Travel by train without itinerary
 

It was suggested that I should start a new thread on this subject. I would like to hear from you about this dream trip of mine. I would like to hop on a train, let's say, from Paris heading to places like Cannes, Nice, Marseilles, etc. As I pass a town that is interesting, I just get off, wander around, possible spending a day or two. I then hop on the next train that comes through. Repeat this until it gets to the final destination. Is this possible? I assume that this can be done only with the regular train, not a TGV. Does this mean that I should get a train pass for a duration of time? I would like to hear what the experts out there have to say about this crazy idea of mine.

How do you know when you are passing an interesting town when you are on a train? Generally you need to have some idea of where you are going on a train. The concept of wandering around Europe with a train pass is nothing new and has been done by thousands and thousands of people. It is however of immense help if you have some idea of what you want to see or experience.

I think our poster means serendipty sort of travel, not knowing whether it's a beautiful village or not, and that is not the point but the adventure, the contacts and what surprises await her.

Georgiegirl, your idea would work better from a car because on a train you can't see the most beautiful parts of the towns, so basically you can't see where you're going on a train...So you woulnd't know where you wanted to stop.

Your plan would also work better if you planned on spending more than 1 or 2 days at each stop. If a place is worth stopping at, it is usually worth getting to know better...4 nights minimum is long enough to fall in love with a place and to explore it with some depth.

I have taken various trips over the years and now that I'm almost 50 I can look back on those trips and the best ones were the best planned and the most researched ones. Planning doesn't mean you can't still be spontaneous...On our recent trip to Italy, I planned "free choice" days into our itinerary. My teens loved this trip to Italy.

If you only have 2 weeks, you will get the most out of them with good planning, and remembering to leave some free time.

If you had a whole summer in Europe, you probably wouldn't care if you felt you had wasted a day or two. But on a short trip this can be very frustrating.

Do we really have to make this into a train vs. car thing AGAIN...THAT has been done to death on this board.

To answer, yes you can do it with either a train or in a car; of course, driving means you'd have to do some work along the way and some feel that isn't as relaxing.

Most people who post here regularly CANNOT relate to a completely non-itinerary trip but I say GO FOR IT!

I'm not train v. car, but while the idea sounds nice in theory, the reality would be different and perhaps disappointing. What you see from a train station often gives you no idea what the town is like. For example, Basel's bland, boring train station tells you nothing about its charming, attractive old town. Avignon's TGV station doesn't give you the faintest clue about the city's historic treasures.
I could see doing this by train only if you had a lot of time for your trip, at least a month or so. Take a train to a few pre-selected attractive medium size city, explore that, then take the local trains or buses to the off the beaten path surprise locations.
The main train lines will whoosh right by those little towns, sometimes so fast you won't even be able to catch their names, much less determine whether they're worth an overnight visit.

it would help to tell us:

- duration of the trip?

- are you talking about just south of France or was this just an example and you are planning this mode of travel for a wider area? if so, what area?

- why do you want to do this? i.e what do you want to get out of it and what are your expectations for this trip. some may say this is obvious but I don't think it is. yes, we can assume some reasons but it's better to hear them from you rather than to assume.

BTW, I don't have a problem with your idea under some circumstances but it depends on answers to the above. And i agree with the other poster that this is not at all a new idea and, indeed, quite cliche (in itself not a reason for not doing it). i say this just to answer your "is it possible" question, not to imply anything else.

A coworker spent her honeymoon traveling by train. They would spend the night in a town or city, then the next day or so would say, "Where do you want to go next?" They'd get out a map, pick a spot, and get on the train. She said it was one of the best trips she ever took.

Yes, georgiegirl. You can do it. I've done it by train and by car a number of times. Train is easier and much more fun.

Tips: get a copy of Lonely Planet's "Europe on a Shoestring" and do at least a little pre-planning. The more planning you do the more enjoyable your trip will be. Buy a 2 month Eurailpass and a copy of the "Thomas Cook European Timetable" to chart your journey. Some trains, like the TGV, require a reservation but this is usually not much bother or expense.

Bring a notebook and a camera. You'll have the time of your life.

Georgiegirl. This is almost exactly what me husband and I are going to do beginning next Tues. We fly into Frankfurt and then 5 weeks later we fly home from Amsterdam. I have reserved hotels the first 3 nights and the last 3 nights. In between, we will buy train tickets as we go. We've been to Europe many times traveling many different ways so we are familiar with trains at least. Being in our 60's and 70's we aren't "spring chickens" either. As long as you have enough money, what can go wrong?? Go for it.

An example of "What can go wrong" would be arriving in Cannes during the Film Festival and not being able to find lodgings. Doing a bit of research on dates of major activities (such as the festival in Avignon, Carnival in Nice) would help avoid such problems and still allow a good deal of plan-as-you-go. I think it sounds like fun, although seeing Marseille from the train station certainly wouldn't encourage me to stop in that interesting city.

Sure it can be done! You might like to post and read on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, a bulletin board similar to this one but with more posters who favor more freespirited travel.

I agree with others that it would be hard to know when to "jump off" as most often the train tracks run thru the backside of a town, and once you get off, the area of town around the train stations are typically not the best.

So I think it is a BRILLIANT idea in theory, but a guidebook or two and including some specific dream destinations that you have researched a bit would most likely bring your reality closer to what you are picturing it would be like.

Thank you for the inputs. Some of you might notice that I am new to this style of information gathering process. This bulletin board has been giving me tons of ideas and advises. I am retired and when I get to pursue this dream, time and money are not the issues. Cities mentioned just popped to mind as I was typing. If I make a bad judgement of getting off the unworthy train station so be it. About travel by car, we did it in 1998. We drove along the Côte d'Azur then all the way up to Belgium before returning the car at CDG.
Hopscotch - Thank you for your advise. I will look into those resources.
Anthemion - Have fun and will you share that with us when you get back? You are my kind of traveler.
Suze - I will log in the site you recommended. Thank you.
BTike - I like your suggestion of picking some cities to get off and take a local train to explore.