More of this Feature • Part 2: Rail Travel in Europe, What's it Cost?

Got Advice for a Forum Visitor? "We are trying to determine what destinations we should visit. We have been told that for Newbies London is a great place to start & end a trip, plus airfare is relatively inexpensive. We believe that we would like to visit Paris & Italy as well" Amygirl8

Europe Rail Travel Resources • Train or Car? Which is Better • Tips for European Train Travel • European Train Travel Links • Footloose Travel

This past summer I did an experiment. I took the train across Illinois to Chicago, and started my European journey from O'Hare airport. I repeated the experiment on the way back.

I did this so I could write about the differences between European Rail Travel and American Rail Travel. The results may shock you. It did me.

The Great Rail Experiment

August in Rome is hot. August in Chicago is hot and sticky. Rome wins by a nose. But it wasn't the heat that bothered me when I showed up at Union Station. It was the herding.

In America you are obligated to wait for your train in a waiting room. Now, if you're coming from Europe one of the first things you'll notice is that Americans are a larger people. And their luggage is often bigger than they are. It's like everyone in Illinois is smuggling Chicago Bears linebackers in their suitcases to show their kids back home what they'll look like if they eat a side of beef every afternoon and work out at the gym afterwards.

The waiting room is huge as well. It is also packed wall-to-wall with people waiting to get on a train that's sitting in the station. The seats are small and tightly packed together. There aren't enough of them.

Then, 15 minutes before the California Zepher is scheduled to waddle out of Union Station, hundreds of people dragging luggage carts piled to overflowing form into lines without being told to, a concept unknown to Italians. Five minutes before the train is set to depart some guy in a spiffy uniform allows people to trickle onto the platform. Then someone checks each ticket and assigns that passenger to a car with others wanting to exit at the same destination. Can you see the enforced inefficiency in this procedure?

Getting hundreds of people on a train in five minutes using this method of torture is, of course, impossible. Despite the fact that the train has been waiting at the station for hours, it is late because they won't let folks just get on while it's waiting. And at each stop the train gets later. Why? Because all the people and their linebacker luggage needing to get off at any particular stop are on the same car and trying to exit through the same little door! This is insanity. And it's planned.

Now, wipe this scenario out of your mind. You are in, say, Venice. You want to go to Treviso on a day trip. You can stand in line to buy a ticket or, if you're hip, just use the machines near the platforms, sliding your credit card into the slot and coming up with exactly the ticket you need painlessly. If your train is in the station you can just get on. If you want a quick coffee beforehand you can belly up to the bar and get a really strong one in seconds. You can stroll onto your train any time you please. You can sit in any seat on any car as long as the class matches your ticket and the seat isn't reserved.

Once your journey begins you'll notice the train rides as smooth as silk. Well, maybe there's a little sway, but not the huge 10 degree tilts you get just out of Union Station that send people in the aisle slamming into opposite sides of the rail car like human pinballs in a machine about to go into tilt mode. You didn't need to show your ticket to get on the train. You will probably need to show it to the conductor when he or she comes round. If you're on the wrong train they'll tell you...usually.

It's a more humane experience. I'd even call it civilized.

So what does this all cost? Do I need a railpass? Is it cheaper than leasing a car?

As a public service I've recorded the details of a month trip around Europe along with prices and pithy commentary. Read on if you're interested in what it costs to take the train in Europe.

Next page > Rail Travel in Europe, What's it Cost? > Page 1, 2