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Comment by zensavona | Hacker News Reader

Interestingly enough in Europe there are places [1] where you can take a train which goes on a ferry, so you can take the ferry while you take the train

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogelfluglinie

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I've taken this train from Hamburg to Coppenhagen. It's fascinating to watch the train be put on the ferry and then you got a nice ferry ride and can marvel at the size of the wind farms off the coast. I would highly recommend it if you have the time.

I took this ride once but didn't actually know that was how it worked. I woke up in an empty car clearly in some kind of enclosure. It wasn't until leaving the car and going up a set of stairs that I realized my train was on a boat.

Until then, I wasn't so sure I wasn't in a rail yard or sci-fi movie.

I'm actually surprised they let you stay on the train. Both times I've taken that route they seemed pretty diligent about making sure everybody was off the train. I assume this is for safety reasons -- down in a darkened train on the lowest deck would be the last place I'd want to be if the ferry had any difficulties.

I really liked the ferry experience. The ferry part is only about 40 minutes, but it's just enough time to have a quick meal in the on-board restaurant. Unsurprisingly it's not exactly a bargain price for a buffet, but it did break up the train journey nicely. It's pleasant to sit in a comfortable booth and stare out at the sea for a bit.

I don't know, but perhaps I just overslept everyone else clearing out, but not long enough for staff to come by. It was pretty weird!

> it's just enough time to have a quick meal in the on-board restaurant

The pickings seemed pretty slim for vegetarians, though, which took me by surprise as nearly every restaurant these days has at least one vegetarian option. I ended up having some plain fries with ketchup.

Yes, I'm a vegetarian myself and also would have appreciated a better selection in that regard. Both times I ended up having meals that were heavy in the potato and cheese departments. The buffet had some fruit and cooked vegetables as well, but nothing that was really a main dish by itself. Still, I didn't go hungry or anything.

I have done this exact journey about a decade ago. It was a really good experience - made all the more memorable as I was not expecting the train to roll on to the ferry! The daytime ferry transit provided good views and I second the recommendation to try it.

Yep I took it from Gothenburg to Berlin (via Copenhagen and Hamburg) and those wind farms are seriously impressive!

Also a really cool view if you take the bridge from Denmark to Sweden, windmills in the sea almost as far as the eye can see.

You took the train from Gothenburg to Berlin?

Was the portion over the Oresund Bridge by bus then? It is indeed an impressive bridge. You get a good glimpse of it flying out of Copenhagen as well.

It's fun once then mostly just annoying (unless you are a smoker I guess). There is, or at least used to be, another train ferry between Trelleborg and Sassnitz as well.

The one between Trelleborg and Sassnitz is still used by the Stockholm-Berlin sleeper train.

I heard u liked transportation so we put a train inside a ferry so you can take the ferry while you take the train!

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