As We Travel

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Europe Train Challenge Route Week 1

By the time you read this, we will be sitting on a plane flying back to Europe – that’s right, we decided to cut our Asia travels short, head back to Europe and start a whole new adventure! On the 2nd of May it begins ~ AS WE TRAVEL:

Europe Train Challenge 30 countries – 90 days around Europe by TRAIN

Europe Train Challenge
Europe Train Challenge

Welcome: The Europe Train Challenge.

InterRail
InterRail

We have teamed up with InterRail (as our premium sponsors) to create this train challenge.

During the challenge, everything we experience will be filmed, edited, and then turned into a travel show, which will be released online while we are still traveling.

The aim is not only to see if it’s possible to visit nearly every country in Europe by train within a 90 day deadline, but also to inspire and show others how easy it is to get out there, and explore the wonders of Europe in an environmentally-friendly way.

So be prepared for an extra busy 3 months here on As We Travel.

[highlight]Here is the list of 30 countries we will be visiting in 90 days:[/highlight]

Ireland / England / Netherlands / Belgium / Luxembourg / France / Portugal / Spain / Switzerland / Italy / Slovenia / Croatia / Bosnia / Montenegro / Serbia / Macedonia / Greece / Bulgaria / Turkey / Romania / Hungary / Slovakia / Austria / Czech Republic / Poland / Germany / Denmark / Sweden / Norway / Finland … phew!

Europe Train Challenge – The Route

Europe Train Challenge
Europe Train Challenge

Hey everyone! In less than 4 days we will be starting the Europe Train Challenge in Dublin, I am sure you have seen that stressful countdown button above :p 

Many people have been asking us where exactly we will be traveling during this challenge, so I thought it would be great for you guys if we posted our route map.

Europe Train Challenge Route Week 1
Europe Train Challenge Route Week 1

If you want to follow our daily updates, latest videos etc – you can click the like button below, follow our adventures and behind-the-scene videos on Facebook. 

For us the most stressful part of the trip is that we have already confirmed and booked nearly everything.

The route below can not change, since we have already arranged sponsored accommodation in every city along the way and most train tickets to each place.

We have never planned this far in advance, and it really isn’t our style of travel – we normally prefer to turn up, see what happens and then make future plans based on how we feel.

This is very different, and we are feeling a bit stressed about all the planned certainty and having to make sure we arrive in each city on the exact day. :p it’s gonna be a fun challenge! Firstly here is a rough outline of Europe with our route layout:

Europe Train Challenge Route
Europe Train Challenge Route

Below you can see the exact dates for when we will be in each city during the month of May.

MAY:

  1. Dublin: 1-2-3 – May
  2. London: 4-5
  3. Amsterdam: 6-7
  4. Brussels: 8-9
  5. Luxembourg: 10
  6. Paris: 11-12
    + OVERNIGHT – 13th
  7. Lisbon: 14-15-16
    + OVERNIGHT 17th
  8. Barcelona: 18-19
  9. Vevey: 20-21-22
  10. Venice: 23-24
  11. Bled: 25-26-27
  12. Zagreb: 28-29
    + OVERNIGHT 30th
  13. Sarajevo: 31st May – 1st June
  14. JUNE – JULY WILL BE POSTED AT A LATER DATE.

We will also be posting at least 2 new HD videos every week from every country we visit – so make sure you follow along on this adventure.

ALSO we would love to meet up and connect with any readers who happen to live or are also traveling to the same places as us – so send us an email or comment below with your location and we would love to meet up – we might even create a facebook event for each city we visit – what do you think about this?

Week 1 – Europe Train Challenge

Europe Train Challenge – 3 Countries In 1 Week:

It has been just over a week since the Europe Train Challenge started, and it has been one big roller coaster ride so far!

Countries This Week: Ireland, England, Netherlands.

Europe Train Challenge
Europe Train Challenge

Usually, Nathan and I enjoy a more slow paced style of travel – we’re used to staying in cities until we know them inside out – so jumping to a new country every 2-3 days has been very different!

In a way, I’ve actually liked it more than I expected, but it still feels quite strange. Sweden and Dublin, where we started our journey only about a week ago, feels so far away.

We have seen and experienced so many things in such a short amount of time that every day feels like two days. We wake up in one country and go to sleep in another – where else can you do that so frequently and easily than in Europe?

travel from country to country
travel from country to country

It really is different to travel from country to country every second day, and Europe just feels smaller and smaller.

We have been eating so much fatty food – it seems as though every country’s special local food is the fattest they can come up with 😉

But I’ve been enjoying it all; the thick battered fish n chips in Dublin, the beer (and deep fried Chinese) in London and the Stroopwaffles (with syrup filling) in Amsterdam.

Finding local food – which was part of our challenge in each country, was only difficult in London – the city was so multi-cultural that it almost seemed more ‘local’ to eat Indian or Chinese for lunch than pie and mash.

Amsterdam
Amsterdam

Apart from eating, we have done what we do best – walked. Walking around a city, looking at the strikingly different architecture, visiting tourist attractions and people watching are what makes traveling so fun and spontaneous.

It’s often hard to explain what you have been doing when somebody asks. Often what you remember is not exactly the attraction you saw but the people who were there seeing it with you.

Feeling in the vibe and atmosphere has been the most interesting part of this trip so far.

When you change surroundings so often, you really see the contrast in people: the people in Dublin were completely different from those in London, who were totally different from those in Amsterdam – the contrasts is what has been most obvious and surprising.

The only thing I’ve had a hard time with is finding time to blog. 🙁

Whenever I visit a new city I want to get out there right away and see it all and more – but traveling and blogging doesn’t really make that possible.

And when you do have the time to blog, the wi-fi is super expensive…

How you can find free wi-fi in a small town in the most Northern part of Thailand, but London & Paris want to charge crazy prices for a bad connection, is beyond me! B

ut don’t worry, we’ll update as often as we can and the first video episode of our Europe Train Challenge from DUBLIN will be up in just a few days – Nathan has been working hard editing all the videos! 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Guys, you’re gonna be exhausted after so much train time. You’ll need some vacation time when you’re done!

    What cities are you thinking about visiting when in Spain?

    Good luck!

  3. This sounds like a very fun adventure. I love traveling by train and am looking forward to reading all about it.

  5. Hi guys,

    Some cities you should definitely check out while in Belgium:
    – Brussels
    – Ghent
    – Bruges
    – Antwerp

    I don’t know how much time you will have in Belgium but I would suggest you visit the cities in that order. So if you have one day, visit Brussels. If you have two days, visit Brussels and Ghent, and so on.
    I live in Belgium so if you would like some more detailed information on what to see and do here, I would be more than happy to provide it for you.

    And if you want me to show you around in our beautiful cities, let me know and I’ll do my very best to make myself available. I could be your very own personal guide and show you things only the locals know about 🙂

    And I would love to pick your brains about travelling, since I will be going on my first long term solo trip to Australia in September this year!

    Take care and maybe we’ll see each other over some Belgian Beer, chocolate and waffles 😉

  7. ***ENVY*** -___-

    I have a suitcase I can fit myself inside… if you would be willing to roll me along with you.

    So happy for you two. What a great opportunity! You guys are at a level of travel blogging that I aspire to!

    I’m looking forward to your content from Europe.

  8. Wow! This is a whole lot of fun! Can i come with you? That’s so much to take in in 90 days, the most i have done in 90 days by bus is a tour of the entire UK and a bit of the East Coast of the USA.

  9. I like your mission. “To show how easy it is to get to these countries and do so in an environmentally way.” I’m paraphrasing, but either way this sounds like an exciting challenge.

    I have one request: blooper reel!

  10. Wow – that’s so exciting! Can’t wait to read more about it! You guys are so lucky!!! That will be a crazy trip for sure. 🙂

  11. So jealous. Europe is where I fell in love with backpacking, train travel, and everything else we all love. Have fun will be avidly watching the videos for sure!

  12. Oh wow that sounds afuckingmazing!!! I would love to do something like that. I can not wait to follow along through the blog.

  13. Wow – sounds exhausting but awesome. This year seems to be the year of train travel challenges — good luck with it!

  14. 3 days per country? Disappointing! I thought you knew how to travel better! At least I might run into you now!

  15. Sure, its easy and fun. I Travellers by train in around 10 countries within 3weeks. So 30 in 3 months are no problem 🙂 have fun

  16. What a fun innovative idea! I look forward to following your adventures. I live in Stuttgart, Germany, so if you make it this way, let me know.

  18. Hey Javi – yeah it will be a lot of time spent riding trains – we will be spending our few days in Barcelona, and Madrid. after this is done we will need a few months rest 😉

  20. Well, if you’re in Belgium, we could meet up and share a few stories and beers … have a tweet-up perhaps!

  21. Great trip idea! I look forward to seeing it happen, should be a lot of fun 🙂

  22. Finally!! I know your secret haha, sounds an awesome idea! If you decide to come very north and have time, it’d be great to meet up!

  34. Get yourself here in London and you can count on us London travel bloggers to give you a warm welcome. Keep us posted on your progress, we’ll meet up with you guys for a pint and a bit soon enough no doubt 😉

  35. Wow! This sounds like a pretty intensive trip, but pretty awesome! Looking forward to read and see the videos from all those countries!

  36. Hey Tom,

    Thanks for the wonderful comment – so many great things to recommend!!!! we really appreciate it 🙂 We will be visiting only Belgium during our trip – have 1.5 days there before moving on to Luxembourg.

    If you are around, it would be fun to meet up!

  43. Hey Dylan – London is our 2nd stop – we will be there after Dublin on the 4-5th of May – if you are around it would be great to meet up and meet a bunch of you london travel bloggers – what is your email so we can contact you?

  50. Oh wow that seems like an amazing trip! I would really like to do the interail thing! Anyway I’ll definitely follow you and maybe we can meet up in London!

  51. Hey Lucie – thanks for the lovely comment 🙂 we will be in London next Thursday – will also be meeting up with a bunch of other travelers and bloggers on Thursday night – you are more than welcome to come along!

  52. Hope you have a wondeful trip! Also expect to share your travel experience, it will be my guide for my Europe trip next year!

  56. Hi,

    it’s so awesome:))) Enjoy it every second, i’m sure it will be a wonderful adventure. If you arrive in Bulgaria we may meet up :)))

  59. Excellent and
    informative post. I am a regular visitor of this site.I always appreciate
    your work. You should keep it up forever. Thanks for this great article.

  60. This would cost a fortune if you did not have a sponsor, I live in Europe and train transport is Uber-expensive!!!