This train journey through 17 European cities is for travellers who want to see it all

Most people who dream of seeing Europe don't just want one city. They want Paris at golden hour and Barcelona at midnight, the hush of the Swiss Alps and the noise of Venice's canals, the weight of Rome's ruins and the grandeur of Vienna's palaces. The trouble is stitching it all together without losing a week to logistics. 

Railbookers' Around Europe by Train solves that by doing the planning for you. Over 35 days, the route threads together 17 cities across nine countries, from the canals of Amsterdam to the historic castles of Munich, with every ticket, hotel and guided tour arranged before you leave home. 

Unlike what you might expect, it isn't one single train ride. It's a chain of connecting journeys, bringing together some of Europe's most famous named routes along the way, several of them through Switzerland alone. All that's left to decide is where to look out the window first. 

Western Europe: Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and Barcelona 

Step off the train in Amsterdam, then explore the 17th-century canal ring on foot, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that rewards wandering more than any itinerary. Here you'll visit the Rijksmuseum for Rembrandt and the Van Gogh Museum for its unmatched collection. 

From Amsterdam, the route continues to Brussels and the Grand Place, one of Europe's most theatrical medieval squares, ringed by gilded guild houses. Duck into 19th-century shopping galleries or hunt for finds at the Marolles flea market. 

Next comes Paris, where priority access to the top of the Eiffel Tower pairs with a Seine cruise sliding past Notre Dame and the Musée d'Orsay at dusk. 

The Western Europe leg closes in Barcelona, where a skip-the-line visit to the Sagrada Familia reveals just how unfinished, and how astonishing, Gaudi's obsession still is after more than a century. Afterward, the Gothic Quarter's Roman foundations and narrow lanes feel like stepping into a different Barcelona entirely. 

Switzerland: three legendary trains through the Alps 

The crowded capitals give way to Lake Geneva below the vineyards of Montreux, the peaks above Interlaken, and the car-free streets of Zermatt, where the Matterhorn seems to appear at the end of every road. 

A day trip from Interlaken climbs to Jungfraujoch at 3,454 metres, Europe's highest railway station, with the Aletsch Glacier stretching out below. From Zermatt, the Gornergrat railway makes its own climb, reaching 3,089 metres in just 33 minutes. 

Three trains carry travellers through this stretch of the Alps, each with its own route. The GoldenPass Express runs between Montreux and Interlaken, threading through lakeside vineyards and alpine meadows under panoramic windows built for exactly this view. 

The Glacier Express connects Zermatt and St. Moritz and is one of the slowest, most scenic rail journeys in the Alps. 

And the Bernina Express, a UNESCO World Heritage route, climbs past glaciers, drops through rock gorges, and loops around the Brusio spiral viaduct, an engineering feat born from a mountain that simply left no other option. 

Italy: Milan, Rome, Florence and Venice by rail 

The Bernina Express connects onward to Milan, where the glass-domed Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and Leonardo's The Last Supper make for a fitting first stop in Italy. 

From Milan, the route continues south to Rome, where the Colosseum, once holding 50,000 spectators, anchors a guided small-group tour alongside the Roman Forum, the civic heart of the Republic for centuries. 

Florence comes next and slows things down. The Accademia Gallery's Michelangelo's David is one of those things no photo prepares you for, and the Uffizi holds enough Botticelli, Raphael and Leonardo to fill an afternoon twice over. End the day drifting along the Arno at sunset, the Ponte Vecchio glowing and the Fiesole hills fading into the distance. 

The Italy leg finishes in Venice, a city where the geography alone stops you mid-stride. Built across 118 islands connected by 400 bridges, there are no roads, no cars, and no shortcut to feeling like you know it. A guided small-group tour covers the Doge's Palace, seat of Venetian power for nearly a thousand years, and the Byzantine mosaics glittering inside St. Mark's Basilica. 

Central Europe: Vienna, Prague, Berlin and Munich 

From Venice, the final stretch moves into Central Europe. Vienna's grand cafés still hum with echoes of Mozart, and Schönbrunn Palace offers a glimpse of Habsburg excess. 

Prague follows, its sprawling castle and the intricate 1410 Astronomical Clock best explored at sunrise on the Charles Bridge, before the crowds arrive. 

In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate and the colour-drenched East Side Gallery sit a half-day's drive from Dachau, a sobering stop that adds weight to the trip's final stretch. The route closes in Munich with a guided visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, the real-life fantasy that inspired Disney, and about as fitting a finale as this route could ask for. 

Book your trip 

Want to experience this trip for yourself? Book an appointment with a CAA Travel Agent to learn more about this Railbookers trip and about Member Benefits, including savings on bookings of five days or longer.