Virgin Trains has taken a major step towards challenging Eurostar‘s dominance of cross-Channel passenger rail services after the United Kingdom‘s rail regulator gave the green light to a track access agreement that could allow the company to launch international services in 2030.
NMBS / SNCB’s centenary train visits Schaerbeek (29–30 August), Liège (12–13 September) and Antwerp (10–11 October)
NMBS / SNCB will mark its centenary with a unique travelling exhibition bringing together almost a century of Belgian railway history in a single 300-metre-long train. Featuring historic locomotives and carriages spanning from the 1930s to the latest generation of rolling stock, the exhibition will visit Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek in Brussels, Liège-Guillemins, and Antwerp-Central Railway…
REVIEW | Eurostar Plus Brussels to London and return
Every year we go to London as my boyfriend is a big fan of London (or at least some of his favourite shops are located there). This year we combined our London trip with a few days in Liverpool as the hotel prices in London where exorbitant due to a big convention in the London…
Belgian Beer Weekend and Belgium Beer Week: two different celebrations of Belgian beer
Belgian beer will be celebrated on two separate occasions this summer, but Belgian Beer Weekend and Belgium Beer Week are not the same event. While both celebrate Belgium‘s beer culture and its recognition by UNESCO, they have different organisers, formats and geographical reach.
REVIEW | Park Plaza London Riverbank ft the secret recipe of Coca-Cola
In 2024, I showed Oscar from Denver, Colorado the highlights of London. It was his first time in England. In contrast, Thanh and I have been to the capital of the United Kingdom many times. During the weekend of Pentecost 2026, we went together for a weekend of museums, food, and a concert.
RAIL IN EUROPE | Standardisation of trains to speed up delivery and cut costs
As Europe races towards climate neutrality, rail transport is set to play a pivotal role. Yet, the sector faces a persistent challenge: trains are too expensive, and delivery times are too long, Duurzaam Mobiel writes. At the recent Bundesverband SchienenNahverkehr (BSN) industry conference in Kassel in Hesse in Germany on 5 and 6 May 2026,…
BULGARIA | Burgas to host 2027 Eurovision Song Contest on Tuesday 11 May, Thursday 13 May, and Saturday 15 May
Burgas, Bulgaria’s Black Sea city, will host the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2027, bringing the world’s biggest live music television event to the country’s coast for the first time. The 71st Eurovision Song Contest will be staged at Arena Burgas, with the three televised live shows scheduled for Tuesday 11 May, Thursday 13 May…
REVIEW | Miyajima Seaside Hotel
Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and…
2026 | The state of LGBTI rights in Europe’s next generation of EU members
ILGA-Europe and the Equal Rights Association (ERA) have warned that anti-LGBTI legislation and democratic backsliding are becoming a defining feature of the European Union enlargement region, urging Brussels to use accession talks more forcefully to defend fundamental rights.
GERMANY | FlixTrain to launch Munich services from 2028 with new high-speed fleet
FlixTrain will begin serving Munich in Bavaria in Germany from 2028 with a new fleet of high-speed trains, marking the company’s return to its hometown.