Milano Centrale – Lugano – Zuerich HB – Singen (Hohentweil) – Offenburg – Strasbourg – Paris Est – Paris Nord – Lille Europe – London St Pancras – London Euston – Wolverhampton

I’d always planned an early departure from Milan. I need to be home tomorrow and I had the idea of taking a new route back via Luxembourg, with an overnight stay either there or in Brussels, depending on how the day went.

The streets of Milan were deserted at 7:30am. I walked to the station, picked up some orange juice and a croissant, then found my train.

The first section of the day passed through the lakes area. At Lugano there was a very short connection time; the first opportunity for things to go wrong, but thankfully we were on time and I made it with a couple of minutes to spare.

The scenery here is very pleasant. It’s not easy to get photos of the lakes as the railway generally passes behind buildings, but I got a glimpse or two.

After passing through the tunnel at Gotthard, I was back in Switzerland. The views are again very pleasant. I spotted a number of rather lovely buildings as we went along.

I don’t think I’ve changed trains in Zurich before. I’ve passed through a number of times but always left on the same train that I arrived on. This time I had 45 minutes to explore the station and it’s surroundings which are rather pleasant. It is on my radar as a city to spend time in, but not today.

I had bought some lunch on the station, which came out as soon as we set off. I rather liked this very modern building, which I presume is a signal box serving the station.

Crossing into Germany the rural scenery continued. I’ve not done this line before, having previously always taken the more direct main line to Strasbourg. It is pleasant enough and the train ran on time. As I got off I was struck by how huge these double decker trains are, compared to British trains.

I had a bit of a wait at Singen, so took a look outside the station. It’s great that the station comes right up to the town, and I can see online that this area has been greatly improve in recent years, with the large shelter above the bus stops.

On the opposite side of the tracks to the station entrance I spotted a rather unusual water tower in the middle of a factory.

As we left Singen, we passed a series of hills with the remains of castles on top, within sight of each other. There were a few odd sights in this section. It was perhaps a bit nerdy to spot the metal sleepers at Engen, but I thought they were quite attractive. Schloss Ortenberg also caught my eye as we passed.

By now it was mid-afternoon and I was thinking about how the day would play out. I’d been looking at the Eurostar availability from Brussels for tomorrow, which wasn’t great for Interrail pass holders. I could only get an evening train, which didn’t really suit me. After toying with various options I decided that I would reroute myself to Paris and then Lille, from where I could catch the last train through the tunnel tonight.

This was my only option on a last minute booking as I didn’t have time to get to Brussels and the Paris trains were all full, but it was nice to do something different.

I’ve changed trains in Strasbourg before now but not stopped to look at it. My change of plan meant I had time to at least step outside the station, which is a really curious mix of old and new.

As ever with TGV, I needed a reservation for the train to Paris. What I’d completely missed in my hurried replanning was that I also needed one for the regional service to Lille. There was a slightly panicked moment when I discovered this, just 10 minutes before the train was due to depart. I wasn’t able to reserve online, or on one of the machines in the concourse, but a very helpful member of staff sorted it out for me. In the rush he inadvertently booked me into second class not first, but I was just glad to make it to Lille.

The train pulled in on the platform next to where Eurostar departs, but the two are separated by a tall barrier.

Maybe its just me but I could not work out where to go to get the Eurostar. There are no obvious signs at all, and it turned out that the check in was at the far end of the station. I was very early for my train, so went to find something to eat, once I’d established what I needed to do.

The train I was catching had started in Amsterdam. That’s a Eurostar (and indeed Interrail) destination that I’ve not yet done, though I’ve been there a couple of times by car and on a different train. Very few people boarded in Lille.

I was on a table for two with another passenger who had come from Amsterdam. She was not looking well, and I was a little concerned for her. She explained that she wasn’t ill but had not got her inhaler with her and was struggling without it. A member of staff brought some hot water for the menthol tea bags she had with her, which seemed to help. Fortunately she lived in London and said she only had a short journey home from the station.

We arrived on time into St Pancras which gave me the opportunity to get further north and so make best use of my Interrail pass. I was thinking that now I was so close to home I could save a travel day on the pass and just buy a ticket tomorrow. I wished my fellow traveller well for her journey home and dashed across to Euston.

I was in time to catch the 22:25 to Wolverhampton. This is as far north as you can get from Euston at this time of night, oddly. 30 years ago I would regularly catch the 23:50 from Euston to Stoke, if I’d been to a gig in the capital but that service ended years ago and the last trains are well before 10pm. It is so frustrating and means that a night in London need a hotel room or a very late drive home, though clearly the latter was not an option in this case.

I wasn’t expecting there to be any First Class catering on a Sunday night train so had picked up a Cornish pasty on the concourse, but I was handed a menu as I sat down. I accepted the offer of a pot of tea and a cheeseboard.

We were on time into Wolverhampton. Only a handful of other passengers got off here, along with most of the train crew. From here I could get a direct local service home in the morning.

I’d booked myself into a room right next to the station. By the time I arrived I was almost 1am and the receptionist was unable to generate a room key for me as his computer systems were doing their daily backups. I said that if he could let me into the room that would be fine as I didn’t need to leave the room until I checked out.