Night Training in Europe

One of the joys of travelling in Europe is being able to travel from one country to the next in a space of hours courtesy of its extensive and intertwined rail network - often, you could be in three countries in the space of 12 hours, e.g. travelling from Munich to Verona via Switzerland, or Amsterdam to Paris.

It is not surprising then that Europe has a broad service of night trains - some even can transport cars, a popular option for many still keen to use their car at their destination.

In theory, night trains are a boon for travellers with limited time - you get to twin your sleeping hours with the time required to get from A to B and have more time to explore A A and B. Plus couchettes are often as cheap as hostel beds meaning you should be able to save some money on accommodation and travel.

The reality varies though depending on where you are. While night trains operated by Western European nations are generally very good, night trains in Eastern Europe can be quite a hairy experience with question marks over comfort (dodgy and uncomfortable beds) and security (dodgy train conductors, poor locks on cabin doors) resulting in you ending up with not much sleep.

Some trips worth night-training -

Madrid - Lisbon

This is now the only way to travel between the capitals of Spain and Portugal by train with most long-distance Talgo daytime trains in Spain now replaced by the high-speed AVE trains. However, this night train is probably one of the most comfortable - even if the cabins are a bit on the small side. Each cabin has a small sink to brush your teeth with their complimentary toothpaste and brush. The Trenhotel name is quite apt for this beauty of a train.

Please note, unlike most long-distance trains that now stop at Madrid’s Atocha station, this train stops at Madrid Chamartin station which is in the north part of Madrid.

Copenhagen - Amsterdam/Basel/Prague  

Copenhagen and Scandinavia are quite a long way from the rest of Europe so it is worth doing a night train to and fro Copenhagen. This night train ride is one of the longest in EU land - 14-15 hours between Copenhagen and Amsterdam, Basel and Prague while going through a significant part of Germany including cities like Cologne, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin & Dresden. CityNightLine, operators of this service and a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, do a pretty good job of making one of the longest train journeys in Europe pretty comfortable.

   

Venice - Vienna

For those of you pressed with time yet still want to see as much of Europe as they can, this is quite a fine way of seeing two of Europe’s most famous cities. Venice itself is quite a terminus for night trains from all over Europe - not surprising given it is probably one of the most visited cities in the world. The service on this night train by OEBB is pretty decent too - you get a kaiser roll and coffee on the house and the wagons themselves are pretty well equipped and comfortable. The only disadvantage here is that you will end up missing the climb over the Dolomites but that’s small change if you have seen or have plans to see the Alps or Pyrenees on your trip.

Vienna/Prague - Krakow/Warsaw

This train trip often defines the word “adventure”. While the former Eastern bloc nations have made massive strides in rail transport, some practices die hard especially if you get a much older train conductor who can’t speak English and wants to cheat the odd foreigner with some “harder” form of currency like Euros, pounds - or even the mighty old Aussie dollar. Nevertheless, if you’re game and travelling in a group, this is a good way to get between four of Central Europe’s greatest cities as travelling in the day is often long and arduous given that the railways outside Austria are still not up to the standards in the West. Just be mindful of your belongings and be aware you probably won’t be able to charge your phone here.

Moscow - St Petersburg

One of the classic night train rides in Europe. Nowhere else do you have theme music ringing out to you as you depart - nowhere else do you also have a glass of vodka on the house for the road. A fine choice by politicians and dignitaries to travel between Russia’s most important cities but you won’t feel out of place here.      

New York For The Broke

The greatest city in the world with only London or Berlin as real contenders to the title. The saying “If you are bored with London, you are bored with life” should really apply to New York. Despite terrorist attacks, a superstorm and countless attempts by Hollywood to bring utter destruction to the Big Apple, New York City has stood tall and life has continued at frenetic pace.  

However, for travellers, the Big Apple is one expensive piece of fruit to chew and you're likely to spend a huge sum of money to really enjoy this place. However, the best of this fine city can still be enjoyed by those who with not a lot of cash - and it's often the simplest and cheapest delights that make your New York trip memorable.


When to go?
Like all big cities, any time of the year is a good time to go to New York - it is really up to you if you like really hot, humid summers or cold, freezing winters. Whatever the temperature, New York’s many, many shops and restaurants and bars are always open and there’s always something to do in the city.

Where to stay?
New York is one of the most expensive places to stay in the world and the task of finding cheap accommodation without the cockroaches is quite an Everest to overcome for backpackers or any travellers with a limited budget. However, they definitely do exist. 

One of the quirkiest places you could possibly ever stay in anywhere in the world is the Gershwin Hotel in the Flatiron District, just above New York’s Museum of Sex. If you can’t find that or the Gershwin’s garrish entrance, then you are seriously lost. The Gershwin may be a hotel with a great cafe at the bottom as well but they do have dorm rooms; they’re pretty good actually with proper hotel style bathrooms. This is no 5-star hotel but for character and decor, it definitely gets the full stars.


Where to eat?
You don’t have to live off McDonald’s and fast food outlets to eat cheap in New York. In fact, this is possibly one of the best places in the world to have a cheap yet fabulous meal. Thanks to New York’s ethnic diversity (in bold), you will find cuisine from pretty much all corners of the world - only London can claim to have food from anywhere in the world except in New York, you usually don’t have to pay through your nose for it.

But of course, if you’re still after hot dogs, burgers and pizza, there’s plenty of places that have that. Here are some of my favourite places in New York.

Gray’s Papaya, 402 Sixth Avenue at 8th Street OR 2090 Broadway at 72nd Street
This famous hot dog vendor may not look like much from the outside but Gray’s Papaya is very much a New York institution and rightly deserves its place alongside more illustrious and well known company. There is always a queue to get its “recession” deal hot dogs and papaya juice, be it lunch time or after a big night out. However, you can’t say you’ve really experienced New York without trying a hot dog from Gray’s Papaya.

Green Bo Restaurant, 66 Bayard Street
New York’s Chinatown quite possibly has some of the best Chinese food outside Asia. Thanks to a very well grounded Chinese community not just in Manhattan but all over the New York metro area and a continuous flow of migrants to New York, the food here is very much up to the standards back in the homeland.

You are definitely spoilt for choice as you walk around Bayard, Mott and Mulberry Streets - the heart of New York’s Chinatown. However, Green Bo Restaurant is definitely not a bad place to start. They only do cash here - which means food is dirt cheap and absolutely sumptuous. This place is famous for the fried scallion pancakes and dumplings - however, as evident from their novel of a menu, there are plenty of other things to try out.

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, 65 Bayard Street
Let’s be perfectly honest, I bet most of you wouldn’t really associate Chinatown with good ice cream, would you? But the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory definitely blows that myth out of the water. Great place to wash down Green Bo’s dumplings, chicken soup and noodles  

Muk Eun Ji, 34 W 2nd Street (walk eastwards across the city from Penn Station)
Besides Chinatown, you can find a good cheap eat in Koreatown - it’s sort of between Times Square and the Flatiron District. Koreatown is much smaller than the other ethnic districts in Manhattan which means the area is far more concentrated with restaurants and Korean supermarkets.

Most people would associate kimchi with Korean cuisine - order a main and you get these bowls of veges on the house (usually). The best place to try Korea’s interpretation of the side salad is Muk Eun Ji. Now I admit to never having been to Korea, but I have had quite a bit of Korean food and have to say that for kimchi, this place is numero uno. Muk Eun Ji claims that its kimchi is absolutely fresh and you can tell from the bowls of kimchi that keep coming as you clear bowl after bowl. The mains itself are not too bad either and it is pretty affordable.



Hungarian Pastry Shop, 1030 Amsterdam Avenue
Worth the trek up to the lovely neighbourhood of Morningside Heights on the Upper West Side, this neighbourhood cafe has been serving coffee and delicious pastries to its main clientele of Columbia University students for years. It is a very old fashioned bakery from the old world in every sense. And the beautiful Cathedral of John the Divine is just around the corner.    

Roadside falafel stalls, everywhere
Hungry and up for a quick snack? No worries. There’s always a stall selling falafels, kebabs, hot dogs, whatever you fancy. And they’re actually not too bad. I wouldn’t recommend living off these while you’re in New York - although their nutritional value might be better than a lot of other things for that price. Even so, make sure you do at least bow to your curosity and pick up something to go from one of these stalls while you’re on the run trying to see as much as New York City as you can.

Free sights?
WTC 9/11 Memorial
Still free while I was there and I’m sure it’ll not cost a penny for years to come as long as the horrific events of the worst terrorist attack of modern times remains fresh in the mind - hopefully. You need to reserve online to get in - otherwise you will be turned away. The memorial site itself is still very much a construction site, as the city continues to push for redevelopment of the World Trade Center area. The impressive pointy One WTC is almost finished and now stands as New York City’s tallest building. Below is a very sombre yet poignant and fitting tribute to the thousands who lost their lives that September day all those years ago. In years to come, this will join the likes of Killing Fields, Pearl Harbour and Holocaust Memorials worldwide as reminders of how evil mankind can be.

Staten Island Ferry
Thousands of commuters take this ferry between Staten Island and Manhattan. But it doesn’t cost a dime to get on. The Staten Island ferry has been free since a move by popular mayor, Rudy Giuliani and it’s possibly the best way to see the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline without having to fork out much. Worth it if you don’t have happen to have a voucher for the Ellis and Liberty Island ferries via CityPass.

Any tricks of the trade?
Get a Metrocard
New York’s public transport system is one of the best in the world in my opinion - but even if you disagree and can’t really bear the admittedly filthy stench from the tracks and thte heat, you still have to experience the subway. And to be fair, it is a wonderful way to get around the city and see New Yorkers live their everyday lives. As we witnessed with the recent Superstorm Sandy, the Subway really is the blood and lifeline of a city that is used to operating 24/7 on steroids and pure adrenaline.  

Get a Metrocard which suits you - there are several options. It means all you have to do is just swipe at the turnstile and hope on a train or bus regardless of which fare zone. Check carefully which trains and buses accept Metrocards first.

New York Pass/CityPass
Definitely one of the most value for money options for travellers. By getting one of these, you are able to see most of New York’s most famous sights at a discount price. Often included are the big guns, e.g. Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), Guggenheim Museum, Natural History Museum, Ellis/Liberty Island, Top of the Rock. 

**At the time of writing, there has been some debate as to whether The Met is actually free for visitors. The signage there indicates to visitors that there is a fee applicable but it has been discovered that this fee is not compulsory. Not that it really matters when you have a CityPass. However, if you do go to the Met without any coupons, it would pay to check if the entrance fee is really just a recommended donation.**

TKTS Time Square
It'll be criminal not to go to a show off or on Broadway. And TKTS, an establishment by the Theatre Development Fund, has been helping nurture theatre's popularity all these years by selling discounted tickets at Times Square to whatever show you can think of - they display all shows each day every night. Discounts can be up to 75% as competition is very stiff between theatres in the area. This is a wonderful initiative to be involved in a truly New Yorker experience and I'd highly recommend making this one of your more splurges in the Big Apple.

Free Wi-Fi
Like most first world cities, free wifi spots are aplenty. Most hotels and hostels have free wifi for their guests. AT&T customers also have access to the network’s free wifi hotspots around the city. The Apple store near Central Park also has free Wifi.

Another great excuse to visit a museum - and I suspect this is the main reason most would go to a museum anyway - is for the free Wifi. Yes there is a time limit but of course there is a very simple way of getting around it which I shan’t share here - but you should be able to figure it out.