QF009 said:
Rail might not be the easiest option if you have lots of luggage. Luggage cannot be checked in like flying. My family and I struggled with our luggage and shopping when we were in Europe, and we'd now rather be hit with exhorbitant air fares and excess baggage charges than dragging so many suitcases around railway stations and up and down trains. Finding space for them in the train is also a major pain in the behind.
We had no issued with luggage with 7 people travelling together and used trains for most of continental Europe, visiting Paris, Nice, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Luzern, Zurich, Saltzburg, Munich, and Berlin. Each person has one rolling suitcase and one backpack (including the kids). There are luggage storage racks near the train doors and we had a good system working where the adults passed the bags on/off the trains and then everyone claimed and looked after their own.
The only problem times were the steps over or under the train lines between platforms at some stations where the kids needed some assistance to get the cases up/down. So at a few places I made a few trips up and down the steps. But many stations in Europe are very well setup for access with no steps to be traverses. Stations such as Rome, Venice, Luzern, Zurich, and Munich are all designed in a manner that the trains enter and leave from one end and all the platforms are joined at the other end for easy access and transfer without needing to use any stairs.
I would use the trains again. We appreciated the variety of travel experience and the opportunity to meet some people along the way that just doesn't seem to happen with air travel. But I do accept that flying and driving are most certainly viable options and for some people will be preferred to trains.