When travelling throughout Europe many people are eager to book flights through cheap budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet. Americans especially get excited at the prospect of a cheap flight, since domestic flights in the United States tend to be so expensive (sometimes costing close to one thousand bucks just to fly from one coast to the other!) and the U.S. is seriously lacking in the budget airline department.
The problem with using European budget airlines is that they charge like crazy for a checked bag and your carry-on has to be super tiny or you’ll get fined an absurd amount at the last minute and be forced to check it. As if living out of a Ryanair-approved carry-on throughout your European vacation isn’t tough enough, they won’t let you bring anything other than an itsy bitsy purse as your personal item. That means you definitely won’t get away with an over-sized backpack plus your carry-on item without paying for it.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the seats are extremely cramped and don’t recline, plus the nasty junk food they offer is quite overpriced (they have to make up for the cheap airfares somehow, right?)
Train travel on the other hand, can feel like a serious upgrade after spending too many hours in a Ryanair flight. Many experienced travelers are eager to book train travel, but it’s something many young or infrequent travelers overlook. A popular and super easy option for booking train travel is through Rail Europe, which lets you buy single and multi-country passes or even a global pass. It’s really easy to figure out, just be sure you do it at least a month before you leave for your trip so you leave enough time for your pass to arrive in the mail.
Here are some advantages to European train travel:
- The seats are almost always more spacious
- You get to see the landscape and countryside of the new country your visiting
- You won’t get charged for having large or multiple pieces of luggage
- A “1st class” seat is usually only about $10 to $20 more than “2nd class”
- Train stations tend to be more accessible than airports, meaning less time and money spend on taxis getting to/from the airport
- Budget airlines often use airports that are quite far from the main city you’re traveling to, so you might find out when you arrive that you need to take a bus for an hour and a half just to get to where you thought you were going
- Less motion sickness (this is true for me anyways!)
- You can usually buy a ticket relatively last minute compared to a flight, leaving more room for changes and unanticipated adventures to dictate your plans
- Time to write/read/contemplate the universe. There are often outlets and sometimes WiFi, so you might even be able to get some work done!
- Occasionally you’ll get free snacks and coffee/tea (a train I took in Poland did this) but usually there are some cheap snacks available. The quality probably isn’t a step-up from Ryanair, but the prices are usually better. It’s also easier to pack your own snacks since you can have multiple bags with you, so bringing a grocery bag stocked with your favorite treats isn’t going to end up getting you a massive fine.
Of course I’ve flown with budget airlines numerous times and will continue to in the future, I’m just suggesting that you think about the reality of those flights before booking them. This is especially true if you plan on country-hopping for a long time because traveling by train could make a great trip a whole lot better. Happy travels!
