Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

If you have some time to spare, don’t take the fast train when there’s a slower option. The latter will almost certainly be more interesting. We share some of our favourite slow journeys, citing examples from Calabria, Danish Jutland, Spain and Germany.

article summary —

Our article on a slow journey by boat from Rhodes to Athens exemplifies one of the enduring principles which has underpinned hidden europe, viz. “Never take the fast option. If there’s a slower route, chances are that it will be more interesting.” Not everyone, we concede, has time to spend 32 hours on a car ferry. But the principle can be applied to shorter journeys on land. How many people who regularly travel from Cologne to Bavaria by train have ever travelled up the Rhine Gorge? And there are surely many who have travelled a score of times by train from Scotland to England without ever once using the celebrated Settle & Carlisle route through the Yorkshire Dales.

We have a fine repertoire of slow alternatives to main shipping and rail routes.


This is just an excerpt. If you are a subscriber to hidden europe magazine, you can log in to read the full text online. Of course you can also read the full article in the print edition of hidden europe 69.

About the authors

hidden europe

and manage hidden europe, a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. Nicky and Susanne are dedicated slow travellers. They delight in discovering the exotic in the everyday.

This article was published in hidden europe 69.