Researched routes Rail or
Rail or
Flight?
Should you take the train, or fly? For each city pair we cover, we add the airport trip, security, and the ride into town — and we say so when you'd be better off flying. Pick two cities.
Today's call on Copenhagen → Hamburg:
train wins.
Featured route Copenhagen
Copenhagen
→ Hamburg
"Take the train. The hour in the air is the easy bit. Then you're at the airport."
Train
9.1/10
Flight
6.4/10
See why → Train wins
The routes.
City pairs where train vs plane isn't obvious. More through 2026. See the criteria →
№ 01 Train wins
Copenhagen → Hamburg
Take the train. It's the simpler door-to-door choice for almost everyone.
№ 02 Depends
Copenhagen → Stockholm
Five hours station-to-station, or one in the air. The answer is what you're doing in Stockholm.
№ 03 Depends
Amsterdam → Berlin
A long train day, or a short flight with the usual airport tax. Call it a tie.
№ 04 Train wins
Amsterdam → Paris
Thalys/Eurostar puts you in central Paris in three hours, hands down.
№ 05 Train wins
Amsterdam → London
Eurostar wins on time, comfort, and the bit where you don't go through Schiphol.
№ 06 Train wins
Paris → London
The Eurostar is the most under-debated decision in European travel.
№ 07 Train wins
Paris → Lyon
TGV in under two hours. The flight exists for nostalgia reasons.
№ 08 Train wins
Paris → Marseille
Three hours to the Mediterranean without a single boarding pass.
№ 09 Train wins
Paris → Amsterdam
Reverse of the easy one. Still easy.
№ 10 Depends
Berlin → Munich
Sprinter ICE has narrowed it, but the plane still wins on raw time.
№ 11 Train wins
Berlin → Hamburg
Two hours flat between two city centers. There's no flight to argue with.
№ 12 Train wins
Berlin → Prague
The four-hour ride along the Elbe valley is the trip, not the cost.
№ 13 Depends
Berlin → Vienna
Sleeper or eight-hour day train. Book the Nightjet.
№ 14 Train wins
Vienna → Budapest
Two and a half hours through Hungary's plains for the price of a haircut.
№ 15 Train wins
Zurich → Milan
The Gotthard run is one of the great train journeys in Europe. Book a window.
№ 16 Train wins
Zurich → Paris
Four hours flat on the TGV Lyria. Comfortable, civilized, central.
№ 17 Train wins
Milan → Rome
Three hours on Frecciarossa. The plane is for people who haven't tried it.
№ 18 Train wins
Madrid → Barcelona
Two and a half hours on the AVE. The shuttle flight is a relic.
№ 19 Train wins
Brussels → Amsterdam
Under two hours direct, hourly. Flying it borders on absurd.
№ 20 Flight wins
Stockholm → Milan
Two and a half days by rail vs. a 2h45 flight. Fly.
№ 21 Flight wins
London → Barcelona
Eurostar plus TGV plus AVE is a beautiful day; the flight is two hours.
№ 22 Flight wins
Madrid → Rome
Two hours in the air or a multi-day rail puzzle via Marseille and Milan.
№ 23 Flight wins
Stockholm → Rome
Three hours flying vs. two and a half days of trains. There's no contest.
№ 24 Depends
Paris → Nice
Six hours on the TGV down the length of France, or ninety minutes over it. Depends what the trip is for.
№ 25 Depends
Seville → Barcelona
Five and a half hours direct on the AVE, or under two in the air. Both drop you centrally; only one eats the day.
№ 26 Depends
Munich → Prague
Around five and a half hours on the ALEX through Bavaria and Bohemia, or an hour in the air plus the usual overhead.
№ 27 Train wins
London → Amsterdam
Direct Eurostar, St Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal in four hours. The reverse of the easy call.
№ 28 Train wins
London → Edinburgh
Four hours twenty on the LNER, King's Cross to Waverley, straight through the middle of both cities.
How we time it.
We put the airport trip on the clock. Some routes should be flown; those get a fly verdict.
01
The airport trip counts
The clock starts at your front door. Gate-to-gate times leave out getting there, security, and the ride into town.
02
A normal Tuesday
Weekday, normal weather, one bag. Best-case isn't a useful answer.
03
We say when to fly
Some routes shouldn't be on the train. Stockholm to Rome is one of them.
04
Checked every quarter
Schedules change. The last-reviewed date is when we last looked.