Did you know it is possible to explore the culinary delights of Europe on a one-day train itinerary? We enjoyed breakfast in London, lunch in Paris, and dinner in Zurich all in one day. It was fabulous! Train travel in Europe is so easy and convenient.
I wish we could say this was an original idea, but we snagged it from The Man in Seat 61. And, what a brilliant idea it was! If you follow our itinerary below, you can enjoy a similar experience!
Train travel in Europe is different for those living elsewhere, particularly those of us living in the US. For us, it may be difficult to imagine being able to do such a trip by train, but in most parts of Europe, this is a piece of cake. All it takes is a little planning.
Start in London
On this trip, we started in London and our final destination was Vienna where I was attending a business meeting. On day 1, we flew from Oklahoma City through Dallas and connected to London overnight. We arrived in London the next morning and checked into the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London, a Marriott property. More on this hotel in another post, but for now let me say this hotel is ideal for boarding the Eurostar to Paris as it is connected to the train station.
We spent 1 night in London and enjoyed a lovely hotel breakfast the following morning. We stayed in one of the hotel’s upgraded suites, so we received special boarding privileges – a truly awesome experience.
Once the train left St. Pancras station, we quickly picked up speed and found ourselves entering Paris two and a half hours later. The Eurostar arrived at Gare du Nord station and from there we had to make our way to Gare de Lyon. There are several ways to make this transfer, but we chose the least expensive option and rode the metro/RER, which took about 30 minutes from the time we stepped off the Eurostar, bought our ticket for the metro, and arrived at Gare de Lyon. I was a little nervous about making this change, but really it was easy.
Lunch at Le Train Bleu
The second culinary stop on this Europe itinerary was to enjoy lunch in the Train Bleu restaurant at Gare de Lyon. Unfortunately, we had not booked a table in advance and the restaurant had no table seating available. It turned out this was okay because we were not starving. Instead, we sat in the Lounge Bar area where we enjoyed a few small bites, a couple of cocktails, and the beautiful views of the restaurant. And we didn’t have to pay a fortune. Still, if I had it to do over again, I would make online reservations in advance just to avoid any disappointments.
After our respite in the Lounge Bar, we still had a couple of hours before boarding the train to Zurich, so we made our way outside to enjoy some fabulous Parisian sunshine. Back in the central part of the train station we found our train track and prepared to continue our adventure.
We had reserved standard 1st class seats on the TGV-Lyria train 9219 from Paris Gare de Lyon to Zurich. These seats were slightly pricier than standard seats, but offered more space and privacy. We left Paris around 4:00 pm and 4 hours later arrived in Zurich, our final stop on this one-day culinary train experience across Europe.
Dinner in Zurich
It was just past eight o’clock when we walked out of the train station in Zurich and across the street to Hotel Schweizerhof. After checking in, we dropped our luggage in the room and headed to the hotel’s restaurant for a bite of dinner. The restaurant was quiet that evening, in fact, we may have been the only people eating. But we did and successfully concluded our one-day adventure of eating breakfast in London, lunch in Paris, and dinner in Zurich.
We love traveling by train in Europe and this was one of our best trips yet. The views from the train are simply amazing between Paris and Zurich. It was such fun that I think we need to schedule a similar adventure but with other destinations in mind.
Tips for Making the Most of Your Experience
If you want to book a similar trip, here are a few tips.
1) Check out the seat61 website for tips and tricks. There is a ton of awesome information here.
2) Make advance reservations at Le Train Bleu restaurant if you want to enjoy a full meal.
3) Stay at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London to have easy access to the Eurostar.
4) Stay at Hotel Schweizerhof for easy access to and from the train station in Zurich.
5) Spend a little extra money and buy Standard 1st class seats on the TGV-Lyria train. You will find it more comfortable.
If you have any questions about this experience or want to create an itinerary for yourself, please contact us at travelwiththecrows@gmail.com. We are happy to help with your questions or planning!
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