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Tweets by Paliparan editor-in-chief Koen. Trains & planes, travel news, reviews, trip reports, ticketing tricks, and personal thoughts on the world. Plus cats.
Nov 9 56 tweets 45 min read
Last week I spent a couple of days in Ireland, visiting the sights of the fine cities of Cork, Cobh, and Dublin and enjoying a couple of pints of stout. Time for a little Twitter trip report about my time in Ireland 👇 Image
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I arrived in Ireland on the ferry from France. If you haven't yet caught up on my travels through France from Paris to Morlaix and Roscoff in Brittany, and my ferry crossing on Brittany Ferries' MV Armorique from Roscoff to Cork, check the thread below:

Aug 26 63 tweets 48 min read
Yesterday I returned home from a wonderful two-week trip through Georgia. So here we go with another Twitter travel thread, starting in the beautiful Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Image Tbilisi is bisected by the Kura River. As this long but relatively narrow river valley is surrounded by mountains on three sides, Tbilisi's geography is a bit complex. In the south-west of the city you can find the old town on the right river bank..

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Aug 7 31 tweets 22 min read
Reggio di Calabria, Italy. A week ago I had the pleasure to make a short trip to this city in the toe of the Italian mainland. A little Twitter trip report 👇


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In the heart of the city you'll find Piazza Duomo, which is home to Reggio's Cathedral. This church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was built in the early 20th century after the old one was destroyed in a big earthquake..


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Jun 28 58 tweets 42 min read
Zdravo iz Sente (Hello from Senta)! Or should I use the Hungarian language and say 'Szia from Zenta', as this city in northern Serbia has a large Hungarian majority. For the next few days I'll be admiring some amazing Art Nouveau sights in this region. Image In case you have missed it, check the thread below about my overland trip (mostly by train) from Romania to Serbia, my visits to the pleasant Serbian cities of Zrenjanin and Kikinda, as well as my journey into Senta..

Apr 21 49 tweets 38 min read
In Putin's Russia, you don't travel to the border, but the Russian border travels to you. I'm on the Curonian Spit at the Lithuanian-Russian border, one of Europe's most geographically unusual and beautiful border regions, and I'll be exploring the Lithuanian half of the spit..

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If you missed the previous updates detailing my overland trip by train from Romania to Lithuanian, as well as visits to Kaunas, Vilnius, Trakai, and Klaipeda, then check the thread below 👇

Jan 25 34 tweets 24 min read
High-speed trains, Saudi Arabia style! Today I'll be travelling on the Mecca-Jeddah-Medina Haraiman High Speed Railway, a 453-kilometre-long line linking the two holiest cities in Islam. Image The railway is operated by a Saudi-Spanish consortium, which includes Spanish rail company Renfe and infrastructure company Adif. Unsurprisingly, Spanish Talgo trains are used on this high-speed line. In my Uber on the way to Jeddah's station I get my first glimpses of the line.. Image
Jul 20, 2023 39 tweets 28 min read
Back at Bucharest Gara de Nord for my second travel adventure this summer month. I'm heading to Bratislava, Slovakia. By train on the outbound journey, flying on the way back. So let's do a comparison in price, comfort and travel time! Image Gorgeous sunset colours on this hot day..

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Mar 18, 2023 37 tweets 26 min read
Time for the first trip with my brand new passport! Bit of planespotting and tracking of the inbound flight on Flightradar while I quietly sip my gin tonic.. You need some booze to make Bucharest Otopeni Airport bearable! Image On an Air France Airbus A319 towards Paris CDG.. ImageImageImageImage
Sep 5, 2022 302 tweets >60 min read
With 2 weeks validity left on my 3-month Interrail pass it's time for one last trip this summer: From Romania to Scotland by train! Am a bit sad kissing the kitties goodbye, but here we go for the first leg, which can only be the Dacia night train to Vienna..

#SleeperToScotland ImageImageImageImage There she is! Naturally, I managed to get one of the few en-suite compartments in this sleeper wagon.. ImageImageImageImage
Jul 21, 2022 141 tweets 102 min read
The main reason why I bought my Interrail pass is that I had 2 trips planned this summer (wedding and family visit) and I wanted to do them all the way by train. Today is the first! Sad to kiss the cats goodbye, but they are in good hands and this will be a fun trip hopefully.. ImageImageImage So let's travel from the Danubian lands to the Rhineland! Train number one on this trip is of course the Dacia sleeper train from Bucharest Gara de Nord to Vienna.. Here you can see the train being shunted into the terminus station, also having some through cars to Cluj added..
Jul 9, 2022 16 tweets 7 min read
Great overview of the most recent developments in the tri-nation border area between Ukraine, Moldova and Romania - which will hopefully give Ukraine a lot more options to export grain and other crops. Do have a read in Arnold's thread if you haven't as it has lots of interesting details about transport specifics - both remarkable resilience of national governments and some big practical challenges still remaining. This one on rail is interesting IMO.

Apr 26, 2022 29 tweets 10 min read
Little thread about Moldova/Transnistria given recent events happening. For those who haven't caught up with recent news, there were some explosions at government buildings in Transnistria..

forbes.com/sites/robertha… A few days earlier, a Russian General (Rustam Minnekaev) talked about creating a "land bridge to Transnistria". What followed is a lot of panic - not among Moldovans, but mostly among western Twitterati, pundits and politicians.

theweek.com/russo-ukrainia…
Feb 17, 2022 95 tweets 68 min read
Bucharest Gara de Nord. Time for a little trip to our southern neighbours: Bulgaria! The first train of the day will take me to Ruse, located just across the border at the other side of the Danube. ImageImageImageImage These #CFR Desiro trains surely give an excellent first impression of Romania to international travellers coming into the country - if they can see something of it through the windows that is. Can someone at @mtransporturi convince CFR that this is simply unacceptable? ImageImageImageImage
Jan 24, 2022 94 tweets 71 min read
So let's pick up my little Twitter travel report on Mariupol & Ukraine! To get to Mariupol from Bucharest, Romania, I travelled 2412km by train, 46km by bus and walked another 4km. If you are curious how the journey looked like, check my thread here:
Morning in Mariupol started with a walk to the Tsentralny Rynok, the central market of the city. The water tower on picture 3 is the main city landmark. ImageImageImageImage
Jan 18, 2022 98 tweets 72 min read
Time for a new trip - starting again at Bucharest Gara de Nord. This will be quite an adventure looking at sheer distances alone. If all goes to plan I'll travel 5,200km by train (3,230 miles) - roughly the distance from London to Novosibirsk (Siberia, Russia) or Lagos (Nigeria). ImageImageImageImage I'm in the night train to Sighetu Marmaţiei in the far northern, remote Romanian province of Maramureş. Or well, these are through carriages attached to the main Baia Mara/Cluj-Napoca train, from which we'll split off at Beclean pe Someş in the wee hours of morning. ImageImageImageImage
Dec 29, 2021 49 tweets 35 min read
Hello from the Intercity Hotel at Hamburg Altona station. An almost 2 hour delay flying into here, but fortunately the kebab shop & Edeka supermarket (for cold beer) were still open. The platforms are eerily empty now, but not tmrw morning when I will take my last trains of 2021. ImageImageImageImage Goodmorning from Hamburg Altona! The early morning long-distance IC and ICE trains are shunted into this terminus station, including an InterCity train to Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps (the infamous location of Hitler's Eagle's Nest retreat). ImageImageImageImage
Oct 14, 2021 74 tweets 62 min read
Let's escape the unusually dreary Bucharest weather.. another night train adventure is waiting! ImageImageImageImage I've been on the Satu Mare night train as recently as last July. If you didn't follow along for the ride back then and are curious about this train, the scenery on the route and the sights of the cities of Carei & Satu Mare, check out the thread below.

Oct 6, 2021 38 tweets 32 min read
Goodmorning from a stormy Cefalù! I have one day to explore this beautiful town and one day for the city of Palermo a bit further down the north coast of Sicily. ImageImageImageImage In case you missed the earlier Twitter threads: I started off this trip visiting beautiful, underrated Turin with its many excellent museums..

Oct 4, 2021 63 tweets 48 min read
Goodmorning from Torino Porta Nuova station! Today I will take two exciting train rides, so get ready for some cool train content and a lot of gorgeous Italian scenery from the window. This terminus is Turin's main station. Interestingly, it's on a direct axis to the old Savoy Royal Palace just 15 minutes walking to the north. Turin's second main station is the more modern Porta Susa just a short distance away.
Oct 2, 2021 44 tweets 37 min read
Goodmorning from Turin! It will be two busy days ahead as this city is so full of top class sights and museums that it's hard to cram in everything. ImageImageImageImage First stop: Palazzo Madama, with some fine surroundings, art and all kinds of religious objects and porcelain. If you visit at least 3 museums it's well worth it to buy a two day Turin card for free entry. Green pass is necessary to visit indoor spaces & they're strict about it. ImageImageImageImage
Sep 28, 2021 40 tweets 37 min read
Last weekend I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in lovely Prague, meeting up with old friends, exploring some Czech Art Nouveau beauty and making a fun day trip by train to Olomouc. Little thread! The Hotel Central where I stayed is an Art Nouveau masterpiece designed by Friedrich Ohmann and built between 1899 and 1902.