Heading off in the sun.BromptonsBlue skies and a few clouds heading south.River Helmsdale Helmsdale Beach near Helmsdale Dornoch Firth
Changed from the far north line to the sleeper at Inverness.
Speeding away from Inverness.
Near KingussieBreakfast going through Birmingham
Not sure this breakfast looks appetising. It tasted ok. A few issues on the train. The lock on the cabin was not fully functioning, no pull out table in cabin, coffee machine in buffet car not working. There are some maintenance issues it appears.
AstonCanal in Birmingham Euston
Arrival in Euston is 20 minutes late due to work in the line. I had been forewarned by text.
Cycled over to Paddington.HS2 worksOxfordshire
Then headed back east
Boats on the Thames approaching ReadingReading station
I witnessed an old couple falling over on the escalator just after getting on. while they were heading up. I was heading down. A woman at the top shouted for someone to hit the emergency stop. A hapless woman holding a dog appeared transfixed and unable to hit the button. After what appeared to be an age someone finally hit the button. Chaos. No staff about.
Due to work commitments I had to fly back to Scotland. Still managed to complete the journey by rail.
Did not expect Tesco in Budapest
Very early start to get the 0740 flight to Heathrow. A trip involving a tram and the airport bus to Budapest Airport. Budapest is a fairly pleasant airport compared to the nightmare that is Heathrow. Then onto Inverness Airport, which now has its own railway station. Inverness airport is relatively pleasant.
Not great flying but almost halved the carbon footprint compared to flying both ways.
Inverness Airport stationThe airport seen from the station,
A 45 min wait for the 12 min train ride to Inverness. Then a further wait before heading to the far north.
River NessIt’s sunny
Beauly Firth.
In contrast to the other train lines the vegetation is really close to the track.
River OykelLooking down the Dunrobin castle driveLooking out to seaBrora RiverSun peaking through the trees at Brora Hill cloud and sun looks dramatic River Helmsdale Near Forsinard Mist near HalkirkThurso river near Halkirk Trees on the horizon
A spectacular display as the sun sets on the journey north.
I set off early from the hotel to allow for the ongoing work on the S Bahn. Which meant I arrived well ahead of time at the Hauptbahnhof. So purchased some bread based snacks for breakfast and the journey plus some fruit.
München Hbf
The train was an Austrian train, OBB, starting in Germany and ending in Hungary.
South east of München- wall to mitigate noise.River Inn near RosenheimNow in AustriaSalzburgNear Salzburg Heading away from Salzburg Industry on the TraunWeißkirchen in the distance Near the Danube- is that a power station?Coming into ViennaFormer arsenal and comms towerTurbinesInto Hungary Komáron in the distance TatabányaBudapest KelenföldHotel-Radison
Early- looks promising Rooftop gardens on a disused building.
A local’s tip was the Dachgarten at Rosenheimer Platz. Lots of little bars and food stalls.
The street below.St Lukas & the Isar
Fish in the IsarGeese and fish snoozing Marienplatz is mobbed
Lots of people, lots happening. Lots of footy fans attending the Bayern München vs Borussia Mönchengladbach match. München won 2-0 clinching the title.
The Cathedral Bretzel und bier – the mini Hofbrauhaus in the EnglishergartenLooking down the IsarSwarm of flies
Catching the sunlight
I used the Tageskarte and a lot of walking. Due to work on the S Bahn, I had to find different routes to get around, using a tram and bus as well as the U Bahn.
Early start at St Pancras means that I should get to München at a sensible time of 6pm local time. The ticket told me to be at St Pancras at ten to six. An early start.
Kent countryside
We came to a stop. Announcements came periodically as the delay lengthened. The reason was eventually announced. A train had broken down in the tunnel so only one line was available. Trains were being sent in one direction and then the direction was being switched. Eventually we got going.
France
Eventually we made it to…
Bruxelles.Waiting for the next train Sunny in Brussels
The next train left slightly late, a DB IC, heading for Frankfurt, but I was due to change at Frankfurt airport.
Leaving Brussels.The train took a curious route due to work on the more direct line.Near Groß Rohrheim
The ICE got further delayed so I bailed out at Köln, seeing that I could catch a slightly delayed train heading to München. This proved to be a good move as the train was mobbed at Frankfurt. I had a seat.
Near Mannheim.MannheimStuttgartThe NeckerThe bright sun is getting low near StuttgartNear Kirchheim unter TeckSun really low near GessertshausenFinally München HBF
Arrived at München around 9 local time. Three hours late although the final train was actually early . A long day.
Met some interesting people on the way. The Portuguese lawyer working for the EU who can speak about 7 languages, and the group returning from a family wedding in Eritrea. All evidently having grown up in Germany as shown by German being their preferred language.
Near South MortonReadingDistrict & Circle line tube station Paddington
Arrived at Paddington and to the closest tube station with a branch of the circle line. No trains running. Backtracked to the other circle line branch and finally caught the tube. It’s far simpler and quicker on the bike.
St PancrasPremier Inn room And viewCanal near London Zoo
The far north is a joy when the views are clear and the days are long.
Iconic view from far north train.River HelmsdaleLooking across the Moray FirthBeach near BroraLooking towards NiggAt Invergordan Boarding the sleeper- but no bike.View from the sleeper near TomartinEarly near AtherstoneBreakfast
The breakfast did leave me hungry.
Mist approaching Rugby It’s green near Buckby Arrival at Euston Waterloo
15 mins of delay at Waterloo due to incoming train being late, there was an obstacle on the line.
Long train
I had to get myself into the front five carriages as the train splits at Bournemouth.
More green landscape near HookPooleArrived at Wool
Barriers going down
Train arriving at Wool
I am about to start my minor backtrack.
Southampton Near OtterbourneChange at WinchesterReading stationReading Ibis
The map taken from the Interrail app shows just how far the journey was, but misses the far north line and the detour to Oxfordshire.
From the Interrail app: 5784 km distance
15 trains on the Interrail ticket, 20 in total.
Seven countries.
Weather
Sunny almost throughout, but a big variation in temperature. Highest ,around 14 centigrade in Augsburg, lowest -10 in Bucharest.
Food
The food was good, but had to get creative in the meat centric countries. I had my first experience of a Lebanese restaurant in Bucharest, the very good Coin-Vert Libanez.
I had to fight through the snow and ice to get to it. A week later I had my second Lebanese restaurant experience in Paris.
Plenty of good food on this trip.
Hotels
I stayed in three Premier Inn plus rooms, three varieties of Ibis: budget, styles and no moniker, a Radisdon Individuals Schiller Park in Linz and Ramada by Wyndham in Bucharest.
Best bed:Premier Inn plus
Best shower: Premier Inn plus
Best view: Ramada by Wyndham
Best location: Hotel Schiller Park- in central location near the railway station.
Best breakfast: Ramada by Wyndham
Best rooms: Premier Inn plus
Most expensive: Premier Inn St Pancras
Best check out times: Ibis / check out by noon.
I like the simplicity of the Ibis Budget.
Locations
Both Augsburg and Linz were amazing places to visit. Smaller and not as busy as Vienna but interesting buildings and history. Bucharest lacked the beautiful buildings but the lake was beautiful.
Travelling by train emphasised the change in landscape and buildings. Farmhouses are tiny and ramshackled in Romanian but huge and well maintained in Austria and Germany.
People
As well as meeting the natives of each country that I visited I was surprised to meet people from so many other countries. I had conversations with Qataris, Russians, Albanians, Norwegians, New Zealanders, Moldovans, Canadians, Taiwanese and probably more. Talking to Austrians in German with their local accents was a joy, including a woman in her 90s from Vienna,
Cycling
Cycling was awful in Bucharest, but faster than cars. Driving in Bucharest also looks awful. Paris cycle way provision is good in Paris, but blocked by vehicles on the Sunday. Vienna was busy, Augsburg pleasant. I heard a tram hitting a car in Vienna and saw the massive crumpled side of the car, the tram just drove off. The closest I came to an accident was Inverness, where a car was being driven at 60 mph in a 30 zone, as I was turning right. The bike gave a good way to cross cities between stations and to get to hotels. It was also a great luggage trolley.
Yesterday there had been issues with the far north line, with rail replacement buses provided, but today the train seems to be running.
Due to the early start Premier Inn provided a pack breakfast.
Yuck! The worst bread ☹️.Inverness station – the Kings Cross Train.River BeaulyNigg in the distance At LairgBetween Golspie and BroraRiver HelmsdaleFlow CountryCauseymire turbines in distanceRiver Thurso
Insight 