brief description of why Lonely Planet considers it important.
Apart from the trips, there's also a large introductory chapter on train travel in general. Consisting of practical information, such as the different types of trains you'll encounter and what to watch out for when making a booking (or just winging it if you prefer)
There's a lot of inspiration to be found here, which leads me into my only grip with the book. Sometimes the information is a bit too dense. You'll need to consult additional sources to really plan your trip. Usually that's ok, but for some sections a little bit of extra detail would be handy. Just an example: at one point the guide mentions the Bernina Express in Switzerland as in interesting slow travel option. However, when you start researching it, it is far from obvious how to incorporate it into you journey (neither start/end point nor way of reserving an actual seat are easy to figure out at all) A little warning or some more detail would have been helpful (as a tip from me: check out seat61.com, it's a treasure trove of extra information).
If you're considering skipping the plane for you next holiday, I would strongly recommend this book to get an idea of what's possible using trains in Europe.
This entire book is worth it just for the map at the very start of the book. It shows six grand rail trips across Europe. Starting from up in the North going South or West to East. Each of these trips would take you a month or more if you really wanted to experience everything along that route. It's a great starting point to pick the sections that sound interesting to you and that match your schedule.
Each of those trips contains an overview of the most important cities you'll encounter and gives multiple alternatives to travel between those cities. Each important landmark also gets a brief description of why Lonely Planet considers it important.
Apart from the trips, there's also a large introductory chapter on train travel in general. Consisting of practical information, such as the different types of trains you'll encounter and what to watch out for when making a booking (or just winging it if you prefer)
There's a lot of inspiration to be found here, which leads me into my only grip with the book. Sometimes the information is a bit too dense. You'll need to consult additional sources to really plan your trip. Usually that's ok, but for some sections a little bit of extra detail would be handy. Just an example: at one point the guide mentions the Bernina Express in Switzerland as in interesting slow travel option. However, when you start researching it, it is far from obvious how to incorporate it into you journey (neither start/end point nor way of reserving an actual seat are easy to figure out at all) A little warning or some more detail would have been helpful (as a tip from me: check out seat61.com, it's a treasure trove of extra information).
If you're considering skipping the plane for you next holiday, I would strongly recommend this book to get an idea of what's possible using trains in Europe.
October 24, 2022
This is a very attractively produced book, with loads of pictures: but I wish it were more like the old-style LP books, and crammed with fact.
I can find out what to see in a city or an area from loads of sources: I had hoped that this was a detailed manual to help with ticketing, overnights, practical info: but sadly, it is not.
Helpful maps, though.
I can find out what to see in a city or an area from loads of sources: I had hoped that this was a detailed manual to help with ticketing, overnights, practical info: but sadly, it is not.
Helpful maps, though.
June 4, 2023
3 1/2 stars. This is a helpful dream book, and it does have good, if minimal, practical information for certain destinations. It's not great for just building a journey from scratch, but fun to dip in and out of and get ideas. If you want to follow a route they list exactly, I can imagine it would be more helpful.
May 4, 2022
Excellent.
Full of information and inspiration.
Full of information and inspiration.
January 31, 2023
Extracted just the bits I wanted before it had to go back.
Would get this again, because it covers other Europe countries well.
Aurora library.
Would get this again, because it covers other Europe countries well.
Aurora library.
September 6, 2023
Gives a good general overview of routes one could take, but much more detail would have been helpful. This is actually more of a coffee table book rather than a travel guide.
December 18, 2024
Si vas a hacer exactamente una de las rutas del libro, está bien y es útil. Pero sino, solo merece la pena la información de las ciudades que se salen un poco de las capitales.
September 19, 2025
This is more of a reference and not really a book that you read. Having said that it’s given me some ideas about future trips.
January 9, 2023
Beautifully illustrated and provides real excitement about the possibilities of travelling Europe by train. However, not so much a practical guide. Not the only source that you will need.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews