Europe by train, plane and automobile
Driving on the left side of the road is easy when there is no other traffic to deal with, as with this lonely Scottish lane.
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By MATTHEW THAYER
Planning a trip to Europe and wondering whether to get around by plane, train or car? I'd suggest using them all, just not in the same day.
The ambitious travel day from South Tyrol, Italy, to Canterbury, England, had been circled on my mental calendar for months. Overly ambitious, but doable. I hoped. I fretted.
Over a span of 14 hours, we rode in a taxi, two trains, an airliner and a shuttle van, capped by two hours at the helm of a rental car barreling down what sure felt like the wrong side of the road. Only to end up in a never-ending, late-night loop around sleeping Canterbury. Our GPS refused to guide us down the restricted lane on which we needed to finish the final 50 yards. Round and round we went, drawing close only to veer away. As far as the GPS was concerned, the cobblestones did not exist.
It's fair to say the mood within the car was on exhausted edge. The drive on opposite sides of narrow unfamiliar roads, many under reconstruction, had provided several hair-raising experiences. Our 11 p.m. check-in deadline was about to go by the wayside, and apart from a handful of twentysomethings spilling out of a closing bar, the historic town was pretty much rolled up tight.
Thank goodness for cell phones and my wife's ability to decipher what may have been the world's thickest English accent. It took a couple of calls, but the front desk clerk eventually led us to a tiny square fronting the 585-year-old Cathedral Gate Hotel. At least, that's where we hoped we were as we stretched our legs and looked around in the dark. We hadn't been out of the car for more than 30 seconds before a squad of Canterbury Cathedral police had us surrounded. They slipped out of the gate quick as commandos, demanding to know what we were up to.
Adjacent to the highly decorated gate to Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England is the Cathedral Gate Hotel (right), which proved difficult to find late at night.
"Checking in," I said.
"Checking in where?"
"Cathedral Gate Hotel."
The tone shifted as if a switch was flipped.
"All right then. That's the door."
If we weren't so tired, we could have hugged them.
Obviously, we crammed too much travel into one day. We generally find getting around Europe a more relaxed affair. Trains are hard to beat for short to medium hops between points A, B and C, while there are times when it makes sense to take a plane, rent a car or jump on other public transport.
A Cinque Terre Express milk-run train pulls into the seaside station at Manarola, Italy in 2015. Called milk-run trains because they stop so often, the trains run about every 20 minutes along the coast between La Spezia and Levanto, halting in each of the picturesque region's five villages: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Don't forget to validate your train ticket on this line before boarding the train or you may end up paying an on-the-spot fine.
Hop a Train / Make Friends
Thanks to the convenience and comfort, we love riding Europe's rails. High-speed trains crisscrossing the continent are fast, clean and dependable. Farms, forests, villages, mountains, lakes and cityscapes flash by without the stress of driving or navigating. Another giant bonus is that most stations are located in city center. You step off in or near the heart of the action without suffering the pain of traffic, tolls and parking.
The Swiss countryside flashes by on a train from Lucerne, Switzerland to Milan, Italy.
Passengers can always keep to themselves if they prefer, but train travel seems to spark conversation. On the four-hour journey from Bolzano to Munich, we ended up seated with German actor Ilja Richter, his wife and their young daughter. I believe he enjoyed meeting people with no notion of his fame. We shared stories and songs and picnicked with the lunches we brought. Richter said that's what he and his wife enjoy about trains. People talk and get to know each other as they never would on a plane. The trip seemed over almost before it began.
A sleek modern train pulls into Milan Centrale Train Station.
We enjoyed a similar experience a week earlier in Southern Italy on a jam-packed commuter train from Sorrento to Naples. Fortunate to have seats and spots to stow our luggage, and squeezed like toothpaste in a tube, we were soon chatting with a woman from Manhattan and a California doctor who had recently retired to Spain with his wife.
The Manhattanite had interesting tales to share about her 30 years working as a producer on the “Today Show.” Which she did whenever she could get in a word edgewise from the chatterbox doctor who regaled us with anecdotes about practicing medicine during a pandemic and how far a retiree's money goes in Spain. Again, the time sailed by.
Passengers are packed in tight on a train from Sorrento to Naples. While small commuter lines can be congested in Europe, most inter-city routes have assigned seating and are quite comfortable.
We've had similar experiences dating back to our first freewheeling trip to Europe in 1989. Back then, we bought Eurail passes that allowed us to hop on nearly any train or ferry at any time. This was in early spring and long before the current tourism boom that has many European locals asking how much is too much. These days, we reserve our seats well ahead of departure. It is easy to do online. Just remember to have your tickets and QR codes downloaded onto your phone or print out legible hard copies to check in with. Since you are humping your own luggage, it pays to pack light.
It helps to have a car to explore out of the way places, such as the small hilltop Andalucian town of Vejer de la Frontera, Spain, where the nearest train station is 28 miles away.
Mobility + Responsibility = Rent a Car
For getting off the beaten path to reach Europe's out-of-the-way places, it's tough to beat a car. In South Tyrol, we rented one for a few days to drive the mountain roads and reach remote lakes and walking paths in the Dolomites. Still in mid-May, only recently cleared of snow, the high passes were not yet overrun with sightseers. Cresting craggy Sella Pass will be etched into our memories for the rest of our lives, as will the homemade sandwiches and local pastries we scarfed down at the summit. Swinging wide around one group and yielding to the others, we shared the winding road with bicyclists training for the Giro d'Italia, as well as packs of zooming motorcycles, Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
Cresting at 7,276 feet, Sella Pass provides stunning views of Italy's craggy Dolomites.
A picnic lunch inside a warm rental car at the top of Italy's Sella Pass Italy provides mountainous memories.
Another driving highlight came a week later in England while motoring down the A303 on a beautiful sunny day. A grouping of stones appeared on the horizon that looked a lot like Stonehenge. In fact, it was Stonehenge! We knew the ancient site was near where we were staying in Bath and planned to visit another day, but here it was. Jettisoning our timetable and following the signs, we pulled into the half-filled parking lot and spent a gloriously impromptu afternoon exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
To reach out-of-the-way places like England’s inspiring Stonehenge, it pays to have a car.
The freedom brought by driving is a trade-off with the responsibility and concentration required. Rather than kicking back on a train, you are now on the hook for your safety and the safety of everyone around you. In cities, parking can be scarce, tolls high and large swaths of historic districts off limits.
Some countries, like Italy, Spain and Austria, require U.S. drivers to have a supplemental International Driving Permit to legally rent a car. The permits are not hard for licensed drivers to get, but must be secured ahead of departure. They can be obtained online, by mail or in person at an American Automobile Association (AAA) office. It took about a month to get ours.
The remote Italian lake, Lago di Braies, is a popular attraction in the Dolomites.
If you are planning to drive in the U.K. I'd strongly recommend reserving an automatic transmission. It also helps to have the help of a dedicated navigator who is not afraid to shout vital instructions like: "Keep to the left!" By the end of our stay in England, I felt comfortable behind the wheel. At first, just avoiding curbs and traffic cones, avoiding oncoming traffic and puzzling out roundabouts took every ounce of my concentration.
Iconic Rock of Gibraltar provides the backdrop at Gibraltar International Airport as passengers board a British Airways flight bound for London in 2007.
Put Your Seat in the Upright Position
Air travel can make the most sense for longer European hops. Even with the hassle of security screenings, flight delays and cramped seating, it often saves time and sometimes money. If we had taken trains from Munich to London, it would have been nine hours and included a transfer in Paris. Driving would have taken almost 13 hours. Once our delayed flight from Munich took off, it landed in two hours.
Rules about baggage weight and size can be different with European airlines. Carry-ons sometimes must be smaller than in the U.S. To avoid paying overage fees or having your carry-ons taken and stowed below, it pays to do a little research.
A passenger jet flies over lakes bordering Europe's snow-capped Alps.
Another very helpful hint is to have the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Mobile Passport Control app downloaded on your phone to streamline the re-entry process when you return to the U.S. The customs lines at San Francisco International Airport snaked for at least 75 yards when my wife pulled out her handy cell phone and got us cleared in minutes rather than hours.
All but the highest peaks of the Swiss Alps are shrouded in clouds during a flight between Milan and Frankfurt.
Europe Travel Odds and Ends
Discerning readers may have noted a bias toward train and automobile travel. One is nostalgic and easy and the other flexible and off the beaten path. As for air travel, if you've seen one major airport or inside of an airplane, you've seen them all.
There are times when a plane, train or car cannot get you where you want to go. A vaporetto plying Venice's busy Grand Canal nears Rialto Bridge.
Ferries, buses, subways, taxis and other modes of transport have been left off this paltry list due to the constraints of time and space. Each can play a role in making your European explorations fun, efficient and memorable. Someday, I'll tell you about our ferry rides from Naples to Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast—and how much better they were than enduring the narrow, winding roads with their honking horns, traffic jams and hairpin turns.
May you have safe and enjoyable travels no matter what mode you select.