"I am a New Zealander living in London. I heard about your site through a Radio4 programme. Could you advise me about a first time trip to Europe by myself and where I can quickly get info about what and how to do it. I am thinking of going back to live in NZ early next year and want to do some trips to Europe before I go which involves seeing cities but also train trips that are very scenic that might include Germany/Austria/Prague/Eastern Europe. I am feeling very overwhelmed by how many countries I want to see so need some advice about what are the most interesting routes so I can make a choice and rule out others. I would want to do this in 2 different trips but need some advice about what is the most scenic and least stressful way of doing this."
Here is my response;
A good starting point would be to have a look at the Iconic Train Journeys section of our website http://www.flightlesstravel.com/plan/overland/trains/ where we have featured the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz, Switzerland. If you are going to do one train Journey in Europe this would be it for me. As for other routes there are so many to choose from. Hmmm where to start......
The most famous route is the Orient Express which originally ran from Paris to Istanbul. The Luxury train does not run any longer but you can follow its original route on modern trains quite easily stopping in places like Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. There are so many places to visit in Europe you could not cover them all in a Lifetime of holidays so sticking to the Orient Express route might help thin the list down but allow you to visit a great array of places. There is an old footprint travel book on the Orient Express which might be worth getting. I think we have this featured in our shop http://www.flightlesstravel.com/shop/An alternative option is to go for something like the busabout pass, see http://www.flightlesstravel.com/plan/overland/buses/ for a brief description. This covers most of the most popular places in Europe and allows you to easily meet other travellers.
Hope this is of some help.
