A practical guide that is also a coffee table book, Train Travels in Europe details 30 train itineraries around Europe, taking travelers to must-see places but also on unknown routes. Published in 2020 by Gallimard Loisirs, the book has sold nearly 10,000 copies in France; the rights have been sold in Germany, Denmark, Italy, Sweden and the Czech Republic. 

Released in the middle of the pandemic, Train Travels in Europe has allowed readers, publishers and rights managers to dream about European travel: "Train travel is the alternative journey of the 21st century, more ecological, slower, a journey which allows travelers to immerse themselves in culture, populations and landscapes," says Mathilde Barrois, Head of International Rights at Gallimard Loisirs.

 

Pasta, palaces and bathing in Sicily, a gourmet zigzag through the Balkans, Highlands in cinemascope... the itineraries were created by a collective of eleven authors, globetrotters, journalists, eco-responsible tourism consultants, all passionate about train travel. This book also includes reading tips, playlists, fun maps and colorful and modern pop graphics which have seduced foreign publishers of both "classic" travel guides and coffee table books.  

 

"As part of the Voyages Gallimard collection, whose aim is to offer ways of travelling more responsibly, Train Travels in Europe allowed readers in 2020 to continue to be places but in a different way, in another format, with another approach and to inform readers that travel is still possible," recalls Mathilde Barrois. 

 

Katja Petrovic 
March 2022