
For the final part of my journey, I’d been initially looking to stay in Brussels so I could connect with the Eurostar train back to London. But being such a compact country means there are plenty of better, less busy and cheaper options nearby. I’d previously ticked off the tourist towns of Bruges and Antwerp,…

One of the joys of using a rail pass is the ability to stick a pin in a map and choose a fairly random destination. I knew little about Dinant in Belgium, other than it looked very picturesque. From Metz, my route involved going briefly back into Luxembourg which wasn’t an entirely pleasant experience. I…

Departing from Luxembourg should have been a relatively easy task – there are frequent direct trains to Metz in France, just 63km to the south. But the French railways company, SNCF, doesn’t like to make life easy – ever. Even with a rail pass, there is a mandatory reservation fee of at least €12. But…

When choosing a location for a journey, I’ll often look for a place I’ve not been before. It’s amazing just how many locations are relatively close by, yet almost always overlooked. Luxembourg was one of those places. It always seemed like a small place – it covers just over 2,500 square kilometres and has a…

Discovering three cities in a single day isn’t usually achievable, but in designing this trip I’ve opted for destinations that aren’t too far apart. So, after the briefest of looks around Utrecht and Gouda, it’s s lunchtime departure for the two and a half hour journey to Mechelen in Belgium. It’s just half an hour…

Regular readers will know that in recent years my travels have turned towards Europe and sustanability, namely using rail as my main form of transport. So perhaps it’s not that surprising to find myself in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Because this is the home of Eurail, the company that sells rail passes to people…