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Ever felt jealous of how it’s far easier for Europeans to discover all those secret, beautiful medieval towns, that for you as an American feel incredibly remote? You’re not alone.
As much as the United States is well-connected to the Old Continent, all flights almost exclusively arrive in major destinations––think Barcelona, Rome, Paris, London and the like––and service to other non-cliche, off-path spats is limited, and sometimes non-existent.
Well, not anymore.
From 2025, you’ll be able to book combined plane & train tickets traveling to as many as 9 incredible hidden gems of Europe that all your favorite airlines, be it American, Delta or United, can’t reach on their own:
Two Transport Modes, One Reservation
As confirmed by Connexion France, starting in the first half of 2025, airline alliance SkyTeam, which includes Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air France, Delta Air Lines, ITA Airways, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and many more, will team up with Eurostar to offer combined bookings.
Effectively, when booking through any of the airline’s signatories to this accord, you will be able to seamlessly transfer from plane to train once landing in Europe without worrying about booking a separate ticket for the second half of the trip.
As SkyTeam’s CEO has noted, ‘working with Eurostar as our first non-airline partner underscores SkyTeam’s commitment to delivering a more integrated and responsible travel experience by incorporating intermodal travel’.
Eurostar is one of the largest cross-border rail operators in Europe, serving 27 destinations across 5 different countries, and it’s a popular alternative to flying for tourists country-hopping within Europe, especially for medium-distance travel.
Why Does This Matter To American Travelers?
For Americans, the most exciting part is, without question, the fact that they will no longer need to book multiple tickets, from plane to international train to inter-municipal train, to reach secondary European destinations that do not host nonstop U.S. flights.
They will still be required to transfer once landing, naturally, but it is still a huge improvement over holding multiple bookings, checking between 2 and 3 times for each leg of the trip, particularly when so much can go wrong, from delays or cancellations at any point.
If you’ve ever been left at the mercy of different transportation providers, such as missing your tight connection because train operator #1 slightly delayed your departure, then not getting assistance or compensation from train operator #2 because it was out of their hands, you know exactly what we mean.
So where in Europe that’s a little off the beaten track that most American tourists are yet to discover, and you go with a combined plane & train ticket from 2025?
Here’s Every Destination You Can Visit With A Combined Plane + Train Ticket From 2025
Arriving in London, United Kingdom or Cologne, Germany
- Lille, France
- Liège, Belgium
- Aachen, Germany
- Essen, Germany
Arriving in Paris, France
- Lille, France
- Liège, Belgium
- Aachen, Germany
- Essen, Germany
In winter only:
- Moûtiers-Salins-Brides-Les-Bains
- Aime-La-Plagne
- Bourg-Saint-Maurice
Arriving in Brussels, Belgium or Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Lille, France
- Liège, Belgium
- Aachen, Germany
- Essen, Germany
Seasonal only:
- Chambéry, France
- Albertville, France
- Moûtiers-Salins-Brides-Les-Bains, France
- Aime-La-Plagne, France
- Landry, France
- Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France
- Valence, France
- Avignon, France
- Aix-en-Provence, France
In total, there are 9 lesser-known destinations that are now within easy reach for U.S. tourists, without the added stress of searching for reliable railway companies to book with, or which routes are available: your airline and Eurostar will take care of that for you.
Northern France, Flanders And Western Germany:
Lille
If your main reason for coming to Europe in winter is sightseeing and marveling at all those stunning half-timbered buildings that look cropped out of a storybook, then you should definitely use your combined ticket to visit Lille.
Famous for its Flemish-inspired city center and Grand Place, it is an unsung cultural capital that deserves more recognition: other than playing a key role during Europe’s mercantile trade in the Middle Ages, this is the birthplace of General de Gaulle, one of the national heroes of France.
Liège
Lining the banks of a scenic Meuse River, in the French-speaking half of Belgium (known as Wallonia), Liège is the answer to the crowd-wary traveler’s plight who did not particularly enjoy their time in Brussels or Ghent: it’s not as busy, and the medieval center is an open-air museum.
Notable points of interest include the Romanesque Church of St. Bartholomew, the Grand Curtius Museum, for those of you with a particular interest in archeological finds, and Montagne de Bueren, a 374-step staircase linking the lower town to the 13th-century citadel.
Aachen
One of the oldest cities in Germany, with a high concentration of medieval buildings that have, thankfully, largely been spared the doom of World War II, Aachen is a city of cobblestones, boutique shops, picturesque squares with centerpiece fountains, and Romanesque churches.
Its cathedral founded in the year 800 AD houses the remains of Charlemagne, and nearby, the Town Hall is among the finest Baroque buildings in Germanic Europe, and oh, lets not forget Elisenbrunnen and its sulfurous water fountains, said to have unique healing properties!
Essen
Essen is a cultural gem often overlooked by tourists due to its past as an industrial powerhouse for Western Germany––in the current era, however, you’re unlikely to see tall chimneys spewing toxic ash in the distance, but you can visit a heritage site or two.
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex, closed formally in 1993, is a UNESCO-protected landmark, now converted into a museum, while an idyllic Villa Hügel is the 19th-century home of the rich industrialist Krupp family, currently housing an art gallery.
Alpine France:
Chambéry
Best visited in winter, when snow is collecting atop the surrounding Alps, and festive garlands and lights bedeck its narrow streets, Chambéry is a fairytale-like alpine settlement littered with wellness spas, ski stations, and of course, the odd few historical sites.
Other than drinking hot chocolate copiously and dodging pine trees as you go down the vertical slopes, we’d suggest you pay the Castle of the Dukes of Savoy a visit: yet another medieval treasure, it has a permanent historical exhibit (and its towers serve as great viewpoints).
Albertville, France
Nestled in the hills of Savoy, near the borders with Switzerland and Italy, Albertville is a laid-back alternative to France’s jam-packed alpine hotspots, providing access to ski stations in Val Thorens, Les Menuires and Courchevel, and an Old Town that’s just as charming.
If you’re a foodie, this is definitely not a place you want to miss on your next Grand Tour of Europe: just think of all the raclette cheese, charcuterie boards, and French onion soup topped with browned croutons you could have without paying a fortune as you would in Chamonix.
Southern France:
Valence
Back over in France, Valence is located in the country’s southeastern end, and it combines the best of both worlds: Paris’ Northerly Haussmann elegance, and the French South‘s Italian-style, pastel-colored houses and laid-back living.
It is easily distinguished by its 16th-century Maison des Têtes, or House of Heads, an architectural masterpiece adorned with carved heads, the medieval Château de Crussol, a monumental St-Apollinaire Cathedral, and most incredibly even, a canal-traversed Jouvet Park.
Avignon
As one of the former capitals of the once-vast Roman Empire, there’s enough landmarks in Avignon, in the Provence hinterland of France, to keep you busy for more than a couple of days, from Roman-era bridges to intact city walls, though you’re likely to be drawn first to this:
Standing proudly amidst Europe’s largest, and best-preserved fortresses of its time, the Palace of the Popes was the formal residence of the Catholic Pope from 1309 to 1376, and it is one of France’s most prized patrimoines, up there with Notre Dame of Paris and Mont Saint-Michel.
Aix-en-Provence
The ninth and last hidden gem awaiting discovery is Aix-en-Provence, the capital of France’s Provence region, and a postcard-ready, pastel-colored city with noticeable Catalonian influences you’d have a hard time believing isn’t an Impressionist painting.
As it turns out, it is the birthplace of the king of Post-Impressionism, Paul Cézanne, and his childhood home, as well as his studio (Atelier Cézanne) can both be visited––not to mention the Romanesque and Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur, and the historic Archbishop’s Palace.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
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