European Railroad Discussion > Riding trains across Europe

I really hate flying especially those long 8 hour plus flights, but my wife and I are planning a trip for next year to fly over to Zurich and then travel on trains thru Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy. I've told her I'm going to devote a good month to do this once in a lifetime trip.
I'm looking for any good tips or suggestions to help us plan out the trip. One thing I did come across recently was to get a Eurrail pass and I see they have lots of options such as first class and flex vs continuous days travel.
Thanks in advance for any and all information.
Joe

www.seat61.com is a great resource.  I used this website when I did the Transsiberian from Bejing to Moscow back in 2017.  They even helped me with getting thr visa for Russia.

BenWight Wrote:
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> www.seat61.com is a great resource.  I used this
> website when I did the Transsiberian from Bejing
> to Moscow back in 2017.  They even helped me with
> getting thr visa for Russia.

Thank you so much for this tip. I went to the website and it is a wealth of information.
Joe

Back in 2017 I used "Seat 61" for my 33 day trip in Europe.  Rode 35 trains in 10 countries.  It was my number one resource.

Mexrail

I've used Hotel Reservation Service (www.hrs.com) to find hotels within easy walking distance (while dragging a small suitcase on wheels) of European train stations. You have to set up an account with a password (no charge), then you can click on "Distance to" --> Train station. This is very handy when you're traveling by train. No need to rent a car in most cities. 

I recommend choosing a hotel that includes breakfast. Hotel breakfasts in Germany, and probably all northern European countries, tend to be far better value and quality than the poor-quality or overpriced breakfasts served in American hotels.

- Doug Debs

DWDebs/2472 Wrote:
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> I've used Hotel Reservation Service (www.hrs.com)
> to find hotels within easy walking distance (while
> dragging a small suitcase on wheels) of European
> train stations. You have to set up an account with
> a password (no charge), then you can click on
> "Distance to" --> Train station. This is very
> handy when you're traveling by train. No need to
> rent a car in most cities. 
>
> I recommend choosing a hotel that includes
> breakfast. Hotel breakfasts in Germany, and
> probably all northern European countries, tend to
> be far better value and quality than the
> poor-quality or overpriced breakfasts served in
> American hotels.
>
> - Doug Debs

I second use of hrs.de for finding center city hotels near train stations. 

If travelling around Europe by rail, I thoroughly recommend the SBB app on your phone. (Swiss railways).  Besides timetable planning, it has a huge amount of info on train make up, loadings etc. It will give platforms and walking times between connections and transfers.  (It even works here in the UK for my local trains).  chris uk.

Thank you to all so far for the information. It is all very helpful and I'm definitely leaning towards 30 days over there and maybe a little more.
Joe

55002 Wrote:
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> If travelling around Europe by rail, I thoroughly
> recommend the SBB app on your phone. (Swiss
> railways).  Besides timetable planning, it has a
> huge amount of info on train make up, loadings
> etc. It will give platforms and walking times
> between connections and transfers.  (It even
> works here in the UK for my local trains).  chris
> uk.


I second that, the SBB app is great for planning your timetable. I also use the DB app - bahn.com - which likewise works across Europe.