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I’m going on the train

Nero

Nero

Re: Tired
We’re off to Amsterdam for a couple of days to see the Vermeers at the Rijksmuseum. We could of course grab a cheap flight from Gatwick, but then I started to recall the hassle. Drive up there, park the car, face the airport experience, eat crap food, queue, and then queue some more. Flying has become such a sh1t experience, so this time we are taking the Eurostar. Not cheap, but even if I threw money at an airline, flying would still be sh1t.
Of course, this does mean relying on Southern to provide a reliable feeder journey to London, so it might yet all fall apart, but am I expecting a good experience? Last time I used the Eurostar was going to Brussels to pick up a new car, and I remember it being quite nice and restful and a very ‘European’ feeling.
Anyone else trying to ditch the short flights?
 
I’ve never been on Eurostar, but I remember Amsterdam’s public transport being very good; clean, on-time, and not packed. Very different to London! Double-deck trains!
 
The first time I walked out of Amsterdam station, I remember the shock of seeing all those racks of parked bicycles. Different mentality (and flat country)
 
I'd much prefer the Eurostar, used it a few times to Brussels and I like it a lot. There's also a sense of 'travel' that you don't get with a flight, IME, though I do still enjoy the actual flight experience, just not all the crap at either end of it. Unfortunately living in Manchester, the Avanti West Coast service more than offsets the pleasure of the Eurostar experience. That plus the likelihood we'd need an overnight in London to catch an early one, makes it not really viable unfortunately.
 
Nero said:
The first time I walked out of Amsterdam station, I remember the shock of seeing all those racks of parked bicycles. Different mentality (and flat country)
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The last time I was in Amsterdam station (2003) I was amazed at where you could go from there, think the Barcelona to Madrid line had just been finished around that time so you could get a train from basically anywhere in the UK right down to Madrid and beyond.

There’s a great website for train travel ‘the man in seat 61’ I think it’s called.

https://www.seat61.com/
 
Often use Eurostar but not that route. Lovely destination however. I do admire Vermeer. While you're there, have a quick look at Breitner and De Hooch...similar genre but each with a slightly different view or life. Hope you enjoy it.
 
twotone said:
The last time I was in Amsterdam station (2003) I was amazed at where you could go from there, think the Barcelona to Madrid line had just been finished around that time so you could get a train from basically anywhere in the UK right down to Madrid and beyond.

There’s a great website for train travel ‘the man in seat 61’ I think it’s called.

https://www.seat61.com/
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We are thinking of a trip sometime this year on Eurostar to Amsterdam then overnight train to Vienna..... package deals with decent hotels available. However if I'm going to train it through the entire length of Germany then I want to be awake to see it!
 
For those of us living in the north Eurostar is a poor option. I've used it a few times, with reluctance. It's more time consuming and more expensive than flying to Paris or Amsterdam from Leeds/Bradford.
Also, if my train leaves before the early afternoon I need to stay in London the previous night to be sure of catching it, so that puts it on a par with leaving from Gatwick or Heathrow, and way less convenient than Manchester.
Add to that, at both ends the waiting area is more crowded and uncomfortable than at any airport I've flown from with the possible exception of Stansted.
On the plus side the seats are comfortable and the food on the train isn't bad.and as someone will be sure to mention if I don't, it's less polluting than flying.
When the idea Eurostar was floated we were told that the line would extend to Doncaster so that the whole of England could use it conveniently. That suggestion was dropped quickly and quietly.
 
Eurostar was given the franchise for the service on the promise of sleeper trains from Newcastle.
The servicing sheds were built in Longsight, Manchester. I worked in a school next door and we worked with the kids planting up the street side of them.
As soon as they got the franchise the sleeper cars were cancelled as was travel from anywhere but London.
 
We ditched European flights about a decade ago as we didn't feel comfortable with the environmental impact - Guardian-reading, tree-huggers that we are : )

Takes longer and can be more expensive but I really like travelling by train in Europe. As long as you don't have a stag party in your carriage(!) it's generally pretty relaxed and it's nice to arrive in the centre of town. When we lived in Camden we could walk to the Eurostar terminal in Kings Cross. Very convenient!

The overnight Rail & Sail is fun too - evening train from Liverpool St, ferry over to Netherlands, arrive in Amsterdam 10:30am.

I have a few days booked in Amsterdam in June as a birthday treat. Looking forward to lots of records shops, museums and nice Belgian beer!
 
Nero said:
Flying has become such a sh1t experience
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After 47yrs I'd say it always was s**t and has only become more s**t with the passage of time, as I've said before, too may 'non-essential' flyers.
I prefer trains in other countries such as Holland/ France and Norway of which I've had recent experiences.

Contrast that with the trip up from Dundee to Aberdeen last year............

Regards

Richard
 
twotone said:
The last time I was in Amsterdam station (2003) I was amazed at where you could go from there, think the Barcelona to Madrid line had just been finished around that time so you could get a train from basically anywhere in the UK right down to Madrid and beyond.

There’s a great website for train travel ‘the man in seat 61’ I think it’s called.

https://www.seat61.com/
Click to expand...

We lived in Milan for a bit and I always found it really exciting being in Milano Centrale station, looking at the destination boards and seeing all the countries trains were running to.

I've spent quite a few hours on Seat61 planning fantasy train journeys : )
 
I concur. When I lived in Copenhagen, I used to go down to their lovely wooden station and gaze at the departure boards. Paris, Amsterdam, Aachen, etc always seemed more romantic than East Croydon and Tottenham Hale.
I once took a train down to Paris, just for fun. It stopped in a siding in Aachen overnight for shuteye, and the breakfast was amazing.
Yes, I’d forgotten about Seat61. I may be some time.
 
paulfromcamden said:
We ditched European flights about a decade ago as we didn't feel comfortable with the environmental impact - Guardian-reading, tree-huggers that we are : )

Takes longer and can be more expensive but I really like travelling by train in Europe. As long as you don't have a stag party in your carriage(!) it's generally pretty relaxed and it's nice to arrive in the centre of town. When we lived in Camden we could walk to the Eurostar terminal in Kings Cross. Very convenient!

The overnight Rail & Sail is fun too - evening train from Liverpool St, ferry over to Netherlands, arrive in Amsterdam 10:30am.

I have a few days booked in Amsterdam in June as a birthday treat. Looking forward to lots of records shops, museums and nice Belgian beer!
Click to expand...

My daughter and her husband honeymooned in Sicily last August/September, they got the train from Glasgow to London then flew from London to Florence >train to Rome>train and boat train to Sicily and then flew to Edinburgh back via boat to Naples.

They were meant to fly back from Sicily to London but easy jet cancelled their flight at the very last minute so they had to reorganise the return journey which involved a nine hour boat journey from Sicily to Naples then over night in Naples and home the following day.
 
About 10 years ago a mate and I were inspired to go planet friendly and get trains from our respective homes in the N of England to Grenoble for a cycling trip. We were persuaded that it would be easier than wrestling the bikes on and off planes, to boot. It wasn't. It was bloody hard work, and I won't do it again. We spent all day getting to London, getting the Metro in Paris, delayed trains, and we staggered into Grenoble about 10pm. I think the Eurostar works very well if you want to go between London and Paris, after that I'll not bother.
 
Used Eurostar a lot between London and Paris for work. It's ok: the seats are fairly uncomfortable, the food is average - and no sightings of Tom Cruise. Better than BA from Heathrow to CDG though.
 
My wife and I had to take a train home from Gatwick via King's Cross back in December 2019 after missing the return BA flight back to Glasgow because of the then French air traffic control strike and what a shit experience the train was, cost us £340 odd and was absolutely terrible, people sitting with their feet up on empty seats, toilets filthy, train as slow as a week in the jail, never again.
 
Thorn said:
When the idea Eurostar was floated we were told that the line would extend to Doncaster so that the whole of England could use it conveniently.
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Try telling that to my friends in Northumberland, ya bloody southerner!
 
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