Tag Archives: Train

Aug31

The train from Stuttgart into Brussels

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Monday, 29-July-2024


Stuttgart was glorious, but neither fey forests, glorious hot springs, nor amazing company can halt the flow of time… and soon enough I found myself back on a major rail line, bags packed and stowed safely, forging my way toward a new destination.

Not my final destination of the trip, but exceptionally close – the final stop on the adventure, before I’d land in my new home of Ireland. The capital of the European Union, home of comic books, and the land of chocolates; Belgium.


The trains were simple and beautifully straightforward this time – no repeats of the “your pass doesn’t work” tomfoolery of France / Switzerland, just a clean and relaxing journey out of Germany and into Belgium – as a bonus, it was an unexpectedly nostalgic journey, as the stopover city of Koeln (Also known as Cologne to us English speakers) had something I hadn’t seen in ages, and absolutely wasn’t expecting – Dunkin’ Donuts! Hurrah, New England represent!

And Burger King, but I’d seen that before. Was a heck of a lot better here, though. And as a neat point – Burger King in Germany was effectively a vegan restaurant! A legit half of the menu was vegan, with a surprisingly small portion of the total menu being carnivorous or meat based… I’d hazard a guess that 70% was vegetarian or vegan, and I’ll freely admit that the burger was quite excellent. Expensive, but worth the extra cost over the United States.



So fortified, I saw the train ride though, and soon enough was settled into Belgium, enjoying some solitude and preparing myself for the adventures to come…

Aug26

The bus and trains from Zermatt to Stuttgard

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Wednesday, 24-July-2024


With a melancholy sigh, I watched the mountains of Zermatt recede behind me, as the bus pulled away from the cog railway station in Täsch.

Doing so, of course, quickly gave me a whole nice helping of vertigo… so I quickly returned my gaze to the road ahead of the bus as it careened around the steep roads and hairpin turns that would bring us down to Visp. The rest of the cog railway was still out, after the flash floods of May, and I was on the second leg of four legs of this adventure.

A train, to a bus, to a train, to another train. That was my charted course. Frankly, I was a little anxious… but less than I had been in Marseille when I first embarked on a significantly complex train journey. I’d gotten used to it, a little bit at least, and this trip had much more generous layovers than the previous had. I’d figured out the app pretty well, and was able to sit back and enjoy the journey.




I grabbed a (slightly sad) sandwich and pretzel in Zurich. I napped, I reviewed photos, and I read when the train was stable enough to avoid motion sickness.

I enjoyed the views out the window, and soon enough found myself transferring into Germany. It was a simple series of train rides, frankly, and there’s not much to say about them. It worked well, and I heartily endorse Swiss and Germany trains.

Who knew, right?

Aug16

A train to Switzerland – From Marseille to Zermatt

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Thursday, 18-July-2024


I dropped the rental off back at Marseille airport, hitched a taxi to the train station, and braced myself for my longest train ride of the trip.

I had about nine hours ahead of me – my longest “commute” of this adventure, with the most layovers and the highest opportunity for things to go wrong. They already had started to, in actuality, earlier in the month when flash-floods had hit Zermatt and partially washed out one of the train lines that I was scheduled to take. I was anxious, but optimistic. I’d made it this far, the trains so far had been quite good, and I was confident I’d make it through the trials and travails.


I started at the ticket booth. I’d bought reservations on as many trains as I could, of course, but many trains didn’t accept reservations… which is where my Eurail pass would come in. In theory it would cover me for everything, but I still wanted to make sure. I did, thankfully, and after waiting in line for nearly 30min to talk to an information staff member I was able to confirm that my pass covered everything and that I would be good to go.

I had breakfast, hauled my bags onto the train once it arrived, and left Marseille behind.



The rides went fairly smoothly at first. I was able to find a seat, and the train made its way toward Switzerland.

Soon enough, though, I hit a hurdle – the conductor wouldn’t accept my Eurail pass. I couldn’t say whether it was the language barrier or what, but after 5min of trying to understand why my pass wasn’t good (which the info people had confirmed it was), I was given a choice – pay an extra $98 for a ticket, or get off at the next stop with a fine for riding without a ticket.

I paid, of course, and was able to make my way to the next station.

From Marseille, to Geneva.
From Geneva, to Visp.
From Visp, a bus to Täsch.
From Täsch, a cog railway to Zermatt.


In Geneva, I dove into the pass a little bit more. I found out how to set up the App to show a QR code, which apparently was what the first conductor had wanted… but hadn’t explained to me.

I had some lunch, too, and added a note into my calendar to contest the charge on my credit card.

I hopped the next train, then the next bus, and then finally the cog railway.


I stared in awe at the cliffs, as the granite slowly rose out of the ground as our elevation rose.

I arrived in Zermatt, and simply goggled at the Matterhorn before happily making my way to my home for the next few days.