Europe's greatest train stations

Aug 11, 2009 6:00:47 AM

Tom Hall
Lonely Planet Author

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In Europe’s great cities, a station can be a destination in itself. Take a later train and discover these ‘railway cathedrals’.

St Pancras International, London

Shiny, renovated St Pancras is one of London’s must-see sights, whether you’re hopping on a Eurostar to the continent or just treating yourself to a glass of fizz at the champagne bar stretching beside the platforms. Come anytime to stroll open-mouthed around the Barlow train shed, once the world’s largest enclosed space and now part of the world’s most jaw-dropping railway station.

Gare de Lyon, Paris

Gare de Lyon station remains a wonderful example of belle époque architecture, complete with the astonishingly ornate Le Train Bleu brasserie, surely the finest restaurant in any station anywhere in the world. Check out the nude statues symbolising Navigation, Steam, Electricity and Mechanics perched out front.

Centraal, Antwerp

Don’t be fooled by the modesty of Brussels’ Midi Station: the Belgians do grandiose terminals as well as any European country. Prince among them is Antwerp’s recently renovated Centraal Station, a marble-and-glass terminus known as the Railway Cathedral. It’s hard to know where to look here - at the giant dome, the vaulted ceiling or the dramatically sweeping main staircase. Centraal Station is also home to a diamond gallery with thirty shops, a nod to the city’s jewellery-dealing heritage.

Santa Lucia, Venice

Such is the impact of the first view of Venice on exiting this station that some visitors (me included) have been known to walk back into this 1950s station building and stroll out into the sunshine again and again. The magic is instant. Venice suddenly becomes a reality, complete with its car-free soundtrack of vaporetto engines and the shouts of tour groups wandering across the canal quayside. Hot and sticky in summer and usually busy, the station is the gateway to one of the world’s wonders, and even though its 1950s halls and platforms are in need of a brush-up it remains one of the continent’s best places to pass through by train.

Hlavní, Prague

Among the many things that took travellers’ breath away when Prague emerged from behind the Iron Curtain in the 1990s was the dramatic entrance to the city. Hlavní nádraží is one of many art nouveau gems in the city, even if its glory is obscured from the rest of town by a main road. The station’s lavishly decorated lobby and ornate ceilings create a superb first or last impression, and the terminus is slowly emerging from a major renovation.

Keleti, Budapest

Those passionate about the golden age of British engineering (and who isn’t?) should tarry a while outside Budapest’s palace-like Keleti (eastern) station and admire the statues of James Watt and George Stephenson. These diligent inventors refined and perfected steam engine technology, ushering in the golden age of railways.

Santa Maria Novella, Florence

The kind of place you wait for someone who never turns up, Florence’s Santa Maria Novella is a slightly surreal introduction to what is, for most visitors, a few days bingeing on timeless Florentine art, architecture and food. This is a Fascist building, built with Mussolini’s approval. Everything from signal boxes to station clocks are resolutely modernist. The platform-side memorial to Jews deported from here to concentration camps is a reminder of the more chilling consequences of Fascist rule in Italy.

Rautatieasema, Helsinki

When a station has a lounge reserved exclusively for the use of the President you know it’s a bit special. Clad in Finnish granite and fronted with iconic statuary, Helsinki’s main train station was brightened up in 2000 by the installation of a glass roof.

Porte Dauphine, Paris

You may think that once you’ve seen the War of the Worlds-style art nouveau subway entrances at Paris’ Gare du Nord you can tick that theme off your Impressive Stations list. Think again: go to Porte Dauphine in the distant 16th arrondisement and be astonished not only that Hector Guimard turned his dream-like designs into reality but also that there are only two original examples left on the Metro network. The other, equally worth a look, is at Abbesses in Montmartre.

São Bento, Porto

Visitors to Portugal are often surprised by unexpected and spectacular murals made with blue azulejo tiles, and the wall displays at Porto’s São Bento station are so dramatic as to be a tourist attraction on their own. Jorge Colaço’s work covers the walls of the station and depicts great scenes from Portugal’s history. Grab a bench and let those custard tarts digest while taking in the scene.

Can’t work out how to get from A to B? Chances are the seasoned travellers on the Thorn Tree forum can help out.

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Comments

11 August 2009 10:14PM katie_f Report this comment
Did they move Eurostar to St Pancras because the French were annoyed at arriving in London at Waterloo, named after the battle that saw them roundly defeated by the Brits?
13 August 2009 8:25AM fwoggie Report this comment
The cunning redesign of Antwerp centraal (Basically dig a huge hole under the existing one and stick in a very artistically designed shopping centre (no, really) plus four through lines has turned this into an amazing engineering feat, it's absolutely huge now. Definitely googling or visiting if in the area - you get free onward travel from Brussels Midi if on a eurostar ticket to anywhere in Belgium.
13 August 2009 10:17PM isabellestravel Report this comment
Great to see Antwerp is included in this list!
2 September 2009 8:12PM jennismortal Report this comment
The first time I really noticed a train station was when I was just a wee traveler and we were driving past the turn-of-the-century Main Street Station in Richmond, Virginia. From then on, I was fascinated by the often historic landmarks heralding the great days of rail travel. While my all-time favorite station is close to home, I was simply enthralled by this article from Lonely Planet highlighting the greatest train stations in Europe. ______________ Good source for <a href="http://www.airline-booking.com/paris-travel-deals.html">Paris travel deals</a>
3 September 2009 6:03PM tomh Report this comment
Thanks for the comments - I really like all these suggestions.
Katie - I seem to recall that there was some debate about what to call St Pancras International. Lots of mischievous suggestions that this too should be named after a military victory over the French many moon ago. Happily they settled for the original name of the station, which comes from the surrounding area. In case you were wondering, St Pancras is an ancient area of London named after an early Christian martyr whose legend was brought to London by Roman soldiers.
21 September 2009 4:05AM andrewhillier Report this comment
Can I add to the list - Vitebsk Station, St Petersburg - an art nouveau jewel exactly as it was when buit in 1904 - (see Lonely P - p.210)-does anyone know whether it is referred to/illustrated in any books?
Andrew Hillier
21 September 2009 6:39PM fantamic Report this comment
I would add the station at Leipzig to the list, especially as its magnificence is out of all proportion to the size and present day importance of the city.
25 September 2009 10:55AM welltraveledman Report this comment
The fitst time i traveled from St Pancras i was utterly gobsmacked. the view of the station as you walk towards the station along Euston Road is very impressive, you begin to appreciate the beauty of the gothic deisgn of the facade. But then you get to the platforms and your eyes are darting about everywhere, taking it all in, the sheer beauty of the light and space.
31 October 2009 7:16AM dhee2009 Report this comment
Definitely would add Leipzig in the list, a bit disappointed it's not there...
1 November 2009 3:45AM johndenver Report this comment
Antwerp Centraal is gorgeous!
8 April 2010 4:47PM nomadic_couple Report this comment
I would add a couple of the underground stations in Moscow...
15 December 2010 7:11AM thomaswamsteker Report this comment
I really can't believe why they forgot Amsterdam Centraal.
2 January 2012 6:32PM gloskeith Report this comment
This list wouldn't be complete without Madrid's Atocha.
The garden that fills a large part of its ground floor is as special as it is unusual in a railway station.
And the AVE departure area is sleek and shiny - like an airport terminal - and boasts interesting sculptures.
I always enjoy returning to Atocha.