Mathilde Sipos
Mathilde Sipos transforms weekends in Paris into outdoor escapes, venturing into the mountains to share her hiking journeys and bivouac experiences. Through her account, she offers route maps, practical advice—like essentials for bivouac or solo-travel tips—and real-time reflections from the trail.
This time, she won’t be traveling by foot. Mathilde has planned a new voyage via high-speed train and she’s taking her followers along for the ride from Paris through Brussels to Frankfurt! Along the way, she’ll showcase a piece of the EU’s plan for Europe-wide high-speed rail.
‘I called the European Union and asked them to create new TGV lines, to reduce the travel times, and augment the seating capacity of the trains....and they said yes!’ joked Mathilde.
While the EU might not have actually waited for Mathilde’s call, we are indeed helping implement high-speed lines everywhere in Europe with the support of our new High-speed rail plan! While waiting for these upcoming changes, Mathilde wanted to experience one of the most developed cross-border train lines in Europe with a two-day trip from Paris through Brussels to Frankfurt.
The Paris-Brussels-Frankfurt journey is what they call a ‘mature’ high-speed rail line. It can go up to 300km/h. By the end of 2023, France and Germany ranked fourth and fifth in terms of high-speed rail line length.
During her few hours in Brussels, Mathilde explored the parks and enjoyed some live music at Kiosk Radio. Then it was back on the train to Frankfurt!
Comfortably arrived at her destination, Mathilde took in the view of the city from the top of the Main Tower. After a morning of strolls in Frankfurt’s parks and Christmas market, it was time to take the train home to Paris’ Gare de L’Est.
Did you know that Mathilde’s choice of lines is part of the ‘North Sea – Rhine – Mediterranean Corridor’, located on the trans-European transport network? While it’s already incredibly developed, the EU is currently working on filling in some missing links like modernising the connection between Brussels, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg.
