FREE TALES FROM THE FAST TRAINS: AROUND EUROPE AT 186MPH PDF

Tom Chesshyre | 320 pages | 12 Jan 2012 | Summersdale Publishers | 9781849531511 | English | Chichester, United Kingdom Free Book Giveaway! |

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. It's all about the journey rather than the destination in this high-speed travel account. From shiny London St. Pancras, Tom travels to places that wouldn't be featured on a standard holiday. Pancras, Tom travels to places that wouldn't be featured on a standard holiday wish-list, and discovers the hidden delights of mysterious Luxembourg, super-trendy Rotterdam, and much-maligned Frankfurt. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published July 1st by Summersdale first published January 1st More Details Other Editions 4. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Tales from the Fast Trainsplease sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Tales from the Fast Trains. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Sep 13, Ipswichblade rated it liked it. Quite a good book with some nice history bits but Tom needs some help with writing conversations into the book. I can't believe that his girlfriend talks in such a stilted and precise way. Really irritating by the time I got half way through the book. Oct 09, Stephen rated it liked it. Jun 07, Penny rated it liked it Shelves: travel-general. A variety of travelogues about long Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph 'fast train' experiences from London to locations in mainland Europe. The book reads more like a series of train travel articles and would probably appeal more to readers who might actually want to do some of these trips. The book suffers badly from poorly written dialogue between Chesshyre and his girlfriend, irritatingly known throughout as 'E'. There were many times when I felt she just can't have existed - no one could be that daft or dull. Remove e A variety of travelogues about long weekend 'fast train' experiences from London to locations in mainland Europe. Remove everything about her from the book and it would be much improved. Sep 26, Paul rated it really liked it Shelves: books-readtravel-bookssummersdale-travel. This is a series of shot travel tales by Chesshyre as he heads out across Europe by fast train to various destinations. He is normally accompanied by his girlfriend, E, but is sometime alone, and occasionally a friend. Really enjoyed it, and he sells the idea of the high speed train route. In some cases it can be faster than the equivalent flight. The book makes me want to do this, when the children are old enough to be left! Feb 20, Ali rated it it was ok. Liked the stuff about the countries they visited but really badly written. This was my first travelogue and I liked the concept a lot. The writer gives you a feel for so many different places and cities in Europe, well known and not so well known ones. It certainly makes you curious about exporing Europe with fast trains-I believe the travel times will be even more reduced nowadays. Will This was my first travelogue and I liked the concept a lot. Will be looking up more travel writers after this one. Jun 28, Turi rated it really liked it. Not a fan of the style, but the substance is gold. The author tries too hard to be witty, and periodically includes conversations that are meaningful only to him and add nothing to the narrative. Otherwise, I am a full convert to train travel, and look forward to exploring the Continent. Nov 27, Axel T rated it really liked it. A fun romp around Europe, makes me want to go inter-railing again. Dec 12, Rich Saskal rated it really liked it. As someone who likes the idea of flitting about a continent by train I was predisposed to like this book, in which the author sees what the possibilities are for taking long weekends from London by train via the Channel Tunnel. Each chapter is a different trip, so I took my time reading it, one discrete chapter at a time. The prose might be a tad dry to take in all at once. It is also another example of a book I owned for years before even starting, so I enjoyed a wry grin when the author credul As someone who likes the idea of flitting about a continent by train I was predisposed to like this book, in which the author sees what the possibilities are for taking long weekends from London by train via the Channel Tunnel. It is also another example of a book I owned for years Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph even starting, so I enjoyed a wry grin when the author credulously wrote of a start date for London-Berlin direct trains. Jun 23, Stuart Hill rated it liked it. Tales from the Fast Trains is a travelogue of journeys around Europe, all starting from London's beautifully restored Saint Pancras terminal. Each chapter is centred on a particular destination which range from Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph famed Bruges to some more obscure, less touristy destination. The author is a travel writer for the Times newspaper and his writing is very much in the style of the Sunday supplement feature. The earlier chapters were particularly prone to an excessive amount of prosaic detail, recount Tales from the Fast Trains is a travelogue of journeys around Europe, all starting from London's beautifully restored Saint Pancras terminal. The earlier chapters were particularly prone to an excessive amount of prosaic detail, recounting what time the train departed and how long the journey was. The writing did improve somewhat but was nevertheless a little too reliant on recycling touristic cliches; Bruges is 'medieval and beautiful', Paris waiters are snooty etc. The book sometimes has the feel of a PR brochure rather than an account by a professional travel writer. To be fair, the chapters Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph lesser known destinations were Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph greater interest, and I enjoyed reading about the history of Rotterdam, a Frankfurt tour which covered drugs and prostitution rather than the financial institutions for which the city is better known, and an engagingly honest guide who took the author around Cologne. On most journeys the author was accompanied by his girlfriend, referred to only as E. I did wonder whether 'E' was a work of fiction. They seemed to be included to introduce a comic element to the book but unfortunately came across as being a little irritating. The choice of pseudonym was a little strange too, and I kept imagining that the author was with an indie rock musician who had got lost on the way to Susan's House. This is the kind of book which, appropriately, could be easily consumed during a train journey. It has its moments but wasn't distinguished enough to be truly memorable. Mar 14, James rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Everyone. A little like travelling itself, once one gets beyond the 'and we're only X hours from London' references on average, three times a chapter there is a very enjoyable journey shared. The places he visits are entertaining, and I enjoyed the apparently 'care free' approach to sight seeing on whims though reading through the acknowledgements one realises that there was a great deal of public relations input into the writer's plans. I will be rereading this again as I plan some trips abroad myself A little like travelling itself, once one gets Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph the 'and we're only X hours from London' references on average, three times a chapter there is a very enjoyable journey shared. I will be rereading this again as I plan some trips abroad myself, though Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph exposes the only negative opinion I have about the book. The writer wants us to believe he is a convert to European trains though it can seem a little hollow without discussing the home network. The writer certainly enjoys remindings us that wine costs less in France, why not mention comparative cost of train tickets? Journey times? Network planning and strategy? Not enough space in the book or don't want to be a 'train geek' commuters, on your way towork? No, you are 'train geeks' seem to be the only reasons. The writer's style is okay and I will try out some of his other books eventually. Jan 13, Glenn Keenan rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Anyone who would enjoy interrailing around Europe. A fantastic book by the same author who brought us "To Hull and Back: On Holiday In Unsung Britain", this is a travel writing book that takes the reader on a trip around Europe by Eurostar and other high-speed train companies. It gives a bit of history about many different destinations that can be reached simply by train from London no need to get a flight or wait around in the airport terminals or go through security. It is a must-read for those who Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph interested in inter-railing around the A fantastic book by the same author who brought us "To Hull and Back: On Holiday In Unsung Britain", this is a travel writing book that takes the reader on a trip around Europe by Eurostar and other high-speed train companies. Tom Chesshyre | LibraryThing

The winners of our free book giveaway have now been announced! My favourite train journey is the 6 miles by steam engine from Norden to Swanage. It really makes me feel like I've stepped back in time, real time stops and I lose myself in a daydream of adventures. Such a relaxing and enjoyable journey. The journey from Crewe is the most enjoyable I know. There is a variety of scenery ranging from the flat Cheshire plains to the rolling hills of Shropshire and the mountain ranges in South Wales! Flamsbana, Norway, expensive but stunning, hugging the mountains down from a snow covered plateau into the Fjords. Best train journey. Raw Welsh Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph all year round. Tired of airport security queues, delays and all those extra taxes and charges, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a series of high-speed adventures across the Continent on its fast trains instead. And what fun can you have at the ends of the lines? Jump on board and find out! Please note: you have to be logged into the site before you can leave a comment. North Norfolk Line — 10 mile round trip between Sheringham and Holt — charming, picturesque - it takes me back to a slower world - ideal when on holiday. It's not a 'real' train so may not be in the spirit of the competition, but as a child in the 50's and 60's I used to love going on the Saltburn Miniature Railway from Cat Nab station on the beach, up the valley to the Italian Gardens, where my father would usually buy me an ice cream. It may only have taken 15 minutes, but it took me to Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph world! The sheer beauty of passing alongside the redrocks and travelling directly on the coastline will stay in my mind for many years to come. Our favourite train journey is from Peterborough to Edinburgh and particularly on the north east northumberland coast. As you sit and see the see so close you could almost touch it and the lovely quaint promenade and beach at Spittal and the wonderful entrance to Berwick upon Tweed you feel very majestic as you thunder through the countryside. It is a powerful feeling indeed to be transported so swiftly through the intoxicating countryside which is Northumberland and its a priviege truly to be able to see the edge of the land and the mightiness of the sea almost within touching distance. My favourite rail journey isn't even a National Rail journey. The journey goes through some of the best urban sites in the whole of London going through Canary Wharf, with a view of the O2 and through Greenwich. Then on approach to bank you see the mighty City of London before going through one of the steepest hills I have ever seen a train take and then you hurtle through a tunnel at high speeds before stopping at the massive interchange station of Bank. Best of all the DLR is completely driverless so it is the best journey and you have a complete panoramic view with the ability to see out of the front windows! A genuine old-fashioned country branch line, in North Lincolnshire. Single track with lots of joints between the rails, so you get the "clickety-click" noise. Views of the River Humber to the north and fields to the south. Beauty, History, Well kept stations, Looking down on houses and villages as if in an aeroplane, Great cities at either end - and regular sight, sound and smell of steam trains! Martin Marker. The 'Railway Children' route from Keighley to Oxenhope, taking in Howarth en route, truly is a step back in time. The stations and their staff are 'of the age' in appearance and, of course, the steam locomotives complete the picture and the ambience of the Yorkshire Moors in the days of the Bronte family. My favourite rail journey is Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph my quite boring! I hadn't been on a train journey for years. The last bit up to Darlington is so lovely. You go from the flat to hills again - you get to miss proper hills over in the East. The ride was smooth, and i was very impressed with the cost too. Holiday was chosen with railway in mind. We flew to Frankfurt, bussed Emmelshausen and caught the spectacular Hunsruck Mountain railway to our hotel on the Rhine in Boppard. The railway runs to the back of the town and never fails to make us happy. Train travel in the UK should be a pleasure, not a headache. Welcome to our railchat page. Our railchat discussions take place over on Twitter, with our resident expert Phil Marsh. If you would like to get involved, please do join us, and use the dedicated hashtag railchat. See our previous discussions below:. Our rail network would be nothing without them. From Stephenson's Rocket to British Rail Class 92 and beyond, explore the facts, information and anecdotes behind the steam, diesel and electric locomotives that built the age of the train. Buy now. See More. Control your business fuel costs with a supermarket fuel card — free to apply, no ongoing account charges and no monthly minimum spend. Have your say Please note: you have to be logged into the site before you can leave a comment Subject Line. David Owen. Rail competition Posted on Tuesday 5th July PM It's not a 'real' train so may not be in the Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph of the competition, but as a child Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph the Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph and 60's I used to love going on the Saltburn Miniature Railway from Cat Nab station on the beach, up the valley to the Italian Gardens, where my father would usually buy me an ice cream. My favourite Train Journey Sophie Harris. London to Cornwall Posted on Monday 11th July PM The sheer beauty of passing alongside the redrocks and travelling directly on the coastline will stay in my mind for many years to come. Jennifer Campbell. Tales from Fast Trains - Europe at mph Posted on Tuesday 19th July PM Our favourite train journey is from Peterborough to Edinburgh and particularly on the north east northumberland coast. Jacqui Sclanders. My favourite rail journey. Jordan O'Brien. The scenery is amazing. Heather Elliott. Leeds - Settle - Carlisle Posted on Wednesday 20th July PM Beauty, History, Well kept stations, Looking down on houses and villages as if in an aeroplane, Great cities at either end - and regular sight, sound and smell of steam trains! Martin Marker Martin Barker. Katherine Aitken. Latest Tweets Tweets by railcouk. You may also like Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at mph by Tom Chesshyre

By Tom Chesshyre. Tired of airport security queues, delays and all those extra taxes and charges, Tom Chesshyre embarks on a series of high- speed adventures across the Continent on its fast trains instead. He discovers the hidden delights of mysterious Luxembourg, super-trendy Rotterdam, much-maligned Frankfurt and lovely lakeside Lausanne, via a pop concert in Lille. What fun can you have at the ends of the lines? Jump on board and find out Minutes tick by as the sun bakes down on a forlorn concourse dotted with blackened pieces of bubblegum and strewn with fast-food wrappers. We wait at least a quarter of an hour before a bus arrives, driven at a rate of knots by a bald, expressionless man, his copy of the Daily Star wedged on the Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph. The bus skids to a stop. We board. And so I make it to my local Tube station, where a humid carriage full of tourists awaits. An enormous American sitting next to me is flicking through a London guidebook. A woman with a child who has been crying slaps her, inducing yet more tears and glances of disapproval from fellow passengers. Is there going to be some kind of brawl? A typical London journey: delays, discomforts, dirt, overcrowding, with a bit of tension thrown in. But then the escalator rises into St Pancras International station, and everything changes. There are stacks of fresh loaves, salmon fillets, couscous lunches and pesto salads, and counters filled with tubs of cheeses, salamis and chutneys. Beyond this, on a corner turning into the main run of shops, whitewashed wooden tables are waiting for customers to try out a selection of organic wines lined on neat shelves. Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph folk in sunglasses are sipping espressos at a cafe across the way; possibly French or Italian, judging by their casual espresso-drinking ways. Everything seems well-to-do, smart and far removed from the rest of London. I collect our tickets from a machine without a queue opposite a Body Shop, and then take another escalator to the level of the platforms. Instead, I make my way further along to the statue of John Betjeman, who is captured gazing upwards, holding on to his hat, with his jacket flying out behind him. I look up at the pale-blue criss-crosses of the semicircular roof, completed in by the brilliant Victorian engineer William Henry Barlow. What an overwhelming sense of space; it seems impossible that the structure came so close to being destroyed. And as I ponder how the lines seem to describe the scene so precisely, an American family walks by. Has she got caught up in traffic on her bus? She lives quite close by in Shoreditch. Did I give her the wrong time? Then I look towards the huge bronze statue depicting lovers embracing near the station clock. I walk across. She looks at me nonplussed. We take a few pictures by The Meeting Place to mark the start of our adventures: it would, admittedly, have been more romantic to meet here. Then we rush through security no hassles, no queues, no taking off shoes or belts, no confiscated bottles of water or peculiar body scansup a travelator, and along the platform to carriage number North London may be outside, with its graffiti and traffic jams, but we are on our way to the Continent… already anticipating the weekend ahead. Yes, I quite like chugging along and watching through the window as the world passes by, but with all these cheap flights to obscure spots in Eastern Europe, sunny reaches of the Mediterranean and exotic locations halfway round the globe, I never got round to trying Eurostar. Until, that is, I was sent to Paris on a last-minute work assignment. Eurostar had been running for almost a decade by then, and I found the experience a revelation. In just over two hours 2 hrs 15 min. Instead, I was walking past Notre Dame and through the Latin Quarter, poking my head in patisseries and stopping at lovely old cafes that I imagined George Orwell visiting in Down and Out in Paris and Londonone of my favourite books. It was all so quick; so easy to get out of London and enter a totally different culture. And it made me wonder whether the hassle of airport security and catching annoying connecting shuttles into city centres at the other end was worth it. I Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph the sensation of being catapulted out of Britain straight into the heart of an interesting European city. What better way to travel? The seats were much bigger on Eurostar than on easyJet or Ryanair. You could stroll about without risking the wrath of cabin crews. You only had to arrive half an hour before departure. It just seemed so civilised. All on speedy, lively and highly memorable weekend breaks. But why stop there? I began to look at the high-speed map… and a plan of sorts soon formed. I was going to explore Europe on its fast trains. Why not? Why not try a few of those? Fast trains to Paris, Lille and Brussels began on 14 November But now you can go at mph to all sorts of places, with high-speed tracks Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph laid down across Europe constantly. The link through the Netherlands to Amsterdam journey from St Pancras 4 hrs Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph min. There are plans for connections to Italy and Spain; a link between Paris and Figueres in northern Spain recently opened, reducing the journey time by ninety minutes. You can already reach dozens of places throughout Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph. A few hours in a comfortable carriage can get you a very long way. Climb on board at St Pancras and vast swathes of land have opened up: so many places for a new type of weekend break. I give her a look. I pause to take this in. You could, I reckon, easily travel with a baby for a high-speed weekend — it would probably be easier than travelling by plane. Soon a mini bottle of Sauvignon Blanc for E and a burgundy for me are delivered. We drink to the trip ahead, papers and guidebooks spread out on our neat table with its cute little lamp. So much better, so much more Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph, so much more the way it should be, than Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph a budget plane. No sticky seats, no stag groups, no jammed knees or crunched limbs. Just a decent drop of vina fast train, and two hours to go till Paris. The hills, haystacks, vineyards, electricity pylons and motorways of Kent soon flash past. Apparently there was a great fuss when this was created by the local artist Charlie Newington in as the hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and nature groups opposed this Millennium project. But it looks inspiring, to me, from the train; a sort of goodbye wave to tunnel-goers, or a hello welcome to people coming in the other direction. And then we plunge into the calming darkness, the lights flicker orange again, we level out, and I imagine all the water, all the ferries and cargo ships and fish up above. In a half-hour dash from St Pancras we have left Britain behind. We may have been able to do this for a decade and a half or so, since the tunnel opened, but it still feels somehow impossible. Are we really riding trains under the sea? Our hotel is named after the first of the great dukes, Philip the Good. We shoot back up above the ground into the light, settled in our grey leather seats with their purple leather headrests as French fields and flatlands that have been fought over in so many bloody battles come into view. Feeling a little sleepy after the wine, we have a snooze and wake to find ourselves travelling through a corridor of graffiti in the banlieue of Paris. Then we look at our watches. And something dawns on us. Is that enough time? E has asked the pale-faced driver, who is dressed in a black suit and has heavy black rings under his eyes, to go vite. And he is not messing about. A haunting blues number is surreally playing as we make our dramatic progress. E looks at me as if I should somehow take matters in hand what can I do? He clearly is. He takes the Place about as quickly as is physically possibly in an old Renault. And so we reach the station, with seven minutes to spare before the TGV to Dijon. I pay the nine-euro fare. The funeral director smiles thinly, with just a hint of a twinkle in his eyes. Then we race to a distant platform in Tales from the Fast Trains: Around Europe at 186mph far-off annex and board the first TGV of our trip. The doors close almost immediately behind us. I mean, that was skin of the teeth stuff. The TGV is a smart affair with black and grey stripy seats and a wine-red carpet. The flick and occasional slap of a game of twist is all we can hear in the carriage as we quickly leave Paris behind. The TGV holds the world record speed for a wheeled train at Brown cows munch grass. Villages with green-shuttered houses come and go. We stop at the town of Montbard, where there are three tattered EU flags and a French tricolour on poles by the quiet station. I just like the adventure.