We are traveling around Europe in October 2025 : Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium Netherlands. Several of the journeys have transfers and I am using 20 min as a filter. My question is what is a safe amount of time to allow for transfers?
Answer
European vacatoin
Best answer by thibcabe
Both extremely easy. Trains should be on time but if you were to miss a connection (unlikely!), no big deal:
Metz - Luxembourg has from 1 to 4 hourly direct trains.
Brussels - Bruges has 4 hourly direct trains.
All reservation-free so you can just hop on after logging the correct train on Rail Planner..
For me it depends on the country, frequency of the connecting train and enrire itinerary.
You are connecting to a once a day night train? Allow 2 hours to be safe, have dinner during that time. You are connecting to a regional service running every 30 min? 5-10 min will do. Etc etc
In general allow margin for connections in Germany. But you can plan tight connections like I do and simply expect to miss one at some point and arrive 1h later (earning 12€ compensation along the way).
If you have more questions, give examples and we'll advise.
This is our first time traveling in Europe so I am being cautious. I have 2 transfers I’m concerned with;
1- traveling from Lucerne to Luxembourg we have a 27 min transfer in Metz Ville France.
2-traveling from Luxembourg to Bruges Belgium we have a 23 min transfer in Bruxelles - Midi.
Will this be a sufficient amount of time for Newbies to European train travel?
Both extremely easy. Trains should be on time but if you were to miss a connection (unlikely!), no big deal:
Metz - Luxembourg has from 1 to 4 hourly direct trains.
Brussels - Bruges has 4 hourly direct trains.
All reservation-free so you can just hop on after logging the correct train on Rail Planner..
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