What is this?

This is a map that allows you to plan a holiday across Europe without using flights.

Click a location, then click another to see the optimal route between them.

How does it calculate optimal?

Instead of optimising for the shortest duration from point-to-point, as traditional route planners do, it optimises for the shortest time that you'd actually be awake and in-transit.

This means that sleeper trains and night boats are factored in correctly. Of course, back to back sleeper trains will mean that you'll have a whole day of waiting between trains – but that's the whole point – you can see that place on the way and enjoy the journey.

It includes a few seasonal services, but excludes services that don't run at least once a week. The vast majority run every day year-round. All sleeper trains include at minimum a couchette service, and most offer cabins. All sleeper routes leave and arrive at a reasonable hour and give over 7 hours sleep.

Lastly, some key points of interest are on the map, which may help you plan your trip. The algorithm for route finding does use these to find routes that allow you to visit places of interest on the way. Hiding a place in the Filter Places menu will not include it in the algorithm.