To Berlin by train

Since in my previous post I was mentioning how easy, comfortable and cheap is to travel within Central Europe by train, fate compensated me by offering me the chance for another train ride: Budapest to Berlin. For the journey you need some luxury that nowadays not many people have: time. It takes 12 hours from city to city, but in the right state of mind they can be 12 very enjoyable hours.


If you want to avoid queuing and waiting at check-in and security in airports, and have some work to do (or movie to watch) on your laptop, train can be a pleasant choice. Some trains even have electrical plugs so you can charge your laptop, dvd player or game console. If you want to have the pleasure of some food you can actually choose at the restaurant wagon (rather than chicken or beef, sir?), of a glass or two of wine, or of stepping out of the train when possible for a quick ciggie, then train can be a rather pleasant choice.


From your window you can enjoy the landscapes of 4 different countries: from Hungary the train goes through Slovakia, then Czech Republic, before entering Germany. Especially in February you can enjoy white landscapes and observe the countryside almost asleep in the long winter. From city to city you can admire woods, mountains, little villages, and the odd castle on top of a rock.


The many cities touched by the journey are Bratislava, Břeclav, Brno, Prague, Dresden. That means also that you have another great past-time: people watching. It's interesting to hear the languages of people getting on and off the train change from station to station or to have the odd chat with a fellow traveller.


In this time where everything has to be done as soon as possible it can be a relaxing change to do something, even travelling, simply taking your time. I'm sure the guys at Slow Travel would agree.

My related articles:

Vienna, Brno, Bratislava by train

Is Flashpacking Fast Travel or Slow Travel?

Vienna, Brno, Bratislava by train

The good news is that these three cities are extremely well connected by train, so you can effortlessly experience three cities, three different countries and cultures; by train moving from one place to another it will only cost you a tenner and an hour and a half of your time.

You can check trains timetables and prices from one city to the other at the 3 official national railways websites (providing English pages here): ÖBB, CD and ŽSR.

Vienna is a splendid city. I won't really add much to the abundant literature about Viennese culture, festival, music, and museums, but simply describe how much I enjoyed Viennese cafes.


They are really an institution, and as soon as you enter you feel the contrast with the busy and cold (if like me you visit in winter) streets outside. Always very quiet, very often smoky, cafes are the place where locals would spend hours reading the omnipresent newspapers or a book; often having just one or two coffees.


Everybody should feel at ease and not pressured to consume more or leave for another place. Like Irish pubs every cafe has a story, different decorations or themes, and often a good few legends of the famous character who used to go there. You really haven't been in Vienna if you haven't spent some time in one of those magic places.

Brno, in Czech Republic, is a quite attractive and interesting city, despite not being a main tourist destination (apart during the moto GP that takes place here).


Actually that is probably one of Brno's biggest advantages: contrary to Prague most of what you see here, including bars and restaurants, is for the local residents and not for tourists.


The city center is full of historical buildings and churches, and from both the Spilberk Castle or Petrov Cathedral you can enjoy a great view of the city.

Bratislava, our third train stop, is a charming little (450K inhabitants) city, and of course the capital of Slovakia. What really impressed me about the city is the old part of the town center.


Quite forgotten years ago, people are now rediscovering the beauty and quality of life of the old town, and as a consequence the whole area is under renovation at the moment.


At every corner you see the contrast between the old, ruined houses and the freshly renovated ones.


The contrast is even more enhanced by the bright colors used for the new coats of paint.

Considering how close these three cities are, and how cheap is to move between them by train, it would really be a pity to spend some amount of time in just one of them without visiting the others. Happy train ride!