European Train Guide | Tickets, Eurail Pass, Sleeper Trains Europe, Travel Tips for Senior Travel

This week’s video is for anyone planning a Europe trip and thinking, “Okay… but how do trains actually work over there?”
We’ve taken hundreds of trains across Europe, and we’ve learned something surprising: the European rail system isn’t complicated — you just need a few insider tips to feel confident.
So we made this week’s video a complete, practical guide to European train travel. Let us know your experience on the European rails in the comments below. Happy journeys, John and Bev
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very good video

We enjoyed getting senior discount cards in some counties.

We paid for and booked table seats, but the train blurred the electronic seat locations (the digital numbers were flashing & not readable) and a single girl took the only 4-seat table area. We asked the attendant, and he shrugged.

We primarily tour Europe on bicycles. Regional and local Trains are great when the weather is bad or we need to get somewhere quickly. However the Inter City Express “ICE” and TGV do NOT allow full size bicycles or eBikes batteries.

Many thanks. Great info.

I would love to see an even more descriptive video on train travel in Europe. We travel by train and bus in Europe and love both, but many times we have been surprised by unexpected things like having to go up and down to reach the correct track, having to validate our tickets before transport, some stations have lifts and some don't. I would love to know if there is a directory that contains that type of information. We boarded a train in Venice and when the conductor came by he informed us that we owed fines because we didn't have our tickets validated! Surprise!!! Things like that can ruin your day. We were headed to Strasbourg, and the train just dumped us out...we followed some people and they led us to another platform-surprise! Luggage is a problem and we travel light but so many of the platforms are lower than the train and you have to heave up your luggage, not fun! Thanks for all of your information. I agree train and bus travel through Europe is a treat!

I went on 75 trains in 30 days after Covid opened up with my Eurail pass. I got my money's worth.

Our favorite train was the Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam. It is now part of Eurostar. As far as backpacks, I am at the age that backpacks are painful and injurious. A smaller carry-on with spinner wheels is just as easy to get on a train. Believe me, I travelled all over Japan with a spinner suitcase, on trains. Trains in Europe are really good for distances less than 600 miles. If one has to get from Italy to Germany or the Netherlands, flying can be cheaper and way faster. Example: we needed to get from Porto, Portugal to Amsterdam. Taking a train would be a day and half of train travel. We flew, it was much, much faster and cheaper. Eurail Passes are not as inexpensive as they used to be. Rick Steves has a graphic that shows pricing all over continental Europe. Very easy to get an idea of one's costs. The only exception is Switzerland. They have the Swiss Half Fare Card, which can really save money, as Swiss trains are the most expensive in Europe.

I am planning some travel by train in Europe - this was a very helpful video explaining the different systems and processes. Thanks!

I Love trains too! ❤thank you for valuable information 👏

Our favorite train routes in Spain are Madrid to Barcelona on the AVE high speed train, and Madrid to Córdoba and Sevilla, also on the AVE. The routes to and from Granada are not high speed, but we loved them, too.

Excellent info! Many years ago I found out the hard way the EuroPass doesn't go through what was then the former Yugoslavia to Greece. Long story, and fortunately we made it to Greece with scary mishaps.

I've been wondering how you find the places that you see. Maybe a video on research tips? My friend and I hauled around thick paperback books that outlined what to see and do and cheap places to stay. Those books were great, and you tossed the pages as you went through countries. Now it's easy to do web research for an overview, but I'm wondering about the more detailed things to do/not miss/stay/etc.

In 2025 we traveled over 5,600 miles on European trains. The vast majority were on time, pleasant, clean and comfortable. You were so right about the overnight train experience. We thought riding the Night Jet from Milan to Vienna would be romantic - wrong. Don't do it. We did not realize that the accomodations were spartan. We didn't realize that bringing our own pillows and blankets would have been smart - who packs those when you're traveling light? The couchettes were covered with a coarse rug like fabric that caused both of us to have a mild allergic reaction resulting in swollen eyes the next morning. Every train station we passed during the night was intensely illuminated and the curtain in the cabin was not a "black out" curtain. It was like having car high beams aimed in your eyes at random intervals. There wasn't an outlet to charge our phones. The kids "next door" were up all night. And yes the bathroom was a shared one down the hall. Take a daytime train and enjoy the view. Save the romance for a swanky hotel.

Binge watching your videos on my day off! You guys are very inspiring ❤️

Excellent video. Jam packed with very useful information. Thanks!

Do you keep your backpacks at your seat since many luggage racs are by the doors?
Also, be careful of people trying to help. Over twenty years ago, we were on the wrong train in Italy. By the time we found out, we had to race many platforms away. We had 3 young children plus my older parents so I couldn't handle all the bags at that pace. Two men grabbed our bags to help and then shook me down for 80 Euros (they wanted more but I threatened to call the police and they left.

My wife and I are going to Europe end of 2027 for 3 months staying a week to ten days in each place. We noticed that the tickets from London to Paris and Paris to Munich are very expensive is there anyway around that? We do want to use the trains it's more relaxing than flying 🇦🇺

Thank you.

I have done two overnight trips on trains. One trip was a more budget, friendly trip, but my mom and I were able to share a compartment together. The other trip was on an expensive train with a nicer room. Had trouble sleeping on both these trains. It rattles around, goes around big curves. It’s slows down, then it speeds up. Ugh! I don’t think I’ll be doing overnight train trips ever again. Day trips are the way to go.

Oh, you know I really enjoyed this video! I love trains! Now I have to watch it again and make a note of those scenic routes you mentioned. I really liked learning about the rule of thumb for when to get a pass and when to book individual trips. That's basically how it worked out for me this past summer. When my son and I were going from Germany to Poland, German authorities did board and check passports. That was only time that happened in all of the trains I rode in 7 countries. Just FYI. See you soon!

We love European trains. Coming from New Zealand where we don't have a good train network. We have used many over the years. Our last trip was a month last year in Spain and Portugal 6 long train journeys and a couple of buses. All great. Your advice is very helpful but the site i find most useful for planning is the Seat 61 website, so much helpful info. I am interested by your recommendation of Omio and Railninja because other things I read have negative comments about them. In Spain I used trainline to compare options and then booked directly with the operators. Although Renfe schedules are a bit variable in when they are released the high speed services can be booked well in advance to get the best prices. Im looking forward to more train travel next year