After all of my train adventures in the UK, I finally decided to give travel to Europe by train a go. What could be more exciting than getting on board a train in one country and getting off it in another? Different cultures, different foods, different train systems.
And all those different languages.
Train holidays in Europe are gaining in popularity for lots of reasons. Many people are quite rightly keen to reduce their carbon footprint and feel that flight free is the best way to travel. Others are fed up with that same-everywhere airport feeling and want to properly experience locations as they travel through them.
You can miss out whole continents by flying.
My train adventures in Europe
Although I’ve travelled overseas a fair amount, I’m a relative newby to European travel. I haven’t been backpacking or Interrailing yet but this year (2024) I’ve been lucky enough to make two significant European train trips.
So far!
1. London to Paris by train and ferry
Calais train station, Fi Darby
This flight free London to Paris journey was a commission for one of my clients. My brief was to travel to Paris without using Eurostar, check out all the train and ferry connections and write up some useful instructions for people wanting to travel to the Paris Olympics by train.
Mr D and I travelled from London to Dover by train, with P&O ferries to Calais and then by train to Paris. We had a wonderful trip and it really whet my appetite for further European train travel.
We first planned to visit Sweden in our campervan just before lockdown. I remember eating meatballs in the van on the day we were due to set off; we were parked just outside our house. I even made tiny Swedish flags for the occasion.
Move on a few years and we were (finally) planning a trip to Stockholm with a friend. I took the bold decision to fly out with them (easy) and come back on my own by train (slightly scary).
Why did I chose to travel by train?
Well I feel quite strongly that if we all make small changes to our travel habits, we can make a difference to climate change and influence a new way of looking at travel. I thought that by comparing the two experiences, I would be able to not only find out for myself how train travel and flying compare but share my findings with everyone else.
It took me one flight to get to Stockholm.
It took me eleven trains to get home again.
It was also a lot more expensive to make the Sweden UK journey by train but I had an amazing experience. I met all kinds of people, gained confidence and actually felt like I had travelled.
Most importantly I saved a huge amount of CO2.
You can read more details about my trip home from Sweden to the UK by train here; including my route, how I booked the tickets, how much it all cost, how long the train trip home took, and exactly how much CO2 I saved by coming back by train.
And you can find out whether or not I would choose to travel that way again.
Overland travel isn’t just gaining popularity for its eco credentials. Each year more travellers are discovering the joy of slow travel through Europe to and from their chosen European holiday destination.
We are all realising that how we travel matters.
Train journeys to Europe from the UK are usually more expensive (in monetary terms) than their equivalent flights but many people also give the convenience and shorter journey times of flying as their reasons not to switch to the train.
I thought it was time I investigated for myself. Read on to find out how I compared a flight out to Stockholm with my journey home from Sweden to the UK by train.
If you’re considering giving European train travel a try, this article will hopefully answer all your questions.
Local trains Stockholm, Fi Darby
It will also help you compare the costs, time, experiences and carbon footprint of taking the train to Europe instead of flying.
Why will it do that?
Because I’ve just come back from an experimental trip to Sweden. I flew out with my family and came back solo by train.
Seems a bit strange to use flights and trains?
Bagarmossen Metro station Stockholm, Fi Darby
Yep! It felt a bit strange too. The door of our holiday home shut behind us, I watched the rest of my party get into their Uber to head to Stockholm’s Arlanda airport. Then alone, I turned around and walked to the Stockholm Metro to head for the train station.
My train journey turned out to be quite an adventure.
Before I tell you about my travel experience, let’s take a look at the numbers. When I talk to people about alternatives to flying or driving, two reasons for not choosing the train always come up; money and time.
Nobody really talks about the journey experience.
Which is why I decided to fly out to Sweden and take the train back.
I wanted to find out for myself what the trip would be like.
This infographic shows the cost, time, carbon footprint and experience comparisons of my plane and train trip to Sweden but you can read more about the detail below that.
Copyright, Fi Darby 2024
1. Flight costs vs train costs
Flight out to Sweden – £123
Train trip back from Sweden – £335
Trains at Cologne Station, Fi Darby
How much did it cost to fly to Sweden from the UK?
In this section I’m talking about costs to bank accounts, I’ll get to costs to the planet later.
Is flying really so much cheaper than taking the train? It would be great to think it wasn’t but (wrong or right) flights are often the cheapest way to travel overseas, or even sometimes domestically.
But what if you consider the whole journey?
My trip to Sweden involved picking up a friend (and her electric car) in Cheltenham, and flying (cheaper flights) from Manchester airport.
Car (diesel) from Devon to Cheltenham – 134 miles – £23
Car (electric) to Manchester airport – 123 miles – £0 (solar electric)
Flight to Arlanda airport (Stockholm) – £87 (under seat luggage)
The total cost of my flight, airport transfers and connections from home in Devon to Stockholm in Sweden was.
£123
Sweden to the UK by train, how much did it cost?
Because it’s always such an experience, you can’t measure a train journey by monetary costs alone but we are talking about finances here so let’s give it a go.
I had a few options when I booked my train trip but chose not to use the Stockholm to Hamburg sleeper train so that I could look at the scenery I was passing through (one of the benefits of flight-free travel). That choice meant I needed to include an overnight stay.
I costed up lots of different ticket options and for the trip I wanted, buying an Interrail 4-day Global Travel Pass worked out cheapest. Because I wasn’t travelling by train both ways, I didn’t use two of the days but I still have the option to do so (if I can do it within a month).
As well as buying the pass, I had to pay to reserve seats on all but two of my trains but apart from Eurostar, this was a minimal cost.
And yes, if you’re a UK resident, you can still use Interrail after Brexit.
Interrail Global Pass (4 days within one month) – £243
Seat reservation (Stockholm to Copenhagen) – £6
Seat reservation (Copenhagen to Hamburg) – £7
Seat reservation (Cologne to Brussels) – £7
Seat reservation Eurostar (Brussels to London) – £27
CAB20 hotel (Hamburg) – £46
Once again, I haven’t included my local transport connection cost from our holiday home in Sweden to Stockholm Central station.
It’s also worth noting I didn’t pay for a reservation on three of my trains (it’s optional on some). I didn’t have problems finding a seat but with hindsight, I would reserve one on future high season trips.
£335
Cost comparison – flying from Sweden to the UK or going by train.
As expected (and unfortunately), travelling to and from Scandinavia by train is more expensive than flying. 172% more expensive if you want to put a number on it.
My choice to take the train back from Sweden to the UK cost me an additional £212.
Note. I would have spent less on my airfare with a return ticket but on a return train trip, would have used all of the four travel days on my Global Interrail Pass, and only paid for reservations.
To save my brain, I chose not to include these calculations!
2. Flight times vs train times
Sweden to the UK flight + transfers time – 11 hours
Sweden to the UK train time – 22.5 + 12 overnight hours
Hamburg train station platforms, Fi Darby
How long did it take to fly from Sweden to the UK?
After money, the next reason people usually give for not taking the train on holiday (or elsewhere) is time. Another reason I flew out and took the train home was to allow me to compare the two trips in terms of time.
When we look at flight times, we often forget to include travel to the airport, check-in times and local connections. This was my husband’s trip not mine, but I have tried to include everything.
Uber to Arlanda airport – 1 hour
Check-in time Arlanda airport Stockholm – 1.5 hours
Flight Arlanda to Manchester airport – 2.5 hours
Car Manchester airport to Cheltenham – 3 hours
Car Cheltenham to Devon – 3 hours
11 hours
How long does the train from Sweden to the UK take?
Including the Metro in Stockholm, the Tube in London and one unexpected train change (broken train) it took me eleven trains to get home to Devon from Stockholm in Sweden.
I’ve listed the train times as accurately as possible below (I did have a few delays and alterations to deal with) and I left plenty of time in between trains (which I needed on a couple of occasions).
Walk and Metro to Stockholm Central – 0.5 hours
Stockholm Central to Copenhagen – 6 hours
Copenhagen to Hamburg – 5 hours
Hamburg to Hanover – 1.5 hours
Hanover to Cologne – 2.5 hours
Cologne to Brussels – 2 hours
Brussels to London – 1 hour + 1 hour Eurostar check-in time
London to Devon – 3 hours
22.5 + 12 hours (travel plus overnight in Hamburg)
Time comparison – flying from Sweden to the UK and going by train.
No surprises here either. Even with airport connections, taking the train home to the UK from Sweden takes longer than flying. 214% longer.
My choice to travel back from Sweden by train instead of plane meant I took an additional23.5 hours.
Note: The sleeper train from Stockholm to Hamburg wouldn’t have made this journey quicker and I would have missed out on my last night in Sweden.
3. Flight carbon footprint vs train carbon footprint
Flight carbon footprint – 0.99 MT (metric tons)
Train carbon footprint – 0.013 MT (metric tons)
On the train between Hanover and Cologne, Fi Darby
And here we come to the real reason for my trip. Finding ways to reduce my emissions as I travel. You could argue this ecological consideration should be the most important one in all of our travel and holiday planning.
How did the carbon footprint of taking the train home to the UK from Sweden compare with the carbon footprint of flying?
Here are the details…
Note: There are lots of carbon footprint calculators out there but it was tricky to find one that would calculate trains, planes and cars. In the end I used the one from Sustainable Travel International to make the calculations for the flight and this carbon footprint calculator for the train trip but got similar results with others.
What was the carbon footprint of flying from Sweden to the UK?
I’ve included airport transfers and local travel in this calculation. I’ve also put the section of the journey in an electric car as zero because the vehicle was charged by home solar power.
MT = Metric tons of CO2 (according to the WWF, the UK average personal annual carbon footprint for 2024 is 8.8 MT. We should be aiming for 2.5 each by 2030).
Electric car Manchester airport to Cheltenham – 0 MT
Petrol car Cheltenham to Devon – 0.4 MT
The total carbon footprint of flying home from Sweden…
0.99 MT
What was the carbon footprint of taking the train from Sweden to the UK?
Because I travelled on so many trains on my journey, I divided them into electric miles (Europe) and diesel/electric combined miles (UK) rather than each individual journey.
Electric trains – Sweden to London – 0.004 MT
Diesel/electric trains – London to Newton Abbot – 0.009 MT
The total carbon footprint of my train journey home from Sweden…
0.013 MT
Carbon footprint comparison – taking the train from Sweden to the UK or flying.
After a longer time and greater costs for my train trip, I was very pleased to see these carbon footprint comparison results. Taking the train instead of a flight reduced the carbon footprint of my trip by 99%.
My flight free choice saved 0.98 MT of carbon emissions (my current personal annual emissions are 8.8 MT so that’s a big saving.)
4. Which was better? Flying to Sweden or coming home by train?
Stockholm Central station, Fi Darby
I had three reasons for taking the train instead of a flight on my Sweden-UK journey.
I loved train adventures.
I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint.
I wanted to see the countries I travelled through.
Despite having a ‘Final Destination’ type situation hanging over my head (I won’t go into details), I mostly enjoy the experience of flying. Indeed, with family in New Zealand, you could say I’m a seasoned air passenger.
But ever since I first flew alone across the world at the tender age of 18, I’ve wondered what it would be like to travel overland (and sea) to New Zealand and see the places over which I had been flying.
It’s still ambition of mine.
In those days we didn’t know so much about the damage planes do to the planet but now we do, I have been seriously considering going completely flight free.
Or at least swapping the majority of my air travel for trains.
My train trip home from Sweden wasn’t without minor hitches. Although these made me a bit jittery at the time, I definitely think they added to the sense of adventure.
I’ve thought about my train journey a lot since I’ve been home. I’ve hardly considered my flight.
If that doesn’t tell you enough about my experience, perhaps the list below will.
I chatted to people from many different countries
I went to a restaurant on my own in another country
I stayed in my first pod hotel
I dealt with timetabling changes
I learned about several different transport systems
I found out I could still run for a train
I started to use different languages again
I felt immensely proud of myself at the end of the trip
So was Sweden to the UK better by train than by plane?
For my finances – NO
If I had been in a hurry – NO
For the experience – 100% YES
For the planet – 100% YES
5. FAQ Sweden to the UK by train
Travelling by train through Denmark, Fi Darby
I’ve tried to answer a few of the questions you might have about my first long European train journey below but do feel free to message me on Instagram if you have any others.
Did everybody really speak English?
One of the things I really loved about my journey was travelling alongside people from so many different countries.
It made me feel part of the crowd rather than outside it.
My minimum French and German came into play and I found myself able to listen in to a few conversations, understand parts of announcements and interpret most information screens. But much of the time I didn’t need to.
Because often the information appeared or was read aloud in English.
My tickets weren’t checked on every train but each time they were, the ticket officer spoke to me in English. More importantly, when there were delays or issues with the trains, I was always able to find a fellow passenger who spoke both English and the local language.
We were all in the same boat (or on the same train!)
Note the Swedish spelling of Copenhagen. Fi Darby
When you’re relying on display screens as you travel, it’s useful to note the European names of the places you’re visiting or travelling through as these sometimes (not always) have different spellings to our English versions.
Copenhagen for example is København in Danish and Köpenhamn in Swedish. Cologne is Köln in German, Danish and Swedish but where an umlaut (accent) can’t be used it’s Koeln.
Google translate helped me with this.
Did you feel safe travelling solo by train through Europe?
Brussels Midi station, Fi Darby
On the trains and at the stations definitely yes.
Although most of the stations were without ticket barriers and open to the public, there was a good security and police presence.
I didn’t see any anti-social behaviour or anything that made me feel unsafe.
The only time I felt unsure of myself was in Hamburg. I had chosen a restaurant for dinner (Yume Ramen – definitely recommend) and found that without incident but Google Maps took me through what I later confirmed was a slightly dodgy area to my hotel.
Again there was a police presence and I arrived without incident.
Was it complicated booking the European train tickets?
Eurostar London, Fi Darby
Booking the tickets wasn’t complicated because I did it all through the Interrail app. What did take quite a lot of time was the research I did beforehand. I put four different journey options onto a spreadsheet with timings and costs and chose the one that best suited me.
My advice on a journey like this would be to start with the main journey, in my case this was the Eurostar from Brussels to London.
If you aren’t using Interrail (the most simple method) for your passes and reservations across Europe, the following websites are really helpful for booking European train tickets.
All of these are available in English.
Deutsche Bahn – trips in Germany and some connecting journeys including Copenhagen and Brussels
Which travel apps helped you take the train across Europe?
Waiting at Brussels Midi station, Fi Darby
All the organisations above have travel apps. I downloaded these before I travelled and used them on my train journey home from Sweden.
For travel within the UK I always use GWR’s app. They’re my local (and favourite) trainline and helped me out with tickets for this trip.
They helped me deal with delays and one timetable alteration.
It’s worth noting the Interrail app only updates its timetables monthly. You can book reservations but you also need to check trains on the relevant local timetables (via the apps/websites above).
I did have one significant (but manageable) timetable change so it’s worth checking.
I really don’t like following sat nav apps but I couldn’t carry paper maps for so many cities so I also used Google Maps and City Mapper (recommended) to find my way around outside the train stations.
Were there any problems with your journey?
Luckily they held my Copenhagen Hamburg train, Fi Darby
It’s a rare journey that goes completely smoothly so yes, there were a couple of issues. It’s worth remembering though that airport delays leave you stuck in chairs while train station delays give you opportunity to explore.
Mr D also had traffic and weather issues on the M6 after his flight home.
‘Terminating at Malmo’. A couple of days before my trip, I had a text message from SJ Swedish Rail to say my train from Stockholm to Copenhagen was only going as far as Malmo. It referred me to the Oresund train for the rest of that leg so I was prepared (and a bit worried about timings) to change at Malmo. In the end, a train announcement (thankfully in English) suggested we changed at Lund instead where my next train was coming in on the same platform.
‘This train has a problem’. Just after crossing the Øresund/Öresund bridge (fantastic) our train developed a fault and we had to get off at Copenhagen Airport station to wait for a new one. This was the only time I didn’t really know what was going on because there were no announcements in English but I soon found fellow English-speaking passengers who did.
‘Technical fault’. This was the Eurostar, which ran almost an hour late from Brussels and was a bit short on information delivery. I had to run to catch the Tube and my connection at Paddington.
You might think that these issues would be enough to put me off travelling across Europe by train again but although they did make me sweat a bit, they were the moments I remember the most and that made me feel the most capable.
And I discovered I can still run up steps.
I was pleased I had built in an overnight in Hamburg because it gave me leeway for delays on day one. In hindsight, I might build in longer connection times but where they did work, it was nice not to have to hang around for ages at stations.
When travel hitches occur I think a philosophical approach works best. An unexpected night somewhere or arriving back a bit late really wasn’t going to be too much of an issue for me.
In the end everything worked fine but the possibility of having to make new plans turned the trip into an adventure.
Was taking the train from Scandinavia a better experience than flying?
Cyclist outside Brussels station, Fi Darby
Absolutely 100% YES!
Okay, so when I had to run for my Hamburg and Devon trains things felt a bit squeaky but I’ve now put that down as type two fun.
Not really fun at the time but brilliant as a memory.
I feel like I’ve actually travelled
I know how different countries look, sound and smell
I’ve had to use and understand other languages
I’ve learned about different travel systems
I’ve found I can manage my personal safety
I’ve gained confidence in my abilities
But for me, by far the most enjoyable aspect of my journey was the people I met along the way. I don’t know any of their names but they really made my journey so thanks to.
Mowgli the dog and his mum who gave me Swedish hiking tips (dogs on UK trains)
The young lady on the Hamburg train who told me all about Sweden in the winter
The Scouts on the Cologne train who made me smile with their enthusiasm and neat rucksacks
The French backpackers who taught me two great cheats for Rock, Paper, Scissors (boogie anyone?)
My fellow nearly-missed-the-Hamburg-train lady who celebrated with me when we reached the platform in time
The couple from Norway who very politely laughed at my ‘always light at the end of the tunnel’ joke as we were waiting nervously for our late Eurostar to pull in
The waiter in Hamburg who gave me free ice-cream after my meal
Everyone who filled up my water bottle for me
The staff team on my GWR train who had to work very late because there was a trespasser on the line but made sure everyone got back to Cornwall okay
You were all wonderful.
Starcross station on the Riviera Line in Devon, Fi Darby
When I was 16 my mum put me on a train from Malvern to Weymouth. It was 1984, I had just completed my O’Level exams and was destined to get some work experience with Aunty Guernsey.
At Weymouth I was supposed to catch the boat train to Weymouth Harbour before getting on board the Guernsey ferry. All I needed to do was change platforms but when I arrived, the boat train wasn’t there.