"Young people have begun to demonstrate for the preservation of our natural resources. As scientists and scholars, based on sound scientific knowledge, we declare: These concerns are justified! The current measures for climate, biodiversity, forest, marine, and soil protection are far from sufficient. (..) It is critical to immediately begin reducing CO2 emissions and eliminate them to zero worldwide between 2040 and 2050 at the latest."
Gregor Hagedorn et al: Concerns of young protesters are justified.
Science Vol. 364, Issue 6436, pp. 139-140, 2019.
doi: 10.1126/science.aax3807
Below you can read about the climate impact of aviation and find information about climate-friendly travel and other sustainability topics.
Watch Don't look up and read Michael E. Mann's book The New Climate War. Want to know more about how big oil creates fake citizen's initiatives to undermine political progress? Watch The Troll Army of Big Oil on Climate Town's youtube channel. Unfortunately some physicists also had inglorious roles in this context: Merchants of Doubt, based on the book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. Other lies to uncover? Der Graslutscher (German). And read Dark PR by Grant Ennis. https://xkcd.com/2278
New night train 2023 Brussels - Amsterdam - Berlin - Prague: European Sleeper.
"Ryanair is now (April 2019) one of the top 10 carbon dioxide emitters in Europe, a league which had been exclusively occupied by coal [power] plants. [..] This trend will continue until Europe realises that this undertaxed and under-regulated sector needs to be brought into line."
Transport & Environment
For our climate, it doesn't matter much whether you separate your trash or avoid plastic bags: with one intercontinental flight a year, you ruin all your ecological efforts.
"Other than setting fire to a forest, flying is the single worst thing an ordinary individual can do to cause climate change. Replacing a long-haul flight with a local holiday can save 6 tons of CO2."
Gramms of CO2-equivalent per person and km, calculated at average occupancies:
"In 2015, an average Swiss citizen travelled 9000km by plane, emitting approximately 3 tons of carbon dioxide. That is as much as for all other means of transportation including car, plus heating the flat, plus electricity, plus warm water all together." (Der Bund)
Find out about your personal contributions:
In the last five years, carbon dioxide pollution from flying has risen 26% in Europe.
Become politically active: Support organizations and parties advocating strict measures for climate neutrality: vote, demonstrate, talk to people, speak up.
Avoid emissions: Whenever possible, travel by train or night train. And plan your holiday in Italy instead of Indonesia.
Compensate emissions:
Compensate unavoidable flights via Atmosfair.
Avoid the Rebound Effect: "that if one compensates, one flies even more".
Does the plane fly anyway? Actually not! Low-cost airlines frequently cancel underbooked flights. Don't we need institutional solutions? Yes, we do. But changing our lifestyle helps pave the road for legislation!
"It has sometimes been claimed (..) that the harm caused by an individual (..) is negligible. (..) this paper attempts to estimate the harm done by an average American. (..) the average American is responsible, through his/her greenhouse gas emissions, for the suffering and/or deaths of one or two future people."
"This paper focuses on the question of whether individuals (..) have duties to reduce their individual carbon footprint. To this end it will examine three kinds of arguments that have been brought forward against individuals having such duties: the view that individual emissions cause no harm; the view that individual mitigation efforts would have no morally significant effect; and the view that lifestyle changes would be overly-demanding. The paper shows how all three arguments fail to convince."
"The knowledge of extreme inequality - that others don't have potable water while we are planing our next holiday - everyone has that. We blame it on politics, 'the system', or the weather. Because in reality it is unbearable, that billions of people suffer for us. One should at least conclude: I'm never going to fly again from Munich to Cologne. Nobody changes her/his behaviour, because all the others don't do it either. Therefore the state should prohibit it or at least tax it highly.
"Instead of coffee capsules there has been fair-trade coffee for a long time. It has a market share of about 3%. Ethical consumption is not common enough, but it also wouldn't make for a significant difference. We need completely different consumption structures here. We have to drink less coffee and juice, also eat less meat."
The Bill (4 minutes on Youtube).
The following points contribute less to your emissions than a transatlantic flight, but they are the next biggest influences.
A smartphone has a carbon footprint of about 70kg CO2, of which 81% are for production and 12% for the electricity it consumes during its lifetime. Not a lot compared to the 500kg for a flight from Germany to Spain! But when it comes to your slavery footprint your phone and clothing are significant.
Avoiding plastic? Reusable or compostable coffee cup? Regionally grown potatoes? Nice, but marginal.
Legislation favours aviation:
All together, German society subsidises airlines with 11 Billion € per year!
From 2010 to 2015, European air travel grew by 57%! And Europe wants to become "green" simply by switching to renewable electricity?
How many gigatons of CO2 more can we safely release? The most important webpages:
Here you find tested itineraries. On night trains I recommend sleeper car (Schlafwagen), which has real beds, fresh towels and a hand basin. Couchette (Liegewagen) is also ok, but I recommend to pay for occupation with four persons instead of six. Upper beds in couchettes may be too short for people taller than 1.80m. Earplugs are useful. Most sleepers and couchettes have complimentary breakfast. See rail.cc for fotos and descriptions of an ÖBB NightJet.
Travelling by night train can be enjoyable, maybe get a beer, have interesting conversations with fellow travellers, or just look outside.
Some of these itineraries are outdated, check your connections on the webpages listed above.
The Chiasso hack: if you look for Stuttgart - Milano on Trainline or DB, you find only expensive connections. Travel much cheaper as follows:
If you depart from an S-Bahn station in the Stuttgart region instead of from Stuttgart Hbf, it saves a few euro, and most importantly, add's passenger rights protection to the change in Stuttgart Hbf if you include one or two stops of S-Bahn in the right direction. E.g., you want to go to Waiblingen, then book a Deutsche-Bahn-ticket until Fellbach (no change in prize) and then use the VVS Mobility app to activate a Check-In-ticket while your S-Bahn passes through the Fellbach stop.
If you have a Deutschland ticket: the direct IC trains Stuttgart - Zurich share code with a regional train. You can use them with the Deutschland ticket until Singen. Tickets from Singen to Chiasso can be bought starting at 19 Euro.
From Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe there are also a few direct EC trains every day to Milano, but usually more expensive and not necessarily faster.
All three options can be booked on Trainline (look for the arrival times and number of changes in the list). But if the option for sleeper/couchette on the night trains does not show up, try also OEBB which seems to have a bigger contingent.
Return trip: the Nightjet to Frankfurt arrives for my taste far too early in the morning. On the other hand, the Friday afternoon direct Railjet from Vienna to Stuttgart (and onward to Frankfurt) is very convenient.
The following connection works well, with safe connections and high comfort:
You have time to step outside Cologne main station and take a look at the impressive cathedral of Cologne, and there are many options for waiting with coffee and a second breakfast in the station. In Bruxelles I can recommend a quick lunch with Belgian beer at 'La Brasserie de la Gare' just across the street from the main entrance of the station (tell them that you have a train to catch to get express service). Remember that you have to go through a security and passport check before boarding the Eurostar, for which you should plan 45 minutes to be on the safe side. The Eurostar departure terminal is easy to find in the main hall of Bruxelles Midi (it's called Bruxelles-Midi Eurostar, but it is just a particular platform inside the station of Bruxelles Midi).
For the return trip, take the following connection:
Remember to be at St. Pancras 45 minutes in advance to go through security and passport check.
A word on tickets: for Cologne-London try to get a Sparpreis-Europa ticket from Deutsche Bahn, for the Nightjet compare prizes of Deutsche Bahn and Austrian Railways. For more information on the Eurostar (including the short cut for changing platform in Bruxelles when coming from London), see Seat 61.
From London you can reach almost all destinations in the UK by train, see Seat 61. We continued to Plymouth for camping in beautiful Cornwall. In the direction Plymouth to Continental Europe, do not plan a tight connection in London since trains in the UK are notoriously late.
Board the EC to Hamburg Hbf in Noerreport st around 15:27. For a short stretch the train is loaded on a ferry. Bring a dinner or have dinner on the ferry. In Hamburg, change directly to the ÖBB Nightjet to Zurich (if the EC is delayed, talk to the conductor, he can request the night train to wait a bit).
The connecting time in Hamburg is rather short (13 minutes) and the Danish train not always punctual. You may consider taking an earlier connection from Copenhagen to Hamburg - either an earlier direct EC, or via the mainland, changing in Fredericia and possibly Flensburg. Connecting times on the mainland may also be only 7 minutes, but these trains wait for each other, and are usually directly on the other side of your arrival platform. Additional advantage of the mainland connection: you cross the very impressive "Rendsburger Hochbrücke", which was the longest railway bridge in Germany until 2012.
On the return trip, board the Nightjet in Zurich at 20:00. Next morning at Hamburg Hbf you have enough time to buy a coffee and take a little walk to the Binnenalster while waiting for the ICE to Copenhagen. Bring a lunch picnic on the train (there are plenty of shopping options in Hamburg main station) or have lunch on the ferry, then arrive at Noerreport st or Københavns Hovedbanegård in Copenhagen.
Check prizes on DB.de and OEBB.at and try Trainline. The direct connection gets closed sometimes (then bus replacement is mentioned in the schedule), in which case the slightly longer trip via Flensburg over the mainland is more reliable (involves 2 changes, but these are very reliable).
Take the EC from Brixen to Munich at 19:04. In Munich Hbf you have time to change to the ÖBB Nightjet going to Hamburg; from there on it is the same connection as in the previous example.
Take a late ICE from Stuttgart to Mannheim, in Mannheim take the ÖBB Nightjet towards Hamburg (departs around midnight), and from Hamburg take the ICE or EC directly to Copenhagen. This is 7:50 hours with the railjet during the day, with a beautiful mountain landscape. Alternatively with the Euronight, departing from Zurich 21:40. The ÖBB train is very modern but bed rooms are rather small - if you don't know who's travelling with you I'd take the single occupation. Breakfast is included. This connection sells out quickly, book as early as possible!
Copenhagen - Oslo by nightbus nettbuss.se (not much sleeping, but extremely cheap).
Oslo - Trondheim by direct train (luckily my scheduled departure was 2h after the scheduled bus arrival, since the bus was 1h late) - the landscape is grandios and the train cozy, good bistro with panorama windows and cheap coffee refill. (Alternatively there is also a night train from Oslo to Trondheim. Or to do the first two legs of the trip in one: A faster way of getting from Copenhagen to Trondheim is by taking the Snälltåget ski night train Malmö to Åre/Duved, from where it is only 3 hours by train to Trondheim.)
Trondheim - Tromsø with Hurtigruten post ship, 2 days on a very comfortable ship along a fantastic coast, in the winter affordable and with only few people on board.
Tromsø - Kiruna first with Bus Line 100 (no reservation possible and normally not necessary, buy ticket directly from driver with credit card) to Narvik (we arrived perfectly on time) and from there by train to Kiruna (there are only 2 trains per day, the earlier one has a direct connection with the bus; the later one has more buffer time but then it might be too dark already to see the impressive landscape).
Kiruna - Copenhagen: my longest train trip ever (1900km): I booked from SJ the following: Kiruna - Boden, ordinary IC train. (In Boden 30min break, I bought a pizza in the main street.) Boden - Stockholm on the night train (this train still has a restaurant car!). Next morning about one hour break in Stockholm and then X2000 train (with coffee flatrate) to Copenhagen.
Don't forget to watch our for Northern Lights, and try dog sledding.
This can be as fast as 6:12h via Basel. I chose however a longer connection: TGV to Paris, brought my picnic to the square in front of Notre Dame, and after lunch continued to Gare de Lyon, from where the TGV does the 800km to Marseille in 3:22h through beautiful southern France.
A great journey through the Slovenian alps! The EuroNight leaves Zagreb at 18:38. No restaurant car, but you can have an early dinner in Zagreb or bring a picnic. Sleeper cars are modern and spacious. The train also has couchettes and ordinary cars, which come from Beograde. You'll receive a bottle of water in the evening and breakfast in your sleeper compartment in the morning. Tickets can be bought on OEBB.at or maybe Trainline.
Take the ICE from Stuttgart to Munich (leaves around 18:23). In Munich change to the ÖBB Nightjet to Rome, next morning you have time for an extended breakfast while watching the beautiful Italian landscape (watch our for the impressive city of Orvieto ontop of the cliffs); arrive in the center of Rome at the unbeatable 9:22. (And remember that you just saved at least 80€ for an extra hotel night.)
Trenitalia has modern direct trains to Ancona, the fastest taking 3h24 from Rome or 2h59 from Milano. During the first part of the trip the train is quite full, 1st class is worth the investment and not much more expensive. No gastronomical service on the train (not even water bottles). Landscape is beautiful, coast to coast through the Italian mountains and tiny villages. Plan in a few hours so that you can explore the harbour of Ancona, climb on the hilltop and buy food. Unfortunately there is no night train on this connection anymore. The trip takes in the best case 6:41 hours and costs 61.90€. You start with Trenitalia's Frecciarossa or with Italo to Milano. The trip takes 3h with both companies. Long stretches are travelled at 300km/h, the average speed on the 600km distance being around 200km/h! Going for a really long trip? In Zurich you can connect to the ÖBB Nightjet to Berlin or Hamburg.
In 2004 it was possible to buy the complete trip from a DB office... take the ICE at 20:23 from Stuttgart to Munich, in Munich change to the EuroNight to Budapest-Keleti but get out at Kelenföld, from there take the local train to Siofok. If you have problems buying the ticket, until Kelenföld can be bought online from DB.
Leave Copenhagen with the EuroCity at 11:37, arrive in Hamburg at 16:22. Then take the ICE to Munich at 17:01, have dinner in the ICE restaurant car, arrive in Munich at 23:14. Continue with the ÖBB NightJet leaving Munich at 23:35 until Udine where you arrive at 6:23. Take one of the frequent regional trains to Trieste.
Easy one, just look for the connection on www.bahn.de. Fastest connection is 8h27, by local train to Horb, then IC to Zürich, then IC to Geneva, then by local train to Grenoble. However, the connection in Horb is tight (3 minutes), so better look for connections taking 8h40 via Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Lyon (all connections have more than 16 minutes). Tickets can be bought from DB or Trainline, but book early since SNCF can be expensive.
Vienna to Stockholm is a comfortable one-day trip. Leave Vienna in the evening on the Nightjet to Hamburg. At Hamburg main station take the next EC to Copenhagen. From Copenhagen, either wait for the next Swedish X2000 directly to Stockholm, or take an Øresundstog to Malmö and an X2000 from there to Stockholm. Tickets: it might be cheapest to book the Nightjet to Hamburg from ÖBB and then a ticket Hamburg - Stockholm from DB. Alternatively, you can by a ticket Vienna - Copenhagen from ÖBB (slightly more expensive) and Copenhagen to Stockholm from the Swedish SJ. You arrive in Stockholm around 20:30 in the evening. Hint: Malmö station has a cozy restaurant section, also with quick and decent take-away pizza.
From Stockholm to Kiruna, and return, there are two daily night train connections, of which one is direct, one requires a change. On the return we travelled directly to Vienna without stop in Stockholm. This is two consecutive nights on night trains, a trip of about 3000km. The following connection should work: Depart 13:47 from Kiruna, change in Boden 17:23, arrive 6:38 at Stockholm Central -time for breakfast- continue at 08:25 to Copenhagen, arriving 13:32 -1.5 hours for lunch around Halmtorvet in Copenhagen- around 15:20 (exact schedule varies) continue by EC to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, arriving 20:16. At 20:26, catch the Nightjet to Vienna. Tickets: book Kiruna to Copenhagen as one ticket from SJ. Book Copenhagen to Vienna as one ticket from ÖBB: the connection in Hamburg is tight, but if you buy Copenhagen to Vienna in one single booking process from ÖBB you are protected by European passenger rights (i.e., if you miss the connection in Hamburg ÖBB will pay a hotel and a new onward ticket for you, plus 50% delay compensation).
Swedish night trains have a cozy restaurant car, which I can recommend both for dinner and breakfast.
Under normal conditions, the easiest option is by Nightjet from Vienna to Milano, then by Thello from Milano to Marseille, a beautiful trip along the coast where the alps drop into the Mediterranean sea. Unfortunately, the day I needed to go, the line was closed for construction works, so I came up with the following alternative: from ÖBB, book the Hungarian EuroNight leaving Vienna at 23:25, arriving at Zurich HB 8:20. This train has excellent new 4-bed couchettes. Go sightseeing in Zurich (how about a trip by water bus on the lake and a Gipfeli?), then continue by the 13:34 TGV to Dijon Ville, from there by TGV to Marseille St Charles. From Zurich to Marseille is most easily booked on Trainline.
Return trip: Of course you can go through Zurich or better Milano again. But the most convenient option is as follows, but running only once per week: take any train to Nice until Saturday evening (can be booked on Trainline). On Sunday morning, 9:30, a train of the Russian Railways leaves for Moscow. This is a very modern train with Siemens sleeper coaches from 2014, and it arrives the next morning, 6:02, at Vienna main station. This train also carries an excellent Polish restaurant coach with very fair prices. To book tickets, go to the English page of rzd.ru, enter "Nice Ville" and "Wien" and make sure to choose a Sunday. You can book up to 45 days ahead (days marked in yellow) - if you try to book further ahead you get the misleading (wrong!) message "Fully booked". You can choose 2nd class (one bed in a 4-bed room), 1st class (with the options 1/1 meaning private room or 1/2 meaning shared with one traveller), or luxury class. You can choose a specific bed, but if you get a red Russian error message at the very end, go back and choose a bed in a different coach! Payment is by credit card, ticket is print-yourself. If your PDF has a red message "To use the e-ticket for your journey,
please check in online." at the lower right corner, look for the check-in button on the webpage and download the PDF again. The booking is a bit fiddly, but the journey is beautiful and comfortable.
The RZD train is also a convenient option in the other direction, also as an alternative to the Nightjet between Vienna and Milan. While a bit more expensive, it runs at different times, may still have free beds when the Nightjet is already fully booked, and as a bonus, has a fantastic restaurant car.
This is an easy one: book a ticket on the ÖBB Nightjet from Vienna to Hamburg. Next morning, take one of the direct trains from Hamburg to Aarhus. Tickets available on ww.bahn.de, trainline, or the ÖBB webpage.
From Paris you may travel to Frankfurt and board an ÖBB Nightjet to Hamburg there. Alternatively, and from everywhere else in France or Switzerland, travel to Zurich and board the Zurich-Hamburg Nightjet there, also operated by ÖBB.
From the mathematical research center Oberwolfach, take a taxi after dinner to Wolfach, where you take a local train at 21:20 to Offenburg (ticket machines at the station). From Offenburg, depart by ÖBB Nightjet at 22:30, arriving in Berlin around 8 o'clock next morning (tickets available online from the ÖBB webpage).
From Berlin, take the 9:55 train (EC 43, Berlin-Warschau-Express) arriving at Warszawa Centralna at 15:24 (ticket available on trainline or on www.bahn.de). This train has an excellent cozy restaurant car serving breakfast and freshly cooked meals at reasonable prices (but be warned that it will usually be completely full in the last two hours). Finally, catch one of many trains from Warsaw to Cracow, e.g. an EIP (Express Intercity Premium) train leaving Warsaw 15:50, arriving Krakow Gl (central station) at 18:08. Tickets for Polish trains from Warsaw to Cracow to be bought on www.intercity.pl, booking seems to open one month ahead of travel date.
From Cracow to Vienna you can travel by day or by night. I recommend the ÖBB Nightjet.
From Vienna to Prague one may travel with ÖBB, Czech railways České dráhy, or as the best option with the private czech company Regiojet. Regiojet usually runs four trains per direction per day, travel time is almost identical to ÖBB (the confusingly similarly named Railjet). The main advantage of Regiojet: much cheaper tickets and better service on-board. For around 30 Euro you can travel in a very spacious business class compartment. Coffee, a cold drink and a snack are included there; full meals (packed in plastic, but except for the couscous salad quite good) can be bought from the steward at an excellent prize (for Austrian standards).
You may compare the regiojet comfort classes and look at the business class menu. Attention, in low-cost class there is no service and no refreshments can be purchased.
Train travel from Milan to Spain is slow and involves a number of changes, check Trainline. I found it more time-efficient to travel by Flixbus overnight from Milano Lampugnano (departure 19:40) to Barcelona Nord (arrival 9:10 next morning). As usual with Flixbus, this is not particularly comfortable; I did not manage to sleep and we also arrived with 90 minutes of delay in Barcelona.
From Barcelona travel by train to Algeciras (you can leave three hours of safety margin to the Flixbus arrival and still make it to Algeciras on the same day). There are many options on Spanish high speed lines; it is worth comparing prices of the four competing companies on Trainline. The last piece to Algeciras is a very scenic but slow line which offers only a small handful of connections per day; check the times carefully. Stay overnight in Algeciras, e.g., at Hotel Reina Cristina.
Next morning, take a ferry to Tangier Ville. Simply walk down to the ticket offices in the port of Algeciras and buy a ticket from FRS or Intershipping (no need to pre-book). In both cases, a free shuttle bus leaves from Algeciras to the ferry terminal in Tarifa one hour before the ferry's scheduled departure time. Check ferry times online before, because the schedule has a rather big gap around mid day. Attention: other ferry companies cross to Tangier Med, which is a new port about 50km from Tangier's city center. On board the ferry you need to fill out a travel card and get it and your passport stamped by a Moroccon border guard.
Congratulations, you have arrived in Morocco. Get some cash from the ATM in the ferry terminal and walk to the city center; ignore the taxi drivers and touts waiting outside the arrival point.
For travel within Morocco there are three main options: collective taxis collecting six passengers before departing and covering distances up a few hours drive ("grands taxis"), buses (CTM and Supratours can be booked online, local bus schedules instead should be known to hotels and can be booked at the bus stations), and ONCF trains between the main cities.
On the return trip, plan a significant safety margin in Algeciras as ferries may run a few hours late. We took the FRS ferry departing 8am from Tangier Ville, went for lunch at "LA CATA TAPAS" and then took a train departing 15:03 from Algeciras for Cordoba. We stayed overnight in Cordoba, continued the next day to Barcelona, where we stayed again overnight.
There are only two fast trains heading north from Barcelona per day (at least in Spring 2023). We took a TGV for Paris departing at 10:33 from Barcelona Sants. Book early, at it may sell out or at least get very expensive. (This TGV also offers a convenient connection to Milan, with changes in Valence TGV and Chambéry Challes-les-Eaux, check Trainline.)
If heading for Warsaw, continue on the same day with a German ICE train from Paris to Mannheim or Frankfurt. Stay overnight. Next day, travel to Warsaw with a single change in Berlin Gesundbrunnen. The Polish EC trains have an excellent restaurant car with freshly cooked meals at good prizes, a perfect lunch or dinner option. If you don't find a free seat in the restaurant car, use the mWARS app to order meals to your seat.
Warsaw to Vienna take an EC train (possibly with one change to a RailJet). From Vienna to Genoa, take the ÖBB Nightjet.
If your trip starts with a local train (e.g., S-Bahn), from DB you can book directly from the S-Bahn stop for the same prize. Then your passenger rights also cover the S-Bahn in case of any delay. The part on the S-Bahn is not bound to a particular departure, even if you book a "Sparpreis"!
Passenger rights: If you miss a connection or if your train is expected to arrive more than 20 minutes late, you have the right to use all other trains to reach your destination, at least if you have the entire trip on a ticket from one company! If you have different tickets, this may be more problematic. Swiss Railways tend to be very flexible, while Eurostar running the channel tunnel trains is known to be greedy. If you arrive more than one hour late you have the right to a compensation payment, which can be demanded, e.g., in the Deutsche-Bahn-app.
Your Main Contribution: Air Travel
What you can do
Often flying is not cheaper even though airlines make us believe it. Anyway, if we can spend 10€ on a drink, we can also spend 10€ on our environment.
Even if you already took into account the time for printing the boarding pass, going to the airport, waiting at security, waiting at the gate, boarding 20min before departure etc.: On the train you can work during the whole trip, whereas all the time in security checks and walking around the airport is lost.
Does my individual lifestyle matter?
Ethics, Policy & Environment Vol. 14, Issue 1, 2011.
doi: 10.1080/21550085.2011.561584
doi: 10.1080/13698230.2012.692984
Second Order Corrections
Finance and Investment
Fair Clothing
Electronics
Backmarket has the same concept and operates in Belgium, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and the US.
For laptops, another similar option is Notebook Heaven.
Politics
More information and essays
"Ein einziger Urlaubsflug kann das Klima stärker aufheizen als ein Jahr lang Auto fahren und das Haus mit Erdöl heizen."
"Fliegen tötet zukünftige Menschen"
In February 2016, we had 8 years left before breaking the limit of max. 2°C global warming.
Two years earlier, in April 2014, we had 17 years left!
Finding Train & Night Train Connections
List of night trains in Europe (incomplete)
Biggest European night train network; daily regular services, also with car transportation on selected connections.
A wide range of comfortable night trains in Italy
Night train from the Netherlands to Austrian Ski Areas
Night train with car transportation between Hamburg and Lörrach (near Basel), Verona, Villach, Munich (seasonal)
Party trains for special events: Carneval in Cologne, Oktoberfest in Munich, beach train to North Sea...
Night train with car transportation from Lörrach (near Basel) to Hamburg
Used to run a night train from Lörrach/Freiburg to Hamburg. Also offers very economic day connections in Germany as well as national and international buses.
Recommended Train Travel Itineraries
Stuttgart/Frankfurt - Milano
Stuttgart - Vienna
Vienna - London - Plymouth
Copenhagen - Zurich
If you arrive early in Hamburg, there are a number of very good dinner options near near the main station, e.g., "The Ramen Hamburg" (Rosenstrasse 5) or "Better Burger Company" (corner of Rosenstrasse and Gertrudenkirchhof square).
Brixen/Bressanone - Copenhagen
Stuttgart - Copenhagen
Alternatively, take a day train - it's a long trip (about 12h30), but requires only one change (in Hamburg), and it is cheap (around 35 Euro). On the ICE you can also have breakfast/lunch/dinner of acceptable quality and price.
The return trip Copenhagen - Stuttgart is reasonable only by day train. Expect to leave Copenhagen around 11:30 in the morning and arrive in Stuttgart around 22:50.
Zurich - Vienna
Scandinavia: loop through Norway and Sweden
Zurich - Marseille
Zagreb - Zurich
Stuttgart - Rome
Rome/Milano - Split (Croatia)
In Ancona, there are ferries to many Croatian towns, see Rome2Rio. For us the cheapest option was BlueLine Ferries (service seasonal and not every day). A 2-berth cabin is cheap, has a private bath room with shower and one can sleep very well. You can have dinner on the ferry, but it didn't look attractive. Before boarding, you have to go to a counter (a short bus ride, bus departs in front of the station) and get a boarding pass. Don't forget your ID card, Croatia is not part of the Schengen space!
Rome - Zurich (- Berlin/Hamburg)
In Milano, change to a EC to Zurich (through the longest and deepest tunnel in the world, the Gotthard Base Tunnel)!
Stuttgart - Siofok (at the Balaton in Hungary)
Copenhagen - Trieste
Remark on tickets: Copenhagen to Munich can be bought from Deutsche Bahn (I took first class since it is so long; in any case, take a seat reservation from Copenhagen to Hamburg!). The NightJet can be bought from ÖBB or DB. The Italian regional train can be bought from TrenItalia; TrenItalia online tickets for regional trains are valid for every regional train departing within 4 hours of the time printed on the ticket.
Side remark: In Trieste, take a ride on the Tram no. 2 - it has a great view, leads to SISSA with a short walk and for part of the trip, it is pulled like a funicular. Tickets can be bought at Tobacco shops (look for "T"-signs).
Tübingen (near Stuttgart) - Grenoble (near Geneva)
Vienna - Stockholm - Kiruna (polar circle) - Vienna
Vienna - Milano - Marseille/Nice, and return
Vienna/France/Switzerland - Aarhus (Denmark)
Oberwolfach (near Frankfurt) - Berlin - Cracow - Vienna
Vienna - Prague
Milan - Morocco - Paris - Berlin - Warsaw - Vienna - Genoa
