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Travel Tips
Trains and other land
transport
Trains and buses are not merely means of
transport. Our planet offers wide panoramas and visual
pleasures to offer the traveller, which make the journey
as much an experience as the destination. Taxis are often
quite expensive, with notable exceptions being the developed
Middle East countries and Thailand.
Overnight trains and buses offer added value
by saving the budget tourist or backpacker the cost of an
extra hotel or hostel night. The Eurostar from London's
St. Pancras International to Paris' Gare du Nord, through
the Channel Tunnel, gives the business traveller
quick access between the centres of two major European
financial capitals.
For help on travelling within and from major tourist capitals: see Stations
Most of the memorable rail journeys in the world
are in Europe. Of these, the best "ambrosia for the eyes"
is without a
doubt the
Bergen Railway (which ascends to Norway's highest
railway station,
Finse, at 1222m) and the
Flåmsbana
from Myrdal in Western
Norway. You can incorporate this in the panoramic
Norway
in a Nutshell tour, from Oslo or Bergen (return),
changing at Myrdal. The
beautiful, steep, green-white-and-blue (and in summer, technicolour) alpine vistas of Switzerland, particularly the
awe-inspiring
Jungfraubahn
to Jungfraujoch: Top of EuropeTM, come
a close second.
For more, see
Scenic Europe |
World's Top 25 Train Journeys
For a once in the lifetime travel experience, none can match
the luxurious splendour of the legendary
Orient Express,
made famous by the Agatha Christie novel and movie.
The fastest commercial train system in the world
uses a German-developed levitation technology called
Maglev.
Our guests can try this blistering 30km train connection to
Lonyang Lu station in Shanghai, from Pu Dong airport, with a
top commercial speed of
431km/h. This easily outpaces the
Shinkansen (bullet trains) of Japan and even France's
Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV), both of which operate at
about 300km/h
commercially.
If you are using the TGV or the Thalys, make sure that you make all the reservations on the first day that you plan to travel at a major SNCF station. The seats available to Eurailpass holders are limited, and reservations are compulsory on each train. If you want to explore Australia, some of the great train rides are to be found in the Outback. At Tourama, we offer our customers reservation services on Japanese Shinkansen, Eurail / Eurostar, Australian Rail and Amtrak. We also can offer value-for-money city passes e.g. the London Pass and the Stockholm Card. During a first or sightseeing dominated visit, these European city discount cards are strongly recommended, for their convenience and cost-effectiveness. Many other destinations have now been added to these schemes.
Eurail Passes & Regional Passes
Aitken Spence Overseas Travels (Pvt) Ltd. is the GSA for Eurail in Sri Lanka. We are pleased to offer you their products at the same rate, along with first-hand advice and cost-saving tips. Note: Mid-April, May and September are the best times to travel, while July - August is the peak, at which time you will find vast crowds and long queues at attractions. Recent summers have been extremely hot in Europe.
Note: Eurail passes are subject to a tax of
EUR5 per pass.
Conversion rate (subject to change without notice) USD1 = LKR114 EUR1 = LKR145 For more information please contact us.
May be of interest:
The evolution of the high speed train.
Coaches and Buses
For travellers looking for an long distance
overland trip on transport other than trains, the Coach or Regional
Express Bus is a viable and cheaper option. The drawback to this is,
they operate only between major cities, generally are of
longer duration (due to speed) with a departure not always
from its centre, and have limited departure times, and fill
up fast.
We do not handle bookings for coaches and buses. However, here are the best providers, and the web links. The main bus operators are Eurolines in Continental Europe, Greyhound in the USA/Canada/Australia etc, and National Express / Citylink in the UK. Back to Travel Tips |
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