Across Europe by Rail for €200.
9 days, 7 cities, one unbroken rail corridor from the Atlantic to the Danube. Here is how to do it for real — with actual ticket prices, the best booking windows, and the stops worth making along the way.
9 days, 7 cities, one unbroken rail corridor from the Atlantic to the Danube. Here is how to do it for real — with actual ticket prices, the best booking windows, and the stops worth making along the way.
Route: Lisbon → Madrid → Barcelona → Lyon → Milan → Munich → Vienna. Duration: 9 days. Ticket cost: around €185 with early booking and 1–2 overnight legs (which replace a hotel night, saving you on accommodation). The train serves as both transport and a “moving hotel” — smart accounting for budget travellers.
Check prices on Omio →Below is each leg with an indicative ticket price (early booking, 4–8 weeks ahead). Prices fluctuate — always compare the latest offers on Omio, where trains and coaches appear side by side.
There is no direct rail connection yet — here you take an overnight coach (Alsa or Rede Expressos, around 8–9 h, from €28) or the train to the border followed by a connection. The overnight coach saves you a hotel night. You arrive in central Madrid in the morning, ready to explore from the moment you step off.
What to see in Madrid (1 full day): The Museo del Prado — book entry in advance via GetYourGuide, skip the queue. In the evening — tapas in La Latina and the city panorama from the rooftop of the Circulo de Bellas Artes.
AVE — Spain’s high-speed rail — covers 621 km in 2.5 hours. Promotional fares from €20 appear with early booking on the Renfe website or via Omio. Promos sell out fast; set a price alert. The train departs from Madrid Atocha and arrives at Barcelona Sants — both stations in the city centre.
What to see in Barcelona (1 full day): The Sagrada Família — unmissable, but enter with a timed ticket. Spend the afternoon on Barceloneta beach or in the Gothic Quarter.
TGV via Perpignan and Montpellier, around 4–5 hours. Tickets through SNCF via Omio — early booking brings prices close to €22. Lyon is an underrated stop: you arrive in the evening with time for dinner at a bouchon (a traditional Lyonnaise bistro — do not skip it).
What to see in Lyon (half a day or an evening): The UNESCO-listed Old Town (Vieux-Lyon), and the Fourvière hill for a panoramic view over the whole city.
TGV or Frecciarossa, around 2 h. Connections are frequent (several daily), with prices ranging from €25 with early booking to €60+ on the day. Milan’s Milano Centrale is a monumental station — worth a moment to take in the architecture.
What to see in Milan (1 day): Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper — booking is essential, weeks in advance. The Duomo rooftop access — on a clear day the Alps are unforgettable.
Via Innsbruck or the Brenner Pass — a scenic Alpine crossing. Trenitalia or ÖBB trains, around 4–5 h. Overnight alternative: the ÖBB Nightjet (Milan → Munich or Vienna direct, from around €40 in a six-berth couchette) — saves a hotel night. Munich gives you 1.5 days: the city centre, the Englischer Garten, Marienplatz, the Deutsches Museum.
What to see in Munich: The Hofbräuhaus for atmosphere (not beer prices), Nymphenburg Palace by tram — worth booking entry in advance via GetYourGuide to skip the queue.
Railjet ÖBB — a comfortable express, 4 hours, departing throughout the day. Early booking on OBB.at or via Omio brings prices down to €28 (Sparschiene fare). Vienna is a worthy final stop: 2 full days for the Ringstrasse, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and an evening concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus or Musikverein. Return flight from VIE, or ÖBB Nightjet back to Warsaw, Kraków, or Gdańsk.
What to see in Vienna: The Belvedere with Klimt’s “The Kiss” (book via GetYourGuide), the Naschmarkt for breakfast, and tram line 1 along the entire Ring — a full city tour for the price of a transit ticket.
| Leg | Mode | Approx. price |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon → Madrid | Overnight coach (Alsa / Rede Expressos) | €28–35 |
| Madrid → Barcelona | AVE train (Renfe) | €20–35 |
| Barcelona → Lyon | TGV train (SNCF) | €22–30 |
| Lyon → Milan | TGV / Frecciarossa train | €25–35 |
| Milan → Munich | Train (Trenitalia / ÖBB) or Nightjet | €28–40 |
| Munich → Vienna | Railjet ÖBB | €28–35 |
| Total | — | approx. €151–210 |
At optimal prices (early booking, one or two overnight connections) the total ticket cost comes to around €185. The Lisbon–Madrid overnight and optionally the Milan–Munich leg replace one or two hotel nights — a real saving of €40–80 compared with a hostel bed.
This is the golden rule of European rail. AVE and TGV tickets have limited allocations at the cheapest tier — once they sell out, the price jumps two- or threefold. Get onto Omio or the operator’s own site the day you decide on the route, and buy all the legs at once.
An overnight couchette ticket in a six-berth compartment costs around €35–45 and replaces a hostel night (also €25–40 in the centre of a major city). The difference is often negligible, but instead of paying for a bed and a ticket, you pay only for the ticket. The Milan → Munich or Munich → Vienna Nightjet is a classic choice.
Between Barcelona and Perpignan, or between Lyon and Avignon, regional trains are considerably cheaper than the TGV — though they take longer. If you have time to spare and want to see the countryside, it is worth considering.
Sometimes a FlixBus coach on a given leg costs three times less than the train and takes only an hour longer. Do not be a rail ideologue — check on Omio which mode of transport wins on each specific leg, on each specific day.
Train tickets on your phone, offline maps, real-time departure checks — all of this requires data across several countries at once. To keep tickets and maps working the moment you cross a border, pick up an eSIM from Airalo with the Eurolink plan covering 39 European countries. A few euros saved on roaming is another coffee in Vienna.
The Sagrada Família, the Last Supper, the Belvedere — book tickets for popular attractions before you board the train. GetYourGuide gives you access to tickets with a guaranteed entry time — no surprises at the gate after two hours in a queue.
With early booking (4–8 weeks ahead) and 1–2 overnight connections, the total ticket cost on the Lisbon–Vienna route comes to around €150–190. Without overnight legs and buying last-minute, you can easily exceed €300.
Yes, it is realistic — we checked prices across several departure dates in 2025–2026. AVE Madrid–Barcelona fares of €20–25 and TGV Barcelona–Lyon fares of €22 appear regularly with sufficiently early booking. The key is date flexibility and buying the moment you commit to the route.
May–June and September–October are the sweet spot: warm weather, none of the July–August crowds, and lower accommodation prices. July and August are hot and expensive, particularly in Barcelona and Milan; winter is the cheapest but Lisbon and Barcelona have very short days.
On this particular route — usually not. The Interrail Global Pass starts at around €260 for 5 travel days within a month, which is more expensive than buying point-to-point tickets. Interrail makes sense on a very intensive itinerary (more than 8–10 journeys in a month) or when you want full flexibility without booking in advance.
One plan across 39 countries — from Lisbon to Vienna, no roaming and no SIM swaps.
Read more → 🚆When the train wins and when the coach is three times cheaper — an honest comparison.
Read more → 🎫Sagrada Família, the Last Supper, the Belvedere — timed entry, no queue.
Read more →A new European city in detail — how to get there cheaply, what to skip, and which booking will save you the most. No noise.