European train journeys

I love train journeys, we have some decent train journeys in Australia from the Indian Pacific, the Ghan and there is even a Perth to Bunbury service. I haven't used the East coast trains much, I have seen more of Europe and South East Asia than the East coast of Australia.

The train from Singapore to Bangkok interests me, So far I have only taken it as far Butterworth to get to Penang. I will take more trips through the East coast of Malaysia stepping off every so often to visit islands and through to Bangkok in the future.

When in Europe my preference is catching the various train services from the ICE, that's Inter City Express. There is the IC, or Inter City (national reisezug) trains, the S-bahn in German that is local trains.

The choices don't end there as the Eurocity (EC) is the international service between countries, the Regional Express (RE), the Inter Regional Express (IRE) and the Stadtbahn that doesn't offer First Class coaches.

There is an advantage of driving, you can go where you want when you want, but for me, the train is the best option as I can relax, read a book and gaze out the window. That being said, I have been on more than enough car journeys through Europe.

I can enjoy the sights and not concern myself with parking hassles, dents, dings and scratches. Then, the issue in the larger cities is actually finding the vehicle again, they have to be parked far from the centre so you need to remember where you actually parked the car.