Trains are probably my favorite form of travel. Maybe it is the romance of the rails, or perhaps it hearkens back to a different era; the reason isn’t that important to me. I just love trains.

Honestly, I love pretty much everything about them. Train stations, the sound of the rails, the people you meet; there is just something that whispers ‘travel’ to me in a way that airports and airplanes don’t.

There Was a Time

I look at old film, and even think back to when I was a little girl and there was a time when flying was something elegant. You dressed up to get on a plane. Service was gracious and charming.

Please don’t think I am disrespecting flight attendants, far from it. They have a very important job to do and often they have to do that in less than ideal circumstances. Two or three people taking care of fifty people is a very different thing than taking care of upwards of 100.

With international flights now moving closer to 500 people – well, I think we all owe flight attendants a very big thank you for even being able to get us a soda! Add into that the number of oafs who seem able to fly, and it gets worse.

Now Departing, Platform 1

Trains, on the other hand, still have that air of elegance to me. Not that I think people dress better or act better, it is just a very different experience. People seem to slow down on trains.

I have taken the high-speed TGV trains in France and the AVE in Spain; I have also taken the slower Belgian and Dutch cross border trains. The lovely ride from Edinburgh to London is one of my favorites, along with every other train ride I have taken in the UK.

Each departure seems to hint of an adventure on the horizon. I half expect Hercule Poirot to twirl his mustache at me as I board, or for Fanny Brice to emerge from the cloud of steam enveloping the platform. Neither has happened, of course, but I am still looking.

Slow Travel on High Speed

Trains require you to slow down, I think. There is a rhythm to train travel, even those high-speed ones, that speaks to a different pace. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched business folks pull out the laptop and the phone and the files, ready to get to be productive, only to end up looking out a window.

Watching the countryside slide or zip by seems to invite me  – us – to watch. I look for the church spire to appear in the distance and then wait as the town or village appears. In those moments I find myself musing about that place and the people who liver there.

Straight to the Heart

You get to see a bit more of the country by train, get a better sense of place. Planes are at a remove, with even the airports often being on the far fringe of a city. Trains are part and parcel of the land.

I suppose you could say that trains are the blood flow, the arteries that take us to and from the heart of a city or a country. Even roadways seem to strive to route you on the most efficient and bloodless routes available, but trains still take us through the nitty-gritty of city, town and countryside.

Enough with the Poetry

Romance aside, the other reason I love train travel is that mostly (not always) trains take you right to where you want to be. Train stations are part of the cities they serve. In larger cities you often have options – north station, central station, southern station  – one will get you close to wherever you are staying.

Hotels, especially in Europe, often identify by location including the train station. Ibis, Gare du Nord tells you that this Ibis hotel is near the north station (Gare du Nord) in Paris. In Amsterdam or Brussels, you might see ‘Centraal’ in a hotel description, indicating it is near the Central Station.

This is not always the case – the Segovia AVE station is one that proves the exception! I walked out of that station and found myself looking at a vast plain. A vast plain and cows, actually.

Ticket, Please

Another aspect of train travel I like is the cost. My flight to Frankfurt in a few weeks is $1300, a flight to Strasbourg, my final destination, is closer to two grand. A train ticket between the two towns is less than a hundred dollars. In fact, I can grab the high-speed TGV for right around $40.

If I want to splash out for first class, it is around $95. A flight between the two would cost twice that and take more time when you factor in check in, security and the distance between airports and the city.

From a purely practical aspect, train travel is a better value all around.

Trains – Logical and Romantic!

Okay, yes, I am still going to go with the romance of the rails as my primary reason for loving trains. I get that not everyone is all about the romance though.

So let’s look at another practical aspect; day trips.

Most of Europe was built around train travel. The end result is that today we have the ability to take day trips to other parts of the country via rail. On a trip to Lyon, I was able to see Vienne and Lake Annecy, each being about an hour away. In Cork I took a quick 30 minute train ride to Cobh.

Ride the Rails

So there is my case for trains. It is slow travel, romantic travel, and practical travel all rolled into one. I am looking forward to my next European train trip in just a matter of days (okay, two weeks) because it just hits all the buttons for me.

Already I am picturing myself, notebook at the ready to capture my thoughts and impressions as we ride across the Alsatian countryside. In truth, few words will be written, because I will be staring out the window wondering about that town, wondering where that road leads, and musing about world. Because, well that’s what trains are for.