An excursion from the convict colony

[railfan99]

After a pleasant night in a good value hotel - no room or street noise, despite my window facing onto the latter - I prepared luggage as one must.

Walking the short distance to Milano Centrale offered the chance to again admire 1920s trams trundling along.

The Malpensa Airport trains depart from low numbered platforms that are quite a walk - perhaps 250 to 300 metres - from the ticket barriers. The first ticket machine proved troublesome, although it may have been 'operator - my - stupidity'.

The second one was better, but I had about one minute to rush along the aisle for the 1125 hours train. (The frequency is half hourly).

I was in luck: the train departed three minutes late. It was very well patronised, but I found a seat.

As I have found on previous occasions using this Trenord service, it's quite slow until the middle of what was a 59 minute trip. There were seven intermediate stops. The train ended up having standees.

Upon arrival at Milan Malpensa Terminal 1, the up and down travelators were inoperable. I had to wait a few minutes for one of two large capacity lifts.

After a troublesome check in where the staff member insisted I show her the QR code for an entry authority when I only could initially find the supporting email, that problem was solved and I joined an Air France Airbus A319 that although only about 12 years old looked extremely dated internally. I was in so-called 'Euro Business' that as many here would know just guarantees you a spare seat (when it's 3-3 seating) next to you, and a (at least on Air France) cold meal with a drink.

Upon arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle I had several hours to wait. My business class ticket did not include lounge access: I declined to pay an exorbitant 90 Euros and instead just snacked on items I'd brought from the supermarket at Milano Centrale. The flight to Manila was fine: five hours' sleep plus reasonable food, though not nearly as good as I'd had using Oman Air from Manila to London and back from Europe in 2022 and 2023.

After meeting my wife in Manila, we had quite a few days in Philippines before I flew to Melbourne via Singapore on Singapore Airlines. The redeye flight from Singapore to Melbourne was too short to properly sleep, not helped by the cabin crew's obsession with keeping the lights on for as long as possible. Melbourne greeted me with constant rain in November as I made my way home by route bus, suburban train and finally a tram.

 

[D6130]

Great to read your detailed annual European travelogue. Many thanks for taking the time and effort to write it up and post it on here!

 

[railfan99]

Overall, the trip was a great success. It was my fourth consecutive Eurailpass, with a previous four visits all separated by a few years.

Learnings included that mainline UK heritage train tours may be suffering a drop in patronage due to the claimed economic situation. (As a visitor, one doesn't receive a sufficient number of responses to properly assess how locals' finances are travelling).

Once again, patronage on UK and European trains was mostly excellent With the exception of Warrington Central to Sheffield (first train on a Sunday morning), I always found a seat even in nations (England, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria) that are 'pass friendly' and typically don't require reservations for Eurailpass or Interail holders. Bear in mind that with a trip from late September to the end of October, it wasn't peak travel time. My experience would be unlikely to be the same over the UK/European summer (if the UK actually has a summer!)

Train staff were mostly friendly: no unwarranted passive aggressiveness. It is always helpful to have one's passport as well as pass within easy reach, although I was only once asked for my passport IIRC.

It hardly needs stating, but the scenery in Europe is often magnificent, the cities' (some with recreated) Old Towns great (especially if you visit second tier cities such as Kosice, Slovakia (2025 for me) or Siena, Italy (2022) with fewer tourists), the railway workings impressive and the larger stations masterpieces of design.

The paper Eurailpass proved easy to travel with, although in backblocks such as on a branch line in Slovenia, it became apparent most conductors may not have ever seen one, or if they had, not for a while.

Accommodation near stations was often cheaper in Europe than UK. But on this trip, I wasn't travelling in super expensive Switzerland. I always book accommodation three months ahead. To save money, I often book hotels that one cannot cancel. The Man in Seat 61 says he always travels with refundable accommodation booked, so my strategy is risky, but so far, so good.

I mostly avoided hotel breakfasts, though confess to enjoying the small number I had. Generally my routine was to purchase breakfast items such as much loved fruit yoghurt and a milk drink the night before at a supermarket, and then perhaps a pastry at the station (again, mostly from supermarkets) the next morning if not sated. Britons may not like dairy products as much as many Australians, but the principle holds true for most food types: supermarkets at European major stations are a great way to lower one's daily expenses.

I can't recommend tram travel in Europe highly enough. It's way better than those 'hop on, hop off' buses as a way to see a city, and it gives a window into ordinary citizens' lives. Coming from Melbourne (now the largest tram network in kilometres worldwide), it's always instructive to see in cities like Prague how fast trams are driven, even in quite narrow streets. Greater distances between stops assists. Daily tram/bus/metro combined tickets are a bargain compared with the cost of using an Uber or heaven forbid, a taxi.

Interails/Eurailpasses are much better value in first than second class: first on many trains is classy. Travelling first enhances the holiday, with being served 'free' food and beverages on UK trains one of the highlights. (Thank you, British taxpayers).

Some European trains still have proper dining cars. One Czech train that had a cut down version (more like a buffet car) even had a beer on tap: I enjoyed consuming a glass of the amber liquid.

If you can, don't just stick to the state-owned rail operators: Prague to Kosice on RegioJet was a wonderfully scenic journey, enhanced by inexpensive but good quality food and drink brought by staff to one's seat (payment required).

If you can afford, try to include at least one overnight sleeping car trip, whether on OBB NightJet (expensive), European Sleeper (not cheap, but IIRC 50 per cent discount with a pass) or a EuroNight ('EN') train. It's delightful to have sole occupancy of a compartment and sleep on a comfortable mattress while you're travelling at say 120 kilometres an hour.

If you have the time and funds, don't procrastinate. Experiences such as the Polish steam train in regular service that I covered in 2024 won't last forever, and neither will loco hauled trains as railcars continue (sadly, in my view) to take over. As another forum thread opinions, catch them while you can.

A huge 'thank you' to many who've helped me, sometimes without acknowledgement as I spy a tip in the 'International Transport' subsection of RailUK Forums. Your input is much appreciated.

 

[fandroid]

Great account. You obviously have far more stamina than most of us. We've only been doing the Interrail thing for two years but have loved it and plan another in 2026. We too had rail replacement bus issues in Slovenia, and it rather spoilt our stopover in Ljubljana, even though we were pre-warned about the departure positions for the buses towards Villach. Your confusion there might have been due to Villach having a Slovenian name (I forget what) which was the one actually shown on the trains heading there. We spent quite a lot of time at Jesenice station. A huge faded glory place obviously of great importance in Yugoslav times, but with almost no train departure information. This was offset by an efficiently and pleasantly run station cafe.

 

[railfan99]

Great account. You obviously have far more stamina than most of us. We've only been doing the Interrail thing for two years but have loved it and plan another in 2026. We too had rail replacement bus issues in Slovenia, and it rather spoilt our stopover in Ljubljana, even though we were pre-warned about the departure positions for the buses towards Villach. Your confusion there might have been due to Villach having a Slovenian name (I forget what) which was the one actually shown on the trains heading there. We spent quite a lot of time at Jesenice station. A huge faded glory place obviously of great importance in Yugoslav times, but with almost no train departure information. This was offset by an efficiently and pleasantly run station cafe.

Thanks. As noted above, I had rail replacement coaches in Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, the latter twice.

In my three previous annual two month Eurailpasses, I'd not had any - except in England one year from Ely to Norwich when I was visiting the Mid Norfolk Railway.

Unfortunately when I spent much of an afternoon there, the Jesenice station cafe had shut earlier that Saturday, so I couldn't enjoy a hot chocolate or beer inside, more's the pity.

What surprised me about the European ones was how quickly passengers transferred from train to coach or vice versa: as little as three to four minutes. I don't recall any conductors or station staff checking no one else was alighting from the train to walk across tracks and around or through the station building to join the coach. I wondered how passengers in a wheelchair or who were very slow on their feet might fare.

In Australia, train to coach transfers can take much longer, but typically stations will have level alighting from trains, or if not, very close to that. No European-style low level platforms, or numerous steps down from a train.

 

[railfan99]

Great to read your detailed annual European travelogue. Many thanks for taking the time and effort to write it up and post it on here!

D6130, thank you for your helpful contributions.

In 2024, I enjoyed staying in West Yorkshire (Shipley) at a very pleasant boutique hotel, visiting the former mill nearby that's turned into an arty complex, and the Bolton and Embsay Railway, the latter on a rainy day when I sampled its terrific 1903 LNER? rail motor. A lovely part of the world with textiles and clothing production history. Lest we forget the hard work those often poorly paid Industrial Revolution era residents did to bring others warmth and comfort.