Short trips or long trips?

[scott]

Steven H's thread on day trips got me thinking about this (again....; yes, I have more important things to worry about, but what fun are those?  :)  ).

 

If you were traveling a lot by rail (let's say in Japan....), would you rather settle in for a long ride like the Twilight Express or a big Shinkansen trip, or take lots of shorter/more local trains?

 

I think I'm leaning toward the shorter trips--as much as I'd love to try the Twilight Express or Sunrise Express, I think I'd feel like I was missing a lot on the longer trips. With shorter trips, you could stop more places, look around more, take some walks, etc. (And I think about the books I've read where people have gone nutty on really long train trips like the Trans-Siberian....) But that's just me.

 

Anyway--idle daydreaming, but fun to think about.

[disturbman]

Trips are good as long as you can hop off or hop in like you want. No schedule, ,just following your feelings, that's the best for me. I can stand a long trip but I allways end up bored.

 

The fun with short trips is that a lot happen. You can see and many things. You are allways confronted to reality, not the very cautious and protective one that you can find on long trips where you are strip of a lot of your freedom.

[Martijn Meerts]

I quite like long trips, but they have to be on special trains. I've done a 29 hour trip once, from Oslo (Norway) to Venlo (The Netherlands). It was quite okay, but the trains were mostly regular service ones with pretty much nothing happening on board. I don't expect all that much on a train, but staying in your seat for hours on end just reading gets boring fast ;)

 

I really prefer the slow trips. I love taking the boat from Oslo to Kiel (Germany) for example. It takes some 16-17 hours each way, but the boats are great and there's plenty to do. Most people here do those trip to go shopping in Kiel or for the cheaper booze on the boat, I do it for the boat trip itself.

 

I would also love to ride on the Orient Express, although I would very much prefer the old one ;)

[scott]

I would also love to ride on the Orient Express, although I would very much prefer the old one ;)

 

I about choked when I read (in _Ghost Train to the Eastern Star_) that the new Orient Express costs *$9,000* from Paris to Istanbul. Theroux* took regular trains over a similar route and called the chapter "The Other Orient Express."

 

(* No, he's not always my favorite person, either, but since his first train-travel book set me on the path toward a lot of my personal interests, I had to read the new one.)

[Martijn Meerts]

The classic journey (Paris - Istanbul) costs 6580 Euro per person one way, but it does include meals on the train as well as hotel stays and meals in the hotels (and we're talking 5 star hotels here ;))

 

The trip is 6 days, 5 nights. To make it real classic though, you'd probably want to pay a bit (or, a lot ;)) extra for a private cabin though, I have a feeling they're usually shared with 4 or even 6 people.

 

In all honesty, I think the price is worth it. There's just so much history and nostalgia on that train, and I'm sure the trip itself is unforgettable. If only I had someone to come along ;)

[Guest ___]

I'm a short trip guy. I'd be happy riding from one station to the next, then camp out at each station for several hours just to get my shots from each end of each platform.

[bikkuri bahn]

I usually like to take the long trips as "positioning" moves to get into a local area to explore in depth, or to ride a train that's endangered (almost any Blue Train nowadays).  Otherwise, I like to stay in one place for a week or so, and ride the local trains as well as some more regional routes, but always return day trips.  My current favorite region is the Kansai area- I'm going back this summer, after going last year to ride the last 0 series shinkansen sets.

 

As for the Orient Express, note this is just my opinion, but I dislike taking the luxury tourist trains full of pampered retirees and others with time (and money-which I don't have) on their hands.  I would much rather follow the route of the original Orient Express taking a series of ordinary overnight trains such as the "real" Orient Express which runs Strasbourg-Vienna, and enjoying the company of ordinary tourists and common travelers.  As a matter of fact four years ago I did ride the real Orient Express from Paris Est to Vienna, knowing the imminent opening of the TGV Est line would either see the Orient Express become history or become truncated.  Thankfully the second option occurred. 

[scott]

I usually like to take the long trips as "positioning" moves to get into a local area to explore in depth

 

I'd say I feel the same, but since I don't have the freedom (or the trains) to do that anymore, I'd just be faking it. I never wanted to be an "armchair traveler," but that seems to be about the only option anymore, what with having a kid and a job, and having to spend most of my vacation time on obligatory family visits. I'm usually most relaxed and happy when I'm just traveling to explore. </complaining>

 

I dislike taking the luxury tourist trains full of pampered retirees and others with time (and money-which I don't have) on their hands.  I would much rather follow the route of the original Orient Express taking a series of ordinary overnight trains such as the "real" Orient Express which runs Strasbourg-Vienna, and enjoying the company of ordinary tourists and common travelers.

 

Same here--I've spent just enough time around (and indirectly working for) the pampered traveling wealthy to want to stay as far away as possible.

[Guest ___]

Of course you can always do what I do, board a train and just get off at whatever random stop along the way, and pray that you remember to get back on the right train of end up lost for three days trying to get back to base camp.

[scott]

lost for three days trying to get back to base camp.

 

Actually, that sort of sounds like fun.... :-)

[Martijn Meerts]

I like traveling luxurious, if for nothing else then seeing the faces on all the people in suits when I come walking in in shorts and a t-shirt of some heavy metal band or the other ;) Always nice to see the looks on their faces, especially when the ticket guy comes to check my ticket.. They start smiling because they think I'll be kicked out for not having a first class ticket.. Heck, I had one asked if I was lost once when taking the boat to Kiel because I was on the deck with the 4 star cabins =)

[Guest ___]

I like traveling luxurious, if for nothing else then seeing the faces on all the people in suits when I come walking in in shorts and a t-shirt of some heavy metal band or the other ;) Always nice to see the looks on their faces, especially when the ticket guy comes to check my ticket.. They start smiling because they think I'll be kicked out for not having a first class ticket.. Heck, I had one asked if I was lost once when taking the boat to Kiel because I was on the deck with the 4 star cabins =)

 

LOL, unlike myself who travels in the winter, but am always wearing a trench coat becasue it offers protection from the rain. But since it's the only jack I brought, wear it when it's warm, and/or not raining. Now that gathers looks.

[Mudkip Orange]

Short trips, if only so I can stretch my legs from time to time.