TravelDay buddy

Aki Mendoza

@slowrails · they/them · Zurich, Switzerland

Book the seat, not the flight. The window is the itinerary.

  • Rail
  • Window seats
  • Station towns
  • Slow pace
  • Mid range

Aki Mendoza is a drawn, fictional companion written by TravelDay. The places below are real entries in our catalogue, and each one names the guide it came from.

How Aki Mendoza travels

I moved to Zurich for the timetable. Everything I want is reachable from one platform, and I have not needed an airport in two years.

I travel with a paper timetable habit and a rule: no more than one long leg a day. I take the slow regional service over the express when the slow one hugs the water. I sit on the side the guidebook does not mention, because the good side is usually the one facing away from the platform.

Stations are the part I like most. I arrive early, eat in the town by the station, and let the departure board decide the afternoon.

  • Rail
  • Slow travel
  • Walking
  • Architecture
  • Photography

Cities Aki Mendoza keeps going back to

  • Zurich

    Switzerland

    Home, and the best departure board in Europe. Everything starts under that roof.

  • Florence

    Italy

    Where an Italian rail week begins. The station opens straight onto the old city.

  • Venice

    Italy

    The only station where you walk out onto water. Worth the trip for the doorway alone.

  • Milan

    Italy

    A cathedral of a station and a real city under it. I break every north south journey here.

  • Kyoto

    Japan

    The shinkansen end of my list. Two weeks of reserved seats and bento eaten at speed.

What Aki Mendoza recommends

Elsewhere

  • Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes · Sight

    Take the ordinary regional train, not the panoramic one. Same line, opening windows, a fraction of the price, and you can get off at Alp Grum for lunch.

    • Seen in Switzerland Tourism. The UNESCO route runs 122km from Thusis to Tirano, passing 196 bridges and 55 tunnels

  • Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces · Nature

    The Train des Vignes climbs out of Vevey in about twelve minutes. Ride up, walk down through the terraces, and catch a lake train back.

    • Seen in Switzerland Tourism. 800 hectares of terraces above Lake Geneva, with the Train des Vignes running from Vevey to Puidoux-Chexbres in twelve minutes

Florence

  • Rivoire · Cafe

    Hot chocolate on Piazza della Signoria. Standing at the bar costs a fraction of sitting down, and the view is the same.

    • Seen in Visit Tuscany. Listed among Florence's historic cafes; Enrico Rivoire opened it in 1872 as a steam chocolate factory

Kyoto

  • Fushimi Inari Taisha · Sight

    Two minutes from its own JR station, which is the whole reason it works at six in the morning. Walk past the first bend of gates and the crowd disappears.

    • Seen in Fushimi Inari Taisha. The head shrine of some thirty thousand Inari shrines, established in 711

Zurich

  • Haus Hiltl · Restaurant

    Ten minutes from the main station, buffet by weight, and open when everything else in Zurich is not. My default first and last meal.

    • Seen in Zürich Tourism. The city tourism board calls it the world's first vegetarian restaurant, open since 1898

  • Kronenhalle · Restaurant

    Old dining room at Bellevue with real paintings on the walls. Book, wear a collar, and go for lunch if the dinner price stings.

    • Seen in Zürich Tourism. Serving since 1924, with original paintings by Chagall, Picasso and Miro on the walls

Plans you can copy

Six nights across Italy by regional train

6 nights · April to June, or September to October · Slow pace · Mid range

Florence to Venice to Milan on ordinary trains, with one long leg a day and nothing booked after four in the afternoon.

  1. Day 1

    Out of the station and no further

    • Basilica di Santa Maria Novella · Afternoon · Sight

      The church the station is named after, directly across the square. Start a rail trip by looking at what the trains were pointed at.

    • Rivoire · Evening · Coffee

      Standing at the bar, looking at the Palazzo Vecchio. Table service costs several times more.

      • Seen in Visit Tuscany. Listed among Florence's historic cafes; opened in 1872 as a steam chocolate factory

  2. Day 2

    Market morning

    • Central Market · Morning · Market

      Buy lunch for the train tomorrow on the upper floor. The street stalls outside are for tourists, the hall is not.

    • Medici Chapel · Midday · Museum

      Behind the same church as the market. Small, cool, and rarely queued after eleven.

    • Santa Maria del Fiore · Afternoon · Sight

      The nave is free and the queue moves. The dome climb is a separate timed ticket and it is not for anyone who dislikes stairs.

  3. Day 3

    North to the lagoon

    • Firenze Santa Maria Novella station · Morning · Getting there

      Two hours to Venice on the fast service, four on the regional through Bologna and Padua. Take the slow one and sit on the right. Not yet in the TravelDay catalogue.

    • St Mark's Basilica · Afternoon · Sight

      Book a slot. Covered shoulders and knees, and no large bags inside.

    • Royal Gardens of Venice · Evening · Walk

      The gardens by the water, for sitting down after a train day.

  4. Day 4

    Water and paint

    • Accademia Gallery · Morning · Museum

      Go at opening and be out by noon.

    • Doge's Palace · Afternoon · Sight

      Timed entry. The armoury upstairs is the quiet part of a loud building.

  5. Day 5

    West to Milan

    • Venezia Santa Lucia station · Morning · Getting there

      The only station in Italy whose front steps go down to a canal. Two and a half hours to Milano Centrale. Not yet in the TravelDay catalogue.

    • Milan Cathedral · Afternoon · Sight

      The roof terraces are a separate ticket and worth it. Stairs are cheaper than the lift and only take ten minutes.

    • Bar Basso · Evening · Meal

      A tram ride out from the centre. Order the sbagliato, eat the crisps, and be back at your hotel by eleven.

      • Seen in Time Out. Time Out says the negroni sbagliato was first created at this Milanese bar

  6. Day 6

    One castle, one theatre, one train home

    • Sforza Castle · Morning · Sight

      The courtyards are free to walk through. The park behind it is where the city actually sits down.

    • Theater museum La Scala · Afternoon · Museum

      Small museum with a look into the auditorium when there is no rehearsal. Then Centrale, and the train north.

  • Seen in Visit Tuscany. The regional tourism board's guide to the historic cafes this trip starts and ends in

Five nights on the Swiss lines from Zurich

5 nights · June to October · Slow pace · Mid range

One base, four day returns, and two of the finest railway routes in Europe taken on ordinary tickets.

  1. Day 1

    Up the local mountain

    • Uetliberg-Turm · Afternoon · Sight

      The S10 climbs from the main station in about twenty minutes and the tower at the top is free to enter. Sit on the left going up.

    • Haus Hiltl · Evening · Meal

      Buffet priced by weight, which is the cheapest honest dinner in central Zurich.

      • Seen in Zürich Tourism. The city tourism board calls it the world's first vegetarian restaurant, open since 1898

  2. Day 2

    Trams and a long dinner

    • Zürich Tram Museum · Morning · Museum

      Old tram hall out at Burgwies, reached by tram, obviously. Open only a few days a week, so check before you ride out.

    • Rietberg Museum · Afternoon · Museum

      Non European art in a park above the lake. The garden is the reason to linger.

    • Kronenhalle · Evening · Meal

      Reserve, and ask for the room with the Chagall. Lunch costs less than dinner for the same walls.

      • Seen in Zürich Tourism. Serving since 1924, with original paintings by Chagall, Picasso and Miro on the walls

  3. Day 3

    The Albula and Bernina day

    • Chur station · Morning · Getting there

      Ninety minutes from Zurich, then change onto the narrow gauge. Leave before seven if you want to reach Tirano and come back. Not yet in the TravelDay catalogue.

    • Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes · Midday · Getting there

      Regional service rather than the panoramic train: windows that open, no reservation fee, and you can break the journey. Sit on the right from Thusis, on the left from Pontresina.

      • Seen in Switzerland Tourism. The UNESCO route runs 122km from Thusis to Tirano, passing 196 bridges and 55 tunnels

    • Landwasser Viaduct · Afternoon · Sight

      The curved viaduct into the rock face. You cannot see it from inside the train, so ride once and photograph it from the path at Filisur another day. Not yet in the TravelDay catalogue.

  4. Day 4

    Vines above the lake

    • Train des Vignes, Vevey to Puidoux-Chexbres · Morning · Getting there

      Twelve minutes uphill through the terraces. Runs roughly hourly and takes bikes. Not yet in the TravelDay catalogue.

      • Seen in Switzerland Tourism. The Train des Vignes winds from Vevey up to Puidoux-Chexbres in twelve minutes

    • Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces · Afternoon · Nature

      Walk down through the terraces to a lake station rather than back up. Paths are steep, paved and open all year; cellars keep their own hours.

      • Seen in Switzerland Tourism. 800 hectares of terraces above Lake Geneva, Switzerland's largest contiguous vineyard area

  5. Day 5

    Slow last day

    • Chinagarten Zürich · Morning · Nature

      A gift from Kunming on the lake shore. Open in the warmer months only, and twenty minutes is the whole visit.

    • Haus Hiltl · Afternoon · Meal

      Last plate before the platform. Ten minutes on foot from the main station.

      • Seen in Zürich Tourism. The city tourism board places it near Bahnhofstrasse, a short walk from the main station
  • Seen in Switzerland Tourism. The national tourism board's page for the Albula and Bernina lines, the spine of this week

Aki Mendoza is a TravelDay buddy: drawn, fictional, and not an account in the network. Research edition 2026-09-17.