Having arrived in the Belgian capital onboard a Eurostar service from London, I had just under seven hours in Brussels until I was scheduled to depart onboard the European Sleeper. With Eurostar terminating at Brussels Midi/Zuid, I was a little bit out of the city centre, and so I headed round to the main domestic concourse ready to catch a train to my first stop.
Back at the start of January it was time for my annual ‘big’ trip and this year I’d named it ‘Snoozing to Split’ as the majority of my travel would be onboard some of Europe’s night trains. However, despite some undelivered ambitions in the 1980s as the Channel Tunnel was being constructed, there are no night trains between the UK and Europe. As such my trip started as many do, with a train to Kings Cross and then a walk across the road to the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras International.
Having had a day exploring Geneva and a small part of the Swiss railway network, my day in Switzerland was drawing to a close. Starting the journey home with another trip on a loco-hauled InterRegio service from Brig, I travelled the one stop to the Geneva Airport terminus and headed back upstairs to reach the Airport itself.
Having spent the morning and early part of the afternoon exploring the city of Geneva, the weather had turned and my own decision paralysis led me to falling back on a safe bet, the railway! With Geneva being at the western end of the Swiss rail network, the city is served by a mix of both ‘InterCity’ and ‘InterRegio’ services and I decided a run along Lac Léman and back to compare them both was required.
Having arrived at Geneva on an easyJet flight from Luton, and having made sure I didn’t accidently exit the airport into France, my first task was to head into the city itself. With the airport’s underground railway station being the terminus of a number of Switzerland’s intercity railway service, it was easy to catch a train for the short journey into town.
With a gap in my schedule and the wanderlust growing stronger since my last trip abroad, a Wednesday in mid-October saw me arriving at Luton Airport bright and early ready to take a flight to Europe. This trip would take me to a country I’ve visited before, but a new brand new city, Geneva in Switzerland!
Flights & Times 