Because sometimes I just need a (more or less) random reason to travel, I'll do the same for you. With the disclaimer that I prefer to live like a local most of the time, at least when I stay more than a weekend, here's the farmers' market from Cannes, Marché Forville. (I might add as a reply at some point.)

Wow! I never said this, but this is an awesome snowplough! From Kiel's area (North Germany), credit to Jens Thomsen.

Also, from January 15 to January 25, there's the Lights Festival of Lucerne (LILU). View quoted note →

I saw this video and realised that the Carnival season is getting close so here's a list of events for Switzerland, in case you're looking for a reason to travel. Basel 23.02-25.02 Bellinzona 12.02-17.02 Bern 19.02-21.02 Biel 19.02-22.02 Chur 13.02-17.02 Fribourg 13.02-17.02 Lucerne 12.02-17.02 Murten 06.03-09.03 Payerne 20.02-23.02 Solothurn 12.02-18.02 Sion 12.02-15.02 Thun 29.01-01.02

You have to forgive me for posting ads, even unpaid ones, but the Rhätischen Bahn/Railway deserves it. (The Rhine Gorge, Switzerland)

Not my video, but I liked it so I had to research a bit to find out where it is from, and I want to share. (DB fan here) Eschenlohe (Bavaria, Germany), on the Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen Railway, a single-track electrified line.

For the second day, we travelled from Milan to Udine. Nothing out of the ordinary, a 4:11h trip with Frecciarossa. It has a 24-minute stop in Venezia Mestre, more than enough for a (vending machine) coffee and a few pictures. We chose to have an overnight in Udine because Austria finished the Koralm Railway, and now we have shorter travel times from Vienna to Italy, which should put it on the map, so to speak. Having a kid, travel times are of the essence. 🤷 I'll add the previous post and pictures from Udine as replies. In the next days, I'll be back with the last leg of this trip, from Udine to Vienna.

For nostalgics, here's the TGV breaking the rail speed record, dating back to 1955, by reaching 380 km/h, on February 26, 1981.

Sometimes it's about trains AND cars.

Fiat ETR 450 Pendolino, the tilting Italian train, was launched in 1988 on the Rome to Milan route.

Bernina Express, top of the bucket list. I said at some point that I want to wait for the little one to grow, and then enjoy it. #trainstr

The returning trip, from the French Riviera to Vienna, we split into three parts/days. (I'll add the original post in the comments. Also, I recommend Amethyst because you'll see the pictures as posted, between the right lines, not at the end.) The first day we went to Milan, with a stop in Ventimiglia. Your usual TER, nothing out of the ordinary. After a coffee & snack break, we took an Italian InterCity to Milan for an almost 4-hour trip. While this route is served by older trains, I can't complain at all. In Milan, if you have an overnight stay close to the Milano Centrale train station and you don't want to venture too far, I recommend a food court right in the station's building. I'll add pictures as a reply. In the next days, I'll continue with the second leg, from Milan to Udine.

Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 41, No. 41 241, arriving at Apeldoorn Railway Station (Netherlands). #trainstr

Type 01 Streamliner, introduced in 1935 by Deutsche Reichsbahn. #trainstr

SNCF has a Flash Sale today and tomorrow. For TGV Lyria between Switzerland (Geneva, Zürich, Basel and Lausanne) and Paris for €25 one way. I checked Zürich - Paris (return ticket) and it's widely available. Travelling dates from January 13 to March 13. For OUIGO, across France, €19 one way. I checked Paris - Cannes (return ticket) and, for my selected dates, the price was available but not at the most convenient hours. Travelling dates from January 12 to March 29. The third offer is for Eurostar, €25 one way, with travel dates between January 20 and March 31. I didn't check any dates but some of you might find it useful.

In the new 2026 travel plan that started on December 14, the Deutsche Bahn routes in cooperation with SNCF are as follows: Paris - Munich: 1/day, 5:45h (TGV) Paris - Berlin: 1/day, 3:15h (ICE) Paris - Stuttgart: 5/day, 3:15h (TGV) Paris - Frankfurt: 7/day, 3:50h (TGV/ICE) Paris - Karlsruhe: 8/day, 2:30h (TGV/ICE) Marseille - Frankfurt: 1/day, 7:45h (TGV)

Today, I had the pleasure of taking a quick train ride on a refurbished French TER (Transport Express Régional). Unfortunately, being around noon, it wasn't quite empty, so only one interior picture. #trainstr

The BR 01 locomotive, built for the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft between 1926 and 1938, was the first standardised express passenger steam locomotive (Einheitsdampflokomotive). #trainstr

If anyone is interested, you can already book the night train Paris - Berlin from European Sleeper, starting March 26.

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On the second day, Verona to the South of France I started with a quick 1h13m ride with Frecciarossa between Verona Porta Nuova and Milano Centrale. It was coming from Venice, so a 10-minute delay was somehow understandable, while having multiple bookings on the same seat wasn't, but the train was pretty empty, so it wasn't a headache. In Italy, take an hour between trains because it's a rare event to have them on time. The next train was from Milano Centrale to Ventimiglia at the French border and the trip took 3h44m with a regular InterCity. For the French train, I buy the tickets right before boarding because the price doesn't fluctuate, being a regular TER, and I prefer to hop on at a convenient time. From here, it takes a few minutes to get to Menton, as in my previous example, but you can get to Monte Carlo, Nice, Antibes and Cannes, among many other places. The longest ride, for a little over two hours, is to Grasse, also known as the World's Capital of Perfume, which I highly recommend at least for a day trip. #trainstr View quoted note →