Special Sub-Topic: A Grand Tour of Europe by Train Click Here To Play: A Grand Tour of Europe by Train

I'm sitting on a train somewhere under the English Channel. I've decided to splash out on First Class travel for this part of the journey, so I'm currently sipping a glass of complimentary champagne to make up for the boring view! Still, in a little over an hour I'll be in Brussels - which isn't bad, considering I only left London an hour ago. What sort of train am I on

Eurostar. Eurostar connects London with Paris and Brussels and is the most popular way to travel between those cities. Le Shuttle is the car-transporting shuttle that runs between Dover and Calais through the tunnel. The other two I made up.

I change in Brussels and head for Cologne. The mighty cathedral stands right next to the station here, so you start your sightseeing before you even get off the train. Cologne stands on a river that I will be following tomorrow down its famous gorge. Which river?

Rhine. The Rhine Gorge winds its way through the west German countryside south of Cologne, though the really scenic bit (with vineyards and ruined castles and medieval towns) is between Koblenz and Mainz. You can take a river boat, but the train does it a lot quicker!

After travelling along the river, we come to a city called Basel, where we will change trains. This city stands on the border between Germany, Switzerland and France. Which one of the below statements is true?

The city itself is in Switzerland, with some suburbs in Germany and some in France. There are two stations, one for Germany and one shared between France and Switzerland. Since France and Germany are in the EU but Switzerland isn't, you are technically required to show your passport to the guard on the train. However, this is rarely actually done. Although Basel Bad station is a German station, owned and run by Deutsche Bahn, it actually stands in a Swiss part of town. A very confusing city to live in, I would imagine...

Heading south from Basel, we travel through the Swiss capital of Bern and cross a mountain pass to reach our next destination, the town of Brig in the Rhône Valley. Which pass?

Lötschberg. All are passes in Switzerland crossed by rail. The Simplon is the only one that connects Switzerland with another country.

Although we won't be aboard, a famous train leaves Brig tomorrow morning heading for the exclusive resort of St. Moritz. It is a very popular train with tourists thanks to the spectacular scenery along the route - what's its name?

Glacier Express. All are scenic Swiss trains, but the Glacier Express is probably the best known. It links Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn in southwest Switzerland with chic St. Moritz in the southeast. Well worth a trip!

After waving the famous train off, we set off on our own journey into Italy on a tilting Cisalpino train. Leaving the Alps behind and passing through Milan, we eventually arrive in Venice. What is so special about Venice's Santa Lucia station?

It stands on the Grand Canal.. Venice Santa Lucia is certainly a contender for the best-situated station in Europe. After crossing Venice lagoon on a long causeway, your train pulls in, you walk out the front door and the Grand Canal is right there.

We leave Venice and head for Vienna - it's quite a long way and the quickest way to get there is across a third country. We change trains in this third country, in a small town called Sevnica. Which country did we cross?

Slovenia. Some Venice - Vienna trains go straight from Italy to Austria, others go via Slovenia. There is a direct train that doesn't need a change but it doesn't get to Vienna until nearly 10pm, so we decided to get the earlier one.

From Vienna, we will be heading on to Berlin next. Vienna has lots of stations - well, they used to run half of Europe so it's no surprise. Which one will I need for Berlin?

Südbahnhof (South Station). I don't understand the logic of this - to go north to Berlin, you want South Station. To go east to Budapest, you want West Station. Nord and Mitte are only really used for local and regional trains.

On our way to Berlin, we pass through another two popular cities with foreign visitors. One was once considered the second city of the Habsburg Empire, and is now the capital of a small landlocked republic. The other was known as "Florence on the Elbe" for its baroque buildings, though it was largely flattened by Allied bombing in 1945.

Prague & Dresden. Prague was largely a German-speaking city until the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, when it was made the capital of Czechoslovakia - which in turn broke up in 1993, leaving Prague as the capital of the Czech Republic. Dresden's Frauenkirche was left in ruins as a war memorial after 1945, while the rest of her baroque buildings were painstakingly rebuilt. After the reunification of Germany in 1989, the church was restored as a symbol of rebuilding Germany and was finished in 2005.

Our final journey home is a long one, but with high-speed trains all the way we'll still be home in time for tea. Part of the journey will be over special high-speed lines. How do these new railway lines ensure that trains can go at their absolute top speed as long as possible?

All of these (Rails are welded, not riveted together to cut vibrations., Track is dedicated to high-speed trains, meaning they don't get stuck behind local trains., Towns and villages are bypassed to keep the track as straight as possible). They do go awfully fast and it really doesn't feel like it because the ride is so smooth. Only trouble is, the view is often kind of boring because you spend so long in cuttings and tunnels to keep the track level - or sound barriers to prevent noise pollution.