Who runs this line, and is it the fast one.

France's high-speed backbone, and it works — city centre to city centre at 300 km/h with a compulsory reservation, so there is no such thing as turning up and boarding. Prices climb steeply as the train fills, so the same seat can triple in a fortnight. Second class is perfectly comfortable; first buys quiet and elbow room rather than service.

The low-cost sibling, and it behaves like one: cabin-bag limits with real fees for anything larger, no catering, and some services using outlying stations rather than the central terminus. Check which Paris station you are actually leaving from before congratulating yourself on the fare. Booked early for a simple A-to-B run it is exceptional value.

Bare-bones and inexpensive — six-berth couchettes, thin blankets, and an early arrival whether you are ready or not. The four-berth option and the women-only compartments are both worth requesting. It is the cheapest way to reach the Alps or the Pyrenees from Paris without losing a day, and nobody rides it for the comfort.

The network is superb on paper and the punctuality no longer matches it — long-distance ICE delays are common enough that DB publishes the statistics and they make uncomfortable reading. Buy the Sparpreis fare early and accept it is train-specific; Flexpreis costs far more but lets you take the next service when yours is late, which on this railway is a real feature. Reserve a seat on any busy corridor.

Cheap, cheerful and thin on the ground — a couple of departures a day on a handful of routes, in stock that is comfortable enough without pretending to be anything more. The catch is that it sits outside the national ticketing system, so a delay does not entitle you to travel on a DB train. Fine as a planned bargain, poor as a fallback.

Punctual to the point of smugness — Renfe famously refunds the fare on significant AVE delays, and rarely has to. Luggage goes through an airport-style scanner, so arrive twenty minutes before departure rather than five. Madrid–Barcelona and Madrid–Seville are excellent, and competition from Iryo and Ouigo has pushed fares down sharply on both.

The newest entrant on Spain's high-speed corridors and, for now, the most comfortable — the trains are new and even the cheapest fare class has decent space. Fares undercut Renfe on the same routes and at similar times, so it is worth checking both before booking. Coverage is limited to the busiest lines; anything off the trunk network is still Renfe.

Frecciarossa 1000 does Milan–Rome in about three hours and is the best way to travel the length of Italy. Two things catch visitors: regional tickets must be validated before boarding, and national rail strikes are frequent, announced in advance, and always preserve a guaranteed minimum service — check the date before you book. Business class is a modest premium and often worth it.

The private competitor on Italy's high-speed lines, usually a little cheaper than Trenitalia for the same journey, with newer interiors and a good Smart class. It does not call at every station Trenitalia serves, so check your specific pair rather than assuming. On Rome–Milan and Rome–Naples the two are genuinely interchangeable — book whichever is cheaper that day.

Comfortable, punctual and pleasantly old-fashioned in the best way, with a proper restaurant car rather than a trolley. Vienna–Salzburg–Munich is the classic run. Business class is a small step up for a small price, and the front-of-train Business seats behind the driver's cab are the best seats on any European day train.

The benchmark. Connections are timed to the minute across the whole country, so a four-leg journey to a mountain village actually works — and the trains genuinely wait for each other. It is also the most expensive network in Europe at full fare, which is why the Half Fare Card or a Swiss Travel Pass is close to mandatory for a visit of any length.

The competitor on Vienna–Salzburg, usually cheaper and often half-empty, with the pleasant quirk that you can simply board and buy from the conductor. Tickets are not interchangeable with ÖBB in either direction, and it uses Wien Westbahnhof rather than the Hauptbahnhof — which is better for some parts of Vienna and worse for others.

Dense, frequent and easy — most domestic journeys need no reservation at all, which after France feels like a holiday. The Intercity Direct to Rotterdam carries a small supplement that catches people out at the gates. International services to Brussels, Paris and Berlin are booked separately and behave like a different railway.

Cheap by Western European standards, with a simple flat-ish fare structure and genuinely good weekend return deals. Frequency is good and the network is small enough to be legible. The recurring nuisance is industrial action — Belgian rail strikes are frequent and can wipe out a day, so leave slack around a flight.

The novelty here is real: all public transport in Luxembourg, trains included, has been free nationwide since 2020, so domestic journeys need no ticket at all. Second class is free even on cross-border services up to the frontier. The network is tiny, and anything into France, Belgium or Germany reverts to an ordinary paid ticket at the border.

A new low-cost entrant on Dutch international routes, still small and still proving itself. Fares undercut the incumbent on the corridor it runs, and the trains are refurbished rather than new. Check its timetable rather than assuming coverage — Amsterdam–Berlin runs six days a week, not several times a day.

Reliable and comfortable, with the X2000 doing Stockholm–Gothenburg in around three hours. Fares behave like an airline's, so early booking is the whole game — the same seat can cost three times as much a week out. Bistro service is decent, and the quiet car is genuinely quiet, which Swedes enforce socially.

The Bergen and Dovre lines are among the most scenic in Europe and cost remarkably little if you book a minipris fare the moment booking opens. Comfort class is a small supplement with free coffee and better seats. Trains are punctual, frequencies are sparse, and missing one on a rural line can mean a very long wait.

A small private operator that runs one of the more useful summer services in Europe — the seasonal sleeper from Sweden down to Berlin, which spares you a flight and a night's hotel at once. Older carriages, informal service, and a following of people who prefer it that way. Book early; capacity is limited and the summer runs fill.

Stockholm to the Arctic in a single overnight run, ending at Narvik on the Norwegian coast — a very long ride with genuinely spectacular final hours through the fells. Sleeper compartments are the sensible choice over a reclining seat for a journey of this length. Winter departures are the point; go for the light and the snow, not the speed.

Straightforward and well run, with the Copenhagen–Aarhus run crossing the Great Belt bridge, which is worth the window seat. Orange fares booked ahead are markedly cheaper than walk-up. It is a compact network and the trains are frequent enough that missing one is rarely a disaster.

Quietly one of the best railways in Europe — modern double-deck stock, wide seats, and a genuinely excellent restaurant car. The Santa Claus Express to Rovaniemi is the famous one, and it will carry your car overnight as well as you. Family cabins with their own shower are unusually good, and winter services book out well ahead.

Alfa Pendular does Lisbon–Porto in under three hours and is inexpensive by Western European standards. Comfort class is barely more than tourist and worth taking. The real prize is the Douro line east of Porto — an ordinary regional service along the river through the vineyards that costs a few euros and outclasses most paid scenic trains.

Modernised faster than most people realise — the Pendolino services are comfortable, punctual and cheap, and Warsaw–Kraków is a genuinely good three-hour journey. Book online in advance for the lowest fares. Older rolling stock still turns up on secondary routes, so the experience varies more than the timetable suggests.

Comfortable, inexpensive, and well connected to its neighbours — Prague to Vienna, Berlin or Budapest are all easy day journeys. The newer InterCity stock is a pleasant surprise, and the dining cars are better than the price implies. Reservations are cheap and worth taking on the international runs, which fill in summer.

Cheap and serviceable rather than modern, with Budapest as the hub for almost everything. Rolling stock is aging and air-conditioning is not guaranteed in high summer, which matters on the longer runs. For short hops and for reaching the Danube bend or Lake Balaton it does the job at a very low price.

The most likeable private operator in Europe — steward service at your seat, free hot drinks, and staff who behave as though they want you back. Prague to Vienna, Budapest or Kraków is where it shines, and the summer sleepers down to the Croatian coast are a genuine alternative to flying. Book direct; fares are low and the good seats go early.

Small, cheap and functional, competing with RegioJet on a handful of Czech routes and reaching a few destinations further afield. The buses and trains are sold as one network, which is convenient but means some legs of a booking are not actually a train. Fine value; just read the itinerary carefully before assuming rails all the way.

Britain's railway is fragmented between operators, which mostly matters at the ticket office rather than on board — the trains themselves are fine and LNER's East Coast route is genuinely good. Never buy on the day if you can avoid it: advance singles are a fraction of the walk-up fare, and split-ticketing sites routinely find savings the official system will not offer you.

A proper bed between London and Scotland, in stock refurbished in 2019 — the Club rooms with en-suite showers are the ones worth having and are priced accordingly. Classic rooms are smaller and share facilities. The Fort William portion through Rannoch Moor at dawn is the most beautiful thing on the British network, and it is the reason to choose this over a flight.

Open-access, all-electric and refreshingly simple: one class, low fares, and London to Edinburgh in about four and a half hours. Book early and it undercuts flying comfortably once airport time is counted. There is no first class and catering is a trolley, which is exactly the trade the low fare buys.

The Dublin–Cork line is fast and comfortable, and Dublin–Belfast is an easy cross-border run. Beyond those the network thins out quickly, and large parts of the country have no train at all — plan on buses or a car for the west. Leap cards cover commuter services around Dublin but not intercity.

Cheap, slow and aging, with journey times that make sense only if you enjoy the ride. The Bucharest–Braşov climb through the Carpathians is genuinely lovely and is the one most visitors want. Sleepers on the long routes are inexpensive and basic; delays are routine, so never plan a same-day flight connection.

A small, tidy network and very good value. Ljubljana to Bled or to Lake Bohinj is easy and cheap, and the historic Bohinj railway through the tunnels to the Soča valley is a lovely, underused ride. Trains are simple regional stock rather than anything modern, and frequencies drop at weekends.

Slow and thinly served — for most Croatian journeys the coach is faster and more frequent, which is an honest thing to know before buying a ticket. Zagreb to Split is scenic in stretches but takes most of a day. Use the train for the experience or for short hops; use the bus to actually get somewhere.

Athens–Thessaloniki is the main intercity route, while much of the remaining network is regional or suburban. Several gaps — including Kiato–Patras, Larissa–Volos and parts of the northeast — are currently covered by replacement buses, and there are no international passenger routes. Check current schedules close to travel because infrastructure works regularly alter services.