This Thomas Cook guide compacts the whole of Europe into 600-odd pages. As editor on seven editions, I have reorganised and rewritten text to focus on the needs of Inter-railers and Eurailers - picking out the places they want to see and finding inexpensive accommodation along the way.
It's crucial that the book avoids getting bogged down with standard sightseeing - that's not necessarily the way young people travel nowadays. To this end the book gives unpretentious descriptions of places, and tells you what you can get for free or how to make your money go further. For the latest edition I have called upon a Europe-wide team of fact checkers to give lots of input on electronic information. Many travellers now book accommodation and cheap flights through e-mail, and research cities and countries on the web. Accordingly, the book now lists websites and e-mail addresses where relevant.
Uniquely among guidebooks, this one is based on rail touring routes - recognising that readers will probably have a Europe-wide, or regional or country pass, and want to make optimum use of it. I can remember as a student Inter-railer the bemusement of being faced with tens of thousands of railways and not knowing where to start. This book makes the choosing easier, picking out the most scenic trips and telling the reader where to stop over. The Thomas Cook European timetablers have been an invaluable back-up team, working out journey times and connections, and pointing out to me any illogicalities in the routes I've proposed.
The guide comes with a mini CD, which I wrote, with a mass of general information about travel in Europe, and with hundreds of active website links.

Reviews

"The essential volume for anyone intending to travel around Europe by train." Sunday Times,

"The indispensable inter-railer's guide to budget Europe." Wanderlust

"Essential reading: a mine of vital up-to-date information." Mail on Sunday.