Pages tagged: architecture

Hop on a local suburban train in order to get a different view of a city. Whether it be your home town or an unfamiliar city, the view from the suburbs will be very different. Paul Scraton explores various expressions of Metroland across Europe.

Imagine you have an unexpected hour or two at a railway station far from home. What are the ingredients of a pleasing station? Perhaps uplifting architecture, a relaxed café, a decent bookshop and an engaging range of trains to watch. Paul Scraton reflects on the ideal railway station.

Eurostar's posh new lounge for premium passengers at the Gare du Nord is a canny piece of design, a home away from home in the very heart of Paris. It's a good place to spend an hour or two before hopping on the Eurostar train to London.

Are not the finest parts of many long train journeys those fleeting glimpses of a city or a country that you get just prior to arrival at your destination? There is a superb moment on the train journey through Slovakia towards Budapest, a view dominated by the huge basilica at Esztergom.

If you like three dimensional landscapes, then Germany's most northerly state of Schleswig-Holstein is probably not for you. The hills are there, but you have to look hard to see them. We took a local train across Schleswig-Holstein last Sunday on a route that happily included the Rendsburg bridge.