Trains, Planes, Beer and Tapas: A Trip to Prague and Madrid

December 23, 2021December 29, 2023 Koen 0 Comments

In this trip report, we review a couple of interesting flights and trains, eat a lot of tapas in Madrid and drink even more beer in Prague.

Trips

In recent months, I have made a number of trips to Prague and Madrid. Some of these travels were for work, while others were pure leisure trips to meet up with some old friends.

Some of them were a bit of an odd mix between work and leisure.

As I could draft my own itinerary and had some spare time on my hands to explore around, I managed to include some fun flights, train rides as well as a couple of new destinations into these trips.

dining car czech train prague trip report — *View from the dining car on a Czech train. ©Paliparan*

Flights

The trips to Prague and Madrid allowed me to try out some new aircraft and airliners that I haven’t flown before.

Without doubt, the true highlight was the Air France business class flight on a brand new Airbus A220. This also gave me the opportunity to visit the new Air France business class lounge for Schengen flights in Terminal 2F of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Although I have flown on Air France regional subsidiary HOP before, it was my first time in business class on their Embraer 170 so I’ve written a review of that flight as well.

It was also good fun to fly Air Europa for the first time ever. My short-haul flight from Madrid to Milan was operated by a widebody plane, the Boeing 787, which made it stand out as well.

Just for fun, I have also included two Ryanair flight reviews as the experiences on board couldn’t have been more different.

air france 2f schengen lounge paris cdg — *The brand new Air France business lounge at Paris CDG Terminal 2F for Schengen flights. ©Paliparan*

economy class air europa boeing 787 — *Economy class on the Air Europa Boeing 787. ©Paliparan*

Trains

On short European routes I always prefer to take the train instead of flying – and the scenic journey between Budapest and Prague is a great example of this.

The Budapest to Prague route is operated by trains of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) as well as those of the Czech Railways (České Dráhy or ČD).

I tried out both of them, travelling on the “Hungaria” EuroCity train between Budapest and Brno and the “Metropolitan” train between Brno and Prague.

A day trip from Prague to Olomouc allowed me to try out to private competitors of the Czech Railways, namely Leo Express and RegioJet.

Being booked in the top travel class on both, I had a great experience on board the trains of these railway companies.

hungaria train budapest nyugati station — *The “Hungaria” EuroCity train waiting for departure at Budapest Nyugati station. ©Paliparan*

regiojet business class sushi sparkling wine train prague trip report — *Sushi and Czech sparkling wine on RegioJet’s excellent business class. ©Paliparan*

Destinations

Although I have visited Prague and Madrid many times before and there is a lot to see and do in these two fantastic European capitals, I will discuss both destinations in a more narrow scope.

In Madrid I will go on a tapas crawl and visit some of my favourite bars and restaurants in the city, while in Prague the focus of this trip report will be on the golden elixir of life: Beer!

Perhaps the true highlight is my visit to the city of Olomouc in the Czech Republic, which is a true hidden gem with a wonderful old town and lots of Art Nouveau beauty.

olomouc old town — *The old town of Olomouc. ©Paliparan*

polbo feira madrid tapas trip report — *Enjoying some Polbo á Feira in Madrid. ©Paliparan*

Chronological

As I wrote before, all these flights, train rides and visits happened during multiple trips spread out over several months, mostly during autumn.

However, for the sake of clarity and having a more cohesive narrative, I’ve written this trip report like it was one consecutive journey instead of several individual trips.

On a map, the flights I took during this trip look like this:

planes trains trip report prague madrid — *The flights I took across Europe on this trip. ©Great Circle Mapper*

Highlights

Highlights to look forward to in this ‘Across Europe by Train: Interrail in the Age of Corona’ trip report include:

– Admiring the Art Nouveau beauty of Olomouc
– Fun stopovers in Brno and Chania
– Some luxurious train journeys in the Czech Republic with private operators Leo Express and RegioJet
– Checking the latest Air France has to offer: Its Airbus A220 and the brand new Schengen Lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
– A lot of great food in Spain and big quantities of beer in the Czech Republic