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

Oh my goodness, nothing compares to slow traveling across Hungary and Romania. Castles, plains, smiles and more!

My favourite slow travel train route was from Glasgow to Mallaig. We didn't take the Jacobite train and therefore it wasn't so full on the train. The nature I was travelling past was absolutely astonishing :)

Favourite short train journey was the Flam railway Norway. A surreal experience on a beautiful day. 

My favorite slow train is probably Oslo - Lund. Not just cause the ride itself is beautiful, but because it is the ride that for me (living in Oslo) opens up a world of possibilities to continental Europe. It is always the start of what is to come ✨

Love rail travel but a special one that springs to mind was in Myanmar a few years ago. The switchback railway between Thazi and Inle lake. Just so interesting, though took a long time to climb that section and then a journey through fields (no hedges or sidings) just straight through farmland. A few station stops with busy markets on the platforms, Buddhist nuns in pink. Then a change of trains in the middle of the night, being 'looked after' by a Burmese family as I was the only western tourist there and then a tedious uncomfortable and sleepless journey for the rest of the night. But one of the little out of the way rail journeys that are so special. 

For years, i’d longed to repeat the route of the Orient Express. In the Spring of 2023, myself and my partner Annette managed to do just that. Using a global two-months pass, we spent the first day travelling from our home in Newcastle upon Tyne to London and from there to Paris, from where the journey began in earnest. Using local and regional trains, we followed the route of the original Orient Express (introduced in 1883): Paris-Strasbourg-Stuttgart-Munich-Salzburg-Vienna-Budapest-Bucharest-Varna-bus to Istanbul. We stayed in each of the major destinations en route for three or four days, with occasional overnight visits to places of interest along the journey. Leaving Istanbul, our return journey followed the route of the Simplon Orient Express (introduced in 1919): Istanbul-Plovdiv-Sofia-Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljana-Trieste-Venice-Verona-Milan-Lausanne-Dijon-Paris. The whole journey took 58 days, and while we didn’t indulge ourselves in the luxury of the current Orient Express train company, the trip gave us a wonderful insight into some of Europe’s most beguiling and historic destinations - and an exciting and unforgettable train journey!

I love the train ride from London to Inverness! It’s such a treat to wake up in the Scottish Highlands and be able to set off exploring them as soon as I step off the train!

Wow Bart! Those images look amazing! Congrats on the book! My favorite route was definitely Fort William to Glenfinnan, getting to cross the Glenfinnan Viaduct too the slow rhythmic sound of the train chugging along the tracks, dramatic music floating down from the loudspeakers, sending us gliding across the Viaduct, while the sun peeked out from between the dark clouds, gifting us with a beautiful rainbow by the Viaduct! Most gorgeous train-route ever!!

My dream Interrail trip would take me through the Balkans – especially Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. I’d love to travel from Tirana to Lake Ohrid, continue through Skopje, and then take the iconic train from Belgrade to Bar down to the Montenegrin coast. Slow travel fits the Balkans perfectly,  every stop feels like a story waiting to happen.😉😆

I really enjoyed the slow route from Stockholm to Oslo and even more the route from Oslo to Bergen. The scenery was stunning! I could have spent 7 Hours looking out the window! 

I am currently planning a new Journey to Bordeaux, San Sebastian and Saragossa - let’s see what comes next 😎

Next on my traintravel wishlist:

Bernina Express in Switzerland to observe the panorama of the Alps through the large windows.

I interrailed in September 2022 with my boyfriend, starting from Milan. We planned a fantastic route through Vienna (which is still one of my favorite cities I’ve ever visited), Prague and Munich. That trip is my favorite memory ever. It felt almost surreal, especially the landscapes we saw from the train window... I truly had the time of my life. I would love to do it again, maybe with a more adventurous route this time, like Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia and Istanbul.

My favourite route is the one from Prague to Budapest with fantastic views

West Highland (Scotland) Line - have cycled that area and it’s beautiful 

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👇

I love my trip through portugal, spain, short time france and italy. I drove the whole coast from portugal to sicily. The best train parts where for Sure sicily and south portugal. :) 

Writing from experience:
1. Going along the Rhine, a slow travel with the view of the river and surrounding hills and many options to just stop and continue your journey the next day.
2. Napoli to Palermo, with one of the few chances in a world to take a ferry while being on the train. I really enjoy all the routes with a sea view.
3. Kiruna to Narvik, a view of the fjord when you leave the tunnel is so amazing. 
And every night route where you wake up to a rising sun, still outside city and can watch how the world is waking up and you still travel.

I was lucky to travel many routes over the years, but there are still few missing. Somehow, I completely missed Swiss routes and they are my dream. Hopefully, this could be a chance to do that.

I would love to go from Torino to Dubrovnik along the sea because of the amazing landscapes it would have along the way.

I really love the view from the train between Basel and a Chamonix. 😍 Next up I would want to go to Portugal.

I’m desperate to travel down the coast of Italy, taking as long as possible to soak in the culture and little delights

Myself & my wife traveling from Glasgow to via London, Paris & Barcelona. We enjoyed it so much we are doing it again in a couple of months time 😃

My favorite route is from Venice to Bled, stopping at the Italian border in Gorizia and then crossing into Nova Gorica in Slovenia. Along the way, the mountains slowly rise around you, and you catch glimpses of clear water beside the tracks. In Gorizia, you can walk to the border and cross into Nova Gorica (or take the bus, but I really recommend walking). There, you can pause for a coffee on a sunny terrace, taking in the architecture and the calm atmosphere of the small city. For me, it’s a very special route because it was my first slow train journey during my first Interrail trip. It doesn’t just represent the beauty of the journey but also the courage it took for me to start following my dreams.

(Not the best picture, but I will forever capture this journey in my heart).

I really would like to visit Eastern Europe, as I have never been there

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👇

My favorite train route for now is from Belgrad in Serbia to Bar in Montenegro. I did it years ago but I still have it very clearly in mind. The beautiful landscape - it was in december and the landscape around was frozen and the train was running slowly through valleys, tunnels and over bridges. Beautiful experience!

Oslo → Bergen. This was the best train route I took because it felt like a whole story in a single day. Bergen had been my target from the moment I started this trip, and this early morning train was my only chance to get there, because all the other trains that day were already fully booked.
 

To catch it, I had to wake up at 5 in the morning for a 6:30 departure, which was already difficult after too little sleep. And then the chaos began. I got ready quickly, only to realise that my hostel key card had stopped working and I was locked out at the worst possible moment. It was so early that I could barely find anyone around, and for a few minutes I thought everything was over, that I would miss the train and with it my only chance to reach Bergen that day. Somehow, after calling the hostel helpline, I found help, got the card reactivated, rode a bike to the railway station, made it there just in time, grabbed a cappuccino and a croissant, and boarded while still carrying all that stress.
 

But once the train started moving, everything changed. The journey unfolded layer by layer: calm green landscapes outside Oslo, quiet villages, mirror-like lakes, forests, wide valleys, red wooden cabins, waterfalls, and later the snowy highlands near Finse. It felt like crossing different worlds in a single ride. What made it even more special were the people I met on board. I ended up talking to a fellow traveller from America who was friendly, easygoing, and full of travel stories. We connected so well on the train that the next day we even did a fjord cruise together in Bergen, which made the whole experience even more memorable.

For me, this was about more than just reaching a destination. It was one of those journeys where a chaotic and stressful beginning slowly turned into one of the best memories of my trip. Just like the route from Oslo itself, the landscape kept changing its character along the way. It never stayed the same for long, moving from calm green valleys to snowy highlands and then softening again as the train approached Bergen. That is why Oslo to Bergen will always stay with me.