Man of Honour
Alright gang.
Something I really enjoy is travelling by train. I don't mean being jammed on a GWR commuter train, I mean long distance, preferably day or night long travel across countries or continent.
There's something very nostalgic about travelling on a train, ambling slowly across an unfamiliar country. I'd love to do something like the VSOE or the Golden Eagle, but I've got champagne tastes and beer money - so the compromise is conventional sleeper cars or daytime routes.
My wife hates travelling long distances like this, so I do these trips solo - which suits me down to the ground. There's a quote somewhere about how men can gain pleasure from simply existing, which women seldom understand, and this definitely rings true. Sitting on a relaxing train ride for hours on end, drinking a bottle of wine, looking out the window and thinking about nothing more taxing than "how does that fly stay upside down on the ceiling?" - heaven.
I've done quite a few of these trips over the past few years, living in central Europe gives me great access to a fairly well connected network of countries with generally good rail options.
For this one, I had a few days spare between New Year and going back to work, so took advantage of this free time.
Fair warning - if you think trains are boring, now is the time to click the back button. I'm not a trainspotter, you won't find me writing down engine numbers in a notebook at a drizzly station somewhere, but I do like to try different seating options, different operators, different rolling stock and so on. Like I said, these trips are far more about the journey than the destination for me.
Planning in general
I follow a pretty set routine:
1) Decide how long I want to go for
2) Get out a map of Europe
3) Open the Seat61 website (the lack of integration/interconnectivity/aggregation of international rail timetable data means that for any degree of complexity, this website is invaluable)
4) Use Vagonweb to see what sort of rolling stock is used on different train routes
5) Use a combination of these first four things, in conjunction with the websites of the train operators in the countries I will be passing through, and try and build an itinerary.
Planning this trip:
My pre-requisites for this trip were fairly straightforward:
1) Consume 4-5 days
2) Incorporate a night train to somewhere where I am likely to encounter snow
That was about it really. I usually start by "Where can I go from point A" then "from the end of that journey where can I go" and so on and so on until I come up with a loop that fits the number of days.
This can all get a bit time consuming and I probably enjoy planning it almost as much as taking the trip.
After a lot of changing my mind, replanning, hunting for tickets and so on, this was my itinerary:
Day 1 - Start in Vienna. Travel to Budapest. Travel to Brasov in Romania on a night train
Day 2 - Work South from Brasov, via Sinaia (a mountain resort in Romania) to Bucharest. Travel from Bucharest to Northern Romania, a town called Sighetul Marmetiei
Day 3 - Travel from Sighetul Marmetiei to Ukraine, a town the other side of the border called Solotvyno. Travel from Solotvyno to Mukachevo, a city not too far from the Slovak and Hungarian border. Travel on a night train to Budapest
Day 4 - Travel from Budapest back to Vienna.
Originally I wanted to end Day 3 by going from Mukachevo direct to Vienna, but this train is very limited - you can only book it on Ukrainian Railways app if you have a Ukrainian passport. You can only book it on Austrian Railways 20 days in advance, and when I refreshed the app at 00:05 on the day of sale, it was "Tickets not available". I refreshed again at 00:08 and it was "Booked up" - so that was out and I had to take the option from Mukachevo to Budapest instead, which is in equally high demand and sells out almost as quickly as the Vienna route. I could only get a ticket in a 4 berth couchette, the one carriage of 2 berth sleepers sold out in minutes.
With all tickets booked, I was ready
Day 1
Train: Vienna > Budapest - EC141 "Semmelweis"
Train composition: https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.php?zeme=ÖBB&kategorie=EC&cislo=141&nazev=Semmelweis&rok=2025
Seat/Carriage: Reserved seat in 2nd class, wagon 412 (https://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/H/MAV_Bbdpmz-8491-4.php)
Ticket cost : 23 EUR
Vienna Hauptbahnhof is a fantastic station, well laid out, easy access to all platforms, loads of shops, places to eat - it's genuinely excellent. Unfortunately architecturally it's modern, cold and soulless, but you can't have it all.
Train is on time and restaurant car will be running:
Wagon 412 is an interesting one.
It has a section at the front for storing bicycles, pushchairs etc, wheelchair space, and also some semi-closed compartments along with airline style seats. Very diverse.
Unfortunately, once everyone is boarded, it is chaos.
The train (certainly, this carriage at least) is way over full. These international trains are mandatory reservation, but it appears lots of people have just got on and we do not have enough seats.
My seat is taken by a burly Ukrainian guy who appears to be travelling with about 15 family members, they have babies and all sorts so, as my seat is at the front near the pushchair section, I let him have it and sit a couple of rows behind.
Then even more people get on, including an American guy who has a party of 11 but only managed to book 4 tickets so...they all just got on anyway.
The poor conductor tries to sort out all this mess, and then people board later in Hungary who have booked the seats I'm squatting in, so I apologise to Mr Ukraine but tell him I am ever so sorry but I need to take the seat that I booked.
Half way through the journey I decide this carriage is doing my head in a bit, and try out the dining car which I find to be a comparative sea of tranquility. That's a real Christmas tree
MAV run a good dining service to be honest, and it's cheap - the Ginger Ale and the ham and eggs with bacon was about four quid in total:
I stay pretty much the rest of the journey in the dining car, where it remains fairly quiet.
Outside is frosty but not snowy:
We arrive in Budapest on time. It's cold but not bitter.
I get a haircut from a Vietnamese-Hungarian barber near the station - they don't speak English, German, French or Welsh, I don't speak Vietnamese or Hungarian, but after some gesticulation and thumbs-up signals and an exchange of 3500 Forints, I have a haircut and feel human again - although bloody freezing because it's a lot shorter than I really wanted.
I've been to Budapest loads of times, so I just take a mooch towards the centre, photagraph a few buildings, grab a McDonalds to keep me going, and then go for a pint at Szimpla Kert.
Szimpla Kert is well worth a visit if you have never been, but in the day it's simply overrun with tourists and influencers who use it as a backdrop rather than an actual pub. It's way better at night, but I am leaving too soon for that.
I amble back to the station, stock up with some soft drinks and a bottle of red, and wait for my train to appear on the board:
Next stop - Romania....
Something I really enjoy is travelling by train. I don't mean being jammed on a GWR commuter train, I mean long distance, preferably day or night long travel across countries or continent.
There's something very nostalgic about travelling on a train, ambling slowly across an unfamiliar country. I'd love to do something like the VSOE or the Golden Eagle, but I've got champagne tastes and beer money - so the compromise is conventional sleeper cars or daytime routes.
My wife hates travelling long distances like this, so I do these trips solo - which suits me down to the ground. There's a quote somewhere about how men can gain pleasure from simply existing, which women seldom understand, and this definitely rings true. Sitting on a relaxing train ride for hours on end, drinking a bottle of wine, looking out the window and thinking about nothing more taxing than "how does that fly stay upside down on the ceiling?" - heaven.
I've done quite a few of these trips over the past few years, living in central Europe gives me great access to a fairly well connected network of countries with generally good rail options.
For this one, I had a few days spare between New Year and going back to work, so took advantage of this free time.
Fair warning - if you think trains are boring, now is the time to click the back button. I'm not a trainspotter, you won't find me writing down engine numbers in a notebook at a drizzly station somewhere, but I do like to try different seating options, different operators, different rolling stock and so on. Like I said, these trips are far more about the journey than the destination for me.
Planning in general
I follow a pretty set routine:
1) Decide how long I want to go for
2) Get out a map of Europe
3) Open the Seat61 website (the lack of integration/interconnectivity/aggregation of international rail timetable data means that for any degree of complexity, this website is invaluable)
4) Use Vagonweb to see what sort of rolling stock is used on different train routes
5) Use a combination of these first four things, in conjunction with the websites of the train operators in the countries I will be passing through, and try and build an itinerary.
Planning this trip:
My pre-requisites for this trip were fairly straightforward:
1) Consume 4-5 days
2) Incorporate a night train to somewhere where I am likely to encounter snow
That was about it really. I usually start by "Where can I go from point A" then "from the end of that journey where can I go" and so on and so on until I come up with a loop that fits the number of days.
This can all get a bit time consuming and I probably enjoy planning it almost as much as taking the trip.
After a lot of changing my mind, replanning, hunting for tickets and so on, this was my itinerary:
Day 1 - Start in Vienna. Travel to Budapest. Travel to Brasov in Romania on a night train
Day 2 - Work South from Brasov, via Sinaia (a mountain resort in Romania) to Bucharest. Travel from Bucharest to Northern Romania, a town called Sighetul Marmetiei
Day 3 - Travel from Sighetul Marmetiei to Ukraine, a town the other side of the border called Solotvyno. Travel from Solotvyno to Mukachevo, a city not too far from the Slovak and Hungarian border. Travel on a night train to Budapest
Day 4 - Travel from Budapest back to Vienna.
Originally I wanted to end Day 3 by going from Mukachevo direct to Vienna, but this train is very limited - you can only book it on Ukrainian Railways app if you have a Ukrainian passport. You can only book it on Austrian Railways 20 days in advance, and when I refreshed the app at 00:05 on the day of sale, it was "Tickets not available". I refreshed again at 00:08 and it was "Booked up" - so that was out and I had to take the option from Mukachevo to Budapest instead, which is in equally high demand and sells out almost as quickly as the Vienna route. I could only get a ticket in a 4 berth couchette, the one carriage of 2 berth sleepers sold out in minutes.
With all tickets booked, I was ready
Day 1
Train: Vienna > Budapest - EC141 "Semmelweis"
Train composition: https://www.vagonweb.cz/razeni/vlak.php?zeme=ÖBB&kategorie=EC&cislo=141&nazev=Semmelweis&rok=2025
Seat/Carriage: Reserved seat in 2nd class, wagon 412 (https://www.vagonweb.cz/fotogalerie/H/MAV_Bbdpmz-8491-4.php)
Ticket cost : 23 EUR
Vienna Hauptbahnhof is a fantastic station, well laid out, easy access to all platforms, loads of shops, places to eat - it's genuinely excellent. Unfortunately architecturally it's modern, cold and soulless, but you can't have it all.
Train is on time and restaurant car will be running:
Wagon 412 is an interesting one.
It has a section at the front for storing bicycles, pushchairs etc, wheelchair space, and also some semi-closed compartments along with airline style seats. Very diverse.
Unfortunately, once everyone is boarded, it is chaos.
The train (certainly, this carriage at least) is way over full. These international trains are mandatory reservation, but it appears lots of people have just got on and we do not have enough seats.
My seat is taken by a burly Ukrainian guy who appears to be travelling with about 15 family members, they have babies and all sorts so, as my seat is at the front near the pushchair section, I let him have it and sit a couple of rows behind.
Then even more people get on, including an American guy who has a party of 11 but only managed to book 4 tickets so...they all just got on anyway.
The poor conductor tries to sort out all this mess, and then people board later in Hungary who have booked the seats I'm squatting in, so I apologise to Mr Ukraine but tell him I am ever so sorry but I need to take the seat that I booked.
Half way through the journey I decide this carriage is doing my head in a bit, and try out the dining car which I find to be a comparative sea of tranquility. That's a real Christmas tree
MAV run a good dining service to be honest, and it's cheap - the Ginger Ale and the ham and eggs with bacon was about four quid in total:
I stay pretty much the rest of the journey in the dining car, where it remains fairly quiet.
Outside is frosty but not snowy:
We arrive in Budapest on time. It's cold but not bitter.
I get a haircut from a Vietnamese-Hungarian barber near the station - they don't speak English, German, French or Welsh, I don't speak Vietnamese or Hungarian, but after some gesticulation and thumbs-up signals and an exchange of 3500 Forints, I have a haircut and feel human again - although bloody freezing because it's a lot shorter than I really wanted.
I've been to Budapest loads of times, so I just take a mooch towards the centre, photagraph a few buildings, grab a McDonalds to keep me going, and then go for a pint at Szimpla Kert.
Szimpla Kert is well worth a visit if you have never been, but in the day it's simply overrun with tourists and influencers who use it as a backdrop rather than an actual pub. It's way better at night, but I am leaving too soon for that.
I amble back to the station, stock up with some soft drinks and a bottle of red, and wait for my train to appear on the board:
Next stop - Romania....
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