Actual destinations – Central Europe

In my last installment, I wrote about some interesting destinations (or rather ‘stopovers’) that are easily accessible via the Eurostar terminal at Brussels and are suitable for a short break of 5 days or so. Now, let’s have a look at some locations further afield. It’s possible to visit them all on one long trip, or just to pick two or three.

Berlin

Heading east from Brussels or the port at Hook of Holland, a couple of changes of train will have you heading to Berlin…

Berlin might be a well-known world capital, rather than a quaint ‘off-the-beaten-track’ kind of place, but it’s a place with both a fascinating history and an ever-changing present. There is simply something for everyone – whether you like shopping, clubbing, history, railways, architecture, or the arts. Like London, Berlin has no single obvious city centre, but several districts each with their own character. Even if you’ve been to Berlin before, it is always worth a night or two. It is also a useful transport hub for some of our other destinations.

Wrocław

Poland is a bit like Italy, in that it is packed with interesting places to visit. Krakow and Warsaw are the places most visitors head towards, and you’d not be making a mistake to go there now. Almost everyone in our parish community knows or is related to a Polish person – so it’s easy to get information and recommendations about where to visit and (most importantly) what to eat.

However one city stands out, and that is Wrocław, in the south west of the country. With two daily trains from Berlin, each taking around 4 hours, it is an obvious place to stop. Like Krakow, it’s full of historic buildings, beautiful churches, charming streets, and amazing city squares – but it also has a railway station you can actually get out of.

Regular trains link Wrocław to Krakow, so it’s easy to combine the two – not least because Krakow is better placed for onward connections.

Into Czech Republic

The train journey from Wrocław into the Czech Republic involves varied routes and several changes of train, yet the reward is some beautiful scenery – unless you take the overnight train, that passes through a corner of the country at 2 am and has no rewards at all. In contrast, there are direct and convenient day and night trains into Czech from Krakow.

From Berlin, a very nice two-hourly ‘Eurocity’ service with Czech restaurant car (schnitzels, dumplings, beer, very good value) runs via Dresden (itself worth a stop) to Prague. Incidentally, if you see a Czech train with a restaurant car, go on it, irrespective of whether or not it’s going in your direction.

There is a lot to see in Czech – with some of my favourites being Brno, Olomouc, and Plzen – all nice old towns full of atmosphere – and beer.

Just south of the Polish border is some particularly charming countryside and small towns in the valley of the River Orlici – easily reachable from Wrocław.

Most people have heard of Prague – and usually it feels as if most people are there whenever you visit, especially on the famous ‘Selfie Bridge’ in the city centre. However, there is a lot more to the city – and in particular the fantastic connections available from the main railway station.

Onwards to Slovakia

Every night a suite of overnight trains run from Prague to the charming Slovak city of Kosice.

There’s the regular service, run by the state railways, fairly cheap, comfortable, and with a range of accomodation options – but no dinining car.

There’s the privately operated ‘Regiojet’ service, with flowers in the loos and at-seat sushi. However, the beds are a bit hard and I’m not sure the sushi makes up for that.

Finally, there’s the ‘secret sleeping car’, which leaves Prague attached to a train with a dining car, get switched between other trains as you sleep, and arrives bright and early. This would be my preferred choice.

Kosice

Kosice is Slovakia’s second city and a convenient stop en route to Ukraine. But let’s leave that for another time.

Kosice has several interesting features, including a Disneyesque main street, a beautiful Cathedral, a bell tower with views accross the city, some more old churches, a lots of quaint streets, some nice restaurants and cafes (including one that seems to only serve chocolate), and, usefully, an outdoor swimming pool. The latter comes in handy, as a it’s close to the station and so a good way of cooling down on a hot day. Kosice is also a good base for exploring the surrounding area.

Poprad and the Tatra Mountains

The Tatras span the border between Slovakia and Poland – and also make travel between the two more difficult at this point. Both sides have their own mountain resorts, ski facilties, and walking trails. Arguably the Slovak side has the edge, as it has the best rail and cable car links, and the beer is cheaper. Poprad, on the main Kosice – Bratislava railway, is the main transport hub, and also boasts the amazing (and rather expensive) Aqua City pool resort.

Trencin

The regular Kosice – Poprad – Bratislava train also calls at a nice town called Trencin. With it’s hillside castle and quaint old town, it makes a good spot to spend the night.

Bratislava

Bratislava isn’t exactly in the same league as Prague or Krakow, but in some ways this is an advantage, Accomodation is relatively cheap, the city is lovely to walk around, and it’s a good base for a day trip to rather more expensive Vienna. Trains between the two cities take just under an hour. While in Bratislava, there are fantastic views from the castle and also from the ‘UFO Bridge’, which is topped with what is claimed to be ‘the shortest high building in the world’. Well worth a visit.

Over the border into Hungary

Most regular trains from Bratislava to Budapest feature an excellent Czech or Slovak restaurant car. You would be silly not to avail of it. Why not try the chocolate-filled pancakes this time?

Sit on the right-hand side for the best views, which largely come after leaving Slovakia.

Budapest

Others can tell you about Budapest, so I won’t – suffice to say that, like with Berlin, it rewards repeated visits. A trip to one of the thermal baths is always worthwhile – the Szechenyi baths would be my favourite.

Budapest Keleti station is probably where you’ll be headed to, and from this grand temple of faded glory, even greater adventures await – next time…