There is a website I love for seeing how to get almost everywhere in Europe by train: https://www.seat61.com/
He is a legend.
Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
361–370 of 428 posts
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#362People living in central/western Europe: You have no idea how fortunate you are to be able to hop on a train and ride to another major city in a few hours. We mortals of the southeastern Europe feel detached from the rest of the world. Yeah, I know German trains occasionally are late, but I remember standing on the platform in Munich, envying those who could travel to Madrid or Brussels without going to the airport—s…
As Portuguese living in DACH space, yeah but the DB experience occasionally makes me feel right back at home.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#3638hours without counting for delays and missed connections, something that the SNCF routinely experiences.
Once it took me a full day Paris - Geneva, which included travelling back to Paris when we were about midway, only to return to Geneva when about 100km close to Paris, stopping in the middle of nowhere to get the bar refilled, as everyone went there, and a voucher to use in another TGV travel within one year.
The official reason, some powerline issue.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#364Since train fans always like to point this out when it comes to flying: this is how far you can get in 8 hours on the train . It doesn’t include the time to get to the station, the buffer time you need (if your train leaves at 0700 you can’t plan to get there at 06:59), and the time to travel from the destination station to your actual destination. Actual travel time for an 8 hour train ride is probably at least clos…
Also luggage, not all wagons are built to accommodate the typical set of plane luggage, unless one is a hand baggage traveller.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#365For those that think it’s impossible for the USA because of the density or geography or oil economy, please have a look at that map: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Russia edit: traveled with the transiberian as a tourist, it was full of workers, business man, students, whatever, hopping on and of in different places for connections or destinations. Best human experience ever in all three classes. E…
American Exceptionalism is unfortunately a largely incurable mental illness.
To be fair, I think every country has something that they think they're somehow the exception for
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#366For those that think it’s impossible for the USA because of the density or geography or oil economy, please have a look at that map: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Russia edit: traveled with the transiberian as a tourist, it was full of workers, business man, students, whatever, hopping on and of in different places for connections or destinations. Best human experience ever in all three classes. E…
Revealed preference. Usage of train travel (public transit in general) goes down with income, and people in the US have an order of magnitude more disposable income versus Russia.
The take rate of air conditioning in subsaharan Africa is far lower compared to similar-climate places like Florida, but I wouldn't use that fact to posit that sans-AC is somehow better.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#367Earlier quoted context omitted.
> California hadn't been able to build a train a fraction of that distance without delays and squandering[??] massive amounts of money. It costs money and time to build HSR. Fine. The J(N)R director who ran the shinkansen project literally lied to multiple levels of government to shield the (2x+) budget overruns. He resigned and then within a year of it opening he was given a medal for extraordinary contributions to…
>A west coast HSR network is just obviously practical! Beijing-Shanghai HSR is 1300km; SF to Seattle would be the same. It'd be 4-5h on a train. Right now it's 2.5 hours on a plane plus a recommended 1.5 hours for security and boarding plus transfers on each side--I'd rather take a high speed train If I could! SF to LA could be ~3h. 90 minutes on a plane plus lead time and transfer times and it's competitive. Again.…
Environment? Comfort?
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#368I went from Belgrade to Aachen about 15-20 years ago. It cost me more than my plane ticket from Dusseldorf to Belgrade (though I got robbed/scammed at Belgrade). From Belgrade to Croatia the old DB train went 60 km/hour. It did have power sockets. I was nearly alone. Then came the evening in Croatia, the train went quicker than 60 hm/hour, people boarded (youth with backpacks), and sleep got a bit more tough. Near Ljubljana and Wien there were very bright lights at the station, and more people boarded till the 6 seater was overburdened with people trying to sleep yet take care of their belongings. The whole trip took near 24 hours. But if I was with a partner, it would have felt a whole lot more safe, so that is my recommendation: go with a friend and make sure you set checks & boundaries beforehand.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#369Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is also flights in Europe that are faster. I recently traveled from Stuttgart to Vienna via night train. It was even more expensive. But this is not the point. Time sleeping in a night train is not lost. Also typically getting to the airport and from the airport into the city takes time. Same for airport security. And if there is enough wind that night one might even travel CO2 emission free.
Why should the individual end user be concerned about CO2 emissions? Or are we letting corporations in China outsource that guilt back to us?
Yes, because the corporations in China are emitting those making things you use.
Re: Where can you go in Europe by train in 8h?
#370Earlier quoted context omitted.
While i agree that EU airports are very efficient, 20 minutes before schedule take-off must be impossible. Surely you mean 20 minutes before boarding starts?
No, I'm usually the last person to board. Departure (but not arrival) frequently gets pushed back by 10-20 minutes, though I am making it on time even if not. I have literally never waited at a security check and it takes a minute or two to get through - speaking about EU flights.
There's no way you are not missing flights if you think you can get through security and to your gate regularly in 20 minutes.