Journey
The European Heritage Route
London to Budapest by rail
20 days · 8 stops · 7 countries · 1,626 km in a straight line
The specification's own suggestion, and a good one: the cathedral-and-capital spine of western and central Europe, taken entirely by train. It crosses seven countries and four architectural centuries without ever needing a flight, and every stop on it is a city that once thought of itself as the centre of something.
The route, in order
Every hop is a straight-line distance between two coordinates. This atlas holds no road and no rail geometry, so that number is a floor on the leg and never the leg — Chamonix to Zermatt is 69 km here and about 170 on the ground, round a mountain range. It is here for the scale of the thing, not for planning a day.
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1 Days 1–3 3 nights
London United Kingdom
Begin with the free national collections and a play for the price of a cinema ticket.
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2 Day 4 1 night
↳ 88 km from London in a straight line
Canterbury United Kingdom
An hour out, and the mother church of a global communion.
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3 Days 5–6 2 nights
↳ 149 km from Canterbury in a straight line
Bruges Belgium
Under the Channel and into Flanders: a city preserved by going broke in 1500.
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4 Days 7–8 2 nights
↳ 173 km from Bruges in a straight line
Amsterdam Netherlands
The canal ring, the Rijksmuseum, and a bicycle rather than a tram.
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5 Days 9–10 2 nights
↳ 213 km from Amsterdam in a straight line
Cologne Germany
Up the Rhine: a cathedral that took 632 years and a Roman city under the streets.
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6 Days 11–13 3 nights
↳ 536 km from Cologne in a straight line
Prague Czechia
East into Bohemia, and the largest intact gothic and baroque centre north of the Alps.
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7 Days 14–16 3 nights
↳ 253 km from Prague in a straight line
Vienna Austria
South to the imperial capital: standing tickets at the opera, coffee houses in the afternoon.
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8 Days 17–19 3 nights
↳ 214 km from Vienna in a straight line
Budapest Hungary
Down the Danube to end in a thermal bath, ideally in the snow.
The record
- Length
- 20 days
- Countries
- United Kingdom → Belgium → Netherlands → Germany → Czechia → Austria → Hungary
- Straight-line distance
- 1,626 km, stop to stop
- Difficulty
- easy
- Transport
- rail
- Accommodation
- hotel
- Budget shape
- moderate
- Curated by
- EuropeDoor editorial
- Estimated cost
- about €2,710 per person
- Months that work
- April, May, June, September, October
Experiences along the way
The Hampstead bathing ponds
Three ponds, open every day of the year, including the January mornings when the ice is broken by hand.
One free national collection a day
Britain's museums charge nothing for the permanent collections; treat one as an hour's visit rather than a day's endurance.
The last day of the Pilgrims' Way
Twenty miles from Chilham along the North Downs, arriving on foot the way it was meant to be done.
Bruges before the coaches
Day-trippers arrive from ten. Between six and nine the canals belong to you and the swans.
The city the way it is used
Rent for a day, ride out to Amsterdam-Noord on the free ferry, and stop thinking of the bicycle as an activity.
A pub with a tapster, not a menu
The good places pour continuously and mark your tab in pencil; you say when to stop, and the pour type is a real choice.
Vyšehrad and the river bend
The city's first castle, a cemetery of composers, and the whole of Prague from the ramparts without a crowd.
Standing room at the Staatsoper
A few euros, queued for on the night, in one of the great opera houses. Bring a scarf to tie to the rail and hold your place.
A heuriger on the city edge
Wine taverns in Vienna's own vineyards, open only when the grower has wine to sell — a pine branch over the door means open.
An outdoor thermal bath in winter
38°C water, snow on the stone, and old men playing chess on floating boards. Go early; go on a weekday.
What you will be eating
- United Kingdom — A Sunday roast, which is a meal and an institution
- Belgium — Chips, twice fried, from a frituur, with a sauce you choose badly the first time
- Netherlands — Raw herring, held by the tail, with onion — in season from June
- Germany — Bread: 3,000 registered varieties, and the bakery is the first thing to find
- Czechia — Roast pork, dumplings and cabbage — vepřo knedlo zelo, the national plate
- Austria — Wiener Schnitzel, veal and beaten thin, with potato salad
- Hungary — Paprika, in everything, and not interchangeable with chilli
What to pack
- A rail pass, or advance singles
- One smart layer for a concert
- An umbrella
- Shoulders covered for churches
What this estimate covers
About €2,710 per person: 19 nights at the moderate daily band for each country on the route, plus a distance-based transport figure between stops, plus 12%. It excludes getting to the start and home from the end, and it is planning arithmetic from published bands rather than a quote. How these numbers are made →