The best short trips often begin with a practical question: where can we reach without spending half the weekend in transit?
Search by time, not fame
Look at direct departures within a two- or three-hour radius. Favor places where the station is close to the center and the final train home leaves late enough for an unhurried Sunday.
Bring food for the outward journey. Watch the landscape change. Arriving is better when the journey has edges you can see.
A train window is the opening paragraph of the trip.