Traveling by train is a leisurely, hassle-free experience.
enjoy a holiday.
Savor the views while drinking a cup of coffee or a cold beer; lose yourself in a book during your journey to a festival, or explore multiple locations rather than just one as you leisurely transition from place to place.
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The market town of Somerset, known for its cider, retro shopping, and stunning scenery, is quite notable.
Train companies throughout Europe are introducing new routes, trains, and exclusive deals to attract travelers back to the railways this summer. (A key suggestion: in Europe, look into local operators like
France’s TER services
For special promotions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is providing discounts of up to 40 percent for trips taken before the end of August.
Some routes are consistently worthwhile for travel due to their stunning vistas visible through the windows. Consider these seven trips for your upcoming summer adventure.
Venice to Nova Gorica
This year, one of the European Capitals of Culture is Nova Gorica in Slovenia along with Goritia across the border in Italy.
go2025.eu/sl
). To commemorate this boundary-less cultural initiative,
Trenitalia
offers direct weekend trips from Venice to Nova Gorica. The trip lasts around two and a half hours as it winds through an even terrain covered with vineyards, fruit orchards, cornfields, and sugar beets.
Heading north, the railway traces the course of the Soca Valley, going through Via del Rafut, where property division occurred due to the border change in 1947. Close by, amidst the wisteria-draped
Rafut Park
Visitors can explore the site’s Art Nouveau villa and use QR codes to listen to compositions like those by Schumann or “Symphonic Forest” by Slovenian composer Matej Bonin.
This summer will feature exhibits on fashion, manga, and modern textile arts, along with performances in theater, music, and cinema. Additionally, there are
wineries
, breweries, castles, boat tours, and the opportunity to ascend Sveta Gora (“Holy Mountain”), featuring a massive hilltop basilica with vistas of the Julian Alps.
Trains run on weekends and Italian holidays and tickets cost around £14,
trenitalia.com/it.html
Paris to Berlin
Sleek new direct daytime trains between the French and German capitals launched in December 2024. The
Deutsche Bahn ICE trains
race through the sloping
vineyards of Champagne
and big-skied sunflower fields and meadows around Belzig, linking two superb summer destinations.
During the scorching summertime in Paris, residents and visitors can enjoy outdoor movie screenings, complimentary museum entries, and beach areas dotted with umbrellas along the riverbank where they can dance, play pétanque, visit temporary bars, swim at open-air pools, and rent paddle boats.
In less than two hours from departing Paris, the train goes past Strasbourg’s waterways and its towering spired cathedral. After crossing the Rhine, one can see far-off hills.
Karlsruhe Palace
, and extensive forests stretch out for miles before the train arrives at Berlin’s glass-enclosed Hauptbahnhof.
You could consider Berlin, with its concrete and
Christmas markets
It excels during wintertime trips, yet it also provides summertime guests with an abundance of outdoor activities such as al fresco beer gardens, ferry rides, and forest hikes leading to swim-friendly lakes with sandy shores, including Europe’s biggest inland beach area.
Take a trip to Flowering Peacock Island aboard the ferry to explore the whimsical structures and water features, or make your way eastward to the Badeschiff, an enormous swimming pool housed within a converted barge.
One train daily in each direction takes about eight hours to complete the 770-mile journey. Advance tickets start from about £60, but you’d be lucky to find them this summer for much under £90,
int.bahn.de
Prague to Gdynia
Colourful houses and pinewoods scroll past outside the recently launched Baltic Express, running direct from the
Czech capital
To the Polish Riviera. This 500-mile trip lasts for nine hours, with stops in lesser-visited towns like the cobblestone-paved Pardubice.
Baroque Leszno
With four daily train departures, you might stop over in Wroclaw to enjoy some beer and pickles in the historic marketplace, or make a pitstop in Poznan to explore the sweet scent of almonds.
Croissant Museum
And at the City Hall clock tower, where mechanical goats clash heads at midday.
The train also offers substantial meals, along with Wi-Fi and air conditioning. The dining car serves cheese dumplings and sour rye soup.
After passing Gdańsk, with its red-roofed Neo-Gothic railway station, the train continues through Park Kolibkowski adorned with honeysuckle vines. The white sand beaches and azure waters lie concealed behind the woodland lining the coast.
Gdynia has a big choice of walks: stroll round the crumbling Orłowski Cliff or hike up into the hills. Urban attractions include an award-winning
Emigration Museum
, marking its 10th anniversary this summer and featuring memorabilia from two vibrant centuries of the Polish diaspora.
Trains depart from Prague’s Hlavní Nádraží station four times daily, and advance tickets begin at approximately £30 under the Super Promo International deal.
intercity.pl/en, cd.cz/en
Carlisle to Leeds
Bracken and birch trees frame the valleys and viaducts on the Settle-Carlisle branch line in the Yorkshire Dales. In contrast to high-speed cross-border journeys, this is a leisurely, picturesque route through Cumbrian and Yorkshire countryside with connections to this year’s
UK City of Culture, Bradford.
Starting from the red sandstone of Carlisle, passing through the forested Eden Valley, the route ascends the hills towards Dent, home to England’s highest mainline railway station, then crosses the half-a-mile-long bridge.
Ribblehead Viaduct
heading toward Leeds.
Up to eight trains may run each day, allowing passengers to easily step on and off for breathtaking hiking journeys from one station to another across the Dales. This railroad represented an impressive accomplishment in late Victorian engineering and managed to escape shutdown not once but twice due to enthusiastic public demonstrations against closing it down.
Watch for muntjac deer leaping through the buttercups, sheep feeding amidst a landscape dotted with dry-stone walls, and arched bridges spanning turbulent streams.
Switch to Shipley for the 10-minute train ride into downtown Bradford, or alight at Keighley to catch this summer’s performance of
The Railway Children
, including a steam train journey. Starting from Keighley, you can also take the Brontë Bus to Hawarth and discover new moorland art installations in the waterfalls-filled hills.
bradford2025.co.uk/event/wild-uplands
).
Standard tickets are priced at £26.60 (with advance fares starting at £15.40).
northernrailway.co.uk
Rome to Marseille
The Espresso Riviera combines two exceptional railway adventures into one incredible trip, operating on weekends from July through September. You’ll start with an overnight ride featuring luxurious private compartments or more budget-friendly four-person couchettes before enjoying a picturesque morning route hugging the Mediterranean coastline, ultimately reaching Marseille just in time for dinner. At your destination, visitors have the option to attend either the Jazz des Cinq Continents festival in July or immerse themselves in the vibrant dancing scene of another major event.
Delta festival
at Marseille’s sandy Plage du Prado in August.
The train features cozy seating, a bar, and a dining car. Through the large windows, you can see palm-lined seaside areas, tranquil blue coves, and pristine cliffs topped with pines. Along the Ligurian coastline, there are vibrant yellow houses near the harbor, flamboyantly red facades in medieval Menton, luxurious villas in Cannes, and the Neo-Romanesque Church of Saint-Raphael.
The Espresso Riviera leaves Rome on Fridays and Marseille on Saturdays, from 4/5 July. An early-booking 25 per cent discount takes fares down to as little as £60 for a couchette bunk and breakfast,
fstrenituristici.it
Cardiff to Edinburgh
Branded the
Three Nations Connect
CrossCountry has launched a direct weekday service between Cardiff and Edinburgh. This journey lasts around seven and a half hours, traversing 22 stops across 455 miles. Departure from Cardiff is scheduled for 9:45 AM, with arrival in
Edinburgh
In the late afternoon, you might consider a relaxed, thorough sightseeing tour on your way to the Fringe this summer.
The trains go through a series of notable destinations, such as York, Newcastle, and several splendid coastal towns in Northumberland.
There is ample to observe along the way, from the ramparts of
Chepstow Castle
overlooking the expansive River Wye towards the coast of East Lothian, frequented by cormorants. Be sure not to miss the vista of
Durham Castle and the Norman Cathedral
perched atop a cliff overlooking the River Wear, or the ramparts and turrets of Berwick-upon-Tweed as you traverse the 28-arch Royal Border Bridge.
Upgrade your journey with tickets starting at £113.70 for a one-way trip; however, opting for train changes might offer more affordable rates and quicker travel times.
crosscountrytrains.co.uk
Amsterdam to Munich
Amsterdam, with its canal-lined avenues, provides a perfect beginning for a summertime escapade. Meander through bustling markets redolent of herbs and herring, as well as lanes adorned with gabled homes featuring hollyhock blossoms beside their entrances. Alternatively, hop onto one of the complimentary ferries located behind the train station that crosses the IJ river towards a vibrant cultural center.
NDSM wharf
, formerly Europe’s biggest shipyard.
A new non-stop daily Deutsche Bahn route has been established between Amsterdam Central and Munich. This journey takes about seven hours over approximately 500 miles, with ticket prices starting from around £34 but potentially rising as high as £90 if not booked promptly.
The trip begins across vast expanses of polder land, marked by sporadic windmills and lengthy rows of poplar trees. There isn’t much scenery for most of this high-speed route until the final few hours when it speeds past wooded hill country in Bavaria. Reaching Munich seamlessly during the time of city waterfront beaches and events like the
Münchner Sommernachtstraum
, with its spectacular musical fireworks.
Stroll 500m from the central station, under honey-scented linden trees, to the Ballabeni Werkstatt for a scoop of creamy hazelnut ice cream or citrussy sorbet. Then head to the
Englischer Garten
To locate a shaded lakeside bench or enjoy some beer with brass band performances.
Munich serves as a doorway to the blooming Alpine summits of summer, offering pathways up into the hills for exploring castles and riding cable cars.
A Bahncard will provide significant reductions for train journeys up till the end of September.
int.bahn.de/en/offers/bahncard
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