Delta is making European travel even more accessible with an expansion of its Air+Rail program. The initiative allows passengers to book flights and trains under one ticket at select airports around the European continent.
The booking option was originally launched in 2021, with travelers to Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport being able to jump on a train to Antwerp and Brussels in nearby Belgium. But as of this week, airports in Brussels, Manchester, Zurich, and Rome have all been added. In total, Delta customers can no easily visit twenty more cities not originally accessible by flights alone.
Railway travel can be intimidating for American travelers, owing in no small part to the country’s lackluster railway system. Outside of the Northeast, traveling by car is generally faster and often cheaper than the train, helping make US tourists naturally hesitant to utilize them as a primary mode of transportation, even abroad. But Europe has a vast system of high-quality railway lines, making it easy, affordable, and comfortable to bounce around the continent.
The greater travesty at hand is knowing few Americans have experienced the joy I had as a Scottish teenager, cracking open a drink or five on the train. Do it in a car, and you’re a criminal. Do it on a train, and you’re cultured.