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Hey there fellow travelers, Mike here with Walter's World and today we're here in Antwerp, Belgium and today we're going to talk about are some of the unwritten rules of European train travel so you can have a better time riding the rails around Europe. And I think the first thing you need to realize is the unwritten rule that everyone expects every tourist to know when they come here to Europe is that you'll be expected to know what you're supposed to do in the train station. I mean, there's a famous saying in German, "Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof." I only understand train stations because everybody does. Which are the departure signs? Which are the arrival signs? Where you need to go for
a platform? It is up to you to kind of know these things beforehand. So, that means if your train departs at 17:09, that means it's 5:09 p.m. And it doesn't mean that you get at the platform at 5:09, it means you're already on the train and the train is leaving at 5:09 and not an earlier or later time, okay? And it's really important you know that. The thing is, if you are confused or if you don't know something, you can't wait until 5 or 10 minutes before the train time to go and look for help. You need to do this beforehand. So, if you are worried about taking the train for the first time, not sure what's there, get to the station a bit earlier. There's going to be an information desk where
you can ask for help cuz in general, people aren't really thinking of helping because they're thinking everybody already knows how to use the train. Now, the next unwritten rule is your luggage is your responsibility. That means wherever you're going to take your luggage, you have to be able to lug it. There is not, you know, it's not an airport where they have luggage service and stuff like that. It doesn't work that way. You've got to bring your luggage onto the train have to realize sometimes they have very high steps. You have to get that there. You have to be able to lift your luggage and put it up above in the overhead bins because there's no one to help you with that.
And that's a big mistake I see people make when they travel in Europe. They bring these big huge suitcases and you have to realize there's not a lot of space in those trains sometimes. So, there's not always a place to put your luggage. And that's the thing is also it's your responsibility to watch your luggage because, you know what? At some stops, sometimes people walk off with another person's bag and you need to be aware of that. So, remember, your luggage, your responsibility. And one of the things is when you have luggage and you're trying to get on the train, I think another unwritten rule is boarding is kind of like a free-for-all.
You know, some places there's a nice orderly line to do things. Oh, I'm at the post office. I'm doing things. Oh, no, no. When it comes to the trains, especially like in Germany and stuff, it's like a mad dash to get on the train because if it's on a Friday or a Sunday or a holiday weekend, all the seats will be taken want to make sure you get a spot. So, people are like bum-rushing their way into the train and you need to be ready for that. So, it's really important if you have a reserved seat, which is always important to have, but if you can get one. But, you know, make sure you're where your wagon is going to be, know where your seat's going to be so you can go in there so you don't have
to walk through the entire train to get to your seat. A safety thing for you, um an unwritten rule, anybody that's offering you help at the train station that isn't in the official like Belgian train system outfit or the Deutsche Bahn system in Germany or SNCF in France, they're most likely looking for something from you or getting something without you realizing it. So, just realize, unless they're official, they're not really trying to help you. So, that means either if someone's offering to help you with your luggage to put it on the train, which happens a lot in Italy, or if there's someone trying to help you at the kiosk where you're trying to buy tickets, look, the kiosk, they're going to be in English.
You push the little Great Britain button and all of a sudden it's in English and you'll be okay that way. You don't have to have the help cuz a lot of times those people are seizing or sizing you up or they're looking for a tip afterwards. And you may say, "But Mark, what about I'm just in line waiting for my tickets?" Well, here's another unwritten rule. Uh the line to actually buy tickets like at the ticket shop is usually very, very long. Like that's one that I only do if I know I'm going to need a ticket for like a few days down the road because last minute waiting in that line, you'll always miss your train. That's why I want to tell you, those kiosks are super simple to use. You can always switch to English
everywhere throughout Europe and you can buy tickets one way, return, all kinds of things, which is nice. Though, I will say, sometimes if you want to get like tickets to go into another country, you might have to go in that line to do that. That's why you can buy your tickets online if you want. It can be a lot easier just to do it that way. That's why my next unwritten rule for you is have the app for the train system that you're going to be on. When I'm in Germany, I have the Deutsche Bahn app on my phone so I can buy my tickets there. I have my QR codes there. Everything's together. So, when the driver comes by, I have them all ready to go. So, that can be helpful. So, if I'm in Italy, I
have that. In France, I have that. Those are going to make your life a lot easier. And also, you can check your timetables and when you need to be there, which is really nice. Now, when you want to get up to the trains, one thing I want to tell you, if you're expecting elevators at every train in train station in Europe and every platform, forget about it. If you're in some, you know, if you're in smaller towns or even bigger cities, a lot of times, one, there might not be an elevator or a lot of times the elevator is like out of service and that is kind of troublesome cuz I know there's been a lot of times I was literally carrying Liam in the stroller downstairs and upstairs. If you got heavy luggage, that's going to be really tough for you.
Or if you have multiple pieces of luggage and not enough people to spread it out, you could end up being leaving your luggage by itself, which is not a good thing to do. So, it's really important, the unwritten rule, always pack light if you're taking trains in Europe because there's not going to be like it's going to be hard to get it on the train, but also, there's not always going to be space on the train for your luggage because not all trains are created equal. You'll see some where you can put big, huge suitcases above you and other spots where the overhead bin is literally just this big for a little purse. And that's why it's important to have an idea the kind of train you're
going to be on. And you can look them up online, but just know like if you're in, let's say you're in France. The TGVs, those are the super high fast trains. They have usually a little more space. The TERs are the regional trains, a little bit less space. If you're in Germany, the ICE is the fast train. The IC is the old fast trains from years ago. They've kind of commissioned on to a lower speed or like less coolness. Then you have the Interregio trains, which are just like is partially almost like the regional train for the people coming into work. So people coming into work don't have a lot of luggage, there's not a lot of space. And
if you're going to be in Italy and you're going to go to like Lucca or, you know, Pisa from Florence, those are those local regional trains where there's no luggage space. So you got to be prepared for that. Also, the unwritten rule with that, not all trains are created equal. It also means the same thing for departure and arrival times cuz you might see a train that leaves earlier than another train, but it gets there hours later because that might be the slower train. It might be stopping it at the local stops. Whereas the other one, all they stop say, "We only stop in, you know, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and that's it." Where the other ones are stopping at St. Nicholas, they're stopping at Ghent. They're all
these little stops in between. So it's important you look and see when it leaves, but also when it arrives. Now another thing that's been very helpful for you, if you're looking to know what platform you need to be on, especially you got a lot of luggage, you don't want to worry about the elevators and those kind of things, come look for the yellow departure boards and they'll have actually this floor or the lot glice or the line or the platform it's going to be on. So you can check that out. Sometimes it does change, but most of the time that's going to be right. So you can be kind of prepared beforehand instead of waiting last minute for them to show the line that's going to be on.
These might be something that can help you out. And one train I want to warn you about, this is an unwritten rule, but it's so true. If you ever see the Euro City, the EC train, okay? No matter where you are in Europe, it will be late because the Euro City trains are going between major cities in Europe, between countries. And it seems like the more countries it has to go through, the later it gets, the more delayed it gets. So do be aware of that cuz if you're at the beginning, it's great, it's going to start on time. But for some reason those EC trains always get more and more delayed as you go. So, just be aware of that when you're booking your trains. And when you're booking your
trains, another thing you can do is if you book early, you can usually save a lot of money. But, I want to tell you, saving money on those tickets by booking early does kind of limit some of your kind of flexibility if you want to change your plans, but it really can save you a lot. A couple years ago, we were in Italy and we were buying family tickets and we were getting first class tickets. Like, we booked them we booked them like a month in advance cuz I knew the days we were going to go and where we were going to be. And so, I was booking these family tickets and we were getting first class tickets. The price we were getting for first class tickets like a month out were the same prices as
the second class tickets if I would have bought it the day of my trip. So, really, buying early can make a big difference. And that's if you're using like buying direct from like Bon DE or in Germany or Trenitalia in Italy. Or if you're going to do like Rail Europe or something like some of those like websites that do it for you, buying earlier is better. Oh, another unwritten rule I have with the trains when you're coming here to Europe is I always take a picture of the sign of the city that I'm getting into because then when I go through my, you know, photos in my phone, I know where I
was cuz I see the city thing. So, don't forget to take that picture cuz then you know that we're in Antwerp for the next few pics. Now, let's talk about some of the unwritten rules inside the train. Well, one thing you have to realize is in Europe, public transportation is quiet. So, it's quiet and you'll see there's actually trains that actually have a quiet train. Like, you don't even get to answer your phone like, "Hello?" You need to be quiet the whole time. Like, in Finland, they literally have cabins in the train you could go and talk on your phone and to eliminate the noise
for other people. And that's one of those things, have your headphones, keep your conversations down. As we used to tell our kid, "Your European voice is when you're on the train" because quiet is important. Also, unwritten rule, no stinky food. Don't get me wrong, we all love our blue cheese from France. The Roquefort is fantastic. But, please, for the love of goodness, do not bring stinky food onto the train because it fills up the entire compartment and it's just a very rude and disgusting thing. Now, when you're searching for your seat, the next unwritten rule I have for you is realizing that you may have a seat reservation, but believe me, someone will probably sitting in your
seat and that's okay. So, what you do is you want to make sure you have your seat reservation there to say, "Hey, excuse me, you're in my seat." And then they'll usually move cuz people know that just because it doesn't have a seat reservation above here doesn't mean that the seat isn't reserved. So, they'll move that way and if you have any issues, don't get any fist cuffs, don't get rude, just go get conductor and they'll have that person move. And believe me, when you go to sit down, they will ask you to prove it. Like, we've been on trains where I had seats for all four of us and the tickets these people like, "I don't believe you. Show me your passes. Show me your things."
I'm like, "Lady, here they are. Move. My dad is 10 years older than you. He's sitting down, right?" And so, that's one of those things you have to kind of consider is it does happen that people might be in your seats and they will be in your seats. Just got to ask them to move, but make sure you have your boarding pass or your ticket that has your seat reservation on there to prove it. A second unwritten rule about the trains when you're coming here to Europe is this. This is one of the highest pickpocketing places you can go to is the train station because people are on their trains, they're focused on getting to their train, getting off the train, finding a hotel and therefore people are
distracted and they're not paying attention and pickpockets know that. So, make sure you pay extra close attention when you're in your train stations, especially when you're switching from your train to like get the metro public transport station. You got the luggage, you forget your wallet, so just be aware of that one. And when you are sitting down, don't forget you don't use the seat next to you for your luggage. Your luggage goes above or at the end or maybe under the seat because the seats are going to be taken and you're thinking, "Oh, the seat's not going to get full." Well, if it's a Friday or a Sunday or maybe a Saturday, a busy day, all the seats will be taken. So, it's
important that you're putting your luggage away and not using like the seat for your luggage or of course, don't put your feet on the seats as well, cuz you know you have mud stuff on there. It's kind of gross. And do believe me, the conductors will let you know. And oh, another unwritten rule, the conductors, they are not customer service. They're not there to like make you happy. They're there to check tickets and make sure people are following the rules. So, they're a little bit more strict. You can ask them for help and stuff, which is fine, but don't think they're going to be like the customer care service people to make everything work better. They're there to
follow the rules. I.e., that person's in my seat that I have a reservation for, they will fix that because you have that reservation, they don't. And when it comes to toilet time on the train, I will say this, the toilets are usually very interesting. Sometimes, they're futuristic and the doors open for you and all kinds of stuff. And other times, you're literally going to the bathroom straight onto the tracks down below. And if you're on a train like that, do not use it at the train station, cuz you will be fined for depositing something at the station. So, it's really important before you get on the train, use the bathroom at your hotel, or use the bathroom at the train station. And
also, don't forget, a lot of times the train station bathrooms, you do have to pay for them, but they're usually clean, which is nice. And then there's one little unwritten rule that I need to prepare you for, and that is the fact that strikes are real. And when there are strikes, a lot of times it hits the train system. Whether you're in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the thing is, that is a part of life here. So, you need to make sure you're paying attention if there's any industrial action that's going to be going on while you're on vacation, and you might need to adjust your travel times for that. I know there's been a number of times we've actually left the city early, cuz
we knew that strike was coming, so we could get to the next city before that happened. And don't worry, they do announce these strikes beforehand, so you know a month in advance, so you can plan accordingly. That's why when you book online, you might get a little warning like, "Oh, there are some industrial actions planned for that day, so you might want to plan for something else." That happened to me in the UK when I was there last year where they had announcements saying, "Hey, look, you might want to buy this ticket, but realize that is a day that it's going to be on there, so you might want to find alternate means of transportation."
Anyway, those are just some unwritten rules about taking the train here in Europe. I'm going to hop on my train. I'm continuing on to Amsterdam for more fun. What are some of the unwritten rules you've seen about train travel in Europe? Let us know in the comments below and we'll say bye from here in Antwerp.
