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Your next trip abroad by train?

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YorkshireBear

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I want to do UK to Bødo by rail, but in and amongst want to start exploring more of Germany and Eastern Europe's rural railways. Bit tame compared to some trips here!

At the moment just want to maybe do a few Christmas markets in December and not make any firm interail plans until 2022.
 
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High Dyke

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Switzerland or Scandinavian countries are high on my list. Friends of ours are moving to Romania sometime this year. Further exploration of that country will also be a plan.
 

MarcVD

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I had plans to head to Split and back by train. One way via Munich, the other via Zurich

If you haven't done that yet, take one of the two legs via Vienna. The whole Vienna-Zidani Most section is absolutely wonderful...
 

jamesontheroad

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From our base in Umeå, in northern Sweden, I want to sample both the new Norrtåg passenger service between Boden and Haparanda (starting in April 2021) and the new Wasaline ferry which will start sailing between Vaasa and Umeå (starting in May 2021). So I'm sketching out a circular trip from Umeå to Haparanda by train, over to Kemi by bus and then up to Rovaniemi, down to Helsinki by night train and then a wandering route back to Vaasa to catch the ferry home.
 

gordonthemoron

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Hopefully will include:

Bangkok-Ventiane and return
Melbourne-Sydney
Rangoon-Mandalay-Bagan-Rangoon (coups permitting)
Japan Rail Pass
New York-San Diego
 

67thave

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Keeping my fingers crossed for a first time rail trip to explore the Netherlands in August !!
Amusingly, the Netherlands was my last trip abroad (January 2020) before everything went to hell. I decided to take a day off from sightseeing in Amsterdam to use the Holland Travel Ticket and hit up a large number of lines.
It's possible to cover a lot of the country in one day, as train frequencies are very high and the distances are small. In one day (admittedly, I started very early), I managed to travel Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Dordrecht-Breda-Tilburg-Eindhoven-Roermond-Heerlen-Den Bosch-Nijmegen-Arnhem-Apeldoorn-Amersfoort-Utrecht-Amsterdam (all but the Arnhem-Apeldoorn leg were by train, and I made many more stops than necessary - mostly to collect timetables). Still, this entire trip took me a total of 12 hours or so.
 

route101

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Amusingly, the Netherlands was my last trip abroad (January 2020) before everything went to hell. I decided to take a day off from sightseeing in Amsterdam to use the Holland Travel Ticket and hit up a large number of lines.
It's possible to cover a lot of the country in one day, as train frequencies are very high and the distances are small. In one day (admittedly, I started very early), I managed to travel Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Dordrecht-Breda-Tilburg-Eindhoven-Roermond-Heerlen-Den Bosch-Nijmegen-Arnhem-Apeldoorn-Amersfoort-Utrecht-Amsterdam (all but the Arnhem-Apeldoorn leg were by train, and I made many more stops than necessary - mostly to collect timetables). Still, this entire trip took me a total of 12 hours or so.

That's a long day. I've only done a few lines around Amsterdam, I did note how frequent the services were, easy to use and turn up and go.
 

D6130

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As mentioned in another thread, my wife and I are hoping that our first trip will be Hebden Bridge-Leeds-London-Paris-Torino-Florence-Arezzo-Stia in order to spend some time at our little place in Eastern Tuscany. We also quite fancy a trip to the Basque country, maybe in the Autumn, but we have to remember that, since Brexit, we can only visit EU/EEA/Schengen countries for a maximum of 90 days in any 180 day period.
 

slammerTel

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Amusingly, the Netherlands was my last trip abroad (January 2020) before everything went to hell. I decided to take a day off from sightseeing in Amsterdam to use the Holland Travel Ticket and hit up a large number of lines.
It's possible to cover a lot of the country in one day, as train frequencies are very high and the distances are small. In one day (admittedly, I started very early), I managed to travel Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Dordrecht-Breda-Tilburg-Eindhoven-Roermond-Heerlen-Den Bosch-Nijmegen-Arnhem-Apeldoorn-Amersfoort-Utrecht-Amsterdam (all but the Arnhem-Apeldoorn leg were by train, and I made many more stops than necessary - mostly to collect timetables). Still, this entire trip took me a total of 12 hours or so.
I'm fascinated by the odd looking koploper units so am planning to ride the units on the Groningen / Leeurwarden - Den Haag / Rotterdam routes along with Deventer - Enschede and Apeldoorn - Amsterdam Zuid. That should keep me busy for a couple of days I think :lol::lol::lol:
 

jamesontheroad

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From our base in Umeå, in northern Sweden, I want to sample both the new Norrtåg passenger service between Boden and Haparanda (starting in April 2021) and the new Wasaline ferry which will start sailing between Vaasa and Umeå (starting in May 2021). So I'm sketching out a circular trip from Umeå to Haparanda by train, over to Kemi by bus and then up to Rovaniemi, down to Helsinki by night train and then a wandering route back to Vaasa to catch the ferry home.

This thread has popped back up in the forum, just a day after I admitted to myself that this wasn't going to happen. Sweden's covid situation is only getting worse, especially in the north. Luckily paid a few € extra for VR's cancellation insurance (an interesting add-on instead of a completely separate / more expensive / refundable class of ticket) so our sleeper compartment from Rovaniemi - Helsinki is cancelled and will be refunded in a week or two.

The later I leave it, I have more chance of catching the new ferry, the Aurora Botnia, which launches between Umeå and Vasa this spring.
 

biko

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I have many destinations I would like to visit, which one comes first depends on the situations pans out, but I expect that it won't be a trip through multiple countries! But from a UK point of view, my next trip abroad will be next week or in two weeks for essential reasons, probably by Koploper :)
 

Techniquest

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My next international trip varies, as I have so many ideas. However, my most consistent one is a trip to the Mediterranean coast of France. Marseille, Nice and Monaco will all get a visit after seeing the photos from a trip made by a fellow travel enthusiast at work. I was also inspired by some cab ride videos on TGVs, it looks like a decent ride down the fast lines.

So my plan right now is to make my way to London and take a Eurostar to either Paris or Lille and change for a TGV to the coast. Easily a full day of travel in both directions, and a few days exploring the area looks like it would be really enjoyable.

That all being said, I really want to go back to Poland and do some trains over there, so that I can see more of the country rather than Kraków and the trip to/from the airport. I've watched lots of cab ride videos from the Netherlands too, and my other main choice would be:

Early morning IET to London
Eurostar to Rotterdam Centraal
NS Rotterdam Centraal to Maastricht

Been way too many years since my last ride on an ICMm or a VIRM! I think it's coming up to 8 years actually, so probably the same since my last Eurostar adventure!
 
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eastwestdivide

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I assume that your phone was trying to be helpful and changed Rotterdam to Rotherham...
Wasn't that a song by the Beautiful South?

I'm quite tempted by a journey from Rotherham to Rotterdam - only 2 changes if I time it right, and not so far from home if things suddenly get worse. To be honest, pretty much anywhere with interesting food and drink and somewhere to watch the trains go by would be luxury now.
 

Techniquest

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I assume that your phone was trying to be helpful and changed Rotterdam to Rotherham...

D'oh! I didn't see that AutoCorrect sneak in. I did spot it change Centraal but not Rotterdam. Thanks for pointing that out, and yes of course I meant Rotterdam.

eastwestdivide, I do believe it was. I've heard that a few times lately at work, and I've been meaning to search for it on YouTube so I can understand the lyrics :lol:
 

tony6499

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Not trying to raise hopes but if summer is out then I'll do an early winter tour of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland
 

MarcVD

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I would like to go around the black sea. Ukraine, and then Azerbaijan, and return via Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey. I need the new Baku-Tbilissi-Kars line to ge open for that, so may be this is still a few years away. In the mean time, the baltics and St Petersburg are also high on my list. In Western Europe, still a lot to see in Switzerland and Norway...
 

StephenHunter

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Wasn't that a song by the Beautiful South?

I'm quite tempted by a journey from Rotherham to Rotterdam - only 2 changes if I time it right, and not so far from home if things suddenly get worse. To be honest, pretty much anywhere with interesting food and drink and somewhere to watch the trains go by would be luxury now.
"Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)". The irony is that Rotterdam, due to the fact it's pretty much the only Dutch city with skyscrapers due to the destruction of the city centre by the Luftwaffe, can easily be told apart from Liverpool or Rome.
 

Matt_pool

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Fingers crossed I'm having a long weekend in Prague in November and I'm planning a couple of day trips by train to visit breweries in Beroun and Pardubice.

Then sometime early next year I plan on doing a longer trip by train: Brno-Bratislava-Budapest. I've already done Prague-Brno-Bratislava 3 times. (Ryanair fly from Stansted to Brno which is usefull.)

And next Summer I'd like to do Prague-Pilsen-Karlovo Vary-Bamberg-Frankfurt.
 

route101

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I fancy some of longer services with restaurant cars in central Europe.

Ukraine takes a fancy to.
 

52290

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Fingers crossed I'm having a long weekend in Prague in November and I'm planning a couple of day trips by train to visit breweries in Beroun and Pardubice.

Then sometime early next year I plan on doing a longer trip by train: Brno-Bratislava-Budapest. I've already done Prague-Brno-Bratislava 3 times. (Ryanair fly from Stansted to Brno which is usefull.)

And next Summer I'd like to do Prague-Pilsen-Karlovo Vary-Bamberg-Frankfurt.
There's plenty of breweries to do in Bamberg. Fässla, Mahrs and Keesman are the best IMO.
 

Birkonian

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Hopefuly, my first will be Eurostar to Brussels, onward to Brugge for beer. No further explanation required. After that, I'm planning a holiday at Lake Garda in September. Paris - Milan - Peschiera. Return Peschiera - Verona - Munich -Brussels - Eurostar. A lot more beer, food, wine, scenery and heat.
 

themiller

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The way things are going with vaccinations in Europe, Carlisle to Gretna may be the furthest we’ll be allowed to do especially if any more of these more virulent strains come along!
 

Richard Scott

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Took a Diesel loco hauled from Athens to Kalamata few years back.
Think that one still runs, on a Sunday, I think? Any info welcome as thinking of going back soon. Did have a 220 on the Thessaloniki to Bucharest once a week train!
 
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