The Yellow Train (Train Jaune) on Séjourné Bridge, France
After each journey, the boys were in great shape physically and emotionally — no moody fractiousness, no angst after the rigors of security and officialdom. Trains allowed them to move around (including to restaurant cars), face each other over a table (great for playing cards) and, of course, there was no dehydration, airplane pressurization, or those subtle stress-inducers, like ‘in the event of an emergency…’
Electric tourist train Bernese Oberland,Switzerland
As one of my sons told me, “As soon as I’m in the air, I want to be on the ground again. The train ride feels like it’s part of the holiday.”
It’s faster than you think
A French TGV (high-speed train) alongside the Mediterranean
VIDEO
INTERVIEW
38
Investment and electrification have made European rail networks among the best in the world. They’re comfortable,
VIDÉO
But perhaps the greatest time saving is made by cutting out airports. The Paris to Innsbruck journey serves as an excellent example. In Paris, instead of needing to be there two hours early for an international flight (intra-EU flights are not considered ‘domestic’), we arrive at the train station 30 minutes prior to departure, with time to enjoy coffee and croissants. I estimate this rail trip, door to door, was just 1.5 hours longer than it would have been if we had taken a flight. It was also infinitely more pleasant.
Happy family equals stress-free vacation After traveling by train across Europe, I’ve come to realize as much as I love flying, my sons don’t like it at all. Moreover, I’m always stressed getting the family onto a plane. Train travel left me the opposite of stressed — and that filtered down. With a happy family, the vacation was able to glide along smoothly like the SNCF double-decker train going at full clip across the AuvergneRhône-Alpes. Perhaps most significantly, our rail journeys offered a gentle transition from place to place, and with some 1,300 miles sliding past our window, we feel like we ‘saw Europe’ rather than experienced five separate destinations.
If you’ve got the time, I say get onboard.
No crowded airplane seats, the ability to get up and move around, the scenery ENTREVUE outside to entertain the kids – for this father, traveling by train as a family is ideal.
ENSEMBLE VAC ATIONS I SPRING 2021
MUSIC
timed to the second (so think hard about your connections), and high-speed trains can reach up to 185 mph.
MUSIQUE