Cost of meals on the train

bring your own food aboard it is expensive. there is aprice difference btw first and second class. but first class is usually empty. if not stick to second.

I would say make sure you have food and drinks with you. It is never a given that there is a restaurant car/snack car on the train, besides if there is food it is much too expensive.

I am not sure if the prior posts are clear. The ticket does not include any food service. We have always found a snack car on all of the train that we have been on for longer runs. That is not true of local runs. It has been a long time since we have seen a true dinning car but we have not been on any overnight trains or very long runs -- seven or eight hours. On some of the slower and shorter runs we have seen a snack cart in the asle. Generally the food is of average quality and higher than you would see outside the train. It is best to bring your own beverage and food.

Obviously first class tickets are more expensive than 2nd class and, IMO, the only difference is slightly larger seats and more room because first class seats are generally three across instead of four across. There is not a difference in the price of the food depending on your ticket class.

We had a dining car on a Eurostar from Bologna to Venice. We were traveling 1st class so we thought that we would treat ourselves to the whole expericence. Sort of a poor man's Orient Express. Lunch for two was 52 Euro or about $70. It wasn't worth it. I believe that all Eurostars, EuroCity and ICP trains have snack carts that pass through the cars. Expresso was great but we didn't buy anything else. We suggest that you bring your own food.

If you're taking the Eurostars that run in Italy, I'd suggest taking food along. I didn't find the cafe car too pricey (it was what I would have expected on a train), but it was the quality and selection of the food that was disappointing.

English breakfast expensive but fun in UK

ICE trains on Deutsche Bahn usually have a dining car with pretty good full service meals, although the price is a little high. British Rail usually has a snack cart, even for short trips. Russian Rail has a dining car, and although cheap, the food is pretty basic. Probably the highest quality for the lowest price I have encountered is on Czech trains. I ate a huge plate of pork and vegetables and drank several Budvars for less than the equivalent of $10.

Note that 1st class rail tickets usually buy you more room and sometimes waiter service to your compartment, but you still have to pay for your meal.

Off the top of my head, Eurostar Chunnel, DB ICE, and long distance Swedish Rail trains have a snack-bar car. Some long distance trains on Swiss Rail have a full service restaurant car, and supposedly some also have a Mcdonalds car(though I have never encountered it). Also, some Thalys and Portuguese high-speed trains have free sandwiches and drinks for first-class passengers.

It was fun to have a full meal on an overnight train, but only do it once. It is frightfully expensive. No food is ever included in a general service train. Some of the speciality service, limited access trains, do include food.

It depends if you are in a sleeper car on a overnight train you normally get breakfast. On some trains it is served in your cabin on some you get a voucher and go into the dining car. On the Talys in 1st class you generally get a meal included. Other than that it is the snack car or a dining car at your expense. We bring picnics along for the train and enjoy our wine, bread and cheese.

Be aware that, even on shorter runs, food/drinks may run out. On a recent train ride from Venice to Florence on the Eurostar, which is all of 3 hours, they ran out of cold drinks somewhere around Bologna and had very few sandwiches left. Better to just buy things in town before you board (as we did) and have a good meal for a lot less.

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. I'll take it that it's safe to assume that the train companies have no policy against bringing onboard outside food.

Correct. You may take anything aboard.

Another caveat: if you depend on the train's food and beverage service, you run the risk that they might be on strike.

About 20 years ago, on a train trip from Cuenca to Valencia Spain, we hurriedly got on board without bringing any food [first time ever]. To our dismay, the food and beverage people were on strike, and we had nothing to eat or drink for the 3 hour trip....and we were starved. Luckily, in the small town of Utiel, the conductor held the train up a few extra minutes so I could run into the station and buy a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread in the train station bar...true story!