Your questions: What’s the best way to book train tickets in Europe?

We will be spending time in London next June, then travelling by Eurostar to Brussels, followed by train to Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Vienna and finally Munich. Our hotels are all locked in, what’s the best way to book train tickets?
J. and J. Broadrick, North Geelong, VIC

Book at least a couple of months in advance to get cheaper train tickets in Europe.Credit: iStock

The simplest solution is to go online and make your bookings with Rail Europe. Most of your train journeys are relatively short and point-to-point tickets rather than rail passes will probably serve you better. Book at least a couple of months in advance and you can take advantage of lower-priced tickets, and make seat reservations wherever possible. You might also qualify for aged-based concessions. Luggage storage is often a problem on European trains, travel light and you’ll travel with a smile. For everything you could want to know about train travel in Europe see The Man in Seat 61 website.

Next April/May, a friend wants to brush up on her French and I suggested we travel together and take a cooking course somewhere in the countryside before having a week in Paris.
J. Hudson, Melbourne, VIC

Avignon and the Rhone River at sunset.Credit: iStock

In April/May I’d be looking for somewhere warm, where spring produce will be appearing in the village markets, and that points to Provence. Cuisine Centr’Halles offers cooking courses within Les Halles, the covered market in the city of Avignon. The course includes shopping for produce in the market before cooking, and finally a meal with wine pairing. These are relatively short courses and all in French, and if you wanted to alternate your culinary days with sightseeing and touring this could work well.

La Mirance is a luxury hotel also in Avignon that offers cooking and pastry classes and gourmet strolls with Provencal chefs. Meals are prepared on a 19th-century wood-fired oven. Patricia Wells is an American chef and author who runs one-week cooking classes from her farmhouse in the Cotes-du-Rhone region. Classes are geared for novices as well as experts looking to impress their dinner guests. Provence Gourmet offers non-residential cooking classes at several locations in Provence including Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and Saint-Remy-de-Provence.

We are a couple planning a one-week trip to Japan in April 2025 starting from either Tokyo or Osaka. One of us has a slight disability and can’t walk for more than 500 metres so walking tours might not be possible. What do you suggest?
J. Cheung, Adelaide, SA

Food tours often travel slowly with frequent stops and this is one option you might consider. Likewise garden tours and museum tours, and there are many options within these categories. There are also traditional hands-on experiences such as origami, flower arranging, calligraphy and tea ceremonies that do not require rigorous movement and these provide fascinating insights into Japanese culture.

However, transport, tours, hotels and restaurants can all present unique challenges for even slightly disabled travellers in Japan. My best suggestion is to discuss your needs with a specialist travel agency. Accessible Japan has suggestions for disabled tours in Japan while Inside Japan Tours has itineraries that can be customised to cater to your needs.

I’ve got a three-day work function in Malaga, Spain, in early April and then I’d like to stay on for an extra two and a half weeks. I like nature, walks, food and culture. Suggestions?
M. Temminghoff, Ocean Grove VIC

Within easy reach of Malaga, the Sierra Morena Nature Reserve in the north of the province of Seville is a range of undulating hills that span almost 400 kilometres from east to west. In the centre of the reserve, the Hornachuelos Sierra is a succession of plateaus and rugged gullies that form the watershed for the Guadalquivir River, creating a vast expanse of wilderness. In the eastern section, the Sierra de Andujar Nature Reserve is another deeply incised landscape dominated by oak and cork that form the largest areas of Mediterranean forest in Spain.

The Sierra Morena is a habitat for wild boar, deer, fox, badger, mongoose and otter. Bird species include black vultures, eagles and black storks. The Sierra’s centuries old paths, pilgrims’ trails and bridleways criss-cross the region, linking white-walled Andalucian villages and making it a haven for walkers. Check the Komoot website for suggested walks. Outdoor Active has suggestions for more demanding walks, some starting from the town of Andujar.

Seville offers a rich stew of tradition, atmosphere and extravagant architecture.Credit: iStock

For cultural highs, you’ve got a celebrated Islamic fortress-palace in Granada’s Alhambra, in Cordoba there’s the Mezquita, originally a pagan temple, later converted into the great mosque of the Ummayad caliphate and finally a Catholic church, a historic Jewish quarter and the Alcazar of the Catholic kings.

Seville is the historic capital of Andalusia a rich stew of tradition, atmosphere and extravagant architecture, home of flamenco, a fabulous alcazar with gardens created when this was the capital of Andalucia’s Moorish empire, the world’s third-largest Christian church and the Museo de Belllas Artes, second only to Madrid’s Prado in its treasure trove of artworks. As for food, you’re in one of the world’s hot spots, but avoid the obvious tourist traps.

Travel advice is general; readers should consider their personal circumstances.