Travel Advice/Travel Tips -  Central train stations in Europe

In many large European cities, the major train station can be identified by  logical names like the Central Station, Hauptbahnhof (main station), Gare Central, Centraal Station, or Terminali.

• These stations are always situated near the city center and are hubs of activity.
• In general, the “central station” is the one of most interest to tourists, since these stations are the hubs in the national rail network.

In world-class European cities (e.g. Paris, Amsterdam, London) there will usually be several major train stations, often named geographically (for example, named either for a direction or for a destination). Trains originating from these stations usually travel only to one region of the country (e.g. in Paris, trains from Gare du Norde head to the north and northwest while those from the Gare de Lyon head south and Southwest to Lyon and beyond).

If you book your train tickets using a travel agent, either here or abroad, be sure to ask the name of the departing and arriving station to save yourself some grief. Finally, study a map to learn the location of the station to judge its distance and travel time from your hotel.

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