“As if you were walking into another world.” The impressions of a British, known for the railway guides in Europe, about his train trip to Romania

Mark Smith, the author of the site “The Man in Seat 61”, one of the best known online guidelines dedicated to train travel through Europe, told Hotnews how Romania saw-on the train window, as well as at a step. He talks about the potential of the railway network, but also about the things that displeased them from Budapest to Brasov and from Brasov to Bucharest.

• Mark Smith is a former station manager in the UK, who has transformed the passion for train travel.
• More than 20 years ago, The Man in Seat 61, a site that was awarded in the UK, which it named after its favorite place on the Eurostar train.
• Now, he is considered an inspiration for those who prefer the train instead of the plane. He explains to people how they can reach, step by step, from London in any corner of Europe or even in Asia, only by train and ferry.

Mark Smith tells, for the public Hotnews, how he arrived in Romania. He took the night train “Corona”, operated by the Hungarian railways, “because it has a restaurant wagon”. “Unfortunately, it is the only remaining in Romania,” he says.

He confesses that he had “a delicious dinner with gulas, chicken with paprika and wine”, and then withdrew to our private cuse for the night. “In the morning he brought him a memorable image.

“To wake up in the heart of rural Transylvania is as if you were walking into another world. As the morning sun wasted the fog that floated above the picturesque villages, of the churches and the open fields, we headed to the wagon-restaurant, where we had a copious breakfast, with a day.

“The railway network has enormous potential for sustainable tourism”

Smith admits that the sleeping wagon in which he traveled was old and had no air conditioning. “It was hot until the train caught speed, so I kept the windows wide open.” But the delay of 25 minutes to Brasov seemed “minor, given the experience as a whole”.

“The railway network in Romania is extended and cheap, online reservations can be made from the UK, and the system has been open to competition,” he adds, referring to private operators, such as Astra Trans Carpatic, with whom he traveled to Bucharest.

Smith believes that Romania has “a huge potential for sustainable train. It has good connections with Vienna and Budapest and a lot of interesting destinations, not only Brașov, but also Bucharest, Cluj and Sighișoara.”

What he liked in Brasov and how Romania sees from the train

“Brașov is a delight, a friendly city, with a beautiful old market and many restaurants or places where you can drink a beer. It was a perfect stop on our way from London to Istanbul.”

He also visited Bran Castle, which he says is “much less known for the connection with Queen Maria of Romania, a British princess and the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who played an essential role in Romania's entry into World War I on the side and unification of the country.”

Asked if it is the first time in Romania, Mark Smith replies that it has been several times since the 1990s, including in Sighisoara and in an older visit to Brasov.

“Romania is visibly less prosperous than the Western countries, but the EU belonging begins to match things, and the entrance to the Schengen space greatly facilitates travel. Romania has a strong identity, a fascinating history and I have always met friendly people.

From a HTML manual to millions of readers monthly

The idea of the site came in 2001, in a bookstore in Marylebone Station in London. He bought a HTML manual for 2.95 pounds, “probably the best spent money in my life,” he says, and started posting information about how you can travel by the UK train to Europe.

“I wanted to cover the huge void between how simple and practically I always found train travel and how hard it was to find someone to tell you how it is done. So I decided to be subversive and put everything online,” says Mark.

Since 2007, the site has become his full-time job.

The story of the site name

The name of the project comes from Mark's favorite place on the Eurostar train, the high speed train connecting London to Paris and Brussels through the canal tunnel.

“On the original Eurostarele, the 61st place in wagons 7, 8, 11 or 12 was a table for two people, right next to the window, the perfect place. I left London from Seat 61 to Marrakech, through Paris and Madrid, to Balaclava, Ialta and Crimea through Berlin and Odessa, as well as to Nagasaki, through Brussels, Moscow, Vladivostok.”

Mark sometimes travels alone, “to cover more ground and tighten information and photos for the site”, as he tells. But the trip through Romania was a family one. “My daughter wanted to see Bran Castle, so here we are in Brasov. In the train we spend time together, we are sitting at the table and laughing a lot.”

Favorite routes and the best trains in the world

Asked what route would repeat anytime, Mark Smith has a long list. “London-Fort William with the Caledonian night train Sleeper has been favorite in London on a high-speed line with 6 electrified rails and wake up in a diesel train that snakes through Highlands, with deer running near the train.” It's magic. “

Other favorite routes are Bernina Express from Switzerland or Belgrade-Bar through Montenegro.

And the country with the best trains? “Switzerland, without a doubt. The state invests massively in the transport system and can be seen. Trains, buses, ships and funicular connects each other.”