Win a copy of Platform Europe + an Interrail Pass! (closed)

We’re celebrating the release of Platform Europe, the latest book written by our longtime friend Bart Giepmans. Bart is an author, travel journalist, photographer and a passionate advocate for exploring Europe by train.

He is a true champion of slow travel and spends much of the year discovering Europe by rail, embracing historic stations, meaningful encounters and the stories found along the tracks. He wrote and photographed most of the journeys featured in Platform Europe!

😍Win a copy of Bart’s beautiful book AND a FREE Interrail Global Pass (7 days in 1 month)!

Participation is open to all persons 16+ living in Europe. The giveaway ends on 28 April 2026 at 12 pm CET. Five winners will be randomly selected and contacted via the community DM on 28 April 2026. The winners will receive 1x Interrail Global Pass for 7 travel days within 1 month (2nd class) and 1x Platform Europe book. The book will be shipped free of charge.

📄 Read the full Terms & Conditions, here.

How to enter the giveaway

Whether you are an experienced rail traveller or still dreaming about your first trip:

💬 Tell us your favourite slow travel train route – or the train journey that's next on your wishlist – and why.

Share your answer in the comments below to enter the giveaway👇

The most beautiful route I have made so far is from lauterbrunnen to Milan via the Bernina Express. Was a lot longer traveling but so beautiful

The most beautiful route I have made so far is from lauterbrunnen to Milan via the Bernina Express. Was a lot longer traveling but so beautiful

Hoping to take the train to Istanbul soon, also interested in going to Morocco. Both these desinations seem exciting and a little bit less Eurpoean than where we have visted before.

The next train journey on my wishlist, mmm...what shall I say, there are actually 2 journeys. 

1. Sweden!! I have travelled from Goteborg to Umea on the night train, which actually was a Midsummer train with no night. Beautiful nature and colorful skies kept me away from going to bed. I adore Sweden and destination 1 is Swedish Lapland to visit my friends. The girls are teenagers now, haven’t seen them since primary school. They will pick me up @ Lulea station for sure. 
2. Heading for Italy, Piemonte or Umbria for the October Truffle weeks, with friends and my truffle hunting dog!

Gosh, there is still so much to see and do. 

My favorite route is in Scotland. The route from Glasgow to Fort William and from Fort William to Edinburgh through the Highlands is absolutely beautiful.

Not the most beautiful route, but no train ride feels as European to me as the LIMAX from Aachen to Maastricht (and on to Liege). And it is as quick (or slow) as the bus.

We’re celebrating the release of Platform Europe, the latest book written by our longtime friend Bart Giepmans. Bart is an author, travel journalist, photographer and a passionate advocate for exploring Europe by train.

He is a true champion of slow travel and spends much of the year discovering Europe by rail, embracing historic stations, meaningful encounters and the stories found along the tracks. He wrote and photographed most of the journeys featured in Platform Europe!

😍Win a copy of Bart’s beautiful book AND a FREE Interrail Global Pass (7 days in 1 month)!

Participation is open to all persons 16+ living in Europe. The giveaway ends on 28 April 2026 at 12 pm CET. Five winners will be randomly selected and contacted via the community DM on 28 April 2026. The winners will receive 1x Interrail Global Pass for 7 travel days within 1 month (2nd class) and 1x Platform Europe book. The book will be shipped free of charge.

📄 Read the full Terms & Conditions, here.

How to enter the giveaway

Whether you are an experienced rail traveller or still dreaming about your first trip:

💬 Tell us your favourite slow travel train route – or the train journey that's next on your wishlist – and why.

Share your answer in the comments below to enter the giveaway👇

Bernina Express I really would like to travel. Just the incredible nice bridges they build. And the beautiful surroundings.

I would love to travel from Chamonix to Zermatt. As a hobby nature photographer this would be the ultimate epic views and I would love to see it with my own eyes 🤞🏻

I am going on a sailing trip from Aalborg to Bergen this summer and from there I plan to take the train further up north, all the way up to Narvik. I have never really been so close to the arctic circle and I imagine it to be quite inspiring to watch the landscape pass by the train window and to do a multi-day hike through rough and deserted terrain. If time allows, I would love to visit Stockholm and Copenhagen on the way back home to Germany :)

West coast Italy, because you can see the sunset on the mediterranean. Next journey will be Switzerland and Lake Como! 

My favourite journey has been through Switzerland, from Interlaken to Montreux on the GoldenPass Express. It was an amazing journey with jaw-dropping scenery!

My absolute favorite journey has to be the night train to Boden in Sweden ! I’ve travelled in it during my first Interrail.

Crossing into the Arctic Circle (almost, I took another train to Abisko) while sleeping is pure magic. There’s no better way to travel !

I loved the train ride from Iasi in Romania to Chisinău in Moldova! The train interior was super old which made it feel like stepping into a different time. Close to the border the train gets disconnected and they change the ‘wheels’ under the train because the train tracks in Romania and Moldova are not the same width. It’s a super interesting experience but be sure to stay within your own train wagon at this time! We lost our friend for a while because she got left in a disconnected train wagon 🙈

We just had the most amazing adventure over April travelling from the UK to italy and slovenia. Our best memory of our train adventure was on the Nightjet from Brussels to Salzburg. The kids were ecstatic getting on board and discovering the bunk beds in our cuchette, we all woke up at 6am and watched the world roll by as snow fell on the hills outside and the sun came up. Magical! We would go further into Eastern Europe if we won again and definitely take more night trains. Loved it!

The nighttrain from Stockholm to Hamburg 

My favorite journey so far was the Brig to Zermatt journey - beautiful slow journey full of mountains and valleys and the view of Matterhorn at the end.

I have too many itineraries to share but let me start with the one from last Christmas to Provence. By the way, all of these have been thoroughly tested to be dog-friendly (Boooo, Eurostar 😠). Which means, dogs are allowed on the train (most of the times with a separate ticket), there is a break for them to get off and do the business at least once every 5 to 6 hours, and they are not prohibitively expensive to take your dog (looking at you, Nightjet from ÖBB 😡).

1. SJ Sweden: Stockholm to Hamburg : Overnight, dog-specific, women-only couchette. I know SJ gets a lot of flak, but they have all my heart for allowing me and dogster to travel together. 💓 Pro tip: Hamburg is immensely walkable city but if you need a break from the weather, Miniature World allows dogs inside! It was such a treat to see mini version of the adventure we were having in real life! Whee!!! 
2. Deutche Bahn : Hamburg to Frankfurt: We usually stay a night in Hamburg, but you have a choice to continue directly onto Frankfurt after a gap of 3 hours (weekdayS) and 1 hour (weekends) between incoming train from Stockholm and next one to Frankfurt. Please note, DB does not allow you to get a dog ticket while booking seat only along with your Interrail pass. You need to book one separately online. Don’t be surprised by how expensive it is. Its almost 50% of an adult fare on popular routes if you don’t buy it in advance.
3. SNCF TGV: Frankfurt to Marseille: Great trains, poor planning for accommodating dogs as the area under seats is too small. Its a popular route, so there will certainly be no space for your dog. We found a hack by hanging out near the luggage racks and an onboard bistro (yayy!). Marseille is a bit of a chaotic but very exciting city. For a bonus adventure with your furry friend, go for a day hike to Calanque National Park, easily accessible by dog-friendly public transport! We did get down at the amazing Avignon in between and enjoyed the spectacular historic city for 2 days, before going to Marseille. Highly recommended!!
4. SNCF TER: Marseille to Nice: This is what public transportation dreams are made of! What a wonderful way to see South France coast! You can get off at one of the any Sur-le-Paradise cities on the coast. Cannes is famous for glamour, but it also has wonderful hillside views of the Azure, if you take a long walk up. Nice is a cultural hub and unless you are travelling with someone with whom you can take turns to go into museums, I would hire a dog sitter. The perfume workshops in Eze do not allow dogs but you can go take a whiff with the most sensitive nose in your family - your dog. :) We also spent 2 days each at Mandelieu-La -Napoule and Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer (retiree-paradise with 1:1 people to yatch ratio. Also recommend hiking Sentier Littoral, at least partially, if not the entire hundreds of kilometers.
5. SNCF Bonus: i) Train to Tende: We did not take this yet, but its on our wishlist. The descriptions sound heavenly. (ii) Train to Beziers: We did take this route to escape rainy Marseille. Highly recommend Plateau des Poetes - a park celebrating Occidental poets, and Ecluse de Beziers for wonderful walks.

The route back basically follows the same trains in reverse. The ability to travel alone the slow way, through landscapes, different weather systems, so much history, amazing food and so many sights and smells is soul nurturing. To be able to do that with my dog is a privilege. South France is worth all the hype. Go the next time you can and come back refreshed. :)

I would love discovering Slovenia, especially the train ride from Ljubljana to Bled lake and Bohinj lake passing by Jesenice ! 

I’d love to take a train through the Scottish Highlands to explore the stunning natural scenery. That’s my dream destination. If I had to pick my favorite trip I’ve taken with Interrail, I’d say it’s the Vienna-Zurich overnight train. I woke up in the Alps as the sun rose over the mountains. It was unforgettable.

Moscow-Beijing. My best Interrail souvenir is Thessaloniki-Istanbul 42 years ago.

I like to travel by train with my Brompton folding bike. My favourite trip so far has been from Cologne in Germany to Marseille in France crossing Switzerland (Basel, Lugano, Chiasso) and Italy (Como, Milano, Genova, Ventimiglia). 

These are my top 3 favourites: 

From Bar to Belgrade is absolutely stunning, the part in Montenegro is best enjoyed on a day train with open windows!

The Douro valley in Portugal also makes for an amazing trip with scenic views, especially on the tourist train.

The Bernina line in Switzerland is absolutely breathtaking, going from palms to glaciers within few hours.

my favorite slow route is the steam train in the Harz. When i was there for the first time it did not ride that day and i only had 1 day. and i did not have time to come back. And another favorite is the route between Hamm and Kassel.

So excited to travel more around EU by train. It’s lovely to me that I can get to Norway or Italy in about a day. 

I've heard Norway also has really scenic trains but I would love to go to Switzerland again as i find it one of the most beautiful countries😍. After doing the jungfraujoch last time I didn't have the budget to do the Bernina express, and an interrail pass would cover more than half of it's cost !! I would go from Amsterdam to Basel then take the train from Chur to Tirano. After that I would head to Milan, Lake Como etc and back to Amsterdam. I don't know about you guys but this sounds like a heck of a plan