How to plan a long train journey in Europe? It can be confusing when there are multiple countries, multiple rail companies involved. Luckily, there are GREAT websites to help you work it out. My top 3 websites are:
- Rome2Rio - great quick search, estimate the best way. Note that you shouldn't rely on this entirely, because there are clever little connections that they sometimes don't know about, but this website is my #1 starting point to type in ANY two locations and estimate how many hours it'll take, and whether to search for clever night-train options.
- The Man in Seat 61 - SO much wisdom in this website, including step-by-step guides for many routes from any city to any other city, and really good night train guides. It's written for a UK audience, but still it gives info for any pair of major cities in Europe (e.g. Barcelona to Istanbul...).
- DB International - tickets+timetables. Many websites sell tickets; DB's usually best. It has good sensible settings for how long your transfer between trains should be, and the purchase process is steady and reliable.