The 10 best cities to arrive by train
Beautiful views that really make you feel you’ve arrived
Childhood holidays were always taken by car. Arriving in any city was the same: a motorway junction, a roundabout or two, some main roads narrowing to side roads and our hotel at the end. Arriving by car, you see a city back to front.
By contrast, arriving by train you arrive not only at the front door, but in the grand reception hall.
1 Marseille
Would probably have been better to have taken this photo next to the actual view… But you get the idea
Marseille is a fab city - fun and irreverent, it’s like Bristol but French and with a harbour that actually opens onto the sea. Saint Charles station is on a hill opening onto a broad plateau with superb views across the whole place.
Get to Marseille from St Pancras with one simple change at Lille. Details available via the incomparable Man at Seat 61
2 Venice
The forecourt to Venice train station (taken from the window of our apartment)
My first experience of Venice was getting the ferry from the airport, aged 19, on my first grown-up independent holiday. But the best way to arrive in Venice is to step from the train at Santa Lucia station, straight onto the banks of the Grand Canal.
Venice used to be an effortless journey by sleeper train from Venice. Covid seems to have killed off the Paris-Venice sleeper, however, so your best option is the slightly less romantic high speed train or to get the sleeper train from Stuttgart.
3 Edinburgh
The waves of the roof could be the waves of the old Nor’Loch
Image from Network Rail.Edinburgh famously comprises an Old Town and a New Town, the latter being a mere 300 years old. These two are spectacularly located on opposite banks of the Nor’Loch. Or they used to be until the Victorians drained the loch to build a railway station.
It must have seemed like vandalism at the time, but it makes for an extraordinary arrival to this wonderful city.
Edinburgh is just four hours from London via train from both Kings Cross and Euston. Cheap Advance fares are plentiful thanks to competition between three different rail operators. And, of course, there’s also the more expensive but magical Caledonian Sleeper.
4 Cologne
The spires hit you between the eyes as soon as you leave the train
We’ve hardly been to Cologne. We changed from an intercity train and were there long enough to have a pub dinner before boarding our sleeper train to Vienna. However, you don’t need to be there long. Cologne’s best bit is that extraordinary, spiky cathedral you see on all the Christmas cards. And it hits you between the eyes as soon as you leave the main station.
Trips to Cologne are easy via a simple connection from Eurostar at Brussels main station.
5 Penzance
Glide beside the waves under traditional Cornish cloud
OK, I realise Penzance is hardly a city. But I’ve been holidaying there all my adult life.
The train glides you along the shore of Mounts Bay, with the waves lapping just feet to your left and St Michael’s Mount glistening across what appear to be miles of surf. It’s unforgettable but, just to be on the safe side, we do it every year.
Trains run direct from Paddington, getting gloriously slower and windier as they reach the tip of Cornwall. Or, of course, there’s the heavenly Night Riveria sleeper.
6 Liverpool
View from the station
I’m a scouser, so of course Liverpool has to be in the list. Stepping from Lime Street, you’re immediately surrounded by the largest collection of Grade I listed buildings in England - a powerful reminder that Liverpool used to be the second city of the British Empire.
Trains from Euston take just two hours and run every hour. Easy.
7 Calvi
Calvi
Calvi’s a small city that punches above its weight, having been the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. The train line runs through the sand of the beach for miles before diving into the town. If the sight of the perfect sand and perfect sea is too much, there are tiny stations along the beach at which to jump off.
Calvi is on the stunning French island of Corsica. A car-free journey is an adventure but we wholly recommend the way we did it: train to Nice then Corsica Ferries to the charming port city of Bastia, then the spectacular train ride over the mountains.
We travelled to Nice by sleeper train. It was our eldest daughter’s first sleeper train, aged 3. Memorably, we tucked her up in bed, waited outside the compartment for an hour until we were convinced she must be fast asleep, then crept in to find her swinging across the compartment from the safety bars…
8 Berlin
The top layer of a geometric stack of buildings, escalators, tracks and trains
Not so much because of where it is in Berlin, as to what it represents. Berlin station is a massive symbol of Berlin’s confidence. Following reunification, plans were created for a new central station with lines heading north, south, east and west. The resulting architecture is breathtaking.
Berlin is a long train ride across Europe. We went in the days when Paris/Brussels still had a direct sleeper to Berlin. Both vanished - and both are now back!
9. Durham
The view from Durham train station is incredible. I don’t have any decent photos so just google “view from Durham train station”. And then go to Durham and see it for yourself.
Trains to Durham run frequently from Kings Cross
10. Istanbul
Just once have Thomas and I been lucky enough to get the train all the way from London to Istanbul. It was our last pre-children trip, and was superb. Sirkeci station is virtually the last building in Europe. The railway line hugs the coast of the Sea of Marmara as it narrows to form the Bosphorus strait before finally coming to a halt at the opening of the romantically-named Golden Horn natural harbour. You step out from the station to see one of the greatest cities of the world laid out before you and feel like the luckiest person alive.
Istanbul is a car-free adventure and not a journey that can be captured in one sentence. Watch this space for another post in future…
