I’m a train expert with kids – these are my favourite family-friendly routes in Europe

🚆 Journey time: 14 hours from Vienna to Rome, 90 minutes from Rome to Florence

Departing the Austrian capital just after 8pm, this comfortable Nightjet service carries passengers through the pine-scented slopes of the Alps, circling lakes at dusk, where horses and cattle graze and hamlets come aglow in the mountainous pockets and folds. Over a breakfast of crusty rolls served with a variety of sweet and savoury fillings, passengers can delight in the Tuscan countryside rolling by, the morning light warming the yellow mass of vineyards and olive groves. By 10am the train draws into Rome giving you the whole day to take in the sights before a short hop on the Frecciarossa to Florence.

👶🏼 Why it’s great for families: The new-generation Nightjet trains contain plush, four-person, private compartments with pre-made beds, en-suite showers and toilets – so there’s no need to pull on shoes and fumble in the dark for trips to the loo.

💡 Time Out tip: Learn the Florentine craft of paper marbling at the artisan workshop of Il Papiro and take home your creations. For details, email workshop@ilpapirofirenze.it.  

🚆 Journey time: 7 hours

Covering one of the most scenic routes in Europe, the F6 Dovre Railway leaves the Norwegian capital around 2pm and takes seven hours to meander up the country. Running through small towns and cities, the train allows passengers to peek into the backs of white timber houses, churches and schoolyards, before skimming the edge of Lake Mjøsa, the largest and deepest lake in Norway, its silver surface like a mirror. Passing through Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park, travellers can keep an eye out for reindeer, moose and shaggy musk oxen dotting around the mountains, before the train swings close to the Trondheim fjord, its waters crashing over boulders and branches, foam bubbling as it flows.

👶 Why it’s good for families: With wide reclining seats, a jolly dining car, and a dedicated children’s carriage with a slide and play area, this train has all the facilities needed for a smooth ride.

💡 Time Out tip: Book your journey in early August to tie in with the annual Trøndelag Food Festival that takes place in Trondheim.

🚆 Journey time: 2hrs 30 London to Paris, 12 hours Paris to Latour-de-Carol, 3 hours Latour de Carol to Barcelona

Cross over to Paris on a morning Eurostar and enjoy a long, leisurely lunch at Boulom, a stone’s throw from Montmartre. A high-end buffet charging kids up to the age of 12 just €1.50 x their age in years, it also has a fabulous bakery selling croissant loaves. Load up for the overnight journey from Paris Austerlitz that departs to the south at around 10pm, and wake in the Pyrenees foothills. Often still snowing in spring, the region is filled with lodges and woods, and ducks swimming in formation on streams parallel to the carriage. From Latour de Carol it’s a tight changeover to the Rodalies de Catalunya train which rises high into the mountains for a couple of hours before drawing into the centre at Barcelona Sants station.

👶🏼 Why it’s great for families: A Global flexi pass from Interrail includes the Eurostar with a small supplement per passenger, and up to two children aged 4-11 travel for free on a single adult pass.

💡 Time Out tip: Book a paella-making class with Clara Casté Obiols whose family home – a stone’s throw from Barcelona’s Park Güell – houses an outdoor kitchen in a secret garden.

🚆 Journey time: 12 hours

A regular passenger train, the Santa Claus Express runs year-round, taking commuting Finns from the country’s capital into the heart of Finnish Lapland. In winter, it’s a magnet for young families and tourists in search of magic. As the train beats out of Helsinki at around 7pm, passengers race to fill the raucous dining car which is redolent with the aroma of reindeer stew and meatballs and mash, the warmth steaming up snow-sprayed windows. Compartments are some of the best in Europe, with underfloor heating and en-suite facilities. A pull-down seat allows tired parents to gaze into the flurry of snowflakes that obscure the passing forests and fragments of ink-black lakes, before finally arriving to Rovaniemi.

👶 Why it’s great for families: A double-decker sleeper train travelling into the Arctic Circle to the home of Father Christmas? Need we say more?

💡 Time Out tip: The week before Christmas is the most popular time of year to travel, so book tickets as far in advance as possible to ensure you bag a sleeper compartment. 

📍 Discover more great Christmas train journeys in Europe

🚆 Journey time: 13 hours

Trenitalia’s overnight Intercity Notte service from Rome to Palermo is one of the most intriguing train journeys in Europe. It departs at around 11pm and swoops down towards the tip of the boot, arriving at the port city of Villa San Giovanni just as the sun threatens to crack through the clouds over the Peloritani mountains in the northeast of Sicily. Here, the train carriages are shunted back and forth as they uncouple, and are loaded side by side onto a ferry to cross the Strait of Messina. In 20 minutes, the train reaches the other side, the carriages are reconnected and it sets off for Palermo, belting along the coast where boats lie upturned on pebbly beaches, dogs bound at the edge of frothy waves and bougainvillea pour down the sides of villas.

👶 Why it’s great for families: Kids (and adults) will love clambering out of the carriage at dawn and going up to the ferry deck to watch the crossing

💡 Time out tip: Italians and Sicilians embrace the noise and energy of children wherever they go, so searching for child-friendly restaurants and spaces isn’t necessary unlike in other parts of Europe.

🚆 Journey time: 4 hours

Treat the TER Zou! train like a bus service and hop on and off throughout the day as you wind up the coastline of the French Riviera. A regular commuter service filled with students and grandmas doing groceries, this double-decker passes through the cities of Cannes, Nice and Monaco before terminating on the Italian border at the market town of Ventimiglia. With the Ligurian sea twinkling in between peach-coloured villas, the train runs at the edges of beaches striped with parasols and smaller towns like Juan-les-Pins and Villefranche-sur-Mer which offer excellent swimming on soft white sand and quieter spots to have lunch.

👶 Why it’s great for families: Each stretch is no more than ten-fifteen minutes at a time, allowing for spontaneous stops for paddling, ice cream or an Aperol spritz overlooking the sea before hopping back on board.

💡 Time Out tip: Sit on the top deck for the best views over the ocean.