We took our teenage sons on quieter tracks – to Utrecht rather than Amsterdam, Baden-Baden not Berlin – and enjoyed a less frantic rail tour of Europe

After meeting Sam at a Morocco hostel, Alisa Bittner thought he’d be just another holiday memory. Then they backpacked together in Budapest – and had the best week of their lives

The fabled railway service returns in 2025. But you don’t need to wait until then, or pay the eyewatering fares, to ride this classic route

‘The prospect of cajoling my kids to cycle from Vienna to Budapest filled me with dread – but the only drama came from the scenery’

This passionate but shy dancer takes her moves to the next level at Lindy Shock ‘university’, where the teaching’s so good and the joy so infectious she dances with strangers

Euro Parking Collection are chasing us for failing to buy an electronic e-vignette

What Central Europe lacks in glitz it more than makes up for in scenery and adventure. And in these parts – from Poland to Slovenia – your money will go further, too

The landscaped acres of this island in the Danube make a peaceful (and pretty much cost-free) day out in the middle of the city

From gingerbread to bubblegum marzipan, music boxes to blackcurrant rum punch, Hungary’s capital is a great festive shopping destination

The idea of a rave in a thermal bath excites and worries Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in equal measure, but there’s great food and ruin bars to enjoy if things go awry

Head for the moors – and art exhibitions – of the northeast, bed down in a London barge, and let the music play on at the Sziget Festival in Budapest. By Joanne O’Connor