Autumn 2021. In theory we could travel to other continents, but destinations we had in mind such as Japan or the United Kingdom were impossible to plan ahead. Instead we organised a rail trip to Eastern Europe, travelling to Berlin, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Karlovy Vary, Pilsen, Bratislava, Poprad, Vienna, Linz and Salzburg. By travelling to Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Austria, we explore an area which was in the (not too distant) past bonded together by the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and by Austria-Hungary.

After doing our discovery tour of the city centre of the Slovak capital Bratislava it was time to head on to see a bit more of the country. We decided to embark on a fast train from Bratislava to Štrba, where we would change onto the Tatra mountain railways.

Our train left from the main station at Bratislava, a short walk away from our hotel the Crowne Plaza. For this leg we travelled in first class, despite it having coach number one it was situated at the rear of the train in 9th place.

The train was hauled by one of ZSSK‘s brand new Siemens Vectron Electric Locomotives and consisted of a rake of 7 2nd class coaches in a mix of compartment and open seating, a restaurant car and our open 1st class car at the rear.

The seating in first class was in a 2-1 configuration with a glass wall in the middle dividing the coach into 2 parts. The seats where thickly padded and very comfortable and could be reclined. There where power points in the walls and big luggage racks above the seats.

The announcements made where automated in both Slovak and English, the peculiarity being that the English sounded very Australian. As part of the 1st class service you received a complimentary water bottle during the ticket check.

The route took us along the northern side of Slovakia from the west towards the middle. We had some very scenic views along the way as Slovakia proved to be much more mountainous and scenic than I expected. The train ran bang on time and we had a very pleasant journey. Our connection to the mountain railways would be different however, but more on that next week.

2021 Rail Tour of Imperial Europe

1. POTSDAM 2021 | Schloss Sanssouci.
2. 1945 Potsdam Conference’s Cecilienhof Palace.
3. Potsdam 2021.
4. REVIEW | InterContinental Berlin.
5. BERLIN 2021 | Pergamon, ‘Das Panorama’.
6. BERLIN 2021 | Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace.
7. BERLIN 2021 | The Bundestag in the Reichstag.
8. Berlin 2021.
9. By train from Berlin to Gdansk via Szczecin.
10. Stopover in Szczecin.
11. REVIEW | Restauracja Ritz in Gdańsk.
12. REVIEW | Holiday Inn Gdansk.
13. GDAŃSK | Museum of the Second World War.
14. GDAŃSK | European Solidarity Centre or Europejskie Centrum Solidarności.
15. A walk through Gdańsk.
16. Gdańsk 2021.
17. POLAND | PKP Intercity Gdansk to Wroclaw via Warsaw.
18. Wrocław Museum of Architecture.
19. The Dwarfs of Wrocław.
20. Wrocław.
21. Poland 2021.
22. By train from Wroclaw to Karlovy Vary.
23. Karlovy Vary.
24. REVIEW | Hotel Imperial Karlovy Vary.
25. Czechia’s Great Spa Town of Europe Františkovy Lázně.
26. CZECHIA | Pilsen Historical Underground Tunnels.
27. CZECHIA | Pilsner Urquell Brewery Tour.
28. CZECHIA | Pilsen.
29. CZECHIA 2021 | Cheb and its castle.
30. Hotel room for one.
31. By train from Karlovy Vary to Prague via Pilsen.
32. Czechia 2021.
33. RegioJet from Prague to Bratislava.
34. Bratislava Castle.
35. REVIEW | Crowne Plaza Bratislava.
36. Bratislava on a rainy Monday.