Going to Europe? Nicola Coughlan says you have to try these foods - USA Today

Before Nicola Coughlan takes a trip, she crowdsources dining recommendations.

"I hit up the Instagram Close Friends (story), and I’m always like, 'I'm going to be in this place, let me know,'" she told USA TODAY. Those kinds of personal suggestions have yielded standout meals, like sushi when the "Bridgerton" star was visiting Prague earlier this year.

Coughlan recently partnered with train ticket booking app Trainline to give travelers her own list of must-try dishes and eateries around Europe as part of its Culinary Rail Index ranking destinations based on their grain and carb-based offerings. "For generations, Europe's railways carried more than travelers, moving the ingredients, ideas and traditions that helped shape the continent's distinctive grain-based food and drink cultures," Trainline said in a news release.

For Coughlan, those include a pint of stout in Dublin and soda bread with Irish butter in Galway. "It's sort of sweet and salty and savory, and it’s so good," she said.

The "Derry Girls" actress spoke with USA TODAY about her packing must-haves, her favorite way to travel and how she’s learning to relax on vacation.

Coughlan has found traveling Europe, in particular, lends itself to culinary exploration.

"There's so many cultures so close to one another, so you know, you can go to Italy and have the greatest pasta of your life," she said. "I remember when I was like 14 years old being in Sorrento and having a salad that was literally like tomato, onion, lettuce, and olive oil, and it was the greatest thing in the world."

Coughlan admitted she is "infamously amongst my friends and family not the best relaxer" and used to try to cram too much into trips. Now, she aims for one tourist-friendly activity – such as visiting the Churchill War Rooms, which she recently did when her sister came to London – and one good meal a day.

"I'll try and go low key for breakfast and lunch, but then go for a nice dinner," she said. "But also, I always say to myself, like, 'You know the focus is to try and relax, so yeah, just try and take it easy.'"

One other way Coughlan likes to unwind? Reading on trains.

"I feel like weirdly sometimes at home I only read in the evening time," she said. "I feel like in the day it feels like a luxury, but a train is like a perfect place to read because it's just very relaxing and nice and quiet." She’s currently reading "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe.

Other packing staples include a silk eye mask so she can sleep well no matter where she’s staying, and zip-up cases labeled for items like chargers and socks. "Sometimes in Europe I'll bring Diet Coke with me because there's a lot of Coke Zero countries in Europe and I'm a Diet Coke girl," she added.

Regardless of where she’s going, though, she’s had a longtime love of traveling by rail. Coughlan has a particularly fond memory of "scream-singing" the Irish girl group B*Witched’s song "C’est la Vie" with classmates on a train from Galway to Dublin during a school trip around 11 years old.

"I think it's my favorite way to travel because it feels – I always say, too, it feels very civilized."

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

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