Europe by train

Avoid the hassle of flying (and give yourself some extra eco points) by sampling the new rail routes from St Pancras. Here's ten European destinations that just got nearer

Antwerp: clubbing hotspot

Antwerp
Good for The savvy hedonist.
Train journey Three hours, 30 minutes (change in Brussels).
Cost of return ticket £59.
This small northern town is the Belgian leader in providing hedonistic thrills for Europe’s more discerning party set. The town’s bohemian roots stretch back to legendary baroque artist Paul Rubens, whose house and studio are open to visitors, but it’s after dark that the streets really come to life with a phenomenal array of clubs catering to those who want to continue partying long after the brown cafés in the Het Zuid quarters slow down. We recommend Café d’Anvers (www.cafedanvers.com); still going strong after 15 years, this is a haven for the true clubbing polymath with nights devoted to everything from R&B to the club’s roots in progressive house. Josh Wink headlines on November 10.
Staying at BB Antwerp, Justitlestraat 43, 2018 Antwerp (00-32-(0)3-248-15-39/www.bbantwerp.com) Double room from €65 (£45) per night.

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Avignon
Good for Thespian fanatics who are tired of Edinburgh.
Train journey Six hours (change in Lille or Paris).
Cost of return ticket From £109.
The vast Festival d’Avignon performing arts jamboree held every July is the event that has given this town, perched on the banks of the Rhone, major European attention, but the place still appeals in winter months. Mid-November sees oenophiles migrate here for the Fête des Côtes du Rhône Primeurs wine festival, held in the spectacular setting of the Palais des Papes, a fourteenth-century fortified palace built for Pope Clement V, who fled here to escape political vexation in Rome. Nearby is a renowned food market on Les Halles open every morning (except Mondays) selling pretty much every provincial French gastro delicacy you can think of from Toulouse sausage to tinned cassoulet.
Staying at Hotel Monclar, 13 Avenue Monclar, 84000 Avignon (00 33-(0)4-90-86-20-14/www.hotel-monclar.com) Double room from €30 (£21) per night.

Bruges
Good for Those with a yearning to escape the twenty-first century. And the twentieth, for that matter.
Train journey Three hours, 50 minutes (change at Brussels).
Cost of return ticket from £59.
As pretty as the perfect praline, this medieval time warp is a must-visit for anyone with a seriously atavistic hankering – and a love of chocolate. Bruges’s tightly packed streets contain a litany of art museums (our pick of which is the Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk, meaning Church of our Lady, which houses Michelangelo’s ‘Madonna and Child’), painstaking re-creations of the original fourteenth-century buildings from when Bruges was a leading trade centre (see if you can spot the fakes) and ‘Choco-story’ (www.choco-story.be), housed in a fifteenth-century wine tavern that tells the complete story of chocolate from the Mayans (who saw it as a gift from the Gods) to the Mars bar. From January 2008, you can even take part in a ‘Choc around the Clock’ two-hour walk through the city on Tuesdays and Thursdays – visit www.brugge.be for details.
Staying at B and B Setola, Sint- Walburgastraat 12, 8000 Bruges (00 32-(0)50-33-49-77/www.bedandbreakfast-bruges.com) Double room from €75 (£52) per night.

Brussels: now less than two hours from London by train

Brussels
Good for A weekend of indolence.
Train journey One hour, 51 minutes.
Cost of return ticket From £59.
The Grand Place, a huge cobbled square in the centre of the city, is now less than two hours from St Pancras and is a hive of activity round the clock, with December featuring a Floyd-esque sound and light show (www.plaisirsdhiver.be) every evening until 12 midnight. Warren-like streets nearby serve up the ubiquitous moules marinieres along with other seafood staples of oysters and lobster – we love the diminutive Tavern du Passage on Galerie de la Reine. A bizarre Belgian statistic (and one of the most dubiously compiled) is that there are more cartoonists per head in this country than any other on earth. Judge the results for yourself at the comprehensive Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee (www.cbbd.be) featuring animated icons from Tintin to the Smurfs.
Staying at B and B Phileas Fogg, Rue Van Bemmel 6, 1210 Brussels (00 32-(0)2-21-78-338/www.phileasfogg.be) Double room from €65 (£45) per night.

Dijon
Good for The eternal boho student.
Train journey Five hours, ten minutes (change at Paris Nord).
Cost of return ticket From £79.
All right, so everyone knows about the wine and the mustard, and both should obviously be sampled while you’re here, but our favourite element of this town – the capital of the Burgundy region – is the convivial atmosphere created by the presence of a university and the rampant arts and cultural scene, which transforms a town that could otherwise be something of a somnambulant museum piece. Coco-Loco on Avenue Garibaldi is where you’ll sample the most bilious student elements. To emasculate your hangover you must visit the main market, Les Halles, where you can admire the covered building designed by famed local Gustave Eiffel, who went on to built that tower in Paris. Be sure to sample the fantastic local produce including kir, an aperitif made from white wine and cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur.
Staying at Hostellerie du Sauvage, 64 rue Monge, 21000, Dijon (00 33-(0)3-80-41-31-21/www.hotellesauvage.com) Double room from €41 (£29) per night.

Lyon
Good for Designer shopping without the Paris crowds.
Train journey Five hours, 30 minutes (change at Paris Nord).
Cost of return ticket From £99.
Lyon is style Babylon. Its stores are modern, fast and ruthless in their pursuit of the latest fashions. Stick to rue du Président Edouard Herriot and rue Emile Zola for great couture such as George Rech on rue du Président-Herriot. More than 300 shops and boutiques fill the largest shopping centre in Lyon, the Centre Commercial de la Part-Dieu, on rue du Dr Bouchut. A winter highlight once the bags have been dumped back in the hotel is the Festival of Light. Dating back some 150 years, this four-day event, which begins on December 8 this year, involves the entire city coming out on to the streets at night for a procession with lanterns while every house and window is illuminated – visit www.lyon.fr for more information.
Staying at Hotel La Residence, 18 rue Victor Hugo, 69002,Lyon (00 33 (0)4-7842-63-28/www.hotel-la-residence.com) Double room from €75 (£52) per night.

Marseille
Good for Anyone with a short attention span.
Train journey Six hours, 45 minutes (change at Paris Nord).
Cost of return ticket From £109.
It’s hard to imagine, but if you should ever get complacent about the narrow streets, tiny seafood restaurants and great view of the sea from the summit of the Le Panier district of Marseille, north of the Vieux Port (which itself is home to one of the largest and most atmospheric fish markets you’ll find anywhere) then simply head to the souks of Belsunce district – a thriving community of French-Africans. The golden statue of the Madonna on top of the basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde is a more traditional landmark. The monument, on a hill that has been used as a lookout since prehistoric times, has a wall devoted to the petitions of generations of Marseillais. The annual Winegrowers’ and Farmers’ Fair, held at the Parc Chanot centre from Nov 16-19, draws up to 25,000 gourmets gagging to sample fine wine and farm-made foods (chocolate, honey, foie gras, saucissons…) from all French regions.
Staying at Hotel Lutetia, 38, Allee Leon Gambetta, 13 001 Marseille (0033 (0)4-91-50-81-78/www.hotelmarseille.com) Double room from €65 (£45) per night.

Paris
Good for Jaded cynics who need revitalising.
Train journey Two hours, 15 minutes.
Cost of return ticket From £59.
You may think you’re over-familiar with Paris, but this is a city with a population of more than 10 million and there’s enough to do here to occupy more weekend breaks than you could shake a perfectly baked tartiflette at. If you are jaded by the usual sights then why not sample Peter Brook's theatre company, the Bouffes du Nord Theatre on boulevard de la Chapelle (www.bouffesdunord.com), which has a hugely diverse programme of music and theatre. For nightlife, why not head out of the centre and try the true locals' district of Belleville – a genuine cobblestoned ‘city village’ with Paris’ second largest Chinese community and myriad characterful bars where the chances of you bumping into gaggles of teenagers looking for Jim Morrison’s grave are going to be drastically reduced. Snobby, we know, but it’s a pleasant sensation all the same.
Staying at Hotel Beaumarchais, 3 rue Oberkampf, 75011 Paris (00 33 (0)1-53-36-36-86/www.hotelbeaumarchais.com) Double room from €110 (£77) per night.

Rheims
Good for Celebrating with Champagne. Lots of it.
Train journey Four hours, 15 minutes (change at Paris Nord).
Cost of return ticket From £79.
You’d have to be deliberately contrary to not sample a glass or six of the most superior of sparklings while you’re here – the town is awash with the bubbly stuff. At any one time you can guarantee you’ll be walking on it – underneath the ground are 150 miles of chalk caves containing millions of bottles of Champagne. All the high-profile houses have a presence here with Champagne Didier Herbert (www.champagne herbert.fr) located about 15 minutes' drive away from the town centre being our personal favourite. Going by train means that you needn’t worry so much about budget flight baggage weight restrictions. And you’ll be grateful: a mere £8 buys 200g of chocolate Champagne corks filled with Marc de Champagne liqueur for starters.
Staying at Hotel Azur, 9 rue des Ecrevees, 51100 Rheims (00 33 (0)3-26-47-43-39/ http://hotel azurreims. free.fr/index.html) Double room from €55 (£38) per night.

Strasbourg
Good for Edification seekers.
Train journey Five hours, 11 minutes (change at Paris Nord).
Cost of return ticket From £89
You can’t fail but learn something to take away from your time in the capital of Alsace – and we don’t mean anything as mundane as gaining knowledge about the inner workings of the European Parliament that is partly based here. We’re talking about one of the finest array of museums in all of France, from the holistic Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain which contains examples of everything from nouveau to deco to pop, to the Musée de L’Euvre Notre-Dame, a treasure trove of gothic and renaissance works. Any visit to Strasbourg is inevitably going to be centered around the Cathedrale Notre Dame, though, and the hype is justified; it’s a monster. Its tower sits smack in the middle of a huddle of spindly town houses. The most incredible thing is that it isn’t even finished – it was supposed to have two spires. March 2008 will see the surrounding streets swamped with floats and musicans for the annual carnival.
Staying at Hotel du Rhin, 7/8, Place de la Gare 67000 Strasbourg (00 33 (0)3 88 32 35 00/www.hotel-du-rhin.com) Double room from €49 (£34) per night.

For more info visitwww.eurostar.com or call 08705 186 186.

Time Out. Photography Oliver Knight