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

My favorite slow train travel route is from Plovdiv (Bulgaria) to Bucuresti (Romania) via Gorna Oryahovitsa. Its a really slow train ride (about 50 km per hour) with the old Bulgarian trains and is definitely a vibe! I recommend traveling under the week in the early summer or late spring during the day when wagons are empty and you can take up as much space as you want. The sun will shine through your windows and you'll see peaceful hills and mountains and countryside life and will learn to love life again. 

I love a lot of travel routes, but one of my absolute favorites is the journey from Oslo to Bergen. 

What makes this route special for me is the variety. You start in a lively city and then slowly move into quiet mountains, lakes, and wide open landscapes. One of my highlights is taking a side trip on the Flåm Railway. 

I must say most of my travels sofar where inside of Switzerland or neighboring regions. Inside Switzerland, I had already some of the most beautiful and scenic rides taken; Be it the Bernina Express and the route to Zermatt to tell some clichés. I did go to the UK once and there I went the train route from Edinburgh <> York. A cool tour through the Scottish and English landscape. I would love to travel at sometime aimlessly across Europe and maybe on the way visiting wacky borders like Baarle-Nasau/Baarle-Hertog as this is also something I’m interested in. I’m so gratefull of the open borders here in Europe and the freedoms that this enables us. I keep a map of all the regions I visited and I would love to be able to expand this map.

Currently travelling in Italy and looking forward to.making the train ferry crossing between Sicily and the mainland.

Really hoping to finally make the trip from London to Berlin via train at some point. Otherwise love all the train travel around France and Italy.

My favourite journey was from Vienna to Firenze. The landscape north and south of the Alps is so different and it was facinating to see this difference.

The Slow Route south from Cologne, along the Rhine and the vineyards always puts a special start to a Trip

Stockholm - Narvik in late winter.

You go to sleep in the green landscape coming through the melting ice in and around Stockholm and wake up in a totally whitened environment, from freezing lakes to snowy trees. Passing the polar circle, gliding by the fjords of frozen sea arms, flakes falling all along the way. Single track to Narvik, the train has to wait from time to time to let mining trains from the opposite direction pass, endless rows of mining wagons filled with iron ore from Kiruna. There are plenty of stations along the way to step out and start a hike by snow shoes or trek ski, or just enjoy a warm cosy hostel (always with sauna, they’ll reassure you ) and take in the scenery. It’s quite the wake up!

Although I have travelled all over Europe by train, and the Swiss mountain lines, northern Norway and Sweden and Rhine and other river valleys in Germany and Czech republic are all lovely, I often think that the Settle-Carlisle railway, especially the section between Settle and Appleby is one of the best.  Another great British route is the line to Kyle of Lochalsh.

My favourite or just most sentimental train ride is from my hometown close to Paderborn in Germany all the way to Malmö in Sweden where I lived for two years. In particular, the super cool train bridge in Rendsburg that is super panoramic! 

The journey from Basel to Milan is fantastic. During the day, you can enjoy views of the Swiss and Italian Alps, and at night, the lights below make it feel as though the train is flying. The departure and arrival stations are magnificent, too.

Next trip is going to be trains across France and to the northern part of Spain - and why? I only want to travel by train now and feel like the journey becomes a core part of the holiday and is also a relaxing way to travel, looking at the scenery out the window

One of my favorite rail journeys so far was Røros line between Røros and Trondheim, I really liked the mountain views. I’d like to continue with this theme by traveling through the Swiss Alps which has always been a bit of a dream of mine. The Glacier Express seems like a good way of doing that.

The trainride from Austria though Germany to the Netherlands :)

Nice and simple but beautiful 

My new favourite route and one that is on my wishlist is to go from Zurich to Florence. From the research that I've done, it looks like one train ride to remember and I hope to make it happen soon.

My next train journey is going to Istanbul over multiple days/weeks, to explore the European countries I’d cross over the journey. Turkey holds a special place in my family’s history - my parents went there multiple times without bringing my sisters and me. So I want to discover this country that seats over two continents myself, as a young adult keeping in mind the trips’ stories of my parents. I want to experience the business of Istanbul, the calm of the Cappadocia region and the beauty of the Black Sea coast.

My current wishlist train route for this summer is connecting both European Capitals of Culture – Oulu in Finland and Trenčin in Slovakia – by train. Still trying to figure out how to get from Germany to Oulu via Haparanda in Sweden and Tornio in Finland as those timetables have not been published yet (nor the train installed!) but down south is actually pretty doable, in three days. I’m planning to take:

– night train Oulu to Helsinki, day in Helsinki

– night ferry Helsinki to Tallinn (Viking Line, 20:30 to 6:00)

– train Tallinn to Vilnius 10:10 to 21:01 (or on to Kaunas via Kaisiadorys for later departure next day)

– train Vilnius to Trenčin via Mockava, Warsaw, Bohumin, Zilina 6:27 to 20:20 local times

Would love to win a pass for that :)

I love the train from Belgrade to Bar. Though it had about 10 hours of delay when I took it,the wait was worth it! 

My favourite slow train travel was Milano-Firenze, apart from the beautiful scenery it was also the first time I was traveling without an adult or responsible other. Many beautiful memories from that trip!

My favourite train journey so far was the 18 hours between Bucharest and Budapest. The views were amazing and you could open the train windows and feel the air. I also befriended the other people in my cabin and we had a little movie night together :)

It’s hard to answer this question, as I have made some exceptional train rides across the Europe, however my mind immediatly went to a hidden-gem train ride in my home country, Portugal, between Porto and Pocinho. Part of the train ride is made close to the water and the views are amazing. As a reward, you can have some traditional candies from the region or go to one of the many wine farms the region has. Truly amazing!

I never travelled with interrail, but I have been in the Netherlands and I loved it sooooo much. I love travelling and I want to do it so much more because it is so wonderful and it allows me to open my mind and heart to new perspectives. 

I have a dream to go to Malaga tis summer :)

My favourite journey was through Austria to Slovenia, the breathtaking forest views along the railway made it truly unforgettable!

This mail came at the right timing! I was just trying to figure out how I want to go back to the place I fell in love with: Switserland. As I was doing my internship in Zürich february-july 2025, I figured out that after those 5 months I would not be done with the beauty of this country. I want to go back to the landscapes, visit the mountains that are still on my list and see the people I met during that time who have a special place in my heart. It is diffucult to write about the feeling of a place that feels like home, but not being in that place when you need it the most. So, I would love to start my trip from the Netherlands, going to Zurich, Davos, Ticino and Zermatt! Dreaming of it ever since!!

My favorite journey was from Zurich to Milan. It was September, and everything felt calm and alive at the same time, the landscapes, the nature, even the animals I could see along the way.There was something about that moment that gave me a deep sense of inner peace, like I could finally slow down and just exist without rushing.

That’s why I would love to experience something similar again, but this time on my own, exploring Northern Europe  to reconnect with that same feeling in a new and even more wild and untouched environment.