Cluj, Romania is a charming university town and considered one of the most prosperous in Romania.

Cluj was once a jewel in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Hike atop the hillside for a great view of the red-roofed skyline.

Read more about this city in the region of Transylvania at romaniatourism.com.

The first few hours of this trip are a straight shot, through the Hungarian plains, pass small towns, farms and mills. No careening curves or accelerating down hillsides. The train lurches to a stop at the Hungarian-Romanian border crossing. The Hungarian station agent politely asks me for my passport, and he stamps it. The train pulls out of this station, and I begin to nap.

I’m awoken by a barking dog by the side of the train tracks at a stop 15 minutes later. A man wearing a blue sweater with Boy Scout-like patches enters my train cabin. Much to my surprise, I’m being asked again for my passport. This must be an example of the infamous Hungarian-Romanian animosity and mistrust I’ve heard so much about. Why stop twice within 15 minutes on each side of the border? Why not have just one check-point?
(more…)

I step into my cabin, expecting Huey, Duey and Louie to join me. How would one ever know which height head rest to reserve?

I move myself in the train car to another seat, before someone shows me how easily the seat head rests can be moved up or down.

I thought I’d be napping on this train, but the outside views are too beautiful to close my eyes to – steeples, hilltop villages, and mountain cliffs surround the train as it speeds along the tracks.

Once on the train to Innsbruck, the train slows a bit as it passes through mountains. We’re going through a snowstorm!

It’s really wondrous to experience from inside the train, passing through these picturesque towns and villages covered in snow. I’d recommend a snowy train trip to anyone. This storm hardly slowed the train down. We were only 15 minutes late.

At the train transfer in Geneva, I experience customs control. I wearily approach them, the last night’s melatonin still in my body.
(more…)

It’s my first night on a Hotel Train. It sounds so glamorous, images of Agathie Christie pop in my head.

I meet some other Americans who tell me they chose a reclining seat reservation rather than a bed in a cabin. I decided to do the same, having already experienced a sleeping cabin on my way over. I share a melatonin with the other Americans, and fall fast asleep. A little less comfortable than the bed in the sleeping cabin, but I’m so tired after Fallas, I hardly notice.

Train Tip: If not sleeping in a cabin on a Night Train, consider bringing a blanket. With bed reservations, you’re given a blanket on the train. In the reclining seat, you have only yourself and your jacket to keep you warm. One of those airline blankets would be perfect to carry around for the trains.