Planes vs. Trains

Aside from lessening one's carbon footprint when traveling, I choose the train, the obvious answer. I am a train person, only would resort to a plane if absolutely necessary.

It makes no difference whether the train is a regional one, ie, TER, Regional Bahn, the TGV or ICE, EC, day train or night train, a journey of 30 minutes or 10+ hours, I'm on.

It depends on the distance and the availability of flights or train links. If one needs to go from Rome to Paris, the flight option is preferable. If it's Madrid to Seville, the train is preferable.

I would never plan a European vacation where I planned to visit places so far apart that I had to fly.

For example, if I planned to visit England and Scotland, I would prefer to take the overnight train between London and Edinburgh instead of flying.

You lose a lot of time going to and from airports, checking in, clearing security and waiting for your flight.

I live equal distance between ORF and RIC, but I live just a block from the Amtrak station and enjoy being able to walk there for a Northeast Regional train to DC and direct flights out of Dulles for Europe.

In Europe I enjoy watching the world go by while traveling by train or ferry. I like the experience of feeling a little more connected to the places I am visiting.

Thanks for sharing! I love trains, and try to take them whenever I can; however, I recognize that sometimes a plane makes more sense. I do try to keep my European trips to the same general region, though, just so I don’t have to fly once I’m there.

I prefer trains by a mile, though I've never had a good night train experience. I think if I ever tried it again, I'd definitely go the private compartment route instead of couchette.

I wasn't able to read the article due to the paywall, but have a few comments.

I always prefer trains whenever possible, even if the trip is longer (ie: 8 hours or so). It's a more comfortable trip, I don't have to deal with the airport hassles and trains are usually downtown-to-downtown so I can be in my hotel a few minutes after arrival.

However there are times when a budget airline is a better choice because of travel times, complexity of rail connections or geographic reasons such as travelling from an island. One example of a reason to choose air is travel is travel from Athens to Milan. While it may be possible to go by rail or bus on longer routes, I also like to ensure that I'm not spending too much time in getting from one place to another, as that's not an efficient use of my travel time. I prefer to focus on sightseeing time but each case is different.

You lose a lot of time going to and from airports, checking in,
clearing security and waiting for your flight.

I think the rule of thumb is that if it take 6 hours or less by train, you're better off that way, then flying.

Take Germany. How many major airports are there in Germany? There are 5400 railroad stations in Germany.

In 2017, I went by train from St Goar to Pfronten, near Füssen. It took 6½ hours by train. Getting to and from the closest airports, by train, would have taken 5½ hours, total. And then there would have be check-in time, pre-board time, flight time, de-planing time. You can't do all that in just and hour.

For me, its trains wherever feasable. I'm not making a special trip to the airport. I dont generally have to be at the station hours early.
I'm not waiting at security apart from Eurostar. When I get to my destination, I am essentially city-center and not worrying about getting into town. On my trip I can get up, stretch, have a beverage, and watch the world go by.

I would never plan a European vacation where I planned to visit places so far apart that I had to fly.

Great advice.

However, for me, 6 hours is pushing the limit for a train trip. If I had to fly, I would get the earliest trip of the day. I hate wasting time transporting from one place to another.

I couldn't read the article, but as a few others have said, I prefer train when possible and practical. I'd say my limit is 7-8 hours, but my husband's is 5-6, so that's what we do.

The train is so much easier and more pleasant. Plus, we get to see some of the countryside.

We are doing primarily train for our upcoming trip. The one exception is Rome to Paris, and only because when I looked (realized later more options probably opened up later as I was researching and booking well in advance) the train trips were all 24 hours with middle of the night train changes. So we are flying instead for that, but everything else is via train —Thalys, RER, Metro, Inoui TGV, ÖBB Nightjet, RE, and Frecciarossa. It took a while, but I finally grasped the Europe train system between countries, and the differences between local, regional, and high speed.

We've been on trains going out of Vienna that looked like something out of 1950's Russia. And they were so old--and slow--and hot..

Once a traveling soccer team got on our train and we had to share a compartment--with one of them leaning on me asleep. And they didn't smell too good either.

We did take the fast train from Barcelona to Paris--650 miles in 6.5 hours. It topped out at 185 mph. Had we flown, the journey would have been about the same time.

I'm good for 3-4 hours and 200 miles on a train. Otherwise, I'm flying on a budget European airline.

I'm good for 3-4 hours and 200 miles on a train. Otherwise, I'm flying
on a budget European airline.

Ditto

" We've been on trains going out of Vienna that looked like something out of 1950's Russia. And they were so old--and slow--and hot.. " Interesting , We must be riding on different trains , Railjets between Munich , Vienna , and Budapest don't quite strike me that way ; - )

Re: "so old and hot..." I must have missed something in Austria. Even in 1971 I didn't see these trains. I should have spent some time taking the train in rural Austria.

The one definite memory I have of a slow (taking all day) and hot train, the thermometer showing over 30+C, a real broiler with all the windows open, was that going from Stuttgart to Sigmaringen an der Donau in mid-Aug 1971, stopping at every single stop, a milk run train.

Those were the days when AC was absent, you put up with the heat and baked as you saw the locals living in the rural areas.

It’s trains for me wherever possible. Consider that flying also includes getting to and from the airport, security lines, sitting on the runway, and less spacious seats. I much prefer a walk to the station, room to stretch out, passing scenery, and a walk to the hotel at my destination.

Airports and planes are so generically international that they take me, mentally, out of the country I’m in and into what I think of as “corporate world”. Stations and trains keep me, again, mentally, in the countries I’m visiting.

I'm good for 3-4 hours and 200 miles on a train. Otherwise, I'm flying on a budget European airline.

Unfortunately, according to what I can find, there are only 27 airports in Germany with scheduled flights, and not many of these are going to have flights directly to the another airport "near" to where you are going. On the other hand, the Bahn has 5400 train stations, all interconnected.

So, if you want to fly between cities in Germany, good luck. A lot of the time, you'll spend as much time and money getting to and from the closest airports, as you would just getting to and from the final destinations.

And forget about "budget airlines". For instance, RyanAir uses 12 German airports, but there are no RyanAir flights between any two German airports. Want to fly from Cologne to Munich (it's actually "Munich West", Memmingen, not Munich). You'll have to connect in Ireland.

I'm good for 3-4 hours and 200 miles on a train. Otherwise, I'm flying
on a budget European airline.

I am with you David. I have never seen the experience of train travel to be that alluring on its own; maybe with this exception: https://www.goldeneagleluxurytrains.com/

On the issue of choosing the train or plane, those train rides I did on past trips taking 6+hours or up to almost 9.5 hours daytime, eg., Berlin to Gdansk , some requiring one or two transfers I would look into doing that by night train now, which I didn't know of back then. It may be a nine to ten hour ride but on a night train you can avoid having to change trains.

With luggage in tow I much prefer the direct shot 9-10 hour night train.