How to Plan a Food-focused Train Trip Through Europe

There’s a form of magic to watching a panorama roll by by means of a practice window—villages, vineyards, and mountains unfolding like a slow-motion movie. In springtime, there are bushes heavy with fruit blossoms and vibrant yellow rapeseed fields. Plus, there’s loads of house to stretch your legs and time to go to the cafe automotive for a cappuccino.

In April, I had the possibility to rediscover Europe—not simply as a meals lover, however as a traveler craving deeper connection. With a Eurail Pass on my cellphone and per week of train travel forward of me, I boarded in Paris with two objectives: to style my manner throughout 5 cities and three nations, and to decelerate my mind to the tempo required to get pleasure from gazing out home windows, making practice pals, and studying my lengthy, juicy novel.

My journey started in Paris and swept by means of Reims, Mainz, Freiburg, and Zurich, providing glimpses of Europe’s wealthy agricultural heartlands and vibrant meals scenes. Alongside the best way, I met farmers, cooks, and makers whose lives revolve across the land and seasons.

As an alternative of airports and taxis, my journey time turned a part of the story—studying, writing, and daydreaming in sun-drenched practice vehicles, and arriving within the metropolis middle able to discover. Eurail (known as Interrail for Europeans) acts as a synthesizer of Europe’s train lines, connecting vacationers to 30,000 locations throughout 33 nations.

In 2024, the highest cities visited by way of Eurail had been Milan, Zurich, and Rome. However considered one of my favourite elements about train travel is the way it brings you to much less widespread locations. All it takes is a Eurail Move to hop on a practice to Plovdiv in Bulgaria, with its historic Roman theater nestled into the hillside, or Aarhus, Denmark’s second metropolis that looks like a coastal secret.

Professional tip: The Eurail app additionally features a nice journey planner. Even when you don’t buy a go, you’ll be able to browse routes and scope out locations.

Biodynamic Champagne in Reims, France

Our first cease, Reims, was steeped in historical past. We dropped our baggage on the Continental Hotel—simply throughout from the practice station—and explored the Excessive Gothic Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral earlier than hopping a commuter practice to Champagne Augustin, a biodynamic winery tucked into the hills of Avenay. I wandered amongst vines awakening for spring and discovered how nature and astrology prepared the ground right here, alongside gigantic crystals stationed within the barrel room and vineyards.

Emmanuelle and Marc Augustin, who come from 9 generations of winemakers, run the operation with their sons, Maxence and Arthur. We tasted eight of their Champagnes with Maxence. The wines tasted of minerals and life and one thing deeply rooted within the soil. “We respect the juice, we hearken to the juice, and in return, it provides us a lot,” Maxence mentioned.

All of these bubbles made me hungry. L’Extra, in a chic Nineteen Twenties artwork deco constructing, is price a cease. The restaurant is dedicated to inclusive hiring practices, providing coaching and profession paths for individuals with disabilities. I used to be awed by a silky octopus terrine and an ideal dice of foie gras with candied hazelnuts.

Heirloom Apples in Mainz, Germany

It took nearly an entire day on three trains to journey from Reims to Mainz, swerving again by means of Paris. The fruit blossoms had been in full glory, foreshadowing our go to to Appel Happel, a multigenerational apple farm. The air smelled of blossoms and cider. Proprietor Ilonka Happel walked us by means of apple, pear, and plum orchards, led an apple tasting, and poured glasses of home made boozy cider.

We wandered by means of Mainz, stopping at a parkside social gathering for graduating medical college students and the Gutenberg Museum, which explores the historical past of printing and Mainz native Johannes Gutenberg.

Dinner at Pankratz was nothing in need of revelatory: sourdough from their very own starter, smoky trout grilled over an open fireside, and greens simply pulled from their backyard. An all-German cheese plate for dessert was a standout—particularly a uncooked milk, mushroomy magnificence that oozed onto the plate. The meal celebrated hyperlocal sourcing and deep reverence for elements.

Brunfels Hotel had spacious rooms and a scrumptious breakfast to get pleasure from earlier than heading again to the practice.

Market Magic in Freiburg, Germany

In Freiburg, Germany’s Black Forest metropolis, I spent a morning roaming the Münstermarkt, held within the city sq. for the reason that sixteenth century. With 150 distributors, the market brimmed with wild garlic, alpine cheese, native wine, and hand-milled flours. It was the peak of asparagus season, and white and inexperienced stalks had been in all places, lined up from pencil-thin to impressively fats.

With its cobblestone streets, colourful facades, and water-filled Bächle trickling by means of the Outdated City, Freiburg looks like stepping right into a fairy story. It’s compact and walkable, with cafes on each nook and ivy-covered alleyways that invite lingering.

On the market, I used to be handed a slice of freshly baked rye bread topped with herbed quark, and a pot of raspberry pudding. It wasn’t only a market; it was town’s heartbeat.

One of many market’s regenerative beef farmers, Isa Blattmann, joined us for lunch at Adelhaus, an natural vegetarian spot with standout herbed spätzle. “Farming will be isolating,” she mentioned. “The market provides us neighborhood and connection.”

I beloved sipping a beer at Kastaniengarten, a beer backyard stuffed with households, first dates, and pals enjoying playing cards, and watching the solar set over Freiburg’s rooftops.

Zurich’s Plant-based Brilliance

Our remaining cease was Zurich. At Umami, an city vertical farm in a nondescript workplace constructing, we noticed microgreens grown beneath LED lights and fueled by vitality from fish—a futuristic method to feeding cities. We blind-tasted the zingy microgreens—The one one I obtained proper had been the spicy mustard greens. That night time, at Restaurant Freilager, those self same greens topped roasted beets, paired with smoked ricotta and biodynamic Swiss wine.

Gradual Journey, Quick Connections

What struck me most about practice journey wasn’t simply the benefit (no baggage claims, no safety strains), however the way it fostered intimacy—with individuals, place, and myself. I had time to write down in my journal. My pal struck up a dialog with a candy French man who shared his canelés with us. I met a grandma from California. I even completed that novel.

The Eurail Move allow us to transfer seamlessly throughout borders and languages. It made Europe really feel expansive and accessible without delay. It additionally made the journey—the literal motion between meals and locations—one thing I actually savored.