On 2014-12-28 5:16 PM, jmcquown wrote:

> Renting cars (and lodgings) to sight-see well away from the train
> station doesn't sound like fun to me. I'd rather just do a road trip in
> my own car.
>

Other than the really horrible food service, I enjoyed the train trip
from Calgary to Vancouver. It was the most spectacular scenery I have
ever seen. I could just sit back and take it all it. I didn't have to
worry about driving, getting lost, stopping for gas, meals or lodging.

We once spent two weeks wandering around western Europe by train. We had
no set itinerary. We started off in Paris, went to Strasbourg,then over
Lahr where we had the use of a friend's apartment and made day trips
from there, then on to Switzerland, across northern Italy to Venice,
back across to Nice for a couple says and finally back up through France
back to Paris.

My wife had arranged the plane tickets and rail pass, a reservation for
our first night in Strassbourg and last four nights in Paris. The rest
of the time we basically wandered around. It was great. It was one of
the best trips we ever had.