Sillyventure 2k26 Winter Edition - Travelling
Posted: 20 Oct 2026 09:33
There was some interest at CL5 shown by @Atari74user and others in relation to the upcoming SillyVenture Atari demoparty, which is happening in Gdansk, Poland, from the 12th to the 15th of November.
@CiH and I will be travelling by train this time. We have flown before, but with the reported delays in association with the EES system that's now being employed by the EU bloc, we have decided to travel by train this time.
For more information regarding the European train system, do check out https://www.seat61.com . Also, for information relating to Interrail, do look at https://www.interrail.eu . The best site for booking the trains is https://int.bahn.de/en/. If you're using Interrail tickets you'll still need to book seat reservations on Deutsche Bahn's website, assuming these are still available.
On the 11th of November, we will be on the 1104 GMT (am) Eurostar train, going from St Pancras to Brussels Midi / Zuid. From there, we pick up the 1425 (CET) train from Brussels Midi / Zuid to Cologne / Koln, arriving in Cologne around 1615 CET. From Koln at 1644 CET, we go to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, arriving there around 2217 CET. From there, we'll get a local train at 2235 CET to Berlin-Spandau, where our hotel is overnight.
On November 12th, we get the train from Berlin-Lichtenburg to Gdansk Glowny, leaving around 1457 CET from Berlin and getting into Gdansk at 2032 CET. PM me if you need more details on hotels, as we have one booked in Spandau & also our main one in Gdansk for the 4 days.
On November 16th, we pick up the train from Gdansk Glowny at 0739 CET, getting to Berlin-Lichtenburg at 1313 CET. 1344 CET has a scheduled train that gets us to Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 14:04 CET, where we'll pick up another train at 1438 CET to get us into Koln Hauptbahnhof at 2012 CET.
We'll stay overnight in Cologne.
On Tues 17th Nov, we travel on the 0943 CET train out of Koln, getting us to Brussels Midi / Zuid for 1135 CET. Our train back to St Pancras leaves from Brussels Midi at 1452 CET, getting in at 1557 GMT.
It's recommended to book Interrail tickets as these are amazing value and do not have dynamic pricing the closer you get to booking.
Deutsche Bahn don't stop selling tickets even when a train is full and there are no seat reservations left, though bear in mind you'll probably end up sitting in the cafe or on the floor somewhere, if there are no spare seats. We already made our reservations on the trains personally when booking a while ago.
It'd be wonderful if some of you wish to join us at Sillyventure ! The Polish demoscene, like Polish society in general has always had an affinity with the UK which dates back to World War 2, when we allowed the government of the time to work in exile from London.
Do also be aware that the Interrail ticket * does * include 1 journey to and from in each direction where you live to St Pancras, no matter what time (peak or off-peak). There's just one in each direction but that can cover multiple trains if needed.
Hope this info helps :)
@CiH and I will be travelling by train this time. We have flown before, but with the reported delays in association with the EES system that's now being employed by the EU bloc, we have decided to travel by train this time.
For more information regarding the European train system, do check out https://www.seat61.com . Also, for information relating to Interrail, do look at https://www.interrail.eu . The best site for booking the trains is https://int.bahn.de/en/. If you're using Interrail tickets you'll still need to book seat reservations on Deutsche Bahn's website, assuming these are still available.
On the 11th of November, we will be on the 1104 GMT (am) Eurostar train, going from St Pancras to Brussels Midi / Zuid. From there, we pick up the 1425 (CET) train from Brussels Midi / Zuid to Cologne / Koln, arriving in Cologne around 1615 CET. From Koln at 1644 CET, we go to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, arriving there around 2217 CET. From there, we'll get a local train at 2235 CET to Berlin-Spandau, where our hotel is overnight.
On November 12th, we get the train from Berlin-Lichtenburg to Gdansk Glowny, leaving around 1457 CET from Berlin and getting into Gdansk at 2032 CET. PM me if you need more details on hotels, as we have one booked in Spandau & also our main one in Gdansk for the 4 days.
On November 16th, we pick up the train from Gdansk Glowny at 0739 CET, getting to Berlin-Lichtenburg at 1313 CET. 1344 CET has a scheduled train that gets us to Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 14:04 CET, where we'll pick up another train at 1438 CET to get us into Koln Hauptbahnhof at 2012 CET.
We'll stay overnight in Cologne.
On Tues 17th Nov, we travel on the 0943 CET train out of Koln, getting us to Brussels Midi / Zuid for 1135 CET. Our train back to St Pancras leaves from Brussels Midi at 1452 CET, getting in at 1557 GMT.
It's recommended to book Interrail tickets as these are amazing value and do not have dynamic pricing the closer you get to booking.
Deutsche Bahn don't stop selling tickets even when a train is full and there are no seat reservations left, though bear in mind you'll probably end up sitting in the cafe or on the floor somewhere, if there are no spare seats. We already made our reservations on the trains personally when booking a while ago.
It'd be wonderful if some of you wish to join us at Sillyventure ! The Polish demoscene, like Polish society in general has always had an affinity with the UK which dates back to World War 2, when we allowed the government of the time to work in exile from London.
Do also be aware that the Interrail ticket * does * include 1 journey to and from in each direction where you live to St Pancras, no matter what time (peak or off-peak). There's just one in each direction but that can cover multiple trains if needed.
Hope this info helps :)