26 August 2025

London to Istanbul – Epic Rail Journey : Day 1

By admin

From where we live it is a short bus ride to Heathrow Terminal 5 and so the logical route to St Pancras International is the Piccadilly Line and this was our plan, until three days before departure when I found out that it was closed all weekend. Plan B was the Elizabeth Line from T5 to central London and then a cab, more expensive but needs must. Going through all of the travel documents in more detail I then discovered that, because we were using an Interrail ticket for the Eurostar, travel to St Pancras on the day of departure was included, and that the Elizabeth Line is the only TfL service included. Result!

Day 1 was the only day of the trip that involved two journeys, well three if you include the Lizzy Line. There was time at St Pancras to grab some train beers from M&S before our train was called. Thankfully security and immigration went smoothly and we just had the wait until they called our departure left. The first leg would see us on the Eurostar to Brussels.

There was a slight disappointment on this first leg as our seats had a very restricted view out of the window but at least it was a journey we had made many times before. On time our train glided out of the station (I believe it is obligatory for trains to glide out of stations!) and the holiday had started!

Arrival in Brussels was on time, and although we could have caught an onward train twenty minutes later we were actually booked on the one in 2h 20m time, the professional travel planners sensibly allowing for possible delays. With time to kill I had explored the bar possibilities but didn’t really want to risk getting caught away from the station, luckily Jezza, who had made the reverse journey to London a couple of days earlier, tipped me off about a bar called Café Bogard that has opened next to the Eurostar area in Brussels Midi Station. Ostensibly an AB InBev establishment Jezza had also pointed out a couple of interesting independent bottles that were available. We happily passed the time with a beer each and a plate of meats & cheese. Heaven.

Café Bogard, Gare Bruxelles Midi

There was still time to stock up on more train beers and snacks, including my first experience of Brets crisps as featured in this recent Pellicle article. They are very good! Although our DB ICE train was in the platform they kept us waiting for ages before unlocking the doors. We then settled in to our seats for the next leg to Cologne and our third country of the day.

Thankfully there no delays to this DB journey and we arrived in Cologne in the early evening. Our hotel was a short walk away from the station, just the other side of the Dom. It was also handily placed for a number of kölsch houses, all of which would be revisits as it wasn’t our first time in Cologne. We checked in and then headed out for food and beer.

Our first stop, and first kölsch, was Brauhaus Sion which was fairly quiet, not really surprising as it was a Sunday evening. We ate here and I sated my currywurst urges.

Brauhaus Sion, Unter Taschenmacher 5-7, 50667 Köln, Germany

It is only a short walk from here to our second stop, Peters Brauhaus. It is difficult to keep up with who owns who, but quite a few of the kölsch breweries are merely brands these days. It was busier in here and we stood in the dedicated drinking area rather than sitting.

Peters Brauhaus, Mühlengasse 1, 50667 Köln, Germany

Less than five minutes away is Brauhaus FRÜH am Dom in the shadow of the cathedral. Früh was my first experience of kölsch and remains my favourite. We took a seat outside and waited, and waited, and waited before one of the many staff deigned to come and take our order. They serve one beer, it’s not difficult!

Brauhaus FRÜH am Dom, Am Hof 12-18, 50667 Köln, Germany

Mrs MA was flagging by now and so she walked the two minutes back to the hotel while I cut around the Dom for my final bar of the day, Gaffel am Dom – Brauhaus. Another large beer hall, and again it was quite busy, but once again I found myself a seat in the drinking area. A big surprise here was the chance to tick a new beer as they had bottles of their seasonal summer beer available. After a few here it was time to head back to the hotel and bring day one to an end but not before I finally managed to get a picture of the Dom that I am happy with!