Luke spends a month in Europe/UK

Staff member: Luke // Trip date: Mar 2009

OYSTER CARD

After leaving Melbourne during its record breaking heat-wave, I arrived into Heathrow Airport late at night only to find out that London had just experienced their worst snowfall in 18 years. I decided to use the Underground instead of the Heathrow Express due to budgetary reasons. There were signs everywhere clearly pointing me in the right direction and I made my way down to the Underground at Heathrow Airport within a matter of minutes. As I arrived up to the turnstiles, I took out my Oyster card (which I had purchased from Rail Plus before I left) and swiped it accordingly to gain access to the Underground. Nearly two hours later and one change of trains, I arrived at Paddington Station. At that point, I was definitely thinking I should have paid a little bit more for the Heathrow Express - it takes 15 minutes and goes directly to Paddington station!

Whilst staying in London, I used the Underground to get around everywhere - the absolute best way of getting around in my opinion - and I only had to recharge my Oyster Card once which I found to be no hassle at all. I think I may still have credit left on it, but I can just save it for when I go back to London or just give it to somebody else to use.

Heathrow - Piccadilly
Cost for single trip £4.00
Cost using Oyster Card £3.80

Piccadilly - Paddington
Cost for single trip £4.00
Cost using Oyster Card £1.60

Paddington - St. Pancras
Cost taking a taxi £20.00 (20-25 minutes)
Cost using Oyster Card £1.60 (20 minutes)

EUROSTAR (EST 9120)

Using the Underground from Paddington Station, I arrived into Kings Cross and made my way to St. Pancras - only a 5 minute walk. There were signs all along the way pointing me in the right direction so I never got lost or had to stress. I arrived at St. Pancras with 30 minutes to spare - although I decided to get my pass validated which took roughly about 20 min. During peak times and on Friday evenings, I was told to arrive an hour in advance.

I reached the platform (via escalator!) and as I hopped on the train, I left my luggage in the space provided at the end of the carriage. However, I also could have just stored my backpack above my seat in the space provided. The Eurostar departed on time and was unbelievably smooth the whole way. The seats in first class where very comfortable and the 'at-your-seat' service was impeccable. I was served "brunch" soon after we departed from London which I found to be surprisingly good, just what I needed to kick start my first full day of train travel. There is also a dining car on-board where you can sit and order a variety of food and drink. I found second class to be quite noisy as there were more seats in each carriage, also there was definitely not as much leg room - which is a big deal for someone who is 185 centimetres. The conductor did not ask to check my passport when I gave him my ticket; this is why incorrect names on ticket is not an issue. The Eurostar arrived into Brussels Midi (also called Brussels Zuid) station on time.

THALYS (THA 9331)

It took me about 5 minutes to walk from the Eurostar platform to the Thalys platform, there were a number of signs pointing me in the right direction so I never had to stress - I wouldn't recommend giving yourself less than 15 minutes to change trains. I wrote in my first day on my Eurail Pass and hopped on the train. I put my luggage in the space provided at the end of the carriage - remember, whoever is first on the train gets access to all the most convenient luggage spaces.

The layouts as well as the quality of seats in both 1st class and 2nd class were pretty much the same as the Eurostar. Within the first 10 minutes a light snack was served at my seat and from then on I could get free drinks throughout the journey e.g. soft drinks, alcohol. There was a dining car for people in 2nd class. WI-FI is available throughout the whole train, it's just a pity I don't own a laptop. We arrived into Amsterdam Central on time; and from there I just walked to my hostel.

CITY NIGHT LINE (CNL 40447)

I arrived at the station around 45 minutes prior to departure but my service had not even been announced yet, usually at most stations you will find out what platform to go to only around 30-45 minutes prior to departure. I hopped on the train and found my cabin quite easily. The cabin was full by the time I arrived meaning there wasn't much room to move around or spaces to put luggage, and to top it all off - I was on the top bunk which made things very uncomfortable for me. The conductor came past and took my Eurail Pass and ticket reservation and advised he would return them in the morning - he did not check my passport. I also asked if there was a dining car, he advised there was a dining cart but I couldn't find it. Surprisingly, I ended up having quite a good sleep and within about 45 minutes of our destination, Copenhagen, the conductor came past and gave me back my tickets. I would definitely recommend people catch the night trains in Europe, the cabins are usually of high quality (even the 6th berth was ok) and you will avoid having to pay for a night's accommodation at some hotel.

EUROCITY (EC 36)

Now I needed to get to Berlin and since I had slept in and missed my already reserved, already paid for 7:42am service (non-refundable), I needed to catch a later one which meant I had to change trains at Hamburg. As soon as I got to the station, I went to the ticket office and asked how much a seat reservation was - the ticket officer was very helpful in advising me that a seat reservation was not a requirement, knowing that the train mustn't have been that full. Within minutes from departing, 1st class travellers were given biscuits and fruit, water was available also. I found 2nd class to be very noisy and uncomfortable - I would definitely recommend making reservations if carrying a 2nd class Eurail Pass as most services that I had been on so far seemed almost full in 2nd class carriages. I found this service to be almost on par with the Eurostar or Thalys in terms of quality - very nice train.

I was a bit surprised when we were all told in an announcement (in English) that we would have to get off the train for safety reasons whilst we sail across on a ferry for 45 min called Scandlines. This was great as there were a lot of facilities made available on-board - such as a restaurant, ATM, travel shop, toilets, food court, smoking lounge and bistro.

INTERCITY (IC 2071)

As soon as I arrived into Hamburg, like I had done at all stations so far, I looked for a screen that showed me which platform to go to - they are displayed throughout the station. I found there was more luggage space available on the IC and above each seat there was a little slip stating whether the seat was already reserved or not, so I just sat in a seat that wasn't - and there were heaps still available. I found this IC to be quite similar to the EC, however just a little less nice. From Berlin Hbf, I caught the S-Bahn to my hostel using my Eurail Pass.

EUROCITY (EC 177)

Just before I hopped on the train for Prague, I went to the ticket office to get my train tickets for Italy endorsed as unused as I had already decided I wasn't going to Italy anymore. The ticket officer advised me that I couldn't get any refund on the tickets but I got her to stamp them anyway as I knew I could once I got back to Australia. The EC 177 was very similar to the IC 2071 in terms of quality. I arrived into Holesovice, however Hlavní Nádraží is the more central station. During the journey, police boarded to check my passport.

REGIONAL (R 354 & RB 32118)

From Prague I needed to get to a small town within Germany called Neumarkt to stay with a friend and his family. I didn't expect much from these services - they were both quite standard in quality. There was a dining cart where you could purchase food from but I would recommend purchasing all your food before getting on the train. Both services were unable to be reserved prior to departure but I had no trouble finding a seat - I don't think these regional services would get too busy throughout the year. The RB was basically like the metro trains we get back in Australia. If you're deciding whether to catch an RB or RE, catch the RE as it is an express train that doesn't stop at any station other than the destination.

ICE (ICE 724 & ICE 9554)

WOW - basically that's all I can say about the ICE trains, utterly amazing. Since ICE 9553 was a train that it was compulsory to have a reservation for, I decided to purchase a reservation for both - I was told by a conductor that a train may actually wait for you if you are running late, only if you had a reservation though. 1st class had 'at-your-seat' service, the seats were very comfortable and everyone had their own mini TVs. 2nd class seemed quite nice also, but obviously a lot less luxurious. There was also a dining car where you could sit and order food and drink. I arrived into my final destination on time - Paris! As soon as I got off the train, it took my a few minutes to walk to the underground trains. However, I had no idea what I was doing when I needed to buy a ticket (I should have pre-brought it from Rail Plus) and it took me another 20 minutes to figure out where I needed to go as I hadn't yet looked at a map of the underground network on the web - something I definitely advise people to do. On the last day I took the RER B to Charles-de-Gaulle airport, which I had paid a full fare adult price for only to realise minutes later that I could have just used the last day on my Eurail Pass - I just knew I was saving it for something! Getting to Charles-de-Gaulle airport was quite the trek and then trying to make your way around the actual airport was a nightmare. I would have much preferred to catch the Eurostar home if it were possible.

ADDITIONAL INFO

- Always give yourself no less than 10 minutes to change trains.
- Keep note of train numbers - some screens may not show your desired stop so to help with finding your particular service and what platform it's departing from, you could easily search for it using the train number.
- All the services I went on were completely non-smoking.
- I often saw people ask others if they could switch seats, and usually they'd be fine with it. So if you are not sitting in your desired seat, just be polite and ask.
- You will have to pay to use the toilet in most train stations, so I would suggest just waiting till you're on the train, it's free!
- The seat numbers are not in order on most trains.