Try Europe’s best city-to-swim rail trips this summer
Whether you’re in Turin, Bergen or San Sebastián, a wild swimming experience is often only a short train ride away.
Rugged valleys, glistening lakes and golden-sand beaches - while these aren’t the typical selling points of a European city break, a short detour to a superlative swimming spot can often be easy to arrange. Throughout the continent, regional trains and buses connect cities with rivers and coasts, so you can start your journey surrounded by landmark architecture and regional food traditions before meandering through mountains, thick forests and vineyard-covered slopes, and finish up with a wild swim somewhere remote. Here are Europe’s best rail-to-swim itineraries for a dose of culture before the final dip.
San Sebastián to Zumaia, Spain
Route: Amara Station (San Sebastián) to Zumaia; walk to Itzurun Beach
Journey time: 55m
Whether you’re hopping between pintxo bars in the old town, sampling txakoli wine or reclining on La Concha beach, it’s easy to spend an entire trip in San Sebastián without leaving the city. But head 40 minutes west and you can swim in a landscape so otherworldly it was a filming location for Game of Thrones.
Euskotren services trundle from Amara through the Basque countryside to Zumaia, rolling past mossy-green patchwork farmland, stone farmhouses and neat vineyards before the Bay of Biscay comes into view. A 15-minute walk leads to Itzurun beach, a swathe of golden sand backed by the towering, striped cliffs. Swim if the Atlantic conditions are calm — or surf the swells — then stay for low tide to witness the water peel back steadily, uncovering ancient, jagged formations of flysch (layered sedimentary rock).
Turin to Lake Orta, Italy
Route: Turin Porta Nuova to Novara, Novara to Orta-Miasino, walk to lake
Journey time: 2h-2h15m
Wherever you stand in Turin, the soaring spire of the Mole Antonelliana — home to the National Museum of Cinema — looms above the arcaded shopping streets, royal landmarks and historic cafes.
From the city — the capital of Italy’s Piedmont region — the train crosses glassy, water-filled rice paddies before you change at Novara. From here, the line turns north, giving way to chestnut-clad foothills and terracotta villages before rolling into Orta-Miasino station.
The calmest water on Lake Orta can be found at Punta Crabbia, a rocky headland with shimmering, blue-green water and small bathing spots loved by locals, with views across to Isola San Giulio — the tiny car-free island at the lake’s centre. Swim here or take a short boat ride to tour its Romanesque basilica and Benedictine monastery.
Ljubljana to the Soča Valley, Slovenia
Route: Ljubljana to Nova Gorica, bus to Most na Soči, walk to river
Journey time: 3.5-4h
The compact, green capital of Slovenia is best experienced along the Ljubljanica River, which snakes through the city past weeping willow-lined embankments and Tromostovje (Triple Bridge), designed by architect Jože Plečnik.
And if Ljubljana’s calm river feels inviting, the Soča, further west, proffers cooler, wilder waters. A slow and infrequent Slovenian rail service towards Nova Gorica rumbles past limestone plateaus and forested slopes near the Italian border, and a regional bus will then take you along the Soča Valley, upstream to Most na Soči. Here, at the confluence of the Soča and Idrijca rivers, the water widens into calmer, lake-like stretches with gravel banks — ideal for cooling off in the icy, emerald water, which averages 10-14C in summer.
Brno to Nové Mlýny reservoirs, Czechia
Route: Brno to Sakvic, bus to Pasohlávky
Journey time: 1-1.5h
For a slightly less rugged itinerary, start in the Czech city of Brno, wandering the labyrinthine streets, with their gothic architecture and subterranean tunnels before heading south. Trains reach Šakvice in 40 minutes, with onward buses running into the reservoir landscape around Pasohlávky.
This man-made chain of lakes, engineered water bodies and protected wetlands was created along the Dyje River in the 1970s — the Nové Mlýny reservoirs feel more like open water than managed lakes. Vast reed beds sprout high, bird reserves teem with life and the limestone ridges of the Pálava Hills dissolve into the horizon.
Swim, paddleboard, windsurf and kayak — just be prepared to share the water with breeding colonies of terns, greylag geese, herons and cormorants.
Bergen to the Hardangerfjord, Norway
Route: Bergen to Voss, bus from Voss to Ulvik
Journey time: 2.5h
Narrow cobbled alleyways wind through Bryggen, Bergen’s historic Hanseatic harbour district of leaning wooden houses that now hold artisan boutiques, cafes and galleries. On the waterfront, Bergen Fish Market — dating back the 13th century — is piled high with seafood and local produce. Nearby restaurants make the most of it by serving salmon, cod, halibut and bergensk fiskesuppe — a creamy fish soup made with root vegetables and shellfish.
A direct train connects Bergen with Voss, from which a regional bus continues to Ulvik on the Hardangerfjord but services are reduced in summer so check the timetable in advance. Find a quiet spot around the village shoreline to ease directly into the fjord’s near-crystalline water, which reflects the surrounding mountains, orchards and electrifying green slopes dotted with traditional Nordic cabins.
