European voyage (note: huge images)

[ForTheLoveOf]

This is the first day of a trip report series which should last for just over five weeks! I'm travelling all around Europe and will be doing a total of about 4700 rail miles, plus around 2000 flight miles.

I will be going to Budapest, Hamburg, Freiburg, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Maastricht, Cologne, Berlin, Prague, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Paris and Fort William.

If there's anything in particular you'd like to see, or not to see, please go ahead and comment and I'll say. I'll try to balance the amount of journey-related content and sightseeing-related content.

The first day's travel report will follow shortly.

------------------------------------------------

Continuously updated itinerary and index:

Day 1: Stafford to Budapest via London
Day 2: Budapest
Day 3: Budapest to Hamburg via Berlin
Day 4: Hamburg
Day 5: Hamburg to Freiburg
Day 6: Freiburg to Stuttgart via Mannheim
Day 7: Stuttgart to Amsterdam via Frankfurt
Day 8: Amsterdam to Maastricht via Antwerp and Liège
Day 9: Maastricht
Day 10: Maastricht to Köln via Roermond, Venlo and Mönchengladbach
Day 11: Köln
Day 12: Köln to Berlin
Day 13: Berlin
Day 14: Berlin
Day 15: Berlin to Prague
Day 16: Prague
Day 17: Prague to Vienna
Day 18: Vienna
Day 19: Vienna

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 1: Stafford to Budapest via London

A slightly earlier than usual wake-up for the 06:36 STA-EUS Pendolino. Quite quiet on the train, the train manager didn't seem in a hurry to check my ticket as he asked for 'tickets from Nuneaton' the first time he came through!

A fast run through to Nuneaton but then quite slowly down to Euston - a fair amount of slack in that 1'26" timetabling (when it can be done in about 1'12"). We pick up a few minutes' delay too and so arrive about 8L.

A quick trip on the amazingly frequent Victoria line later, I arrive at Kings Cross St Pancras. There's a long walk to St Pancras but eventually I arrive at the East Midlands Trains platforms. The doors to the Meridian are inexplicably only unlocked a minute after the booked departure time and so we're a few minutes late departing. We make up time though on our way to Luton Airport Parkway and so arrive more or less on time.

The £2.30 fare for the bus to the airport isn't included in my ticket (sadly I couldn't get a train ticket straight through to the airport, it's just not defined from Stafford).

Luton Airport is somewhat of a mess currently with lots of construction work ongoing. It's clear enough from the bus though and I make my way through security quite quickly. After a long traipse through the endless duty free, I find a nice spot to wait for boarding.

The plane is a pleasant enough four-year-old model and, despite the somewhat limited legroom, the flight passes by quite quickly until we finally land at Budapest around 10 minutes early.

Passport control is quick enough and soon I make my way to the 100E bus to the centre of town. Apparently this is run by Arriva and so general Budapest travelcards aren't valid on it. Unfortunately, the only seat left is at the back of the bus, next to the hot engine and broken AC. A hot and uncomfortable trip results on this rather warm day.

After dropping off my bags, I make my way along to the Castle District on the Buda (as opposed to Pest) side of the Danube. The view from the ramparts is amazing:

I also walk through a concert which seems to be organised by the Visegrade Group. This is the group of four eastern European countries - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. A bus down the mountain and it's time to go on the tram three-quarter ways around the town centre. I meet up with some friends in a restaurant and a good time is had by all.

Let me know what you do/don't want to hear for tomorrow!

 

[Iskra]

A nice introduction, thanks for sharing. Buda (or is it Pest?) looks interesting, somewhere I've never been. I'm looking forward to reading more of your travels.

You are taking in a lot of places, how long is this trip lasting?

 

[Mag_seven]

how long is this trip lasting?

See the first sentence of the opening post.

 

[baz962]

ForTheLoveOf , do you work for a toc

 

[Iskra]

See the first sentence of the opening post.

Thanks, I only read the 2nd post!

I'll be travelling the Rome-Paris section myself towards the end of June, hence why I asked.

 

[Mag_seven]

Let me know what you do/don't want to hear for tomorrow!

So far so good I'd say - as a seasoned traveller in Europe I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

ForTheLoveOf , do you work for a toc

Nope. No free/discounted travel for me!

 

[baz962]

Nope. No free/discounted travel for me!

Priv also gets unlimited on Luton airport shuttle bus

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 2: Budapest

A late start today. I take the underground replacement bus M3 to the Jewish quarter and have breakfast in a lovely café overlooking the enormous Synagogue.

The public transport here in Budapest is generally quite efficient, being based on a mix of buses, trams and cut-and-cover underground lines. I got myself a 72-hour city-wide Travelcard for 4150 HUF, that's about £11-£12. The underground in particular is rather quaint, having very short platforms and trains (3 or 4 short cars at most), with a roughly 2-3 minute frequency. Station dwell times are very short indeed - typically no more than 10 seconds, and as low as 3 or 4 seconds if no-one gets on or off. The door closing buzzer definitely sounds as if it's still from the Cold War era (and it probably is!).

RPIs are the only form of revenue protection used here, as there are no ticket gates anywhere. They are always plainclothes, and can be identified by the distinctive arm sash which they wear alongside their ID badge their official identification. They have a similar Penalty Fares system to the Great Britain, with a 16000 HUF (£45) PF if you breach any of the conditions of travel - including not composting tickets before/at boarding, eating or drinking on board etc. - discounted to 8000 HUF (£23) if paid on the spot or within 5 days at an office, increasing to 32500 HUF (£91) if not paid within 30 days. The sharp approach to revenue protection is somewhat a relic of the system's Iron Curtain era past.

I make my way along to the Heroes' Square on metro line M2 (not bustituted!). This has monuments of all of the kings which Hungary has had over its long history. Being a rather small and geographically unprotected country, Hungary has been in foreign control for much of its history, so there is a sense of pride at those national kings which did rule.

At the end of the square, in the direction of the above photo, there is a rather large lake and a park. In summer, you can rent boats and go across the water. In winter, it freezes over and you can go ice-skating. In the park there was a wine festival going on, with folk music and dancing.

After this and a quick bite to eat, it was time to climb the Citadella. This is built on the top of the rather large wooded hill overlooking the city shown here:

It was a hot day and there wasn't much shade whilst climbing the many steps, but the view was worth the effort.

After this, it was time to go to the Margaret Isle. However, this involves going over the white suspension bridge shown in the above picture. By the time I had climbed down the hill, the road had been closed to traffic as a demonstration had started. I'm not sure entirely what it was for, but I think it with something to do with anti-rascism and anti-anti-Semitism.

After this I took the tram to the bridge which leads to the Margaret Isle. It's a very relaxing place, made up almost entirely of a public park with various fountains, riverbanks and restaurants.

Back in the town centre, after a tasty and cheap dinner at the Wokbar restaurant it was time to head home for the night in order to wake up for tomorrow's early flight.

---------------------------------

This was a bit more detailed on the photos and description than day 1 - let me know if this is good.

 

[Mag_seven]

This was a bit more detailed on the photos and description than day 1 - let me know if this is good.

Yes that's great!

Any photos of the trams, underground etc?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Yes that's great!

Any photos of the trams, underground etc?

Sadly not, I didn't think to take any. However, I'm sure there are some on the internet. The power for the underground seems to (at least on some lines) come from an overhead copper rod that's attached to the tunnel roof. An interesting version of 'third rail' (as I'm sure it's low voltage DC). Here's a picture of the stairs down to one of the stations:

Just on a bus to the airport.... it's an unbelievably bumpy ride! It makes those MIRA test roads seem smooth.

 

[Kite159]

Sounds like a good holiday so far

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 3: Budapest to Hamburg via Berlin

I had booked myself to fly to Berlin and then to take the train to Hamburg - since the flights direct to Hamburg were significantly more expensive than the combination of the two.

After a rather bumpy ride to the airport and a fairly rapid run through security (it seemed less efficient at first glance than it turned out), I made it to the gate but not in sufficient time to get some lunch to eat before the flight - so I had to pay the rip-off on-plane prices . Budapest Terminal 2 is a large and airy structure which reminds me of Birmingham New Street a little.

Instead of having a normal gate from which you get taken to walk to the aircraft or to board a bus, there is one large gate for all the low-cost carriers. This then goes to a large permanent tent-like structure on the apron.

The plane was less than a year old and fully booked again.

There was a little light turbulence but other than that it was an uneventful flight, and we landed on time (only to be delayed by the slow ground handlers!). No passport check required today (as it's an intra-Schengen flight). It was then time to take the S9 from Berlin Schönefeld to Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Hbf, 'main station'), stopping off at about 5 other stations that, from their grandeur, could have passed as the Hbf itself!

I noticed that the third rail system is significantly safer - they use a cover which protects the third rail and so current can only be drawn by connecting a shoe from underneath.

It was only after getting off at Hbf that the size of the station became evident. It's not so much the number of platforms - only about 16, which is on the low side for a European capital terminal - it's the fact that it has about 5 stories, each a good 5m high, with the high level platforms being about 25m above the low level platforms. The view accrue the HL and LL platforms is quite amazing!

I had a question about my ticket (a Sparpreis, the Deutsche Bahn (DB) equivalent of an Advance) and, in typical organised German style, the queue for the ticket office was well-organised, using a pull-a-ticket system. I wanted to ask whether I could take a train one hour earlier than I'd booked as I was earlier than expected. I was told to seek out the conductor onboard the train, though the worst thing possible would have been a ~£60 new fare at the ticket office or ~£70 fare onboard the train. Not unreasonable for a walk-up 1.5 hour high-speed journey.

Sadly the rather friendly conductor explained that he felt he had to apply the rules equally for all and so he couldn't let me take the train an hour earlier. You never know if you don't ask! Here's a picture of the train I couldn't take (an older ICE 1, as opposed to the ICE 3 I ended up taking).

The same additional safety features as on the third rail were present on the OLE in the station - there was a ceramic (I think) insulator on top of the running wire.

My seat reservation was, unfortunately, useless as the coach numbering had changed. The part of the coach I thought I might have been supposed to sit was unbelievably warm too, with the HVAC system blasting out hot air for some reason. I moved further back and managed to get a compartment of 4 for myself (first was cheaper than standard when I booked, so got a steal of a Sparpreis in DB terms - just €39.90 ≈ £35 for the 284km/176mi journey).

The journey whizzed by, travelling at (I think) 140mph almost throughout - though I can't be sure as there was virtually no reception for my GPS speed-reading app. This, as well as the (very quiet) noises at high speed, were both remarkably similar to those on a Virgin Pendolino. The landscape is very flat and we went past many 'flocks' of wind turbines and fields full of solar panels - both of which generate the lion's share of Germany's green power, and over half of its total power, nowadays. Electric train traction in Germany is accounted for by 100% renewable production. It all reminded me of HS1 in a way, just a lot longer!

The free on-train WiFi was reasonably reliable (I managed used it to edit this trip report and watch some YouTube with a lot of buffering) - if a little slower than fixed-location WiFi! It's Icomera based, the same as most UK solutions. Soon after departing Berlin Spandau both the conductor and the first class restaurant host came through, asking for tickets and food orders respectively. A bit of apple cake whilst flying past stations and villages? I think so!

But all too soon it came to an end and it was time to explore Hamburg and have an enjoyable night in with some friends.

 

[Mag_seven]

It was only after getting off at Hbf that the size of the station became evident. It's not so much the number of platforms - only about 16, which is on the low side for a European capital terminal - it's the fact that it has about 5 stories, each a good 5m high, with the high level platforms being about 25m above the low level platforms. The view accrue the HL and LL platforms is quite amazing!

It's a fantastic station - makes London Bridge look like Barrow-In Furness.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Sorry about the lack of updates re: yesterday. I'll get the trip report posted later today!

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 4: Hamburg (better late than never!)

A somewhat later start today as it was a bit late yesterday. I was staying right next to the U-Bahn (Underground) station. Most of the Underground lines in Hamburg seem to be subsurface, below large roads - not dissimilar to the Metropolitan line etc. - or actually above ground. The S-Bahn (above-surface equivalent of the U-Bahn) is actually underground for a significant portion of the network:

It seems Hamburg has a similar Penalty Fare system to the London Underground, with areas similar to the Compulsory Ticket Areas, marked by signs above head and marking on the floor like this:

With the really quite reasonable fares - just €6.40 (~£5.30) for an after-9am all-zone day ticket on a network near in size to London's - it's not worth trying to go fare dodging, however!

Hamburg city centre is similar to Amsterdam or Venice in having many canals, although the streets are considerably more elevated above them and so it's not common for people to take a boat taxi or similar (especially considering the quality public transport and plentiful bridges etc.)

I first saw the Rathaus (town hall):

After this it was time to take the elevated U-Bahn to the harbour area. They seem to use radio-transmitted CCTV for their DOO. The screens on the driver's left become active when entering the platform.

There is a new Elbephilharmonie concert hall building on the banks of the Elbe river. This took €6bn and several years of blunders to build, but I definitely think it looks the part.

The view from the (free) viewing platform half way up (where the bricks end) is quite spectacular:

Next it was time for some excellent pizza in the Portuguese/Italian quarter. After this, I went to see the Reeperbahn - the bar and red-light district. I didn't go into any of them and I don't have any pictures to share but it's interesting how prostitution, drugs etc. are largely regulated and allowed 'in plain sight'. There's even a police station (apparently famous in German crime TV series) literally around the corner, I guess in case there's any trouble with unruly patrons

By now it was fairly late in the day but there was still time to go on a boat tour of Hamburg on the metro-style ferry - still included in my day ticket! The dry-docks, container terminals etc. are all on the south side of the river, and we passed by some large container ships and a beach on the journey - though I am assured that the container ship I saw was a fraction of the size of the largest ones they get!

After this I was already thinking of dinner so it was time to have a grill. Sadly no pictures. Day 5 coming very soon!

 

[Kite159]

Sounded like a good day in Hamburg

 

[Mag_seven]

Great stuff there - keep the reports coming.

I was in Hamburg last October (had passed through it a few times in the past but this was the first time I had actuality stayed there for a few days) and enjoyed every minute of it. I thought the S-Bahn was very similar to the Berlin version.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 5: Hamburg to Freiburg

This was the day with the second-longest rail journey of my entire trip (beaten only by the Fort William sleeper...). Despite the distance - 484.7 miles to be precise - the journey was an epitome of the German railways' speed and style, taking just 5'45" (including some lengthy dwell times), and consistenly travelling the maximum speed of at least 250kph (it may have been more but I couldn't get my GPS speed-reading app to receive a signal inside the Faraday-cage carriages!).

It was also a bargain, at just €37.40 (~£33) for a Bahncard (Railcard) discounted Sparpreis (Advance) in first class, booked around a month and a half in advance. Sadly, food and drink isn't complimentary but there is a dedicated restaurant car and waiters come to take orders in the other cars too. There are also free Gummi Bears and newspapers after every crew change

The journey was very comfortable overall and I arrived feeling entirely rested. I would definitely take this over a Mitfahrgelengheit (car-sharing ride) or the Flixbus (Megabus/NatExp equivalent), even though these are no doubt cheaper. It's simply a lot more comfortable and the quickest option. Flying isn't really a viable option as Freiburg doesn't have any airports particularly nearby (it's either Stuttgart, Memmingen, Basel, etc. - all at least an hour or more away), not to mention the queues.

The German train network is simply very well thought out from a passenger's perspective. Right from the start - with platform numbers shown in the app/website straight after booking (weeks before the train departs), and then platform position indicators in the app:

Another passenger-friendly thing is the fact that all Railcard-discounted tickets for distances longer than 100km include the equivalent of a London Zones 1-6 single in the local transport at either end. This means you don't have to specify your exact starting or finishing station and have a lot more flexibility than you do with Advance tickets (or even walk-up tickets) here. No need to try and get unicorn zero-fare overdistance excesses at the risk being prosecuted (cf. ATW's recent prosecution because a passenger failed to get one!).

I didn't do very much more on this day other than visiting some friends but I certainly enjoyed the variety of scenery and weather!

Days 6 and 7 coming soon. Sorry for the delays - I've had limited reliable internet access.

 

[Mag_seven]

Despite the distance - 484.7 miles to be precise - the journey was an epitome of the German railways' speed and style, taking just 5'45" (including some lengthy dwell times), and consistenly travelling the maximum speed of at least 250kph (it may have been more but I couldn't get my GPS speed-reading app to receive a signal inside the Faraday-cage carriages!).

That's the beauty of travelling long distance "cross country" in Germany - its generally all done in the same type of high quality rolling stock because there is no one city where everything is "centred" on (e.g. London in the UK and Paris in France). I suppose the only quality stock we have for long "cross country" journeys in this country is the small fleet of HST's that XC have.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

That's the beauty of travelling long distance "cross country" in Germany - its generally all done in the same type of high quality rolling stock because there is no one city where everything is "centred" on (e.g. London in the UK and Paris in France). I suppose the only quality stock we have for long "cross country" journeys in this country is the small fleet of HST's that XC have.

For all the benefits privatisation has brought to the UK rail network, it has definitely caused problems with integration (though of course a TfL-style concession operation would help with that) and blame-passing. These are things which the German network simply does not see.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 6: Freiburg to Stuttgart via Mannheim

I stayed in a smaller village between Freiburg and Stuttgart. This is all in mountainous country but it's treated as the Stuttgart area for the purpose of the subsidised train service.

Lots of DB double-decker Regio trains around here. I really don't understand why we don't have these in the UK - is it a loading gauge or track loading issue? Anyway, the first train was rather uncomfortable since there was an overly talkative and rather racist gentleman sitting opposite me. I tried to ignore him as much as possible. Then it was time to take the InterCity LHCS train. These are remarkably similar to HSTs in many ways.

But it was only a very short trip and soon I had arrive at my destination: the Porsche museum, an absolutely massive building.

This has well over 600 historic cars, with all except two being in driveable condition. I think there's more car-based capital in there than some poor countries' annual GDP...

I went to see some more friends that evening, before the start of the larger trip...

 

[Mag_seven]

I really don't understand why we don't have these in the UK - is it a loading gauge or track loading issue?

UK loading gauge - just think how much better our rail network could be if we had the continental loading gauge.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Day 7: Stuttgart to Amsterdam via Frankfurt

Another day with a long journey. The ICE from my starting station (near Stuttgart) to Frankfurt was fast as usual, and relatively empty.

It seems that DB still operate (or lend their name to) InterCity Hotels:

Frankfurt, my interchange station, is another one of those gargantuan classic terminus stations.

I spotted an ICE which I couldn't identify as belonging to any of the generations... Any ideas?

However, my ride to Amsterdam was unquestionably a (very modern and considerably cleaner) ICE 3.

Shortly after leaving Frankfurt Airport (and quite some acceleration there was!) I caught this shot:

My train was designated as an ICE Sprinter from Frankfurt to Köln (Cologne). This means that it goes non-stop rather than stopping at all the insignificant stations mandated at the construction of the line by NIMBYs. The timetabled average speed on the Frankfurt Airport to Köln stretch is an impressive 126mph... The train lived well up to this, leaving a few minutes late out of the Airport and arriving right time. Speeds of near 300kph (186mph) were achieved virtually throughout:

What I find most incredible about travelling at this speed is two-fold - firstly, how quickly you can go from deep underneath a hill in a tunnel to 50 or 100m above the bottom of a valley whilst on a viaduct, and secondly, just how quiet and refined the experience is on the ICE. It's unbelievably quieter and smoother than for example a Pendolino rattling along at just 125mph. Britain has a ways to go in that department (and you could certainly go worse than an ICE!).

After Cologne the ride was unbelievably slow and packed unfortunately. Engineering work had closed various lines and so we had to creep through small stations and avoiding lines. There were also many young rowdy/tipsy Germans who got on.

Anyway, after finally arriving at Amsterdam I had a slight problem. I couldn't find anyone at any of the ticket barriers and I only had a paper InterRail pass (i.e. not like the smartcards that everyone was using). I finally found out that there's a barcode/QR code on the back of the pass which you're supposed to use in the Netherlands, since none of the ticket barriers accept anything paper-based, only the smartcard system or codes to scan. They're all also generally unmanned, even at the biggest stations. This is definitely something important that Interrail could (should) have pointed out clearly in the pass guide, rather than hiding it on the back, where you wouldn't think to look!

Amsterdam Centraal is similar to St Pancras and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main Station) in many ways, with a massive 19th-Century arch roof. The view from outside (it's surrounded by canals on all sides) is great at day:

But by night, the view from the opposite side is amazing - both because of the lights but also because of the sheer number of bikes (all along the railings of the passageway)!

I stayed just outside Amsterdam, near the airport. The trains to their are frequent (half-hourly direct plus half-hourly 1-change options) and stop late, even on the weekend and on bank holidays (last train about 23:45). Some of the station names are pronounced in an unbelievably amusing way for some reason (e.g. Amsterdam Lelylaan). The trains are modern, if a little uncomfortable with the ironing board seats (taken earlier in the day):

The amount of cycle paths even outside central Amsterdam is also highly surprising for a foreigner, though it's probably as obvious as having pelican crossings back in the UK.

Anyway, hope that's interesting!

PS: is anyone having trouble seeing any of the images? Some are coming up just with the crossed-out image icon for me. But in the editor they're all appearing just fine. Any tips?

 

[MisterT]

As far as I know, the use of the bar code on the interrail ticket is explained quite thoroughly on the added leaflet and on the back of the pass itself, or that was the case last time I saw it.
About there being nobody at the ticket barriers: at the largest stations, there is usually someone at the barriers, but in case that there is no one, there are 'service posts' available at every line of barriers. Push the blue button to make contact with a member of staff and they can open the gates for you remotely.
Those service and alarm posts are placed at every station, so even in case that you are stranded at a station without a mobile phone, you still can reach the NS customer service 24/7.

Oh, and the first few pictures are not shown here too.

 

[Mag_seven]

the timetabled average speed on the Frankfurt Airport to Köln stretch is an impressive 126mph... The train lived well up to this, leaving a few minutes late out of the Airport and arriving right time. Speeds of near 300kph (186mph) were achieved virtually throughout:

What I found a bit disconcerting whilst travelling over that line at speed was the lack of line side fencing!

PS: is anyone having trouble seeing any of the images?

yes -the first three images on your post are not displaying for me (I get the crossed-out image icon as well for those first three)

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

As far as I know, the use of the bar code on the interrail ticket is explained quite thoroughly on the added leaflet and on the back of the pass itself, or that was the case last time I saw it.
About there being nobody at the ticket barriers: at the largest stations, there is usually someone at the barriers, but in case that there is no one, there are 'service posts' available at every line of barriers. Push the blue button to make contact with a member of staff and they can open the gates for you remotely.
Those service and alarm posts are placed at every station, so even in case that you are stranded at a station without a mobile phone, you still can reach the NS customer service 24/7.

Oh, and the first few pictures are not shown here too.

If it was explained to me in the booklet then clearly I had forgotten it! Anyway, I appreciate that there are alternatives but it wasn't particularly clear to me at first glance and so it could be better designed.

the first three images on your post are not displaying for me (I get the crossed-out image icon as well for those first three)

I have tried to fix it but it seems some images simply won't work. I'lI try to ask the moderators if they can see any obvious fix.

 

[ainsworth74]

I spotted an ICE which I couldn't identify as belonging to any of the generations... Any ideas?

It's an ICE3 but it's the Velaro D variant (Class 407 in DB parlance). Designed specifically for international services but more importantly for use in the Channel Tunnel. In theory one day you may see one in St Pancras!

As for the images I'm unable to advise but someone from our Tech team maybe able to help.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I've not been able to fix the image issues yet, though I do know a way of fixing them (resizing and manually reuploading). I will do this when I have access to a computer again (this has all been posted from mobile so far). Anyway...

Day 8: Amsterdam to Maastricht via Antwerp and Liège

I didn't have any fixed plans for the day, other than going to the hotel in Maastricht, as planned, in the evening. It was a pleasant and rather warm day.

After a walk around Amsterdam and seeing a few museums (I had joined a few friends in Amsterdam already), we decided to leave Amsterdam and to head to Antwerp, just because we wanted to make the most of our InterRail passes.

The Dutch railway system is quite customer friendly and we had no trouble getting to Antwerp on a comfortable 'Intercity Direct' LHCS.

Antwerp (Antwerpen/Anvers? Much confusion about what to write in the InterRail pass!) Central is another gargantuan station, this time having not just two track levels but three, on a five-storey building. Makes Berlin Hbf look like a playground

From the outside it's equally impressive:

The back streets of Antwerp had a unique kind of charm which I didn't really get with Amsterdam. I'm not sure why, the canals and all were nice, but I preferred Antwerp in many ways.

In the evening it was then time to go to Maastricht via Liège. The signage and platform indicators at Antwerp were in definite need of greater clarity, only giving the destination of 'Luik' rather than 'Liège'. Even the station attendants weren't quite sure which level and which platform the train was to depart from.

However, although it wasn't a particularly quick journey considering the distance, it was plenty comfortable in old-style LHCS with cool air being pumped out in the middle of each table seating group, and openable windows. Good for a hot day

It was a dramatic journey, with the weather not quite being sure what it wanted to do.

Liège station rather reminded me of Reading, albeit with a significantly larger white/airy roof.

It contrasted rather starkly with the old, vandalised and delapidated SNCB train that took us to Maastricht. Nevertheless, the view from Maastricht's newer bridge gave an amazing sunset view.