Rail – the stress-free way to cross Europe

Rail is meant to be the stress-free way of travelling and is my transport of choice. No real baggage limitations, 30-minute check-in and minimal security queues, plus the railway stations are easy to get to, ideally located in the centre of cities. A Greater Anglia train to London and the Eurostar to Paris – so far so good. But we had more ambitious plans than that, writes Diane Evans.

Having flown with Ryanair to Ancona on the north coast of Italy before and had our return flight cancelled with no trace due to reported low cloud on a blue sky day, we decided to try the European rail network this time. The price for the return journey was pretty similar to flying.

The journey takes longer – about 16 hours in total – but we saw it as an experience and thought the kids would enjoy something different. Travelling with three children has its separate challenges – for the seven-year-old it was "how much longer?", for the 10-year-old it was "how many miles will we cover?" and for the 12-year-old it was a very repetitive "can I charge my iPod?"

The Eurostar was efficient and comfortable taking an effortless two and a quarter hours from St Pancras in London to Gare du Nord. From there it’s a two-stop journey on the Metro to Gare du Lyon where the Thello sleeper leaves to Bologna in Italy and on to Rome.

We had plenty of time which had been factored in by Rail Europe, through which we booked the entire journey. It is used to doing these itineraries and can advise when and what to book. Despite a security alert at Gare du Lyon which saw lots of officials cluck round a stray handbag, all was well until the word ‘Supprime’ flashed up against our train on the departure board.

Not having a good feeling about it and having used all my schoolgirl French to order the baguette and coffee before boarding, I joined the flurry of panicking travellers to the information desk. My heart sank, it meant…cancelled.

As Thello is a private company, we were advised to tackle Thello staff when the later sleeper to Venice left at about 8pm. The one thing you realise with rail when things go wrong is that unlike an airport, there seems to be very few options. At least with three children and time ticking on, the prospect of sleeping in the station crossed my mind. All rail offices in the UK were closed and we were on our own hoping that a solution could be found. Luckily it was.

We located a helpful Thello rep who was fielding questions in various languages. To be fair, despite the cancellation and ensuing panic, the whole situation was handled better than could be expected.

Our train had been delayed so much due to floods on the east coast of France that there was no point in running it. Instead, they were putting us all on the Venice sleeper. We would have to change at Milan where a dedicated train would be waiting to take us to Bologna and beyond. It wasn’t ideal but it was welcome news under the circumstances.

As my husband and I breathed a sigh of relief, our eldest looked up from his gadget – "will there be somewhere to charge the iPod?" he asked.

We’d opted for the couchette, which is the basic sleeping cabin where bench-like chairs double up as flat ‘beds’, as some are six berths and being a family of five, it meant we could sleep together. It did leave one bed empty though which we were given the option of buying but were advised by Rail Europe that even if we paid for it, it could be used if the train was busy. We decided to take our chances.

This particular couchette was very noisy with the bottom bunk inhabitants having to rest their head on the air conditioning unit and deal with stalactite head rests above them and the swinging chair back as the train rocked forward and back.

There were duvets and pillows but no bed linen and the accommodation was very basic. It did have two power sockets though so at least one of us perked up.  If you get the option, go for the middle bed – the top bunk is shortened by the luggage rack and the bottom suffers from all the aforementioned issues plus the smell of diesel. It does the job though and we all slept.

I did sneak a look at the sleeper cabins which look a lot more respectable and boast their own toilet which is a huge advantage. The shared facilities on the couchette coaches become ‘no go’ zones during the course of the journey.

As each passenger struggled along the corridor and paused outside our door with a huge oversized suitcase, we all took an in-take of breath. In the end we were joined by a ‘stranger’ on both the outward and the return sleeper but after the initial awkwardness, it was fine and gave the kids a lesson in social behaviour. As the children wriggled and squeaked for hours in the top bunks, I knew our companions had come off worse.

There is a dining car and snack bar on board which is bright and clean but offers mostly snack -type food which you can also buy at the station before you leave. Depending where your carriage is, it’s quite a bumpy walk to get to it.

After little sleep, we arrived at Milan before being transferred to another waiting train. The staff were apologetic, handing out a complimentary snack bag with fruit juice, breadsticks and biscuits as well as instructions on to how to claim a refund for our delay. In the end we got to Bologna only four hours late.

Bologna station is right in the centre of the city and nicely positioned for a comfortable city break. The station has a Hertz, Europcar and Maggiore car hire office within 10 minutes walk and a McDonalds next door. It also has a left luggage.

The return journey was much smoother and happily less eventful although having been forced to drop the car back by 7pm and pick up the left luggage by 9pm, it felt like a long wait until we boarded half an hour late at 11pm.  

This couchette coach was quite a bit smarter with sheets and pillow cases, as well as water bottles for each bed. The 11-hour direct journey to Paris saw us all getting plenty of sleep and was much more enjoyable than the outward leg.

I question why I opted to take a 16-hour overnight journey over a two-hour flight.  Enjoyable? I think so. Memorable? Definitely. Easy? When it all goes to plan. It’s one of those experiences like the sleepless motorhome holiday with two pre-schoolers and the four wheel drive road trip in Africa where the monsoon rain washed roads away – it may seem more tough at the time,  but I know we’ll remember it fondly forever. And who knows, give it a few years and it’ll be up there in the top three trips.

Rail Europe reports really healthy growth from agents wanting to sell rail travel and has a dedicated trade call centre and website that agents can book through. It also offers online training for agents to build up their knowledge of the rail product and the extent of the European rail network.

Fares from London to Bologna start at £212 standard class return per person. The Thello sleeper and the Eurostar can be booked up to four months ahead.