Train With a Playroom Car

In Switzerland over Christmas we were on a train where I encountered, for the first time, a children's playroom car.  It was on an InterCity train from Zurich to Spiez.  What a marvelous amenity for travel-weary parents of small children!   The playthings were clean and colorful and a perfect way for kids to pass the time on a long train trip.

According to information I found on a website by Switzerland Flexi Tours, family cars with playrooms are available on the following lines:

•  Romanshorn - Zurich HB - Bern - Interlaken East
•  Chur - Zurich HB - Basel SBB
•  Geneva Airport - Lausanne - Bern - Zurich HB - St. Gallen
•  Basel SBB - Bern - Interlaken East

I also discovered that VR, the Finnish railway, has playrooms and family compartments on their InterCity trains and have earned "Innovation and Excellence" awards for their family-friendly carriages concept and design.

You know that when the kids are having fun, the adults enjoy the journey too!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

I prefer to be the harbinger of easy and enjoyable travel to Europe, but if it's not a volcano, it's a record-breaking snowfall causing trouble.  London's Heathrow airport, the world's busiest international airport, is closed.  Flights are delayed and cancelled in Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin.  Rail travel is stalled in most of Europe.  Many travelers' Christmas plans are ruined.



I can't help thinking about my Christmas trip to Adelboden, Switzerland, next year, with EIGHT high school-aged Girl Scouts in tow!  Sleeping for days on a cot in an airport with a group of very disappointed girls would break my heart (not to mention my patience.)

To keep up the Christmas cheer, let's remember the countries in Europe that can handle snow and ice with ease and beauty (I did not take these photos):

Ballachulish Western Highland, Scotland

Copenhagen, Denmark

Helsinki, Finland

Iceland

Lofoton Islands, Norway

Stockholm, Sweden