Euro-rail Holiday

[Thebaz]

This summer I am intending to take the family on un Tour de Europe par le train. Believe it or not, this was actually my partner's idea and not mine (and she's not the one who is a rail nerd)! We are roughly planning to go for about 10 days, setting off and returning to St Pancras International. We have two boys aged 5 and 6 so some time by the seaside would have to be factored into the equation. We will try to keep the cost down so are planning to stay in Air B'n'bs and probably do a couple of sleeper train nights too.

Has anyone done this kind of thing with a young family and have any recommendations for routes and off-beat, cheap places to stay? Where will we get the cheapest fares - presumably some kind of rover tickets? Seat61 looks like a great resource - anything similar out there as well?

Cheers in advance. I'm already getting a bit too excited for a 41 year old man!

 

[johnnychips]

Well if you have two lads who can swim, you really need to head to the Med. Anywhere between Barcelona and Livorno would be smashing, though Spain, France, Italy would go in cost order for daily living costs. Not sure about accommodation, though. Be wary it can be very humid, though, which is why I wouldn't recommend going too far south. Daft thing, sun cream is much cheaper in England than abroad.

 

[Thebaz]

Thanks for the suggestions. Not too bothered about the humidity - we handled the Netherlands last year in that hottest ever week (ever ever ever) without aircon in the car so I'm sure the train will be a breeze (pun not intended)! Spain is ruled out because of distance. Trying to keep it something roughly like London, Marseille, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Ned, Home. Might see if we can squeeze in something east of Italy but the timings seem to take a massive hit if you try to go that direction through the Alps.

Also the Bernina Express is mosdef ruled in. That just has to be done.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Might want to consider an Interrail pass - I understand there is a reasonably priced option for families, and you can use it on the Eurostar subject to a reservation fee of about €30 (call and ask to pay in €, it's cheaper).

 

[30907]

Some random thoughts:

Interrail is probably not an option as for France and Italy lots of trains are compulsory-reservation. For the main journeys you could book Advance tickets, and maybe look at local day tickets for CH/DE.

The only sleepers relevant to you are
Paris-Briancon (Alps, scenic way to Marseille!)
Paris-Port Bou (for the Med coast).
Zurich-Hamburg or Innsbruck-Duesseldorf.
From experience book a whole couchette compartment (or sleeper if they will let the boys top-and-tail), choose a train that doesnt leave too late or arrive too early, take a picnic, get the kids to sleep and move into the corridor with a bottle and two glasses.

I suppose it depends what the boys like doing, but I wouldn't think of Marseille as a destination for them.

For the seaside: the French Riviera is heaving and expensive, though easy to reach by train.
The Languedoc coast is a bit difficult by rail, but Le Grau du Roi is on a branch line, Palavas is accessible from Montpellier by bus; Sete and Agde are on the main line but neither is really a seaside resort.
Roussillon, your best bet beach-wise is Argeles though Collioure and Banyuls are nicer places. There's also a big flat beach at Port-la-Nouvelle, and its good for train photos, but its a seaport town which may put you off.

 

[eastwestdivide]

I'd say don't try to over-fill your schedule with travel, and watch out for the boredom factor for two young kids during long stretches of train travel, as in "Oh, not another train, Dad".

If you're aiming for the Bernina Express route, check the schedules for the open observation cars (not on the Express itself), which could be a lot of fun for the young'uns:
https://www.rhb.ch/en/world-of-railway-experiences/railway-experiences/open-panoramic-cars

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Sounds like you will be aiming for somewhere like San Remo on the Ligurian coast of Italy (nice beaches, good train service).
The coast line from Marseille to Nice, Ventimiglia and Genoa is superb (after St Raphael anyway), often right next to the sea.
It has though trains to Milan, from where you will need Trenord to Tirano to pick up the RhB.
I wouldn't like to hazard the accommodation cost though, it rather depends when you will be going.
A triangular routing doesn't lend itself to cheap fares, so you'll have to look up the advance-booking sector prices on the various operator web sites.
I'd use the DP planner to map it all out, and then book direct with the TOCs.
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/q...3&ident=9v.026898193.1556367823&rt=1&OK#focus

 

[433N]

Some random thoughts:

For the seaside: the French Riviera is heaving and expensive, though easy to reach by train.
The Languedoc coast is a bit difficult by rail, but Le Grau du Roi is on a branch line, Palavas is accessible from Montpellier by bus; Sete and Agde are on the main line but neither is really a seaside resort.
Roussillon, your best bet beach-wise is Argeles though Collioure and Banyuls are nicer places. There's also a big flat beach at Port-la-Nouvelle, and its good for train photos, but its a seaport town which may put you off.

These are pretty much bang on my thoughts ... although I'm not a beachy person.

I stayed in Argeles and found the beach depressing. In school holidays, it's probably heaving with kids but out of season, it was full of oldies sizzling in the heat.

Collioure is nice with a sheltered harbour beach and a nice town with quite an 'arty' feel. My sister-in-law, who lives near Geneva, has been holidaying with her kids there for time immemorial and certainly when they were the age of your two.

I have no desire to set foot on the French Riviera east of Montpelier ... nor would the poshies let me.