Train of thought

Robert Louis Stevenson said that, and I've always found it an endearing attitude.

The rise of budget airlines over the past decade seems to have removed much of the charm from travelling, prioritising cost over comfort, and - in many cases - turning the journey into a chore.

Flying over great cities and vast swathes of stunning countryside to get to an unimpressive airport miles from your resort often seems, well, a bit daft. And, as scientists keep telling us, it's not doing the environment much good.

So when some friends and I decided to meet up in south-east Italy to take in some football, a couple of us decided to make a few stops along the way, keep our feet firmly on the ground and go by train.

Three days, three trains, three foreign cities. What could be better?

After York and London our first stop was Paris, via the channel tunnel.

With the King's Cross Eurostar link due to open later this year, the French capital will soon be just a few hours from York, allowing you to be in Shambles in the morning and Le Champs Elysees by mid-afternoon.

Paris's international renown is fully justified. It's an amazing city full of character and class, evident even on a whistle-stop trip such as ours.

We were pretty much the archetypal tourists - lunch in a pavement café, followed by a stroll along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, and then on to L'Arc de Triomphe and coffee on Le Champs Elysees.

Original? No. Enjoyable? Absolutely.

One 11-hour overnight train later we were in Bologna, a fantastic city often neglected by the tourist masses. I lived here for a month once, and was delighted to return.

Bologna is famed as La Dotta, La Rossa, La Grassa (the educated, the red, and the fat) in recognition of it having Europe's oldest university, a staunchly communist past, and it being home to the finest food in all of Italy.

But the city has much else to boast about. The fascinating Basilica di San Petronio, started in 1390, was due to be the world's largest church, until Pope Pius IV sold off the land around it, to ensure it couldn't become bigger than St Peter's in Rome. Its half-finished façade dominates Piazza Maggiore.

A short distance away, Santo Stefano is an enchanting complex of four inter-linked churches, dating back 1,000 years, but the city's most unmissable attraction is the looming Torre degli Asinelli, which - after a daunting 498-step climb - offers breathtaking views over the city and beyond.

The university quarter and historic Via Pescherie Vecchie are also worth visiting, if only to work up an appetite, for no visit to Bologna is complete without sampling the local cuisine.

Be warned though - ordering Spaghetti Bolognese will see you laughed at by the natives. Here, their legendary sauce is served with tagliatelli only.

From Bologna we headed south to the heel of Italy and the port of Bari, a strange hotchpotch of a city. The new town is a vast soulless grid of perpendicular streets, but its historic old town is captivating.

Designed to confuse invading armies, it is a labyrinth of narrow streets and blind alleys, in which it is easy and tempting to get lost.

That aside, the old city boasts a formidable castle which is partly open to visitors, two elegant churches, and an array of pleasant piazzas, most notably Piazza Mercantile.

So what of the travelling itself? City-hopping by rail can be exhausting, but it's much more of an adventure than flying.

Being able to move around makes it easier to meet and chat to people, while you obviously see a lot more out of the window than you do from above the clouds.

But one of the most appealing things is the random factor - the opportunity to change plans as easily as you can change platform. Particularly in countries such as Italy, where last-minute booking does not entail extortionate prices, simply going where the tracks lead you can be a thrill.

After all, as that other great literator TS Elliot wrote: "The journey, not the arrival, matters."

Fact file

• GNER operates fast and frequent services between York and London King's Cross station. Return prices start from £19 in standard and £57.90 first-class, only on www.gner.co.uk. The fastest journey times on some non-stop services is around 1hr 45mins. From November 14, when Eurostar moves from London Waterloo to London St Pancras, journey times from York to Paris by rail on GNER and Eurostar will be just under five hours
• Eurostar operates up to 17 daily services from London Waterloo and Ashford International to Paris, with return fares from £59. On November 14, Eurostar services will begin operating from St Pancras International, offering faster journey times to Paris and beyond. Tickets are available from eurostar.com or 08705 186 186.