I visited eight European countries without flying, and loved it

It’s my last night in Lisbon, and I’m immersed in that most Portuguese of musical styles: fado.

The venue itself is extraordinary, the Pavilhao Chines bar being a former grocery store festooned with items including helmets, model aircraft, ceramic dolls, medals, and decorative plates, all dimly lit by chandeliers.

Back on track in Europe: my Eurail pass unlocks 15 days of nearly all first-class travel within two months.Credit: iStock

On a small stage in a back room are two male guitarists with soulful looks and a woman with a fine voice, performing songs whose lyrics and musical accompaniment famously speak of melancholy, loss, and longing.

It seems somehow appropriate for this long-time rail travel aficionado, who for a few years had been stalled in his tracks.

I’ve longed for a return to European travel, hopping almost immediately on a train, of course, once I finally got there, through those dark years of the pandemic.

Tomorrow I get to shunt all of that melancholy, loss, and longing aside boarding the first of 20 trains (yes, that’s right, 20) which will bear me more than 3000 kilometres, all the way from here in Lisbon to Belgrade. I want this 40-day journey to be a grand return, and to enjoy the sheer pleasure of seeing the continent unfold at ground level.

To that end, I’ve decided to track east from the Atlantic coast to Serbia in the heart of the Balkans, passing through Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro on the way.

I’ve spent much of my previous European travels in Northern Europe, so this southern route will provide the excitement of new places (in fact, the only city on my itinerary I’ve previously visited is Ljubljana, Slovenia).

Passing through eight countries, the trip will embrace Europe’s untold diversity and its unique convenience for international travel. Six of my countries are within the European Union and the border-free Schengen Zone, and seven use the euro for currency (the EU nations plus Montenegro).

This Europe trip by rail passes through eight countries.

My constant companion on this journey will be my Eurail pass with my journey encompassing 15 days of comfortable, nearly all first-class travel within two months. No paper is involved, as in the past. The pass sits on my phone within a trip planning app.

With train travel in Europe booming, I’ll be able to combine environmentally friendly travel, passenger comforts and scenic charms, for a great rail adventure.

Lisbon, Portugal to Madrid, Spain

After a number of days exploring the hilly Portuguese capital, catching its little yellow trams, drinking at rooftop bars sampling a little much of the local speciality – sour cherry liqueur Ginjinha – it’s time to embark on my epic sweep across the Continent.

The hilly Portuguese capital is packed with trams and funiculars.Credit: iStock

It is sadly no longer possible to take a sleeper train between Lisbon and Madrid. At odds with Europe’s boom in overnight rail travel, the service was cancelled permanently by Renfe, the Spanish rail operator. If you insist on completing the route by train, as, of course, I do, it’s an all-day trek via four regional services.

Utterly undaunted but a little fado-like melancholic about not being able to travel aboard a sleeper and clutching a classy packed breakfast from my Lisbon hotel, The Lumiares, I arrive at Santa Apolonia Station for my first train: InterCity 121 to Entroncamento.

In the first class carriage the black-upholstered seats are arranged in a 1-2 configuration, as is the case for most first-class sections I’ll ride in.

On reaching Entroncamento, I wander around, mystified, until a station worker directs me to my next train: the craftily hidden RE 481, a single carriage with a soothing aquamarine paint scheme.

It’s here I meet Andre and Emi from Melbourne (and regular Traveller readers to boot) who are also taking these rails less travelled to Madrid. Before we slide across the border to Badajoz, Spain, we savour the scenery that includes grapevines, colourfully-tiled, distinctively Portuguese stations and even the occasional small castle.

After lunch, I take two Spanish trains (who’d have thought it’d be easier getting between Melbourne and Sydney by train than it is Lisbon and Madrid?).

First RE 18777, a straightforward regional service to Puertollano, then AVANT 8191, a mid-distance high-speed train. It’s aboard this that I triumphantly arrive – though seated backwards – at Madrid’s splendid Atocha station, distinguished by its internal tropical garden.

Madrid to Barcelona, Spain

Autumn foliage in Madrid’s beautiful El Retiro Park.Credit: iStock

Madrid is an attractive, sunny city, and from a tiny Airbnb apartment in central Lavapies I inspect the art treasures of the Prado, devour tapas, and visit the beautiful El Retiro Park.

On departure, it’s clear that high-speed train travel has adopted aspects of air travel: passengers are not allowed to enter the departure area until 90 minutes beforehand, then queue to pass through security.

After my sleek, streamlined AVE train 3113 leaves Madrid, the countryside empties, the landscape dominated with craggy hills dotted with green scrub, and I sink contentedly in my reclining leather seat, my first proper taste of first-class travel.

At lunchtime I shuffle along to the cafe car inside one of the train carriages and buy a meal of bocadillo (Spanish sandwich) with chicken, camembert and caramelised onions, which I devour at a narrow bench while the northern Spanish landscape rushes by.

Barcelona to Lyon, France

Barcelona is a feast of the senses and the tastebuds with its cuisine ranging from its high-grade jamon to its irresistible churros, essentially fried dough made from flour, water, and salt.

Before my next train, there’s enough time to also make a pilgrimage to the legendary Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi’s great unfinished work, the Sagrada Familia church, not far from my glamorous lodgings at the Claris Hotel.

Soon enough I’m back at Barcelona Sants Station to catch a French train: the TGV 9708 service to Nimes, where I’ll change for TGV 9864 to Lyon. My Premiere Classe seat is upstairs on a double-deck carriage. The train threads its way through hilly green countryside via several tunnels and when it emerges from them at regular intervals, tantalising glimpses of the Mediterranean are revealed.

The TGV’s lunch menu includes dishes devised by celebrity chef Thierry Marx. I opt for gnocchetti with peas, broad beans and a sauce made from gruyere and cantal cheese.

For a more than reasonable €15.90 ($25.90) this delicious repast comes with a drink and a little lemon cake.

Changing at Nimes, once an outpost of the Roman Empire, I arrive at last at Lyon Part-Dieu Station, from which I use the local metro system to reach the grand Hotel Le Royal, my welcome home before my next departure.

Lyon to Verona, Italy

Lyon is on my itinerary ostensibly because it offers good rail connections, but it is also home to marvellous cuisine, including fine salami-like sausage, and a fascinating network of traboules, once-secret covered passageways dating to as early as the fourth century.

The reward for nearly freezing to death on the platform are views of the Italian Alps.Credit: iStock

The direct trains to Milan, en route to Verona, were sold out when I first tried to book a seat, so I first take what amounts to a cross-country ramble aboard the TER 18503 to Chambery.

Here I shiver on the chilly platform as I wait for the bright red Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) train FR 9281, whose business class interior has beige decor and comfortable wide leather-covered seats.

The reward for nearly freezing to death back at Chambery are the views that unfold before the FR 9281 as we approach the Alps, with the train passing through a series of villages framed with spectacular mountain backdrops.

The Italian attendants have the sharpest uniforms yet. One of them hands me a complimentary snack box with a small sandwich, a pastry and soft drinks, then on request produces an impressive espresso from some unseen machine. This is an excellent welcome to Italy, and I haven’t even reached it yet.

At Milano Centrale Station, an overbearing structure opened in 1931 under Benito Mussolini’s regime, I switch to FR 9735. From here it’s an easy run of just over an hour to Verona.

Verona to Venice and Bologna, Italy

I’m in Verona, the Italian city famed for being the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, for five days, slowing everything down after several days on the tracks since leaving Lisbon.

There’s time to properly explore the city as well as utilising it as a handy base for enjoyable side-trips – by train, of course – to other equally fascinating places. After the chilly blast in France, the weather has mercifully heated up again, remaining warm for the rest of my journey.

On a Friday morning I catch another Freciarossa train, FR 9705, for the 75-minute journey to Venezia Santa Lucia. Stepping out, it’s Venice in excelsis – with teeming gondolas, ferries and the city’s exquisite architecture on display only a short-distance from the station.

I catch a ferry past the industrial south of the city to a quiet landing, from where I walk to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a fascinating modern art museum. After that, I cross St Mark’s Square and wander north through charming alleys and squares to Bar All’Arco, an old-school eatery at which locals and canny outsiders devour cicchetti – delectable Venetian-style small savoury snacks or side dishes – and sip wine at narrow counters.

Two days later, I employ my ever-trusty electronic Eurail pass more casually, by visiting Bologna aboard regional trains with no seat reservation requirements. After strolling to Osteria dell’Orsa, a restaurant I’ve been advised serves the best ragu in the city, I snag a single table and order and savour a marvellous and agreeably affordable, dish of ragu tagliatelle.

Verona to Zagreb, Croatia

This supposedly three-train day actually requires four. First, FR 9707 zips me past green fields and old farmhouses, before curving along cliffs high above the Adriatic to enter Trieste, Italy.

At Trieste Centrale I find my next train, a dose of nostalgia. It’s an old-school EuroCity, one of a network of international express services formed in the 1980s.

EC 135 will take me from Trieste to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where I’ll disembark before it proceeds to the Austrian capital of Vienna. Seat reservations on this train aren’t compulsory, so I haven’t bothered and, as eventuates, there are plenty of unreserved wide black seats in the first class carriage.

The train is soon off to Vienna – or so we passengers believe. After a short run over the border to Slovenia, we’re instructed to switch to a local train terminating at Ljubljana. This changeling trundles through increasingly beautiful countryside, with wooded hills framing pleasant villages with steeply pitched roofs, while in the distance stand snow-capped mountains.

I have three hours in the city, so stow my backpack in a station locker then walk to the nearby Ljubljanica River, the castle above it guiding me to sunny beer gardens. Later, back at the lovely 19th century station, I board the EC 213 to Zagreb, with its first-class carriage compartments each containing inviting quartets of black armchair-like seats.

Alone in one, I’m rewarded with the most impressive ride of the entire journey with the railway between the Slovenian and Croatian capitals following the course of the Sava River, revealing villages tucked between rocky slopes beside this picturesque waterway.

The setting sun over the EC 213 completes an unforgettable scene as I dine on a sandwich and borek, the famous Balkan pastry, bought earlier.

Solkan Bridge: the journey to Slovenia takes in an increasingly beautiful countryside.Credit: iStock

Zagreb to Split, Croatia

The Croatian capital is a delight, scattered with graceful architecture from its years within the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its culinary highlights to be found particularly in the sprawling Dolac Market. The city is also home to the curious Museum of Broken Relationships.

Though Split is over six hours away by rail, Croatian Railways’ train 523 is a barely adequate regional train with limited luggage space. The first-class section strongly resembles second class, with the same blue seats.

It’s only later that I realise the only difference – in first class you can raise your armrest. Yet the set of eight seats contains a sociable bunch: three Brits, a Brazilian, and a Croatian who’s carrying a huge bottle of homemade rakija (the powerful local brandy) to a party along the way.

To reach the coast, we climb hills and traverse green valleys studded with stony outcrops. As the light fades, the train passes the impressive Knin fortress and by 10pm it slides into Split’s shabby station, near my accommodation, the elegant Hotel Fermai.

Split to Dubrovnik. Croatia

After a weekend exploring the fascinating maze of passages within Split’s old town, located within a former Roman palace, I’ve run out of rail. So I take to the sea aboard a catamaran operated by Krilo which cruises down the Adriatic coast on a calm, sunny day, calling at islands on the way.

In Dubrovnik I’m staying at the historic Hotel Excelsior. Built in 1913, it’s perched on a hillside with views of the sea, and of the old town which Game of Thrones fans will immediately identify as King’s Landing. It’s the perfect place for a rest as I near the end of my rail odyssey.

Dubrovnik to Belgrade, Serbia

Dubrovnik’s old town is stunning, but packed with tourists.Credit: iStock

Dubrovnik’s old town is stunning. I enjoy wandering its streets, admiring its gorgeous limestone architecture and learning about its history. But I’m also looking forward to going somewhere with fewer tourists.

Catching a bus, I cross into Montenegro and have my passport stamped at an international border for the first time in five weeks. After five hours on narrow, twisting roads with stunning views of sea and mountains, the bus drops me at the seaside town of Bar.

From here I intend to catch sleeper train 432 to Belgrade, capital of Serbia. A nation-building project of the former Yugoslavia, this railway took two decades to build and opened in 1976.

It’s impossible to buy tickets in advance online and I’m nervous about availability. But I’m in luck: there’s a couchette available within a compartment of six, for a supplement to the Eurail pass of a mere €8.

On boarding the ageing sleeper carriage, I discover a lower bunk with a mattress, a blanket, a grubby pillow, and rough but clean linen. The toilet at the end of the carriage has no paper and no seat but at least it’s clean.

Passengers line the windows on the corridor side as the train trundles along the coast before it turns inland past rugged mountains. It’s relaxing to join them all, taking in the scenery in the fading light.

It’s about 11pm when we receive the customary visits by Montenegrin then Serbian border guards, and it’s only after seeing them that I get some sleep. Waking early, I spot Orthodox churches and busy regional towns through the window, before we pull into Beograd Centar Station just after 7am.

Stepping from my last train, I’ve completed my epic rail journey, with the promise of one final compelling European city to explore.

I haven’t had to endure a single cramped, delayed, stressful flight all the way from Lisbon. Had I flown non-stop it would have taken less than four hours to be here in Belgrade. But speed has been beside the point. Truly, this is the real way to travel.

THE DETAILS

Ride
Eurail passes cover a wide range of time periods. A popular choice is 15 days of travel within two months, costing $US440 ($668) for second class travel and $US557 for first class. The classic paper version of the pass is still available, but has a big disadvantage compared with the digital version: if lost or stolen, it cannot be replaced. The paper pass also requires you to set a travel start date at time of purchase, while the digital version is more flexible.

Stay
The Vintage, Lisbon, from €159 a night, thevintagelisbon.com; The Lumiares, Lisbon, €349, thelumiares.com; Claris Hotel, Barcelona, €260, hotelclaris.com; Hotel Le Royal, Lyon, €280, lyonhotel-leroyal.com; Ark Hotel, Verona, €110, arkhotel.it; Movenpick Zagreb, €110, all.accor.com; Heritage Hotel Fermai, Split, €130, hotelfermai.com; Hotel Excelsior, Dubrovnik, €250, adriaticluxuryhotels.com; Hotel Moskva, Belgrade, €87, hotelmoskva.rs

Take
Luggage allowances on European trains are generous (both Spain’s and France’s high-speed trains allow three items each), but it’s best to travel light as luggage space can vary. There’s generally room for smaller items on overhead racks, and for larger cases at the end of carriages (and sometimes behind seats). For security, lock suitcases and keep valuables such as passports with you at your seat.

Five tips for train travel in Europe

• Not all long-distance trains have onboard catering, so check ahead and buy snacks if needed.
• Be spontaneous. If you have a rail pass, use a travel day to ride unreserved local trains on a random day-trip.
• Beware overcharging “pirate taxis” outside major railway stations. Instead, book a taxi or ride-share using your phone.
• Travel by sleeper train where available, it costs a reservation fee but saves a night in a hotel.
• Major railway stations have an annoying habit of charging for public toilet use. Go on the train if you can!

Tim Richards travelled courtesy of Eurail, Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Airbnb, and Accor.