By train to Rome
From Cologne, you can reach most major European cities in a day – including Rome, where our “Children in the Climate Crisis” project meeting will take place from April 1 to April 5, 2025. The easiest route is through Switzerland, starting for us shortly before 7 a.m. at Cologne Central Station. The ICE 101 takes us to Mannheim in about 90 minutes via the Cologne-Rhine/Main and Frankfurt-Mannheim high-speed lines. There we transfer to the well-air-conditioned and punctual Eurocity 151. We reach Basel SBB shortly before 11 a.m., where the train turns around.
The beautiful route then leads through the Swiss Alps, whose snow-capped peaks are visible from afar in our fine weather. Passing villages and lakes, the track leads through tunnels into increasingly narrow valleys – then we are swallowed up by the Gotthard Base Tunnel at Erstfeld.
The longest railway tunnel in the world runs for almost 60 km under the Gotthard massif, with up to 2,450 m of rock above the tunnel tubes. The EC 151 also travels at over 200 km/h in the tunnel, meaning that the journey takes less than 20 minutes.
On the south side, the houses already look very Italian, and the landscape has changed significantly. But we are still in Switzerland. The train stops in Bellinzona and Lugano, and the route runs directly along the shore of Lake Lugano. At Chiasso, the EC 151 finally crosses the border into Italy, and at 3:50 p.m. we arrive at Milano Centrale station. The huge terminus station is one of the most important transport hubs for rail travelers in Europe, from here you can reach Paris, Marseille, Munich, or Ljubljana within eight hours. Or Rome, in just about three hours with the Frecciarossa. Inspired by the design of Italian sports cars, both inside and out, the journey with the Frecciarossa across the Po Valley has a very special flair. With a constant view of the peaks of the Alps, the Apennines, and the setting sun, the journey continues south. We are happy to accept the approximately forty-minute delay, which means we finally arrive at Roma Termini at 8:10 p.m.
We booked a hostel near the train station, because traveling within Rome is not as easy as it is in Vienna or Stockholm: the Romans laboriously carved three subway lines out of the ancient underground of their city. Each new line would require numerous further excavations. In the dense city traffic, you are therefore dependent on buses or taxis. But we don't have far to go, and we quickly find the ingredients for caprese salad in the supermarket – time to rest from our journey.
