Why Take the Train Instead of Flying: Why I Love Train Travel

If there’s one thing my travels have taught me, it’s that how you get somewhere matters just as much as the destination. I’ve flown more times than I can count – sprinting through airports, juggling boarding passes, silently resenting the person in front of me who reclines the moment the wheels leave the ground. I’ve also taken trains across Europe: through Spain (Madrid to Seville), France, the UK (including the Chunnel), Croatia to Budapest, and even across Central Europe with nothing but a small suitcase and an Omio confirmation email.

And somewhere between the station announcements, café carts, and countryside views, I realized: train travel isn’t just transportation – it’s part of the trip.
So… why take the train instead of flying? Let me tell you.

Why Take the Train Instead of Flying: The Journey Starts Sooner

When you book a flight, the experience starts long before you ever take off – and not in a romantic way. It starts when you’re searching for a ride to the airport two hours (minimum) before your flight, gate-checking your bag because a stranger in front of you brought a full winter wardrobe onboard, and silently calculating how much of your life you’ve spent waiting at a gate that says “Delayed.”

The funny thing is: the flight time itself is rarely the issue.
It’s everything surrounding it.

With trains, your travel time is travel time – there’s no weird limbo where you’re not really going anywhere but can’t leave either. The moment you walk into the station, you’re moving, even if the train hasn’t left yet.

There’s a feeling of “we’re going somewhere” that doesn’t exist in airports. The platforms, the energy, the announcements in languages you almost understand – it all feels like the trip has already begun.

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Why Take the Train Instead of Flying: It Actually Feels Faster

Let’s compare:

Flying:

• Drive to the airport
• Arrive 2 hours early
• Security lines
• Boarding (chaos)
• Sitting in a cramped seat you can’t leave
• Land
• Wait to exit
• Baggage claim
• Transportation from the airport into the city

Even on a short one-hour flight, your door-to-door time is easily 4–6 hours. And then, if you’re connecting… forget it!

Trains:

• Walk or Uber to the station (usually central)
• Arrive 20–45 minutes early
• Scan a QR code
• Step onboard
• Ride directly into your destination city

A three-hour train ride can feel faster than a one-hour flight – because your time is spent going somewhere, not waiting to.

On the Madrid to Seville high-speed train, I remember thinking: We’re already moving. No security bin sprints. No removing shoes. No “your 50ml perfume is suspicious.” Just scanning my ticket, finding my seat, and watching Spain blur by.

This trip in particular, was a great example of moving faster… Literally minutes after we pulled into the station in Seville, the power went out (in Spain, Portugal, and parts of Italy). It stayed out for over 12 hours. Had we just arrived at the airport, we would have been stranded – trying to figure out where to go, how to get ourselves into the city to our hotel. But since we were at the train station, we were already IN the city. We quickly made our way to our (powerless) hotel, where we could at least sit by the pool, take a nap, and wait it out.

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Why Take the Train Instead of Flying: It’s More Comfortable (In Every Way)

If you’ve ever tried to eat a sad sandwich at 30,000 feet with your elbows glued to your sides, you’ll appreciate the freedom of train seats. They’re wider. There’s legroom. You can stand up without shoving a stranger’s knees. You can walk to the café car (yes – a moving café), buy chips or a bottle of wine, and talk to your travel partner like a normal human.

I’ve had entire conversations with seatmates on trains – real conversations – not airplane small talk about turbulence and carry-ons. Trains feel social. They feel communal. And you can look out the window and actually see the thing you’re traveling through.

There’s something deeply special about that.

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Why Take the Train Instead of Flying: You See More of the Country

A plane shows you clouds. A train shows you the country you came to experience.

On the Chunnel route from London to Paris, the moment the train bursts back into daylight – and you suddenly find yourself watching French towns pass by – it actually feels like magic. On the Budapest to Croatia route, we passed small villages, farmland, places I never would’ve seen from 30,000 feet.

It turns every trip into a moving postcard.

Even on shorter routes – like Madrid to Seville – you get sunlight, mountains, olive groves, tiny towns that look like they were painted onto the landscape. You don’t need a window seat. You don’t need to angle your head awkwardly. You just look.

And that’s what we travel for, right?

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Why Take the Train Instead of Flying: Stations Are Easier Than Airports

Train stations are human-sized.
Even the big ones – Paris Gare du Nord, Madrid Atocha – feel like they’re designed for people, not crowds.

You don’t need a terminal shuttle.
You don’t need a gate map.
You don’t need an immigration line.

Everything is clearly signed. Platforms make sense. Tickets live on your phone, which is why I love booking with Omio. I get my tickets, platform updates, and seat info all in one app – in English – which is a lot less intimidating when you’re still convincing yourself that sí means yes.

If you want to step outside to breathe, eat, wander, you can. If you arrive early, you’re in the middle of a city – not on the outskirts of nowhere.

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Don’t Always Take the Train Instead of Flying: Let’s Be Honest… There Are Downsides

I love trains – I miss them when I come home. But I’m not going to pretend they’re perfect.

Sometimes the platform isn’t announced until 10 minutes before departure, and that creates a stampede of people (who already have assigned seats). There’s always a moment of panic where you’re wondering if you’re about to miss your train just because you’re on the wrong side of the station.

It also makes sense to fly when you’re short on time, or your train ride is going to eat up your exploring time.

Language can also be… creative. You’ll hear a tiny announcement in a language you understand 70% of, stare at the board, stare at your phone, and ask your travel partner:
“Was that us?”

But honestly? Those moments become the stories you tell later. They’re part of the charm.

Flying also has downsides – delays, cancellations, being stuck on the tarmac, losing a day to airport limbo. If I have to choose between confusion with a croissant in hand or confusion in a TSA line, I’ll choose the croissant every time.

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My Favorite Train Routes (So Far)

• Madrid → Seville (Spain)
  High-speed, views for days, smooth and fast.
• London → Paris (Chunnel)
  It feels like teleportation, and you end up in a completely different culture.
• Budapest → Croatia (Eastern Europe)
  Scenic, underrated, and raw beauty.
• Zagreb → Split
  Through the forested mountains right to the sea.
• Czech Republic → Hungary
  Slow travel at its best – wine, windows, countryside.

Final Thoughts: Why I’ll Always Choose the Train When I Can

If time matters, if the journey matters, if experiencing a place from the moment you arrive matters – take the train.

It feels faster, even when it isn’t.
It’s calmer, even with crowds.
It’s social, even if you’re shy.
It’s scenic, even in the rain.

When flying, you spend most of your time waiting to travel. On trains, you travel the whole time.

That’s why I’ll book a train over a plane every chance I get – and why I use Omio to make that happen. It’s one app for every route, and it keeps your tickets offline so you’re not panicking about Wi-Fi in a crowded station.

So… where will your next train take you?