Travelling the World by Train
Hi! My name’s Izzy and I’m from the UK. Last week, I jumped on the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam. After two nights in the Netherlands, I was soaring away on a new train to Berlin. I enjoyed four days in Germany before my final train carried me here, to Warsaw!
It was environmental concern that motivated me to travel to Poland by train. I always try to be as eco-friendly as possible: I recycle what I can, I only buy second-hand clothes, and I don’t eat meat. However, when both travel and the environment are very close to your heart, it can sometimes feel like your values are in conflict. If I jump on a plane to see the other side of the world, I am damaging the planet as I explore it, since air travel accounts for 2.5% of global carbon emissions.
For me, the answer was simple: I would travel the world by train. This would reduce my carbon footprint significantly – in fact, an independent study commissioned by Eurostar found that choosing to travel from London to Paris by train instead of plane reduces carbon emissions per passenger by 90%!
So, I booked my train tickets and prepared to travel Europe by rail. The threat of global warming was my only motivation for making this decision, but as I set out on my first train, I realised that there are so many other reasons why train travel is the best way to see the world – and here are just a few:
1. You gain a sense of the ground that you are covering.
When you travel by train, you gain a sense of the distance that you are crossing in order to reach a new country. As I moved from London to Warsaw, I traversed countries, watched landscapes shift and heard the language used around me change. Whilst plane travel lifts you out of one place and deposits you somewhere totally new, train travel gives you a sense of how big the world is, which is a real adventure.
2. You are plunged right into a foreign city centre.
When you travel to a new country by plane, the first thing that greets you after you land is an airport, and you have to locate a bus or a taxi to take you into the city before your adventure can begin.
By contrast, a train will deposit you right in the centre of the city that you are visiting. As you step out of a central station, you are in the heart of a new country already, which is both exciting and useful – since you don’t have to faff with finding a taxi.
3. The journey is part of the experience.
Aeroplanes are the realm of tourists and travellers. Consequently, airports do not really reflect the character or culture of the country in which they are situated. Instead, they are international places, bustling with people from all over the world.
This is not the case when you travel by rail. Although you there may be some other travellers on your train, there will mostly be native people, going about their normal lives. On my train journeys, I chatted with people who were coming back from work, or visiting friends and family. As a result, I felt immersed in a new country simply by sitting on a train. In other words, the journey was a part of the experience of travel, rather than simply a means of getting where I wanted to be.
4. You get to see more of the world.
Travelling by train is more time-consuming that taking a flight, which may initially seem like a disadvantage. However, ‘slow tourism’ allows you to see more of the world than you would if you booked a plane ticket, since you need to stop off at other destinations to break down the journey to your final stop. For anyone who enjoys travel, this is always a good thing!
Train travel can also take you to places that you never expected to go. You may find yourself stopping off at a country simply because it is en route and appears to be a convenient place to stay, but find yourself falling in love with it. This can never happen when you jump on a plane!
Ultimately, I would recommend travelling the world by train to anyone! It was certainly the most exciting and adventurous way for me to reach Warsaw from the UK.
