Intercontinental train travel: The highs, the lows, and why I'd do it again

In July 2025, I took a trip to Strasbourg, France, for the 21st International ESCAP Congress. IGUANA was generous enough to fund my travel, which I did exclusively via train – from home to London, London to Paris, Paris to Strasbourg, and back again. While I’ve been trying to make more sustainable choices for some time, this was the first time that I’ve chosen sustainable travel for a work trip. In this blog, I’m going to be honest about the highs, the lows, and why, despite the lows, I would do it again.

The Highs

The train journeys successfully got me to and from my destination. I enjoyed watching the French countryside go by, and luckily the internet was good enough that I could keep myself entertained for much of the journey.

The conference was one of the best that I’ve attended, so I was delighted that funding from IGUANA had enabled me to go. The talks were wide-ranging, taught me a lot, and gave me ideas for progressing my own research. Several team members also attended, so it was a genuinely joyful and spirited trip, which will likely be one of the professional highlights of my year.

The city itself was stunning. Strasbourg is in the Alsace region of France, close to the border of Germany, and the cultural influences of both countries are evident. Outside of the conference, there was time to wander the streets and take in the sights. My personal highlights were Petite France, a picturesque district of timber-framed buildings and waterways, and the cathedral’s impressive astronomical clock.

The Lows

Unfortunately, my first foray into sustainable work travel was less positive. Of the eight trains I took in total over the trip, only three of them ran on time. A particularly memorable moment was receiving an email shortly before one of the train journeys to say that my ticket had been revoked due to an equipment change.

Cue a very frantic 20 minutes of running between customer services, ticket machines and platforms, all while wishing I had a better grasp of French. In the end, I was permitted to board despite not having a working barcode on my ticket anymore – I was so evidently panicked about missing my connecting train that I think perhaps the ticket inspector felt sorry for me.

By the final day, temperatures in France were pushing 40°C. Passengers were penned in for over an hour queuing for Eurostar in this heat, with no access to seating or water. Emotions understandably ran high, and shouting and pushing amongst other passengers indicated just how much everyone was at their wits’ end.

The Take-Home Message

As you can probably tell, while the trip as a whole was a huge success, the sustainable travel experience held more negatives than positives. I confess that this made the prospect of writing this blog post quite daunting, because I wasn’t sure whether I could honestly champion intercontinental train travel as a viable alternative to air travel.

Nonetheless, I found myself weighing up whether I would travel this way again, and ultimately the answer is ‘Yes’. True, the journey was inconvenient and uncomfortable. But what’s even more inconvenient and uncomfortable?

A world blighted by soaring temperatures, wildfires, droughts, and all the other evils that will follow if we can’t keep our carbon emissions in check. Indeed, as I mentioned, high temperatures contributed to the discomfort of this journey – and I suspect we brought this particular factor on ourselves.

So, I won’t shy away from the fact that sustainable travel is awkward. But I’m going to try and embrace that awkwardness, for the sake of my niece, my nephew, and everyone else who will have to live with the consequences of my choices for far longer than I do.

And when I look back at my photos of Petite France at golden hour, it’s still hard to believe my luck that sights like that are just one awkward train journey away.