#TRAVEL HACK: HOW TO TAKE A TRAIN LIKE A BOSS – 9 Tips to Ride the Rails Successfully 🚂

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What is it about a train? 🤔Is it a scene recalled from an old black-and-white movie that makes it feel romantic? Or could it be the exciting adventures ahead when you think about boarding the train to Hogwarts 🧙‍♂️ on Platform 9-3/4?  Perhaps it’s the hypnotic clickety-clack, clickety-clack of the wheels on the iron rails…or the haunting and melancholic sound of the whistle as it rounds the bend and fades into the sunset that makes a train so special.

Perhaps it’s a sentimentalized American fascination…after all, train travel isn’t something most folks in the US are accustomed to. But here in Europe – and Asia, too – train travel is a fairly common and ordinary way to get around from Point A to Point B.

I’ve ridden the epic and Insta-worthy 📷 Kandy to Ella train in Sri Lanka (the awesome photo at the top of this blog is from that journey.) There was a memorable night on a sleeper train in Thailand, and many train trips to explore France, Cambodia, Spain and Italy. Now that I’m living in Portugal I’ve taken the train quite a bit – from Porto to Lisbon, to Coimbra, Braga and points in between.

The last time I boarded a train I stopped for a minute to think about how it had become a somewhat easy and not at all stressful way for me to get around…but I remembered how it wasn’t always that way. Seems like each time I board a train, I learn something new about the process.

I thought I’d share some Q&A about just how to ride a train like a boss and relax, enjoying the view out the window as the busy cities, bucolic villages, gorgeous vineyards and farmlands roll by as you gaze out the window.

🚂 How do I find out if taking a train from Point A to Point B is an option for me?    One of the easiest ways is to use an app (of course!) I love Rome2Rio – simply enter your starting location and your final destination and you’ll get a list of all the ways you can get there.

Taxi, rideshare, bus, plane, driving…and if it’s an option – the train! The nice thing is, R2R will have a link to the appropriate train website so you can purchase your ticket (or at least scope it out and see what the schedule is).  MoovIt and Omio are two other great apps for this. And of course you can use the train company’s app for the city in which you are taking the train – I have an app on my phone called Comboios de Portugal that I use.

🚂 What’s the difference between 1^st Class and 2^nd (or 3^rd) Class seats? Besides price…the 1^st Class seats are roomier, the train car may be air-conditioned if the others are not; there could be a dining car or a bar car. (And unless you’re just joining me and my travels (hi and welcome!) you know I never get the 1^st class ticket – I’m much too cheap 💰.) You can purchase your ticket online or go into the station and walk up to the ticket window to buy it there. Even if you’re in a 2^nd or 3^rd class car, you can pop over to the fancy 1^st class car and buy a beer or a snack and bring it back to your seat. On the famous Kandy to Ella train, you could choose a ticket without a reserved seat which might mean standing room only so keep that in mind when you see your options.

🚂 Ok, I bought my ticket…how do I know which of all these trains is mine and where it is??  Take a look at the Departures board (similar to the ones in the airport)

and find the train you’re taking – it should say Linea/Line/Platform or something to that effect.  In addition, it may state the platform on your ticket. That’s where your train will be waiting for you. (And not to worry! This departure board in the photo above changed from to Sinhala to English…thankfully! 😅)

🚂 So my train is on Platform 7. But that’s waaaaay over there…how do I get to it – surely I don’t cross over all the tracks??  Correct. You do not. This is NOT something you should do. What you’re going to do is look for a sign similar to this – and take the stairs/escalator/elevator down and go UNDER the train tracks through the passageway until you see the sign that says “Platform 7” and then go UP the stairs/escalator/elevator to your platform.  Voila! There you are – right next to your train – or at least next to the appropriate tracks on which your train will appear.

🚂 Do I just buy the ticket, find the right train and hop on? Here in Portugal, and probably in other places as well, you’ll need to scan your barcode/ticket before you board the train at a machine like this to validate it.
I was scolded just yesterday for not doing that – even though I had just bought the ticket at the ticket window and had the paper ticket in my hand.  As the ticket collector on the train checked our tickets, he said in Portuguese to my friend, Linda, as he glared at me, “tell her to do that next time”. 😬

🚂 After I buy my ticket, can I sit anywhere I want?  Nope. Usually not. Most tickets have a specific car and a specific seat printed on your ticket. Did I know this right from the start? No.  Not at all. Theresa and I nearly got thrown off the train in Spain because we were in the wrong seats (ok, we were also on the wrong train…but that’s a whole ‘nother bottle of wine of a story!) Take a look at the ticket here in the photo – I’ve circled the car and seat information.

You’ll find the car number on the exterior of the train car, like in the photo – and also in the interior near the doors – of each individual train car. As you walk down the aisle you’ll see the seat numbers above the windows or possibly on the armrest of the seats. In the photo here, “janela” means the window seat, and “corredor” means aisle (note – this is Portugal, so the words will change according to the language of the country you’re in. But you knew that!) And yes, you can get on any car of the train and walk between the cars – even when the train is moving – by sliding the doors open and sashaying into the next car.

🚂 Where can I put my suitcase/backpack/bike/stroller? Above your seat should be a rack which will hold shopping bags, small suitcases, and the like.  At the train door, you’ll notice there are larger racks where you can put your bigger items, like a full-size suitcase or stroller, and some of the cars have spots to park your bike. 🚲 You’re welcome to keep your stuff with you at your seat (well, not the bike!)  as long as you’re not blocking the other seats or the aisle.

🚂 Can I bring food onto the train? Yes, you can bring a sandwich, water, soda, your own coffee, candy bars and the like onto the train to snack on. Maybe not an entire pizza 🍕 The trays on the train are kinda small.🤷🏻‍♀️

🚂 Can I bring my pet 🐶on the train?  Sometimes yes, some places, no.  You’ll definitely want to check that BEFORE you arrive at the station with your furball! You may need a leash and muzzle, and possibly vaccination records and official paperwork of sorts. My friend Kimberly said she had to pay a half fare for her dog (who was in a crate) in order for him to ride the train with her.

🚂 One extra bonus tip in case you’re wondering – yes, there’s a bathroom on the train and there are also restrooms in the train station – but you may need to pay to use the one in the station.

There you have it! Answers to some of the questions you may have had…as well as answers to questions you perhaps hadn’t thought of.

Are there other questions you have about train travel? Let me know and I’ll see if I can answer them – in the meantime, get out there, get yourself on a train and use these tips for a hassle free, stress-free trip – enjoy the ride!

Railroad iron is a magician’s rod in its power to evoke the sleeping energies of land and water.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose taken care of.  Anna Funder

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See you there! 😉