On Europe’s slow trains, the rewards are right outside your window

The day before our vacation in France, I asked my three children what they were most looking forward to. Was it the swimming, the sunshine, the beach or — and I would have bet my house on this — eating ice cream every day?

"The sleeper train," said the oldest. His brother quickly concurred. And the 3-year-old? Yep.

In this, they’re model Europeans. According to European Union statistics, rail use grew for the sixth consecutive year in 2018, the most recent year for which figures are available. The Eurostar — which links London to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam — recorded a 7% year-on-year rise in passenger numbers in 2018.

Growing public awareness of air travel’s environmental cost is clearly a factor, but more important is the extent of Europe’s rail network. The continent is a complex tangle of train tracks.

Among the very best services, in my view, are those that are genuinely slow. Trundling across Europe at a snail’s pace offers many simple pleasures: the landscape gradually opening up in front of you, a warm summer breeze blowing through an open window, and clocking each sleepy provincial station as they come and go.

I haven’t been on all of Europe’s rail lines, but I’ve experienced enough to know what a pleasure it can be. Here are 10 of my favorite slow-train journeys through Europe:

Bilbao to San Sebastian, Spain. When you go online to book transport between Bilbao and San Sebastian, two of the Basque region’s major cities, you will be directed toward a coach that takes just over an hour. It’s tempting — more time in San Sebastian means more pintxos, Spain’s tastiest tapas — but you should resist. Rail (about $7.20 each way) takes the best part of three hours, but it’s time well spent.

The service is a simple commuter shuttle that dives southward out of Bilbao into the lush, deep-green mountains of the Basque Country, before turning north to run along the coast toward San Sebastian. The highlight comes after Deba, where the train nears the water for a few miles. On one side, deep blue; on the other, steep descending Basque hills.

Ceske Budejovice to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. The Czech Republic has a comprehensive and inexpensive rail network. From Prague, you can reach much of the country, but you’ll have to change if you want to take one of its most charming journeys (about $1.75 one way, for a 45-minute trip).

Ceske Budejovice is the home of Czechvar — the Czechs call it Budweiser, though it’s different from Budweiser in the United States — one of the country’s most famous beers, and Cesky Krumlov is among its most beautiful towns. The gently rolling south Bohemian landscape, with its low-slung farmsteads and forests, is equally beguiling.

Copenhagen, Denmark, to Malmo, Sweden. There’s something thrilling about a bridge that not only crosses a huge expanse of water but also connects two nations. Copenhagen, the Danish capital, has been linked to Malmo in Sweden by the Øresund Bridge since 2000. (The 40-minute journey costs about $13.)

The train descends into a tunnel after Copenhagen Airport station, emerging on Peberholm island, where the five-mile bridge begins. You can see Malmo in the distance, particularly the 623-foot-tall Turning Torso, Scandinavia’s biggest skyscraper. In summer, sailboats skip and race across the water; in the colder months, there are miles of foam-flecked gray-blue ocean to admire.

The Glacier Express, Switzerland. Most of the trips on this list are ordinary passenger services, but the Glacier Express is a tourist train, with a commensurate price. Sometimes billed as the "slowest express train in the world," it runs between St. Moritz and Zermatt in Switzerland. Prices start around $155, one-way, plus a seat reservation fee, for the 7½-hour journey, but the traveling conditions are superb: huge windows, plenty of space, and good food for purchase.

Watch for the six-arch, 213-foot-high Landwasser Viaduct, which curves across the Landwasser river; the ascent from Chur up the Rhine Valley to the highest point, at 6,673 feet above sea level; and the steep rock walls of the Matter Valley, before you arrive in Zermatt.

Lille, France, to Roeselare, Belgium. One of the beauties of Europe is that sometimes you’re not quite sure which country you’re in. Traveling from Lille, the capital of French Flanders, into Belgian Flanders (about $13.70 one way; change at Courtrai) can be like that, particularly if you take the wrong train, as I and a group of friends did a few years back.

We found ourselves on the desolate concrete platform at Froyennes, in French-speaking Wallonia rather than Flemish-speaking Flanders. No matter: There was a connecting train heading north, toward Roeselare, arriving on the other platform. A one-hour journey took two, but no one cared.

Marktredwitz to Regensburg, Germany. The Upper Palatinate, Bavaria’s northeastern corner, is perhaps Germany’s sleepiest region. It’s served by hourly trains that run from Marktredwitz in the north down to Regensburg. (A Bayern Ticket, which allows 24 hours of unlimited travel on all except high-speed trains in the state of Bavaria, costs about $27.50.)

The trains themselves are sparklingly modern, but everything else has a timeless charm: the stations at Marktredwitz and Windischeschenbach; the soft, heavily wooded countryside; and the fact that the line hugs the gently flowing river Naab for much of the 1½-hour journey.

Paris, France, to Portbou, Spain. This Intercités de Nuit sleeper service starts with a typically unruly French line at Paris’ Gare d’Austerlitz, but that’s soon forgotten. The bunks are comfortable (though not plush), and prices are low (singles from about $38.50, with an additional fee if you want the compartment to yourself).

The train pulls out of Paris at just after 10 p.m. and the first stop, announced over the loudspeaker, is Toulouse at 6 a.m. From there, the train heads down the Mediterranean coast, skirting the Étang de Leucate, a huge and placid lagoon, and ends in the cavernous terminus in the border town of Portbou, a relic of a time when this was the main route from France to Spain.

The Rhondda Line, Wales. There’s cause to pity regular travelers on the Rhondda Line between the Rhondda Valley town of Treherbert and the Welsh capital, Cardiff. The Pacer trains that serve this route are outdated, cramped, and noisy.

But then, they have the Rhondda Valley to enjoy. Earlier this year, I took a late-morning train from Cardiff to Treorchy, one stop short of Treherbert (about $10.80 round-trip; trains every half-hour; trip time just over an hour). Brooding gray summer clouds hung over hills of a hundred shades of green; at Treorchy, where the line is single-track, grass was sprouting long and green between the cars. (Additional pleasure: The Rhondda Valley accent, soft and mellifluous, is Britain’s loveliest.)

Tren de Sóller, Mallorca, Spain. To take the train from Palma de Mallorca to Sóller, on the north coast of this Mediterranean island, is to travel into the past. The wooden electric trains, built in the 1920s, glide through the backstreets of Palma and then past orange and lemon groves before climbing — via tunnels, bridges, and switchbacks — up and down the Sierra de Alfabia mountain range en route to Sóller, a beautiful seaside town on Mallorca’s north coast (about $27.50 round-trip, cash only, purchased on day of travel).

West Highland Line, Scotland. The West Highland Line (about $52 round-trip, five hours), which connects Glasgow with Mallaig in the Western Highlands, is memorable in two ways: for the views, from bleak Rannoch Moor to the elegant arches of Glenfinnan Viaduct (recognizable to fans of the Harry Potter films), and for the people on board. It’s a sociable ride, partly because conditions are cramped and partly because the locals love a chat.

On my most recent trip, a conductor sat down for a 10-minute talk with some regular customers, and a fellow passenger recommended the best station to get off for a smoke. (I don’t smoke, but it’s the thought that counts.)

RailEurope.com is a good resource for buying tickets on all but the Tren de Sóller, where tickets must be bought at the station in Palma before boarding. For in-depth information on rail travel in Europe, the comprehensive website seat61.com is regularly updated.