Stonesourscotty
Member
I'm thinking of going to europe in 3 weeks time and wondered the best rail destination to go to i'm contemplating Germany or maybe Italy i dunno yet depends on Sport in those countries to.
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Best destination in Europe?
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gordonthemoron
Established Member
what are you wanting to see/experience?
Germany's good but there may be more variety elsewhere, e.g. Switzerland. Poland still has mainline steam trains, and the points are frequently quite scary. Czech Republic has trains that look like they're falling to bits.
Germany's good but there may be more variety elsewhere, e.g. Switzerland. Poland still has mainline steam trains, and the points are frequently quite scary. Czech Republic has trains that look like they're falling to bits.
EWS 58038
Member
The Rhine valey is so beautifull south of Koblenz... much fantastic locations for the best shots available...
Stonesourscotty
Member
Well Basically my Original plan was to Go to as many Footbal grounds as possible so i was thinking Germany because it has a good rail network and impressive stadia to match but france and italy are other options.
North Rhine Westphalia would be a good base for both rail and football. Germany has good value Länder tickets, covering all regional trains, trams and underground services (apart from express ICE/IC/EC services) within a given region for between 19-30 per day depending on the state concerned.
Dortmund, Köln, Leverkusen, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Wuppertal and Essen are all in NRW. If you haven't yet experienced the upsidedown railway (wheels are on the roof of the carriage, rail above the carriage) in Wuppertal then you really should! In Essen you've got former DLR vehicles running on the U-bahn. In Köln you have one of the most spectaularly located stations next to the cathedral. Dortmund and Leverkusen obviously are key football grounds.
Aachen is on the Dutch/Belgian border and gives you easy access to those countries on a day trip, and if you go via Eurostar to Brussels you pass through the spectacular new Liege station on the way to Germany.
You can use your Eurostar Brussels ticket to get almost to Aachen - just buy an extension from Welkenraedt to Aachen at Brussels Midi for 5 and use the IC and local trains to get there.
More generally in NRW there's a wide variety of freight and passenger traffic heading north-south, plus the route down the Rhine towards Frankfurt is very scenic. You'll see ICEs of every generation and voltage, Thalys and CNL double-deck sleeping cars, traditional IC and EC loco hauled, plus more red regional trains than you know what to do with.
Stopping off at some Rhine west bank stations at night will not only give you great views of moonlit castles, but you'll see a stream of freight traffic from the North Sea ports to much of central western Europe.
Highly recommended!
Dortmund, Köln, Leverkusen, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Wuppertal and Essen are all in NRW. If you haven't yet experienced the upsidedown railway (wheels are on the roof of the carriage, rail above the carriage) in Wuppertal then you really should! In Essen you've got former DLR vehicles running on the U-bahn. In Köln you have one of the most spectaularly located stations next to the cathedral. Dortmund and Leverkusen obviously are key football grounds.
Aachen is on the Dutch/Belgian border and gives you easy access to those countries on a day trip, and if you go via Eurostar to Brussels you pass through the spectacular new Liege station on the way to Germany.
You can use your Eurostar Brussels ticket to get almost to Aachen - just buy an extension from Welkenraedt to Aachen at Brussels Midi for 5 and use the IC and local trains to get there.
More generally in NRW there's a wide variety of freight and passenger traffic heading north-south, plus the route down the Rhine towards Frankfurt is very scenic. You'll see ICEs of every generation and voltage, Thalys and CNL double-deck sleeping cars, traditional IC and EC loco hauled, plus more red regional trains than you know what to do with.
Stopping off at some Rhine west bank stations at night will not only give you great views of moonlit castles, but you'll see a stream of freight traffic from the North Sea ports to much of central western Europe.
Highly recommended!
gordonthemoron
Established Member
I'd second the Suspended Railway in Wuppertal, it's great. Wuppertal itself isn't much but it's only 15 mins from Düsseldorf and 30 mins from Cologne
will1337
Member
A few days ago I came back from Interrailing around the Benelux and would recommend it. Stayed in 5 different Hostels and did a trip from Brugge to Amsterdam, Liege, Brussels and Luxembourg. Took advantage of interesting train routings where I could as well. Stopped off at a few places each day en route for a few hours/evening.
For football, I too think Germany would be a better bet.
Recommend the Netherlands for the friendly people, they seemed the most interested in our culture as well. Luxembourg makes as a good base as a ticket from there to Arlon, first station in Belgium is £9.60 each way there and then. Luxembourg City Centre can be very expensive though, the area around the station less so. I used this with the Eurostar ticket to go home and stay an extra day. £20 a day to go between 3 countries is good value compared to our ticket prices.
A60K, thanks for the tip on the Länder tickets. If only I'd have known about them on Monday when I had a day spare in Luxembourg City or up the line to Brussels. Both turned out to be grim places in the wet, could have spent a day in the South of the Rhineland.
For football, I too think Germany would be a better bet.
Recommend the Netherlands for the friendly people, they seemed the most interested in our culture as well. Luxembourg makes as a good base as a ticket from there to Arlon, first station in Belgium is £9.60 each way there and then. Luxembourg City Centre can be very expensive though, the area around the station less so. I used this with the Eurostar ticket to go home and stay an extra day. £20 a day to go between 3 countries is good value compared to our ticket prices.
A60K, thanks for the tip on the Länder tickets. If only I'd have known about them on Monday when I had a day spare in Luxembourg City or up the line to Brussels. Both turned out to be grim places in the wet, could have spent a day in the South of the Rhineland.
tripleseis
Member
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The Schwebebahn I think is currently closed for refurbishment but according to the website will open in April.
http://www.schwebebahn.de/
We're off to Cologne on Sunday night in the car. We're staying at a hotel on the outskirts and will take the local tram/u-bahn into the city. I plan to check out the Hauptbahnhof and Hohenzollernbrücke while we're there. May take a daytrip to Bonn as well.
Also planning to stop over in Maastricht and Liège on the way there and back (probably Maastricht on the way and Liège on the way back). Liège-Guillemins looks like a fabulous building!
http://www.schwebebahn.de/
We're off to Cologne on Sunday night in the car. We're staying at a hotel on the outskirts and will take the local tram/u-bahn into the city. I plan to check out the Hauptbahnhof and Hohenzollernbrücke while we're there. May take a daytrip to Bonn as well.
Also planning to stop over in Maastricht and Liège on the way there and back (probably Maastricht on the way and Liège on the way back). Liège-Guillemins looks like a fabulous building!
will1337
Member
It is! Such beautiful light inside. Liege Palais is also worth a visit, not a particularly beautiful station but impressive how it fits into the hillside. At the top of the hill is an incredible panoramic view and some fortifications with many monuments.
EWS 58038
Member
The problem in the Netherlands is... If you'f seen 1 train you have seen them all.
There isn't much variaty on our network any longer. Amsterdamn **** as the city is One big construction site for the deep level underground. But If you still want to make some pictures of the Central station, Beurs van Berlage, Beijnekorf and De Munt you must hurry as tunnelling has already started and the city is sinking. Many houses have been declared to be "unsafe" due to underground construction. So... perhaps you'r able to make some lucky shots when the most famouse buildings in the city collapse.
There isn't much variaty on our network any longer. Amsterdamn **** as the city is One big construction site for the deep level underground. But If you still want to make some pictures of the Central station, Beurs van Berlage, Beijnekorf and De Munt you must hurry as tunnelling has already started and the city is sinking. Many houses have been declared to be "unsafe" due to underground construction. So... perhaps you'r able to make some lucky shots when the most famouse buildings in the city collapse.
gordonthemoron
Established Member
Liége Guillemains will be nice once it's finished
j0hn0
Member
EWS 58038, Gordon and A60K have got it mostly spot on for me in the locations that I would've suggested.
In Amsterdam, I worked above the east end of centraal station, don't know whether you can see but there's a ViRM, a thalys and a loco from a DDM stoptrein. Added to the cruise ship behind of course
At centraal you do get lots of different trains, ICE, Thalys, ViRM, DDM, sprinters, koploopers, Benelux "fyra" services which are still run by old stock as the new ones arent ready, freight movements and the camera train
On the way home on an evening there was a vintage railcar parked on platform 2 privately hired, was really well restored, took a picture of it and I cant bloody find it
There's a decent mcdonalds that overlooks the mainline in Dusseldorf
There is so much in the ruhr area that has already been mentioned, it's one of the things I enjoy most about my time over here
In Amsterdam, I worked above the east end of centraal station, don't know whether you can see but there's a ViRM, a thalys and a loco from a DDM stoptrein. Added to the cruise ship behind of course
At centraal you do get lots of different trains, ICE, Thalys, ViRM, DDM, sprinters, koploopers, Benelux "fyra" services which are still run by old stock as the new ones arent ready, freight movements and the camera train
On the way home on an evening there was a vintage railcar parked on platform 2 privately hired, was really well restored, took a picture of it and I cant bloody find it
There's a decent mcdonalds that overlooks the mainline in Dusseldorf
There is so much in the ruhr area that has already been mentioned, it's one of the things I enjoy most about my time over here Attachments
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