Why I Usually Fly Between European Cities, Even Though Trains Are Better in Theory

People love telling you to take the train in Europe.

And I get it. The train sounds better. It feels more romantic. You picture yourself rolling through the countryside with a coffee, a little pastry, and some deep thought about how Americans have ruined transportation by making everything a highway and a parking lot.

Sometimes that is true.

Sometimes the train is perfect.

Sometimes the train is also six hours long, has three connections, costs more than a flight, and eats the entire day you were supposed to spend somewhere beautiful.

I love trains in Europe. I really do. The train network is incredible, especially compared with what we have in the United States, where the transportation plan is mostly: own a car, suffer in traffic, repeat until you dead.

But when I am planning a fast Europe trip, especially one where I only have a week or so and I am trying to see multiple cities, I usually fly between European cities instead of taking the train.

Not because flying is better.

Because time is usually the thing I am trying not to waste.

The quick answer

If the train is direct, reasonably priced, and gets you from city center to city center in a few hours, take the train.

If the train takes half the day, has annoying connections, costs too much, or gets in the way of seeing the next city, fly.

That is the real answer.

You don’t always want to take the train - and you don’t always want to take a flight.

You have to compare the actual day.

When I plan these trips, I am usually not trying to spend a slow month floating around Europe with no schedule. That sounds great, but that is not usually my life. I have work, kids, bills, responsibilities, and all the other beautiful little things that make adulting real.

So if I have eight days and I want to see five or six places, I have to protect the time.

A six-hour train ride might be cool if the train ride is the point. But if the goal is to wake up in one city and still have a real afternoon in the next one, the flight sometimes wins.

I learned to love trains before I learned to use them well

My first big Europe trip was right after high school. I went to Italy by myself with a backpack, a guidebook, a little English-to-Italian translation book, and almost no idea what I was doing.

There was no iPhone. No Google Maps. No Apple Wallet. No live train tracking. No blue dot gently saving your life.

I had a book.

That was my internet.

I bought a train pass for Italy and just started moving. Sicily to Naples. Naples to Rome. Rome to Pisa. Pisa to Florence. Florence to Venice. Verona. Milan. Cinque Terre. Back down south. Whatever looked interesting, I went there. If I liked a place, I stayed longer. If it sucked, I left.

That part was amazing and it totally changed my life.

The train gave me freedom. It let me move around Italy without having to fully know what I was doing. I could stare out the window along the coastline and watch the country slide by like I had somehow hacked real life.

But I also got on the wrong train.

More than once, probably, but one time in Sicily really stands out because it involved a guy named Massimo, hash, a train employee checking tickets, me throwing two spliffs out the window like a scared little dork, and then completely ignoring Massimo when he tried to tell me I was on the wrong half of the train.

That is not normal travel advice, but it is a pretty good metaphor.

The train was great.

I was the problem. Sometimes that happens. 🤣

The train split after crossing into Sicily, with one half going one way and the other half going toward where I actually needed to go. Massimo tried to explain it to me, but I was too high, too paranoid, too young, and too convinced I was about to get tricked somehow. So I stayed on the wrong half and ended up going along the northern coast instead of toward Catania.

By the time I figured it out, it was late. I had no cell phone, no easy way to contact my uncle, no real plan, and I ended up stuck in Messina trying to use a payphone and a prepaid card at one o’clock in the morning.

So yes, trains are beautiful.

They can also humble you……real quick!

Modern travel changed everything

Now the whole thing is different.

Your phone is basically the trip.

You can search flights, book hotels, translate a menu, watch yourself move on a map, buy train tickets, check into flights, find an airport shuttle, call a ride, pay for dinner, and look up whether the city you just landed in has Uber or some local app you have never heard of.

That changes how I plan.

Now I start with Google Flights. I use the Explore map, search from Portland, and look at where I can get into Europe cheaply. Sometimes the cheapest smart move is flying into a major city like Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, or Rome, then using one-way flights inside Europe to hop around.

Once you are in Europe, the flight prices can be ridiculous. In the planning episode, I talked about finding flights like Paris to Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Malta, or Madrid for prices that barely feel real compared with flying around the United States.

That is why I use flights so much.

Not because airports are fun. Airports are where joy goes to be scanned.

But if I can fly from one city to another for cheap and still arrive with enough time to actually enjoy the next place, that can be the better move.

The train is better when it protects the day

I am not anti-train.

A good train route is hard to beat.

If I can leave from the center of one city and arrive in the center of another, without dealing with an airport, security, bag rules, and the general feeling of being processed through a human funnel, I want that.

The train is usually better when:

The route is direct.

The stations are central.

The ride is only a few hours.

The price is reasonable.

The arrival gives you real time in the next city.

That is the dream.

This is why staying near a main train station can be such a good move on fast trips. I learned that when I was younger traveling around Italy, and I still use it now. If you stay near the station, you are always ready to go. You can land, take the train into the city, walk five minutes to your hotel, drop your bag, and start the day.

That is not glamorous, but it works.

And on a fast trip, working matters more than being adorable.

Flying is better when the train eats the trip

The problem is that not every train route is clean.

Sometimes the train takes too long. Sometimes it costs too much. Sometimes you have to connect through places you do not care about. Sometimes the timing is terrible. Sometimes you could fly in one hour and the train takes six, and at that point I am not going to pretend I am above the airport.

In my planning episode, I said people ask me why I do not just take the train, and the answer is pretty simple: the train is cool, but it takes forever when you are trying to see a bunch of cities in a short amount of time.

That is still how I feel.

If I have eight days in Europe, I do not want one of those days to become mostly transportation unless the transportation is part of the experience. I want to get to the next place while there is still enough day left to walk around, eat something, get lost a little, and decide if I care about the city.

A flight can help with that.

It can also ruin that if you choose badly.

A cheap flight that leaves at 6:00 am from an airport 45 minutes away is not automatically a good deal. A late-night arrival can turn into a taxi, a weird check-in, and dinner from some sad airport snack situation. Bag fees can turn a cheap fare into a regular fare wearing a disguise.

So flying only wins if the whole day still works.

Do not compare ticket prices. Compare the actual day.

This is where people mess it up.

They compare a $40 flight to a $90 train and say the flight is cheaper.

Maybe.

But what does the flight actually cost?

Airport transfer. Bag fee. Seat fee if you care. Food at the airport. Time before departure. Time after landing. Another transfer into the city. Possibly a taxi if you arrive too late.

Now compare that to the train.

Maybe the train leaves from the middle of the city and arrives in the middle of the next one. Maybe you keep your bag with you, skip security, and step off the train five minutes from your hotel.

Suddenly the train that looked more expensive might be the better deal.

Not cheaper.

Just mo bettah.

That is the whole game.

I do not compare flight time to train time. I compare hotel-to-hotel time. Bag-to-bag time. How tired am I going to be when I get there time.

That is the number that matters.

My rule for fast Europe trips

For short, direct train routes, I look at the train first.

For longer routes, awkward connections, island jumps, or trips where I am trying to fit several cities into one week, I usually look at flights first.

Then I ask the boring questions.

How do I get from the airport to the hotel?

How early do I need to leave?

Does the airline allow my bag?

Is the train station near where I want to stay?

Will I still have enough usable time when I arrive?

Does this transportation choice make the trip better, or am I just trying to win at finding the cheapest ticket?

That last one matters because I am absolutely capable of getting too excited about a cheap fare. I see some stupid low price and suddenly I am ready to fly to a city I had not thought about 12 seconds earlier.

That can be fun.

It can also be how you end up building a trip around transportation instead of places.

The best choice is the one that keeps the trip moving

There is no perfect rule.

Europe is too weird and too varied for that. Some routes are made for trains. Some are made for flights. Some are made for ferries. Some are made for staying home and admitting you tried to do too much.

For me, the right choice is the one that keeps the trip moving without making the day feel like a punishment.

If the train gives me a clean, easy, city-center-to-city-center travel day, I want the train.

If flying saves enough time and still gives me a good arrival, I want the flight.

If either option makes me wake up too early, arrive too late, spend too much, carry too much, or hate the plan before I even get there, I rethink the whole thing.

That is the real lesson.

The transportation is not separate from the trip.

It is the trip.

At least until you drop your bag, walk outside, and finally get to the part you came for.

Related travel planning posts

How to Plan a 24-Hour Trip to Europe Without Wasting Your Time
https://maxwellskitchenpodcast.com/blog/how-to-plan-a-24-hour-trip-to-europe

The Real Cost of Cheap Europe Flights
https://maxwellskitchenpodcast.com/blog/real-cost-of-cheap-europe-flights

What I Pack for Europe: My One-Bag Travel List for Fast Trips
https://maxwellskitchenpodcast.com/blog/what-i-pack-for-europe-one-bag-travel-list