Category: Europe

For all the rail trips I do around the UK and have done in Continental Europe, there is something totally compelling about Bulgaria’s only narrow gauge railway, which persuades me to return for the third consecutive year to Velingrad “Spa Capital of the Balkans”.

Velingrad stands roughly one-third of the way along the remarkable 78-mile (125km) long 760mm gauge railway that runs from a junction called Septemvri on the main rail route from Sofia to Plovdiv, all the way to the renowned ski resort of Bansko and its terminus at Dobrinishte a few miles further on.

Continue reading “Autumn colours in the Rhodope Mountains”

After a fascinating visit in November 2023 to the last narrow gauge line to be run by Hungary’s state railway operator, I am making return visit to the country to travel and photograph the country’s longest surviving 760mm gauge forestry railway network.

This is a 109km (68-mile) long system in the south-west of Hungary near the border with Slovenia that begins in a small town called Lenti before heading east to its base at Csömödér and then south to a terminus at a remote spot called Kistolmács.

Continue reading “Hungary’s longest narrow gauge railway system”

Two years after my last visit (Back in the DDR–August 2022) it is time to spend another few days travelling and photographing the finest steam-worked railway network in the world, the remarkable Harzer Schmalspur Bahnen (HSB) metre-gauge system in eastern Germany.

This time using a three-day “short holiday” (Kurzer Urlaub) network pass (€47.00/£40.50) my aim was to travel as much of the 140km/87-mile system as possible, with a mixture of steam haulage and travel in ageing diesel railcars.

Continue reading “More Harz delights”

A significant change has been made to daily steam services from Wolsztyn depot in western Poland since my October 2023 visit, with the two weekday workings to and from Leszno replaced in December 2023 by a single afternoon round trip each day to the junction station of Zbaszynek on the Berlin-Warsaw main line.

Gone, for now at least, are services like the 06.03 steam-hauled school train to Leszno, whose two coaches would be rammed by the time it completed its 46km (29-mile) run, and in its place is a 28km (17½-mile) service departing Wolsztyn at 14.14 on Mondays to Fridays and returning two hours later at 16.16.

Continue reading “A new direction for Wolsztyn steam”

Return visits earlier in the year to travel the only state-run narrow gauge railways in Bulgaria (June 2023) and Czechia (August 2023) had given me a taste for obscure little railways in Eastern Europe, so the lure of cheap flights takes me for a first time trip to see and travel the only narrow gauge railway run by Hungarian state operator MÁV.

This is a 22km (14-mile) 760mm (Bosnian gauge) system that runs inland from a resort on Lake Balaton called Balatonfenyves, a two-hour Inter-City train ride south-west from Budapest. It comprises a 14km (9-mile) route from the narrow gauge station at Balatonfenyves to a place called Somogyszentpál and an 8km (5-mile) branch from a junction called Imremajor to Csisztafüdo, a renowned thermal spa.

Continue reading “A Hungarian narrow gauge delight”

Managing to organise a three-night autumn mini-break to Poland, and spend two days riding on Europe’s last standard gauge steam services for a total cost of well under £250.00 might sound pie in the sky, but a recent trip has proved that such things can still be done.

In a crazy world where my return Ryanair flights from Stansted to Poznan cost less (£35.02) than an off-peak return from Haslemere to Stansted (£39.75 with railcard), the total cost of a four-day break, including all fares, food and accommodation, came in at just £224.30. 

Continue reading “Scheduled steam returns to Wolsztyn “

Four times each day a Czech Railways (CD) regional train makes a 60km (37½-mile), 90-minute, trip from the town of Krnov to Jesenik in Eastern Czechia, heading briefly across the Polish border midway through its journey to stop and reverse in a deserted Polish station called Głuchołazy.

Głuchołazy is a small and historic town in South-West Poland that merits a place in railway folklore as being a station in one country that for five days out of seven is only served by the trains of its neighbour, Czechia (Czech Republic).

Continue reading “A ghostly Polish station that is forever part of Czech Railways”

Almost a decade after my only previous visit, it is time to pay a return to what has now become the last surviving 760mm (2’ 6”) gauge line in Czechia (Czech Republic), following last autumn’s (October 2022) collapse of the JHMD network in Southern Bohemia, only three months after I had spent a week travelling the system there.

Hoping that I do not have a jinx on these little railways, I am returning to the charming 20km (12.5-mile) line in Eastern Czechia that remains operated by state rail operator České Dráhy (ČD) and runs from a junction station in a village called Třemešná ve Slezsku to a small town called Osoblaha through a narrow rural peninsula of Czechia jutting into neighbouring Poland. 

Continue reading “A delightful narrow gauge survival in Eastern Czechia”

Bulgaria’s only narrow gauge railway has long been a favourite of mine to travel and photograph, so when my fourth and final Inter-Rail trip took me to Sofia it seemed like the ideal finale to spend a few days in Velingrad and renew my acquaintance with the wonderfully scenic Septemvri-Dobrinishte line.

For those unfamiliar with it, this is a 125km (78 mile) long route which leaves from a junction on the main line from Sofia to Plovdiv and heads up into the Rhodope Mountains, passing Velingrad and the ski resort of Bansko before terminating a few miles further on.

Continue reading “Spring-time in the Rhodope Mountains”

A final trip using the half-price First Class Inter-Rail ticket bought in last year’s 50^th anniversary sale is also my longest, and takes me from home to Milan, then south through Italy to Bari, before sailing across the Adriatic to Patras and on by bus and train to Athens. From there it is north on the fateful route to Thessaloniki, before finishing in Bulgaria with a visit to the spa town of Velingrad.

Setting off in glorious spring weather on Tuesday, 23 May 2023, I am hoping for some sunny sightseeing along with all the rail journeys, having arranged to spend two days in Bari, Athens and Thessaloniki and then finish up with three days at the apartment I stayed at in Velingrad during a visit in March 2022.

Continue reading “First Class single from Haslemere to Sofia (via Athens)”