How Indians Are Rebuilding Europe Itineraries Around Scenic Rail Journeys And Countryside Stays

New Delhi:

Indian leisure travel to Europe in 2025 underwent a quiet but significant change. Instead of focusing on how many cities could be covered, travellers increasingly structured trips around scenic rail routes and countrysidel stays. This shift towards slower movement within destinations signals a change in how European itineraries are being built and executed.

According to the data from the Thrillophilia Multi-Day Travel Index 2025, rail-led Europe itineraries grew 41% year-on-year, while coach-heavy, overnight city-to-city travel declined 24%. At the same time, stays in the countryside, lake regions, and non-metro areas increased 33%, thus reducing dependence on city-only travel formats.

Key shifts in European travel patterns (2025):

• Rail-led itineraries: up 41% year-on-year
• Coach-heavy, overnight routing: down 24%
• Countryside, lake-region and non-metro stays: up 33%
• Reduced dependence on city-only travel formats
• Shift visible in executed itineraries, not search intent

Unlike search- or planning-stage signals, these trends are visible in executed itineraries, reflecting on-ground choices to reduce fatigue, improve travel flow, and enhance the overall experience.

Transport Moves From Necessity to Experience

For years, transport within European itineraries was treated as a functional necessity. In 2025, Indian travellers began treating transport not just as a necessity, but as an enjoyable part of the journey. Scenic rail routes through the Alps, regional train corridors, and shorter intra-region connections increasingly replaced long overnight drives and tightly packed transfer schedules.

Where it was most prominent:

• Switzerland and Northern Italy
• France’s regional and countryside circuits
• Select Central and Northern European routes

Across Europe itineraries, average daily travel time declined, even as overall trip duration increased, indicating that travellers were optimising effort and movement rather than compressing schedules.

Accommodation patterns also shifted along with the transport choices. Instead of changing hotels nightly, itineraries are increasingly centred around a single base, such as lake regions, wine countries, or rural landscapes. Nearby towns are then explored through day trips rather than overnight hops.

In 2025, day-excursion-led itineraries grew 36%, while trips involving daily hotel changes declined 23%. Travellers preferred fewer check-outs, fewer transfers, and greater flexibility within a single region.

This behaviour was consistent across families, couples, and premium leisure travellers and was especially visible among repeat European visitors who had already experienced traditional city-hop itineraries.

The move toward scenic rail and countryside travel was driven less by novelty and more by execution realities. High-intensity itineraries with early departures, long drives, and frequent transitions increased fatigue and disruption risk. In contrast, rail- and region-focused itineraries showed fewer mid-trip changes and lower escalation rates during execution.

Travellers increasingly traded speed and volume for reliability and comfort, even if it meant covering fewer headline landmarks.

Families and Premium Travellers Drive the Shift

Families were early adopters of redesigned European itineraries in 2025, favouring comfort, predictable schedules, and lower daily strain. Their preference for smoother transfers, fewer hotel changes, and calmer pacing reflects a clear shift in travel priorities.

Premium and luxury leisure travellers embraced scenic rail journeys and regional stays to enhance overall experience quality while maintaining flexible pacing. Countryside bases, lake regions, and slower itineraries allowed for deeper exploration without logistical pressure.

Honeymooners and couples increasingly favoured regional immersion, moving away from fast-paced city circuits in favour of calmer, experience-led travel formats.

Segment-wise adoption patterns:

• Families: 46% increase in rail-led routing; preference for predictable schedules and fewer transitions
• Premium & luxury travellers: Increased use of scenic rail and countryside stays to improve travel quality
• Honeymooners & couples: Shift toward regional immersion and slower-paced itineraries

Across all segments, travellers were willing to spend more per night when itineraries felt calmer, better paced, and operationally smoother.

This shift goes beyond search or social interest, appearing clearly in how itineraries are executed on the ground – from routing to stays and transfers.

The analysis is based on aggregated multi-day tour fulfilment data compiled by Thrillophilia, which operates Europe itineraries and tracks how routing and accommodation choices evolve before and during travel.

Trips structured around rail corridors and regional bases consistently showed higher operational stability and lower disruption frequency.

Europe Through a Different Lens

The 2025 data indicate that Indian travellers are no longer experiencing Europe as a checklist of cities. Instead, Europe is increasingly being travelled as a collection of connected regions, explored at a measured pace.

Scenic rail journeys and countryside stays have moved from niche preferences to mainstream itinerary design choices. As highlighted in the Thrillophilia Multi-Day Travel Index 2025–26, the future of Indian travel to Europe is being shaped less by where travellers go and more by how thoughtfully they move within destinations.