Travel News

Austerity in Europe: What to Expect with Summer Travel in the EU

Locations in this article:  Athens, Greece Madrid, Spain Philadelphia, PA Rome, Italy

But why go by car when you can go by train? Especially when in Spanish territory. It’s a little known fact that Spain has the longest high-speed train route in Europe, and the second longest in the world following China.

Though Spain’s Prime Minister has insisted the country is planning on sticking to harsh austerity measures, there have been no reports that the government has shut down Spain’s well-noted high-speed train routes.

“There haven’t been any bulletins about anything specific,” said Julie Johnson of Azzurro Travel. “That doesn’t mean that things aren’t closed, but we haven’t been informed.”

Johnson said she preferred taking the train as opposed to the country’s bus system.

“They’re a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more enjoyable than the buses, generally,” she said. “There’s more space. You can get up and walk around.”

They also get you where you want to go much faster than the bus. For example, a high-speed train from Madrid to Seville will take about 2.5 hours, whereas a bus or a car can put you back up to six hours to go the same distance.

For more information on travel to Europe this summer, keep reading:

By Charles Edward Hicks for PeterGreenberg.com

Feature Image Credit via Wikimedia Commons, user  Surat Lozowick