Trip planning - rail times

I remember just a few years ago, while planning a trip with a guide book, the suggestion was to get a Thomas Cook publication of rail times in Europe. Thomas Cook publishes or used to publish a book giving the train schedules for all the train companies in Europe. To get from one place to another by train, it is very useful to consult a train schedule so you'll know what time to go to the train station, how long is the trip, are there any changes along the way, how much time you have for changing trains. Sometimes it involves changing stations, not just trains as in the case of my upcoming trip. One leg of the trip, I'm going from Nice, near the French/Italian border to Perpignan at the French/Spanish border. So I needed to know how to get there, the length of the trip and the times. I found out, I can leave Nice at 7am, take the TGV to Avignon TGV station, transfer to a bus to get to Avignon town center to the old train station to catch another train for Perpignan. In this case I shall not only be changing trains, I will be changing train stations. The TVG is the fast French train, it's length prohibits it from getting into the old Avignon train station which is too small to accommodate it. So they built a special TGV station just outside of town. So a shuttle brings people between the 2 stations. I know of a similar situation in the town of Tours, France where we were a few years ago. They had 2 train stations also, one for regular trains, the other for the TGV. I've been in Avignon 3 times, so I'm really familiar with the 2 stations, I might as well move there and live there, I'm almost a native.
Anyway on my upcoming trip, I have a few long train trips, the first is from Rome to Camogli. So I really need to get hold of an Italian train schedule to check the time and length of the trip. I am going from Nice to Perpignan, which is another long train ride and again I need to know the train schedule, if I miss my connection, when is the next train. So many questions that I have to find out before I leave so I know what to expect. That's the peril of planning your own trip and I've been doing this for 8 years and have become so good at it. It wasn't always the case especially when I first started. From Perpignan I am going to Barcelona, I know I need to get to Portbou which is the border between France and Spain, from there I need to find a connection to Barcelona. This trip involves 4 countries and 3 train companies! Luckily I fly from Barcelona to London, for that leg of the trip, I just need to go to the airport.
Mind you I've already secured my air tickets and the hotels. For the hotels, I referred to the guide books, email the hotel people and that has been done already. I need to print out the reservation and the directions on how to get to these hotels and I'm set.
The great thing about the Internet is all these train companies are on the net, schedules and prices and you can even purchase your train tickets here and now, they'll mail it to you. Or a site called Raileurope (www.raileurope.com) will sell you the train tickets or a rail pass. This has made things so much easier that anyone who takes the trouble can be their own travel agent. For the Italian trip, I went on Trenitalia (www.trenitalia.it) and checked orari treni (train times).
For the French sector I used SNCF (www.voyages-sncf.com). For the Spanish, this it their website for Renfe (www.renfe.com).
There are some great articles, online, about train travel in Europe published on the Travel + Leisure magazine, click here .
Even as I'm planning this trip, my mind is already on the trips for next year. I've changed those trips many times in my mind, it'll be interesting to see where I actually end up going next year. There are so many places in the world yet to see especially after seeing the Beijing Olympics, so many choices, so little time! Planning to take the trains in China will be different but I better get started soon........
Knowing how long the trip is, I can plan to bring some food and water with me, the TGV and the fast trains usually has a food car which sells food and drinks, not so on other trains. It is always wise to bring along some food and drinks, it is not like the airline which serves or sells you food and drinks. While I sometimes purchase my train tickets before I leave, but not always. I buy it when I'm there, I don't use rail passes much though I have. When I'm there, I usually stay near the train station and always buy my train tickets the day before I travel. I always make sure I make time between sightseeing to stop at the train station to buy the tickets the day before so that on the day of travel I just need to locate my track and leave.
Train stations are like airports, there are so many people coming and going. I love seeing the myriad of young faces from all over the world, with inquiring looks, milling around, every one's looking to buy a ticket, locate train track or the bus or metro station. To think, in a month, I'll be doing that. I can't wait.
By the way, I've never been able to buy a copy of Thomas Cook's European train schedules. I don't even know if they still publish it, probably not. One can get all the information from the Internet.