Nicky Gardner

Our first Advent market of the season at Wilhelmplatz in Wannsee. A rather dreary Sunday weatherwise, nicely enlivened by a dash of Advent spirit.

The last poet: Farewell, Pushkin The last of the Soviet Union's great ocean liners outlived the Soviet Union. The MS Aleksandr Pushkin made her first visit to Tilbury (in the lower reaches of the River Thames) in April 1966. For over...

www.hiddeneurope.eu/the-magazine...
An ode to a lost era, when Soviet ships piled the North Atlantic carrying passengers from Leningrad via Tilbury to North America.

The Pyrmonter Bergland seen from above Hameln. Love these upland areas of Lower Saxony. Gently rolling hills of delicate beauty so close to main road and rail arteries running west from Hannover to Rhine-Ruhr region.

What’s in a name? From Eryri to Everest The names of places and topographical features do not appear by accident. Examine a placename and there is often a good story about its origins and meaning. Paul Scraton takes to the Welsh hills to ex...

We are using our monthly #LetterfromEurope newsletter to release articles from the 70 editions of our magazine, and you can find the most recent letter - including a link to the railway article here: www.hiddeneurope.eu/letter-from-...

Beware of Assassins: Life and Death in the Railway Carriage The fear of being murdered on a train was once so great that affluent country squires donned old clothes to travel with the crowds in third class. It was, they judged, safer than travelling in splendi...

In hidden europe 51 we took a look at how the railway carriage changed through time, and this is one of the articles from our magazine archive that is now available to read in full on our website: www.hiddeneurope.eu/the-magazine...

The stories of hidden europe - The fear of being murdered on a train was once so great that affluent country squires donned old clothes to travel with the crowds in third class. It was, they judged, safer than travelling in splendid isolation in first class…

Photo © Jim808080 / Dreamstime

Springtime in the Mediterranean. At Ste-Maxime, Var département, on Golfe de Saint-Tropez.

What’s in a name? From Eryri to Everest The names of places and topographical features do not appear by accident. Examine a placename and there is often a good story about its origins and meaning. Paul Scraton takes to the Welsh hills to ex...

We are releasing articles from the 70 editions of our magazine via our monthly newsletter. The most recent edition, on place names from Eryri to Everest, including a link to the Denmark articles, is here: www.hiddeneurope.eu/letter-from-...

The Ertholm Islands (literally 'Pea Islands') are the easternmost fragments of Danish territory, even further east than Bornholm. Just two islands in this small archipelago are populated: Christiansø and Frederiksø…

Dusk at Grandvaux, and beyond the station the Lavaux vineyards and the Alps. Love this spot as the Auberge de la Gare rates as one of our favourite hotels. Read more on this area in our Europe by Rail book.

Altötting in Bavaria has a lovely, other-worldly feel. Enjoyed spending three nights here late last month. Featured in hidden europe magazine in 2015.

A perfect spot for a simple lunch on a sunny May day. I love this place and come to this garden once or two each week. Liebermann Villa #Wannsee #Berlin

One of Europe's quirkiest rail routes: crossing the Hindenburgdamm en route to Sylt. Previously there was a rail-ferry service to the island.

Rail Tourism Awards - About The Rail Tourism Awards recognise the most impactful marketing campaigns that promote train travel as a sustainable tourism model across Europe.

The 2025 #RailTourismAwards are now on! @euraileu.bsky.social and the European Travel Commission (ETC) are seeking campaigns that highlight train travel as a sustainable way to explore Europe... find out more (including how to apply) here: railtourismawards.com/about/

The names of places and topographical features do not appear by accident. Examine a placename and there is often a good story about its origins and meaning. In our latest #LetterfromEurope, Paul Scraton takes to the Welsh hills to explore this theme…

Photo © Gavin Haskell / Dreamstime

The enduring appeal of the rural railway station. This is Ainring in Oberbayern. In Germany but regularly served by @oebb.bsky.social trains to Salzburg. This station just blends so nicely into the village it serves.

Gateway to Heaven — reconstructed elements of the Gwoździec synagogue at POLIN: Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. The elaborate painted roof and ‘bimah’ (platform) are typical of the wooden synagogues of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth…

Photo © Filip Kwiatowski

Looking back to our #LetterfromEurope newsletter five years ago, as the impact of the pandemic and the first lockdowns were beginning to be felt. An interesting time, certainly, for a travel publication such as ours…

Photo © Davide Mauro licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Exploring Travemünde in springtime

Gorgeous afternoon walking from Chexbres through Lavaux Vineyards to St Saphorin and beyond.

Love this bowl. A colourful modern take on a classic design from late 1920s by Wilhelm Löber, so sometimes known as a Löberschale.

A railway station with so much history, so many comings and goings, so many smiles, so many tears. Berlin Friedrichstraße, onetime border station between West Berlin and East Berlin / DDR. Very quiet on this St Stephen's Day.

Europas beste togreiseskribenter, Nicky Gardner og Susanne Kries, er nå på Bluesky som @europebyrail.eu
Følg dem, les, lik og del! 🚂❤️

Talk of newly reopened Notre Dame in Paris, but there has also been a Catholic cathedral reopening in Berlin. St Hedwig's now sports minimalist style.

Yes, it is still used, typically on alternate journeys, so giving travellers the choice of modern comfort or heritage style.

A Christmas Day walk on the Pfaueninsel at Wannsee #Berlin

Paris to Berlin by train is now faster by five hours. We try out the new service The new direct daytime route, via Strasbourg, sweeps through enchanting landscapes from vineyards to forests. But some say it needs to be quicker still if the train is to be more attractive than flyin...

The last time there were regular direct daytime trains from Paris to Berlin (in 2015), the service took 13 hours. Last week a new daily service was launched. It takes just 8 hours. Daily from Paris at 0955
www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/dec/24/paris-to-berlin-by-train-faster-service-via-strasbourg