Weekend train breaks to Europe

Eurostar moves to it's new high speed line at St Pancras next week, bringing many continental cities within five hours' reach of London.

"There are sterling reasons for getting excited about 14 November" writes Sarah Turner in the Observer this weekend. "It's the day Eurostar moves to its new St Pancras home, but the 20 minutes it shaves off journey times to Paris and Brussels is only the tip of the iceberg."

Sarah picked the following weekend breaks, all of which require only one change of train...

ANTWERP, BELGIUM: Time: 2 hours 58 minutes

REIMS, FRANCE: Time: 3 hours 42 minutes

AACHEN, GERMANY: Time: from 3 hours 53 minutes

TOURS, FRANCE: Time: 4 hours 17 minutes

THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS: Time: 4 hours 21 minutes

LYON, FRANCE: Time: 4 hours 56 minutes

STRASBOURG, FRANCE: Time: 5 hours 11 minutes.

The following require overnight sleeper trains:

BERLIN, GERMANY: Time: 11 hours 36 minutes

VENICE, ITALY: Time: 18 hours 23 minutes

BARCELONA, SPAIN: Time: 15 hours 54 minutes

"From mid-November, people living in central and northern England and Scotland will find crossing the Channel significantly quicker. Timetables are simple, and through tickets are easy to buy. Next month, ski trains will start, including one from Gare du Nord that has couchettes and a disco carriage. No baggage reclaim and short check-in times are other great reasons to celebrate train travel this winter."

Read the full article, with details of platform/station changes, prices and tips on where to stay, on Guardian Unlimited.