All You Need To Know About European Trains - Travel Talk #1

In our first episode of Travel Talk, Brian and Will talk about all you need to know about European trains. How early should you arrive at the station? What's the difference between international trains and regional trains? What do I do with my luggage? How to protect yourself from scams, and so much more!

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Transcript

00:00
It's Travel Talk by the Travel Agents Your go-to for travel tips and the latest news

00:10
Will, here in the United States, we're not a big train country, are we? We are not, no. And then we go to Europe as Americans thinking like, well, how hard can that be? Right. Well, it's not that hard, that's the good news. With that said, there's some tips. And I thought we could just go over what it looks like to go to Europe and ride the train. Yeah, and this is gonna be the very first of our Travel Talk series. The idea with this series is just to really include some bite-sized pieces of information.

00:40
with no like overarching plan, just trying to take like a small topic and really answer and give some more clarity and information on these small topics. So with that said, today, our very first travel talk, we want to talk about trains in Europe and everything you need to know about trains in Europe. And Brian, you're going to lead us on this one today. Here we go, man. Riding trains in Europe is so much fun. It's an excursion in and of itself. Absolutely.

01:06
a lot of train trips within Europe are in that sweet spot of two to three hours, just connecting city to city. Yeah, quick pro tip. Hotel checkouts almost always between 11am and noon and hotel check in is almost always between two and 3pm in Europe. So I like taking trains that leave at like 1130 or noon. It kind of screws with your lunch, but you could have lunch on the train or at late lunch when you arrive, but it's a place to be when you have no place to lie your head.

01:35
check out and check in, you're maximizing that time. When it comes to taking a train in Europe, it's like first thing I'm thinking about is the ticket, right? The biggest question I get is, Brian, should I get a pass? I hear about these Euro passes or the Swiss pass or the Italian pass. I've looked in the passes a lot. Here's what I found. If you're European, the pass is a pretty good deal. If you're under 26 years old, the pass is a pretty good deal.

02:05
If you're not European and you're over 26 like we are, maybe the pass is not the best deal. Also, if you plan on being in Switzerland for 30 days and you have no plan, you're just going to kind of see where the wind takes you. Maybe look at a pass. If you're going Venice, Florence, Rome, and we're organizing private chauffeur transfers and you have a hotel that's booked and confirmed and ready and waiting for you, your butt needs to be on that train.

02:34
Yeah, so book point to point tickets and you're gonna save like 70% right because you're not just looking to just looking to travel anywhere No, you're spending two nights in Venice three nights in Florence three nights in Rome three nights in the Amalfi Coast You need these very specific trains. You don't just want a pass to take you anywhere. You want to be on those trains, right? Yeah, so should you pre plan your tickets and buy them in advance or are you kind of good to just stroll up to?

03:03
to Waverly Station in Edinburgh and say, Hey, you know what? I'm going to buy me a ticket to London today. Well, there's unlike the United States, there's so many trains in Europe, so many, so many, so many. So take a very popular route on an express train like Rome to Florence. You want that booked 90 days in advance. Yeah. London to Paris on the Euro star. You want that booked ahead of time. Now let's say you're in Florence and you wake up that morning and say, you know what, I want to go to Pisa or Cinque Terre.

03:31
or Sienna or Chianti. Guess what? There's no fast high speed trains that take you there. These are called regional trains. They kind of look like public buses. There's no seat assignments. You walk on, if there's an open seat, you sit there. If it's taken, you keep walking. Are those more maybe familiar? Maybe they're more similar to like a subway in New York or Boston. Bingo. Something like that. Just like a subway in New York or Boston or Chicago or something like that. There's, you just.

04:01
It doesn't sell out. You just buy a ticket and if there's room, you get on it. There's not room. You don't. Right. Just picture like the, the subways in Tokyo where there's just like, they're just packed and then they just spill out. What city was it where they had shovels? They shove people. Oh yeah. It has to be Tokyo. It has to be. Yeah. Um, like, like an instrument that shove people into the subway. Yeah. In case it's on YouTube. So when, when as a travel agent, about 99% of what I, we sell

04:29
are point to point tickets. So for example, you are on the train from Venice to Florence leaving at 11am. You are in train card number two, you are in seats three A and three B. Right? That's a ticket. Your booty is assigned to that seat. Now the ticket that I give you is a QR code or a barcode. And that's your ticket. Yeah, right.

04:58
For those who get the pass, the month long or the year long pass, there's no barcode. You have to do that. Pass doesn't just get you on any train. You have to make a seat reservation with your pass. So when you go to the Rome or Florence, I keep doing Italy, Italy, because, hey, we do a lot of Italy. This also works for France and Germany. All of them. Yeah. So you go to the train station. First thing you're going to see, let's pick the Rome train station.

05:26
You're going to see these like 15 or 20 little kiosks. They look like ATM machines, right? You walk up to it and, uh, you have to.

05:37
fumble around and get a reservation. If you're one of my clients, chances are I've sold you a point to point ticket for a much less expensive price. You have a barcode, you are on that train. Do not go up to those kiosks and mess around. That's not for you. You're gonna freak yourself out, you're gonna start sweating because you don't understand it. Those kiosks are for people with the passes.

06:06
who need to go up to the kiosk and reserve, because they have the pass, doesn't mean they can get on any train. They have to then use the pass, type in their code, activate it, and get on that specific train. Tell the pass they want that train. And usually they have to pay a fee to get on that particular train too. So I'm not so sure these passes are a great idea. Someone could call me out on that. I like the point-to-point tickets. You are expected to be on

06:31
This train at this time and you already have seats assigned together with your names on it. Yeah, it's really nice and and maybe you could correct me on this but I had a client who We booked her ticket for 8 20 a.m But she actually needed to go on the 9 20 a.m train and it was like Innsbruck to I think somewhere in Switzerland so Austria to Switzerland and

07:00
I reached out to the train company and I asked them, hey, is this good for all day or do they have to be here at the 820? And the train company said, hey, you actually, you have that spot, it's secured. You can use it for the 920 departure as long as you don't use it for the 820 departure. So there's a little bit of flexibility and that could just be with that Austrian train company. True, true, you're right. So maybe, if by chance you miss your train, don't freak out.

07:29
there is a good possibility that because you didn't use that ticket, you're going to be good for that next incoming train. You can contact the company and get that policy. A lot of the Swiss trains I sell, it's a 72 hour rule. You have committed to taking the train from Zurich to Lucerne sometime within the 72 hour window. Yeah. So if you decide to change your plans and go six hours later or 24 hours later, go for it. You're allowed on, right? That's kind of weird. Yeah. Yeah.

07:57
So your travel agent can help you with that. Let's talk, so that's all about the ticket. Let's talk about getting to the station. So for flights, we say get there two to three hours early, depending on where you're going and the busyness and the day and the time and all that. With trains, there's international trains and there's regional trains. Regional trains, like my example of Florence to Pisa, which is like the next town over, you could show up 20 minutes.

08:26
prior, plenty of time. When you're going on a high speed train, like Rome to Milan, you wanna get there probably 45 minutes early. When you're going across countries like London to Paris, which is England to France, you wanna get there an hour to an hour and a half before time, because you actually clear customs. That's a very specific train, you clear customs before you even get on it.

08:51
What about within the EU countries? Because, you know, the UK is no longer in the EU. Is it OK if I'm in Paris and I want to go to, let's say, Amsterdam or Brussels? One time I took a train from Switzerland to Italy. And as we got near the border, they brought on some like a customs agent, two customs agents who did a very random check. Oh, OK. Actually skipped over me and Steve and went to like some people next to us. It was like.

09:17
It's like no rhyme like every 20 people, they picked one person, checked their passport and then they got off. That's what kept going. Interesting. Yeah. So it's a lot faster compared to maybe going from London to Paris. Right, right. So actually, we didn't need to get there early at all. Yeah, it was like an OK train. We happened to cross borders here. Right. So you it's almost it's almost like going from Ohio to Indiana. So maybe use that 45 minute rule. I would say so. OK.

09:46
So let's say you get to the train station 45 minutes early. The first thing you're gonna do as an American tourist, just like anyone, including myself, is you get to that train station, you got your suitcases in your hand, and your eyes are gonna go straight up that giant, beautiful blackboard hanging from the ceiling with all the different departure times listed, usually in green or yellow letters, right? It's impressive. They're giant, they're huge, they're hanging from the ceiling, and everyone's eyes goes up to look at them.

10:16
And, you know, they're going to cities like Milan, Innsbruck, Geneva, Oslo, Amsterdam, Heidelberg, right all over the place. And it's kind of exciting to see where all these like different trains go. I think that's cool. Yeah. And you're not going to see your train. And you're going to start to sweat and freak out a little bit pupils will dilate.

10:42
your face will get flushed. Are you speaking from experience? It happens to everyone. You start getting real nervous because your train is not listed. Yeah. Because the trains only show up like 25 minutes before their departure. This is always the case. Yeah. And I have, it's funny, because even though I know this and I've given this speech dozens of times when I show up to the train station and my train's not listed and I'm there an hour prior. Yeah.

11:11
I get a little tense. Yeah, of course. And then guess what? It always shows up. 25 minutes prior. There it is. Nice. There's my train. Now, when your train shows up, let's say I'm in Milan and I'm going to Rome. OK. I'm going to Rome, but that train is going all the way to Salerno. OK. So that train, my train shows up.

11:41
I'm sitting there in the Milan train station and it shows up as this train to Salerno. I think that's not my train. I'm going to Rome. Well that train is also stopping in Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples. Got all those connections. That's the last stop, Salerno. What you look for is the train number. I'm on the Italo train, 8870.

12:07
I'm on the Fretchi Arosa train 9924, right? For example, that train number stays the exact same the entire journey, no matter where it stops. So don't look for the city you're going to, look for the train number. Yeah, okay. Then 25 minutes prior, that train shows up on that beautiful blackboard and you say, okay, it's gonna tell you what platform you go to.

12:31
Take Munich train station in Germany, huge train station, 36 platforms, I believe, 36. Talk about a lot of trains coming in and out, right? Rome has like late to high 20s, right? It's a lot. City like Florence maybe only has about 14. Venice maybe only about 12. Other cities maybe only one or two different platforms. Platform is the key word here because that platform is where the train comes into. Now.

12:59
Let's say you're in car number three seats. For a and for B, right. You and your husband are there. Great. That's great. So you go to that platform 25 minutes prior, because now you know that your train train number nine nine two four is coming into platform six. You run over the platform, you briskly walk to platform six. You get ready. You are excited.

13:27
And you're in car number three. So where the heck do you stand? Great question. Well, no one knows. Let's say that train comes in and the first car is car number one. That's perfect. You want to go to car number three and get in. Well, once I was in car number two and the train came in, I looked at that first train and it said 24, I walked a little bit. It said 23. I walked a little further. It said 22. I'm in car number two. Oh, like crap all the way to the back.

13:57
It came in backwards. Yeah. And these trains connect in deep, deep connect, disconnect all the time. Yeah. Coming forwards and backwards into stations. Right. So you don't know, and they don't tell you, is that train coming in forwards or backwards? So in my case, I start moving real quick because I got to get to train car number two. Yeah. And I'm moving fast and it says like 18, 17. I'm now I'm like kind of doing like a light jog.

14:26
Yeah, I get to 12, 11. Then I'm like getting weird for it. And I hear that they come out with the whistle. The train whistle. OK, we're closing the doors. And I'm at number five. And I say to the the what do they call the people who conductors? Yeah, I say I'm on cart like she's like, get on, get on. I'm like, yeah, but I'm in number two. She's like, just get on. You can walk through all the train cars once you're on board.

14:55
Yeah, which I think I knew that but I didn't yeah, you kind of freak out a little bit Yeah, so you get onto the train now getting onto the train pretty much every European train I've been on the wheel has two to three large steps to get up. They're not for the faint of heart these are large steps and Like cabin attendants, they're not allowed to help you with your luggage. Ah So you if you're carrying a 50 pound bag or two 70 pound bags. I don't know why you would right?

15:24
Yeah, there's really no weight limit in Europe to the bags. You are in charge of getting your own bags on. Interesting. OK, I want a country like Romania. You might get someone who offers to help you. That person wants a tip. Yeah, they don't actually work for the train company. They're just hanging out. Yeah, because that's the thing with train stations. Big, beautiful, open places that are free to the public to hang out. Interesting. So keep that in mind.

15:53
Anyone whether you're a millionaire or you're experiencing homelessness You can go hang out at a train station from like 24 7. Go ahead. So I have two things I want to bring out one you brought up suitcases. What is the situation like on trains with suitcases? What do you do with them? Is there a designated area? I kind of loft my stuff in love it So you've just lugged your suitcase up these two or three large steps now

16:20
You found you, you're in the right car. Maybe you had to walk through a couple cars, that's okay. But you get to your car, you find your seat, you're ready to put your suitcase down. Where do you put it? Here's how it works. These train cars in Europe have these steel metal racks above your head like bars, right? And you can A, lift your suitcase, maybe it's 50 pounds, maybe less, maybe more, above your head.

16:50
Onto these steel racks which can hold your 50 hundred pounds suitcase, right? Yeah. Yeah, these things are steel They're sturdy. They hold it. Yeah, they can hold lots. I Do that that way I can always look up. I have eyes on my bag. Yeah, or There was a handful of elderly people on my last train. I've been on a lot of these trains I'm just thinking of my last one which happened to be from Milan to Rome and One I helped a couple put their bag up. I was happy to do that

17:19
But a lot of the people adults elderly people at the front and back of each train car. There's luggage compartments Okay, and you can put your bags. Is that first come first serve? Absolutely plenty of space though. Here's what I don't like The train makes many stops people come on people come off people come on people come off on and off on and off If you're in the middle of the train car in your suitcase is 15 rows behind you

17:48
and the train stops, lets people on and off. Did anyone hop off the train with your suitcase? How do you know? You don't, unless you stand up and go stand by it. That's not fun. In some trains, half the cars face forward, half the cars face backwards. And since we talked about how the train vacillates, sometimes it pulls into the station, sometimes it pulls forward, backwards. It's hard to tell if your train's gonna go forward or backwards, you're seeing.

18:17
What I'm getting at is when you're back to back with someone sitting on the train, where the two seat headrests meet, in between that is a slot. And you can slide your suitcase in there first come first serve. I've seen first come first serve, I've seen a lot of that. No lifting required, but it's right behind you or in front of you. That's quite nice. Yeah, that's really nice. Three different areas to put your suitcase, but you're in charge of finding where to put your suitcase. So...

18:44
This is my last question unless you have something else that you want to talk about We talked about Regional trains and what they're like in the interior and what that experience might be they're very similar to like a subway that you might See in New York or Boston What is it like for these high-speed trains? How are they different because they're really different. They're very nice one spend the extra 15 to 30 dollars to upgrade to first class. They'll be worth so every penny

19:13
get free Wi-Fi, you get drinks and snacks, extra leg room, extra leg room, a wider seat, USB port as well as a plug, European plug, so have your adapter with you. Yeah. Super comfortable, nice tray table, you can get some work done in the free Wi-Fi. Also upgrading to first class, like here's what I'll say, as I'm walking through the second class cars to get to my first class cars,

19:43
There's popcorn all over the ground. There's people with animals. There's kids' body parts hanging into the aisles as they're sleeping, arms and legs hanging into the aisle that I'm stepping over with my suitcase trying to get to my first class car. So that's why I tell people, spend the extra 15, 20 bucks a piece and just go first class. So huge fan, very comfortable, very comfortable. You get that business class leg room.

20:08
These are not expensive trains, you know Rome to Milan. I think I paid 40 bucks. Yeah, they're super reasonable Also, I got to Milan train station about an hour 15 minutes early for $12 will $12. I got access to the lounge of the train. Oh super secure Good like it's not like people stealing your stuff You get to over stand up on the second floor overlooking the train station beautiful views great pictures. You can see that

20:37
Blackboard with all the times. Yeah, so when your train comes now you can start heading down. Yeah They had a cappuccino machine freshly squeezed orange juice snacks People to talk to nice couches. It was lovely Pay for the lounge Actually, I thought of one more thing. Yeah anything because there are sleeper trains. You know that's right. Yes, that's and they're very These these compartments for these sleeper trains are very different from the rest of the compartments sure

21:07
And you've had experiences with clients going on these, but neither of us have yet to experience a sleeper train. I'll experience it in August and I'll let you know how that was. But from your client's perspective, those that have done these sleeper trains, how did they feel about that? Sleeping on a train is so, it sounds so romantic. It's so nice. You also don't have to pay for a hotel that night. You're killing two birds with one stone.

21:32
There's trains that leave Amsterdam at 9 p.m. They get into Munich the next morning at 8 a.m. How nice is that? Don't have to worry about a motel and you get to enjoy a train and get to sleep in it. How fun, your own private car. The first person I ever put on that, they came back and I said, Brian, the trip you planned for us was amazing. Don't ever put us on a sleeper car again in Europe. The second person I put on it said, Brian, we love the trip, that whole sleeper car thing. That was the worst part.

22:02
The third set of clients I put on it said, hey, Brian, that whole sleeper car thing, nah, we're glad we did it, but never again. And I just had clients do it last week and they came back. I followed up with them two days ago, yesterday. Yeah. And I said, hey, how was that sleeper car? They said, you know what? We did it, but we don't need to do it again. What was the overrunning theme? It's like a college dorm room.

22:25
Very skinny, much smaller than a twin mattress. And it's bunk beds. So let's say you have a couple who happens to be in their 60s or 70s, one person's climbing up the ladder to get to their skinnier than twin size mattress bed, which is not as comfortable as a twin size mattress. And it's dorm room material. Yeah, okay, yeah, that's very sweet. That sounds romantic, and don't get me wrong.

22:51
The prestige class on the via rail from Toronto to Jasper, which is $4,000 a person. That's incredible, right? Sounds awesome. Some of the ones in Japan I've seen look awesome. All I'm saying is the night jet, sleeper cars in Europe, sure looks romantic, the pictures look awesome, and maybe for kids it's great. I'm just gonna say all the feedback I'm getting is not romantic. Okay, well awesome. Do you have any other things that you wanna talk about with the trains?

23:21
Unlike flights, I can fall asleep on flights. And when we land in the destination, I wake up. We're there. Yeah. And if I don't wake up, someone's going to wake me up. Like flight attendant. Yeah. On the train, the train keeps going. If you don't get off. Yeah. And some of these stations are confusing. Like take Venice for Venice Island, the station you want to get off at is called Venice, Saint Lucia. But right before Venice, Saint Lucia is a station in Venice, Mestre.

23:46
So people see the word Venice or Venezia in Italian and they get off at Venice Mestri and they've gotten off 10 minutes too soon. And they're freaking out because their hotel's not there. Same with Florence, there's a couple stations in Florence. Are you going to Florence Santa Maria Novella? Are you going to Florence Campo dei Marti? I forget the name of it, right? So look at your ticket, your travel agent should remind you, this is the name of the station you want. The beautiful thing is when you arrive at these stations,

24:13
big giant letters there in the station. It's telling the passengers, this is the station you're at. You are at Florin Santa Maria Novella train station. And so you know to get off. Yeah. Perfect. Whew. Trains are fun. Yeah, dude, trains are... They're a bear. It's a lot. There's a lot going on with them. And when you, why, last thing, I'm so sorry. No, it's okay. I gotta say it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember, these train stations are not airports. Anyone, I mean, like, it's not a secure area. Right.

24:42
Anyone can hang out there. Okay, and it's known to have pickpocketers and people who doing scams or tricks. Okay Favorite scheme of mine is someone says hey Can you take a picture of me and they hand you their phone and you say of course who wouldn't right? Yeah, as they go to hand it to you. They drop it and They pick it up and it's shattered an iPhone shattered screen and they go ballistic until the tourist says

25:08
feels guilty, like as if you dropped it. Yeah. You feel bad, like, oh my gosh, I really didn't mean to. Yeah. And then you pull some money out of your pocket and go to him and say, here, just, I feel bad. Okay. There you go. That's a good one to know. And when you're at that train station, looking up at that beautiful blackboard with all those different train departures, your eyes are not on your luggage. It's a great time to steal from you, especially when you look like a tourist with all that luggage. Yeah. And you look freaked out because you don't see your train.

25:37
and you keep looking at that board. I'm a pickpocketer. I'm going to take your luggage right then. Yeah. On that day. On that trains are awesome. Trains are awesome. So have fun. Enjoy. Yeah. This is our first travel talk. Let us know what you guys think. If you guys have specific questions you want to ask us as travel agents, hit that link below. You can reach out to us. You can literally text us and send us a message.

26:05
and let us know if there's something that you want us to cover in one of these travel talks, this is what this is for. We're here to answer questions. We're here to talk about these popular things that we see all the time as travel agents. We'd love to open it up for our community, those who are following us. So if you have questions and you want some direction, reach out to us, link below. All right, guys. So with that said, Brian, anything else, my friend? Nope. Have fun. That concludes this travel talk.

26:45
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