The Man in Seat 61
seat61.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2010
Mark Smith, a former railway worker, runs a guide to buying tickets and planning train journeys across Europe and the rest of the world.
What HN saysHN commenters recommend it as the place to check for detailed train travel information and how to buy tickets between almost any two cities.
89HN people shared it
80linked it in comments
13stories submitted
1.2Kstory points
4 months agolast shared
2010people per year2026
Most-shared posts
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- 15Who is the man in seat 61?1 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
druskacik · 2026-05-11
Currently not possible, but:
- once you fill the "From" field with your start city, the "To" field will include only cities reachable from the "From" city
- at https://trainbot.eu/coverage/ you can search for all routes that go through your city
I plan to add a subpage for every relevant city with recommended routes once I'll have enough data. Something like https://www.seat61.com/ but with actual prices and dates.
aprilthird2021 · 2024-12-28
There is a website I love for seeing how to get almost everywhere in Europe by train: https://www.seat61.com/
Tijdreiziger · 2024-03-07
You should always check the website of the Man in Seat 61 to find the best way to buy tickets between any two cities. https://www.seat61.com/
(no affiliation, just a fan of the site)
ilrwbwrkhv · 2024-01-19
Websites were so easy to read and navigate back then.
It just worked. Some of the websites might be a bit rock and roll but there is a strange clarity to the whole thing.
I actually found https://www.seat61.com/ recently and it is this one dude who runs the greatest train website on the planet and he has been doing it since 2001. Site looks ancient but it is so useful.
f_allwein · 2022-09-15
Great resource if you want to travel on any of those lines: https://www.seat61.com/ has detailed information about train travel pretty much anywhere in the world.
Angostura · 2021-11-22
Just in case people haven't come across the excellent https://www.seat61.com
It is indispensible if you want to plan international travel by train. A true work of love.
newdude116 · 2021-04-29
Will check it out. Until last year, you could use a neighbor country to buy train tickets to and from Germany. Since you did not have to start using the ticket in the first station but can basically board the train wherever you feel on the booked trip, you were able to buy all bullet train tickets for about 20 Euros (e.g. Berlin>Hannover, Leipzig>Cologne etc.). Best thing: Not bound to a specific train on that day and they were reimbursable until 24h before your trip started. Good times. But all good times come to an end :-(
Just for a comparison: These 20 Euro rides would set you back 150 Euros otherwise.
And for train ride information, there is always: https://www.seat61.com/
bogomipz · 2020-08-26
For those who enjoy traveling by rail. "The Man in Seat 61" is a great resource:
https://www.seat61.com/
keiferski · 2020-01-15
The Man in Seat 61 is one of these sites, except it's still continually updated and is probably the single best location for train travel information, anywhere.
https://www.seat61.com
robin_reala · 2019-06-18
As customary in these threads, if you’re planning a rail journey (especially in Europe) your best bet is to consult The Man in Seat 61 at https://www.seat61.com/
matt7aylor · 2019-06-03
I've found this to be a fantastic resource for creating travel plans in Europe (and beyond) without flying: https://www.seat61.com/
No affiliation, just been using it to help plan all sorts of travel since I stopped flying in 2011 (although I have to say the best way to travel long distance in Europe is by bicycle, if you can make the time).
jayalpha · 2019-04-13
European trains a great. I wish Europe would be more positive about the future and build more modern trains. Why no self coupling train cars that go to different destinations?
Good news, recently on HN. I love night trains!
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19557848
As always: http://seat61.com/
pm215 · 2018-07-23
I can recommend https://www.seat61.com/ for information about longer-distance train travel: frequently updated, lots of useful information, discussion of different route options, etc -- he has a page about Trans-Siberian railway journeys.
joemclo · 2017-01-04
I highly recommend looking through this site which extensively covers travel by train.
http://www.seat61.com/
I've travelled by rail through Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. It's not always easy to buy (cheap) tickets online or in advance outside of Russia but it's worth taking the risk and buying in-country for the experience of the 3 + day journeys
jzwinck · 2014-10-03
Amazing writing, I couldn't put it down. Don't miss the Amtrak Tips page linked at the bottom.
For anyone fascinated by rail travel, I can recommend the train from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe). It's definitely like he writes, hard mode, but it's only for one day or night, and when I was there first class tickets cost $7 US.
Also worthwhile: South Korea (trains galore, hard mode only due to the writing system). Sri Lanka's Hill Country (the train goes about 10 kph and you will wish it would slow down--the views!). Oslo-Stockholm (easy but expensive mode).
And finally, http://www.seat61.com - OK, it's got ads now, just ignore them, this is a gem of Web 1.0.
pseudohadamard · 2026-05-16
That'll happen if you run off the end of the connections that CD can book for you. For example I recently tried to book one all the way down to Trieste and it could show the trains but couldn't book them for me, you need to break it down into parts and book with relevant operators, in my case CD for the first part and Trenitalia for the last, skipping OeBB in the middle. Just beware when you do this that different operators will show different trains and connections so you may need to manually select the trains if (for example) CD and Trenitalia disagree over the best links.
Seat 61 has an excellent guide on dealing with this, https://www.seat61.com/european-train-tickets-online.htm.
tuukkah · 2025-10-27
> Since when? What have they been replaced with?
The Helsingborg-Helsingør train ferry was replaced (car ferries remain) by railway on the Öresund Bridge (from the 2011 TV series The Bridge) between the big cities Malmö, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark in 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%98resund_Bridge
The Puttgarden-Rødby train ferry was replaced by a new longer but faster railway route via the Great Belt Bridge and Flensburg until the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is ready. https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/hamburg-to-copenhagen-by-trai…
posnet · 2025-05-17
I did this route (sans the new Laos line, which was a bus at the time) in 2014. The world really was a different place.
Shout out to 'The man in seat 61', couldn't have done it without it.
https://www.seat61.com/
ascorbic · 2024-12-29
I'd also recommend seat61.com, which is the best source of info on international train travel. This page is relevant to your interests: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm
martijnarts · 2024-12-24
The night trains are great. It's quite comfortable, you get there in the morning allowing for a full day (after dropping off your bags at the hotel) of work/tourism, and I especially hope Nightjet and other night train companies converts all of their trains to the modern mini cabins[0].
They're incredible.
[0]: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/nightjet-new-generation.htm#m…
frereubu · 2024-08-31
I imagine many people here will know this site, but for those who want to travel across Europe by train, The Man in Seat 61 is an invaluable resource: https://www.seat61.com/
If you want to become envious, he's also on Twitter - https://x.com/seatsixtyone - where he posts beautiful journeys. Just a shame it's all so expensive compared to flights!
imurray · 2024-03-08
I've found advice from seat61.com useful a few times.
He recommends https://raileurope.com/ -- When I used them back when they were loco2, I was impressed by the customer service. I needed to change my train ticket, so emailed them and they sorted it all out for me with minimum fuss, emailing me replacements. At the time it was a lot easier than dealing with the local railway companies in countries where I didn't speak the language. I don't know if they would be as good now that they aren't a startup though.
History of loco2/raileurope: https://www.seat61.com/websites/who-are-raileurope.htm
seabass-labrax · 2024-02-18
I've found Mark Smith, a.k.a. 'The Man in Seat 61'[1], to be a very reliable travel blogger/vlogger. His information on railways across Europe is up-to-date, detailed and stays away from such melodramatic exaggeration as you describe. It's usually easier to get the timetables from his site than it is from the travel company!
I'm not affiliated with him in any way; I post it here just as a reminder that honest travel journalism still exists if you know where to find it.
[1]: https://www.seat61.com
yakshaving_jgt · 2023-08-26
This sometimes works with trains in Europe too.
I discovered once through Seat 61 that if you want to travel from Amsterdam to Berlin, it's cheaper to book the train all the way to Prague. You can just get off the train in Berlin.
I did this a few years ago, but ended up going to Prague anyway.
https://www.seat61.com/
kefabean · 2023-08-05
The problem is that many tourists will still arrive and depart by air.
Whilst there are some new cross continent routes coming online, overnight rail routes have been in decline since the 1990s.
It takes quite a bit of persistence to make this work especially if travelling with a young family. For example travelling from London to Rome (although surprisingly can be done in a day) takes 16 hrs and involves 3 changes including slogging across Paris.
https://www.seat61.com is a good resource for planning trips involving European train travel.
arethuza · 2023-02-23
What is probably my favourite hotel/restaurant which is 15km up a single track road from the nearest village on the edge of the Moor of Rannoch is right next to where the wonderfully named Deerstalker train has a stop - so even though there are like 3 buildings in the middle of nowhere they have a direct train service from London:
https://www.seat61.com/deerstalker.htm
https://www.moorofrannoch.co.uk/
gpvos · 2022-04-12
I was speaking more generally, sorry; there is currently no daily Paris-Berlin night train (and I guess the weekly Russian train is suspended). The most reasonable connection seems to be: Paris 19.04 (ICE 9557) 22.17 Mannheim 23.47 (Nightjet 470) 07.38 Berlin, with some time to drink a nightcap in Mannheim, but I can see how that won't work for everyone. You can also leave Paris at 17.55 and change more comfortably in Karlsruhe with maybe a late dinner. In the reverse direction you'll have an unpleasant change in the early morning though.
In daytime, there are a few options with only one change, but you'll sit in a train for 8 hours or so, which may not be your thing.
In general, https://seat61.com/ has good tips.
recuter · 2022-04-11
Eurostar runs direct trains from London to Rotterdam & Amsterdam, 3.5 and 4 hours respectively.
You can't really compare to a similar route in the US because there are hardly any and hardly anybody uses them. The train routes in EU are busy and frequently full, just like planes. Obviously booking ahead is cheaper, how else could you do it?
Top tip, plan a head and read up a little bit on seat61:
https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/london-to-amsterdam-by-eurost…
Top tip 2:
Overnight trains is one of the best ways to see Europe as a backpacker on the cheap. The routes are often scenic and the cost is frequently cheaper than anything else since you don't have to pay for accommodations.
Buses are a thing too. And they are not greyhound bad, but definitely not as good as trains.
vladgur · 2020-12-14
Im surprised Seat61[1] has not been shared yet.
All you need to know about Train travel in the world including night trains
[1] https://www.seat61.com/
jnxx · 2020-12-14
The emissions of trains are always many times less.
For a quantitative comparison:
https://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm
For example:
London to Nice
Plane: 4 hours, 250 Kg CO2
Train: 8 hours by Eurostar+TGV, 36 Kg CO2
85% less
Traveling short to medium distances by plane is simply indefensible if you care about climate change. For an average European, it can easily make up one third of their total yearly carbon emissions, more than 1500kg, or even more.
(BTW this site, seat61.com, is a great and very useful web site, if one likes train travel or wants to travel by train in Europe, one should seriously have a look!)