Secret train carriage every Aussie needs to know about in Europe

There's a magical feature (almost like a time-machine) on trains in Europe that most Aussies either miss, or don't make the most of.

Forget the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum and the Camino de Santiago. There's only one pilgrimage you need to make in Europe, and it's probably not one you've ever heard of.

Pilgrim-osity piqued? It's a sacred site where beers bubble, rituals unfold, cheap ham rolls are guzzled, laughter peels and conversation murmurs (and occasionally rises to excitable yells). It's one where friends gather and strangers flirt. One where mountains and countryside rolls by. 

It's the train bar carriage. 

Train bars are one of life's great simple pleasures. But there's one 'hidden' (in plain sight) feature in them tourists don't know how to use.

This Narnia-type world exists on most long distance trains in Europe (think: the Eurostar). It also exists on many medium-distance trains in Spain and France. 

It's not accessible via the back of a wardrobe, but by an automatic sliding door which you have to wave your hand in front of (and sometimes, if the mechanism is faulty, press a button for it to open).

In Switzerland, the experience is even fancier... Image Credit: Edwina Hart

It usually has toilets nearby, and it's the perfect way to make a four hour trip feel like it only took ten minutes. 

In terms of what you can order, it depends on the country. But in Spain, where I have spent the most time on trains, you can typically order various kinds of baguettes (the most popular being ones with ham, or Spanish omelette inside them), as well as chips, coffee, tea and beer. 

Tourists (like myself) often don't realise this magic space exists. And - if you're seated on a carriage at the other end of the train - it's easy to miss.

Behold: Narnia!

But locals know how to use it to its full potential. On a recent 4 hour trip from the south of Spain to Madrid, I was sat in the carriage next to the bar cart, and watched a group of friends spend the entire journey eating, drinking and laughing, on their feet, around a small table, until the very end of the trip.

All it took to create this magic experience was a small silver table and a couple (hundred?) Cruzcampo beers.

If you're seated far away from the bar carriage, it can be easy to miss.

After placing numerous bets with myself as to how many more drinks they would order, I consistently got it wrong, they only departed the carriage when we were a couple of minutes away from Madrid.

As I sat jealously, lacking the extroversion to go have a drink on my own, and friends to go chat with, the trip dragging on, I realised: the train bar carriage - and those silver tables you huddle around - are basically time machines. 

So next time you're in Europe don't be like me. Take a chance, order a beer, and move at warp speed into the future!

Originally published as Secret train carriage every Aussie needs to know about in Europe