How many European countries can you visit in 24 hours, using trains, buses, coaches, trams, bikes or boats? Join me and understudy Mrs Turtle in an obscure Dutch village just before midnight as we set off to find out.
The Schengen agreement is truly one of the most amazing (and sadly sometimes underappreciated) freedoms the EU gives us EU citizens. There are many freedoms, rights and privileges, but I think Schengen is sometimes taken too much for granted. Its amazing and I hope that my generation would add something similarly fantastic to the EU advantages in my lifetime.
Agreed - even if it gets suspended by some countries a bit too readily, it is astonishing that I managed to visit 10 countries and didn’t have a single passport or customs check (other than to get into the Netherlands from the UK in the first place!).
Vienna and Bratislava count as the *second*-closest pair of capitals (outside the edge case you mentioned). Brazzaville and Kinshasa, on opposite banks of the Congo river, are closer.
But nevertheless you will go on a - I think - 66 minutes trainride to get from Vienna's main station to Bratislava Central Station which is rather annoyingly long. Also there are no trains connecting Salzburg or Linz directly to Bratislava which is a shame.
@@michaelkores6860 There's a direct train (RJX 167) from Zürich to Preßburg every afternoon that passes through Innsbruck, Salzburg and Linz. Sadly there's just the one, but at least it's a start.
Fascinating - thank's a lot for this information. I have never heard of this connection before but I have never looked for a train connection this late - sadly the RJX 167 arrives at about 10 PM in Bratislava Main Station which is obviously too late for a day trip. @@Mikeyelves13
It is pleasing to see you didn't keep getting stuck in Lille. The last European challenge videos I saw (Jet Lag: The Game) seemed to be stuck in France much of the time. Your slow turtle approach was a nice relaxing contrast to their chase.
These vlogs are so well researched and presented. After each one, I feel the urge to get travelling again. I used to love pouring over the Thomas Cook European trail timetables and planning trips like these. Fantastic, thank you.
BTW ... I once took a train in Queensland, Australia from Brisbane to Cairns. The scheduled travel time was 32 hours. We reached our destination after 52 hours.
This channel has the feel of one with a few hundred thousand subscribers. Well, I hope it grows for you TT but even if it doesn't, I hope you keep making these challenges. Been great fun seeing what is possible and learning a lot about new places along the way.
After living in Luxembourg for a couple of years now with lots of journeys to Saarbrücken, I have never considered going to the city at 3 am - let alone using a vel'oh bike for some sightseeing - thanks for the inspiration
The fact that Luxembourg is known as the 'Gibraltar of the North' came up yesterday on the UK Quizzing Circuit's Grand Prix Quiz. Fortunately I guessed correctly as you'd not yet published this video.
Well, that was 40 mins & 51 seconds of viewing I didn't know that I needed today. And yes, I needed that! Another excellent video with thoroughly engaging commentary and content throughout that many a TV station would be grateful for. Looking forward to the next trip. As has already been said your channel deserves far more subscribers and viewers.
That's a lovely challenge and I've loved the other ones you did, including the bus challenges and 24h challenges. You definitely deserve more viewers to your channel, as you're much more original than other travel reviewers. And as I was hearing that TER announcement, I heard that it was bound to Krimmeri-Meinau, which is a railway station in the periphery of Strasbourg just before the German border. In any case, the former Corail coaches used on the services to Basel are named TER 200
What a wonderful journey. I totally wasn't expecting to see Maastricht, where I lived for years and Eijsden, where my father still lives. What a treat. Keep on making these fantastic trips, I enjoy watching them so much.
@@travelling_turtleThe obscure Dutch village where the German Emperor had to wait with his train before he got permission to enter the Netherlands for asylum. Even Eijsden has an impressive history.
Actually, the train goes through flanders before entering wallonia due to there being a small disconnected strip of flanders on the south side of the limburg border called the "voerstreek". When you travel it by car it is a bit more obvious than by train due to the signage.
Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, and Kinsasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo are closer than Vienna and Bratislava, they're on opposite river banks. Still the closest in Europe, though
Thanks! Discovering Luxembourg’s bike hire scheme was a nice moment, as I hadn’t been looking forward to what would have been quite a hurried 3km walk!
Absolutely magical! I loved every minute and have downloaded so it’s always available. Will re-watch, make copious notes, and set off the same or similar trip in the new year, although not necessarily as a challenge. Thanks for the great video and adventure; I look forward to watching your back catalogue and await further output with interest.
Another fabulous video, and I am very happy to see Mrs Turtle joining the travelling adventures. I struggle to imagine the amount of planning that goes into making a video like this, but thank you for doing so and taking us on the journey with you.
This is amazing, as a fellow train, bus and plane lover, this is what I am doing after a long day of studying econometrics! What a hidden gem of a channel.
Great content once again. I'll bet you had fun sorting out the logistics on that one. You did extremely well to adjust your itinerary so you could make it to so many countries. Well done.
Another wonderful video, I can't express how great they are. Particularly enjoyed seeing places I recognised in Bratislava and Prague. Glad to see you have a new travelling companion.😍 Keep up the great work.
Didn't expect another video so soon so what a very pleasant surprise. Another enjoyable video that always feels shorter than it actually is and looking forward to what comes next and since its December as of writing, have an excellent Christmas.
Very enjoyable - and not just remarkable for the raw score, a very stylish journey as well for the variety of modes of transport. Thank you for sharing it with us, and give the Turtle family an extra squidge from me.
Smash that like button folks! This channel deserves much more attention. Intelligent, informed and humorous commentary plus interesting challenges. What’s not to like?
Fantastic video just like your other ones. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned next. Keep up the great work, this channel is going to grow and grow for sure 👍🙂
As expected, absolutely exceptional video! Brilliantly edited, maps and music choice were perfect! Your route planning skill is pretty unmatched I think! Looking forward to more content!
Another very enjoyable video - wonderful views, great commentary and insights, interesting concept (again!). You make for a very fine travelling companion, it is a joy to spend time on these videos. I am especially impressed by the amount of planning and research that obviously goes into making these films. Much appreciated and more please.
Many thanks. I very much enjoyed the live-tweeting, so it's great to have the "director's cut" now. I'm looking forward to the next adventure, what ever it might be.
So pleased the YT algorithm found me for this extraordinary channel. Very well-done on many levels. Deserves many times more views. I’ve made my contribution and watched a few videos in full - twice. Quite happily. Has brought back many memories and I’ve learned quite a lot as well.
Once again a geniunenly lovely adventure! I would love to join you here in Prague for a coffe. Also I was anticipating you to jump of that Railjet in Salzburg to go to Villach and get to Itally and continue onwards to Slovenia, Croatia and then perhaps finish in Hungary.
Think I could have managed Slovenia in time, but not further sadly. So could probably have got a different 10 (but not the 11 theoretically manageable if I’d got to Hungary).
Unfortunately, international trains through ex-Yugoslavia aren't exactly frequent. Trains through Slovenia are mostly fine although not particularly fast, but there is a fairly long delay at the Croatian border. After that there are only two trains a day to Hungary from Zagreb, one in the morning and one in the afternoon so he wouldn't be able to make it.
Extremely brave of you to include a Flixbus coach on a tightly scheduled journey... Even though I had barely any reasons to complain when I used them to make it to London last year, if you read customer reviews you'd think 99% of their coaches are delayed, cancelled without notice, and/or driven by a pack of abusive, wine-soaked sociopaths. Now that I have watched the entirety of your videos (they were all lovely btw) I feel like they will have a potentially very strong influence on where I take my summer holiday to and how I take it. And coincidently that will be starting from here, in Liège! So thank you! (Or curse you, as I can't say yet if said influence will turn out to be good or bad)
Glad you enjoyed them! Certainly couldn’t fault Flixbus’ punctuality in this case (or the one time I have used them in the UK), but it was annoyingly overcrowded due to being a single-decker rather than the planned double decker!
I discovered your channel earlier this week and i really enjoy watching these videos- its been such a change from ehat i watch normally and its so relaxing to watch too! Please keep it up👍
We have just discovered your channel and we love it! Thank you for great vlogs with really interesting history as well. We live in the Netherlands and we love that we can be in different countries in such a short time. Great challenges you are doing! Keep up the amazing work
@@travelling_turtle we would love to see them! Have you ever stayed in the trekkers huts in the NL? They are amazing and a great places to sleep when travelling at very low costs.
@@lunacampello No, I didn’t know they existed (I tend to associate trekkers huts with mountains, so maybe not the Netherlands…!). I will look them up, thanks.
I’m being repetitive but once again compliments for the video. A very nice idea. I remember watching your video from the uk to Sicily, and luckily RU-vid recommended me this new video. Subscribed & thumbed the video up, hopes you can get as many views as possible.
Just started to watch this video - looks like it will be good. I thought you may have started in Switzerland as its landlocked. Anyway lets see how this goes You must do so much planning to make sure these challenges happen. Just letting you know its appreciated
Brilliant concept - 10 countries in one day - seems impossible, but you (and Mrs. Turtle) have proved to the contrary. Wonderfully narrated, very appropriate music and some amusing asides.
It's been a while since I've so enjoyed a RU-vid video! I was in Saarbrücken a few weeks ago, but didn't find the time for the Saarbahn. I'm looking forward to your next video!
Having travelled Europe extensively and lived out in France and Austria, this is a very underrated and informative channel. Can't wait for the next video (already eyeing up London to Paris via bus!)
Just found your channel and subscribed having enoyed your videos very much, Many Thanks. I did a fair bit of European Train Travel in the 80s and this video brings back great memories. Being still during iron curtain days we used to wonder what it would be like if Europe was fully open for free independent travel, didn't really seem possible in the early 80s, How times change!
Brilliant as usual! I take it the few trains stopping in Liechtenstein didn't time well? (Still nice to see, I haven't been back since a school exchange - at the time, my school was the only one to operate an exchange there. The French exchange to Strasbourg too - weird how they chose destinations where German and French are the second languages!) Also to Go West - you passed within a mile of my house! I was half thinking about something using the German €9 ticket (future €49 ticket) - perhaps NESW in a week... We'll see! Thanks for an entertaining journey to virtually travel along with!
My pleasure - so glad you enjoyed. Had I not been delayed, I would indeed have got a train from Schaan to Feldkirch, but there was nothing that worked an hour later, so buses it was!
Your videos are entertaining, calming and well researched. Everybody who got this recommended in his you tube algorithm is glad I guess. Thanks for providing us with this quality content.🤟🏼
Excellent video as always! While I guessed the Basel and Vienna areas would be there, it didn't occur to me that you could do the Maastricht as well. And yeah from my experience, if you're relying on tight connections then France (and Germany) are a lot more likely to put spanners in the works than the other countries here. Are you planning on a re-run?
Thank you! You’re right - France and Germany can be problematic. I deliberately avoided using any German long-distance trains on this challenge because they aren’t hugely reliable. Maybe a re-run sometime, when there’s a bit more daylight!
@@hereiskinder I had an Interrail pass, so could generally hop on and off trains as needed. A few advance reservations - E.g. the Liege - Luxembourg coach, and the reservation for the sleeper train from Bratislava. Otherwise, not much in advance.
The Austria portion gave me very pleasant reminders of my own transit challenge on the Vienna U Bahn. All 99 stations in just over 5 hours. I needed three S Bahn trains to help me, on the first one the next station screens were broken! Luckily I got to my destination
33:25 recently, a Slovakian rail cargo company, named one of their locomotives "Most SMP" and another one "Bratislava Castle". Funny to see both here too.
