@Alon Thanks for writing. I just learned I am an environmental masochist.
Apart from rail travels to Vienna and Budapest, I prefer cycling holidays in Europe. Cycling tourism is btw a bigger economic sector than cruise ship sector.
@herbert_tiemens @Alon Lol yes was surprised by some of the wording - caught a lot of very full long-distance trains this European summer and can't imagine everyone on them was 'hardcore greens'. I guess it depends on the trip. Paris to Berlin is pretty easy; Paris to Goteborg was on the masochistic side.
@jroper @herbert_tiemens @Alon I didn't find berlin to Paris easy! Thalys strikes cancelled half my trip and despite spending hours on the case there was no other way to make it work, which surprised me since the first peg was a 530am ice to koln. Apparently no way to get from there to Paris starting at 10 with thalys cancelling all German connections. I ended up jumping a $100 flight.
@jedsetter @herbert_tiemens @Alon True, it's only easy when it goes right.
I had a cancelled night train (storms) with 3 hours notice and no alternatives possible and no way to even get on to OEBB. Ended up getting a 16 hour bus... not fun.
Seems like one of the biggest drawbacks compared to flying at the moment - airlines have procedures for rescheduling, providing hotels etc. Night train providers just have refunds and 'good luck getting there some other way'.
@jroper I have another personal experience.
Utrecht-Vienna was canceled due to fire in a tunnel. Was helped by OEBB to transfer to day trains for the next day. @jedsetter @Alon
@herbert_tiemens @jedsetter @Alon How did you get hold of them? I was at a station with no OEBB office, only a DB office who shrugged and said to ring OEBB. Spent an hour trying two of their numbers (at considerable expense I realised later) without anyone picking up. Was all very obscure compared to the same situation in an airport. Perhaps more people would have been answering the phones the next day, but I needed to be somewhere the next day.
@jroper Was indeed waiting at the phone for one hour. And wasn't in a hurry, so a 14 hour delay was not a problem
@jedsetter @Alon