Interrail: main capitals - scenic routes - nature landscapes

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Olá Nuno!

I like your route and there is not much to add or change.

First, you could think about doing your Switzerland tour straightaway: Take a Frecciarossa high speed rome from Rome to Milan you could travel the whole route within one day and then continue to Zürich. Then travel around Switzerland and then get the night train straight to Budapest. Then travel backwards: Budapest - Vienna - Hallstatt - Innsbruck and from Innsbruck to Prague via Munich and continue as planned.
BTW Interlaken is not that interesting unless you travel to Jungfrau area (and the lines there are not included in InterRail).

The Berlin - Malmö train only operates three times per week in summer so you would have to plan carefully to get the train. Malmö - Stockholm would then be be Snabbtag high speed train with compulsory reservation.

Inlandsbanan is a really good option (did you check out the blog post about it?) as is the Iron Ore Line (another blog post...); coming from the Inlandsbana you will have to stay overnight in Gällivare - it might be interesting to make a tour to one of the iron ore mines around Gällivare or Kiruna.

Lofoten - another great place; there are good bus connections from Narvik to Svolvaer and onwards; however I would recommend to stay aroung Svolvaer and then take the fast ferry to Bodo to continue by train again (unfortunately you shouldnt spend too much time on Lofoten to be able to complete your whole route...)
I am not quite sure how you want to go from Lofoten to Preikestolen and Trolltunga though?

Depending on when you go to Switzerland, you could head straight from Bruxelles to Paris and then take a night train or TGV to Southern France. Maybe you even could fit in Le Puy en Velay and then the line through the Cevennes to Nimes?


Flo 8)

Nunikas
Traveller
5 comments

Thank you for the reply Flow!

I was checking the route you´ve suggested, tell me, why do you think that should be a better option? Wouldn it be a bit going on and backwards?

Yes, i saw that maybe Interlaken is not that interesting. Yes, Inlandsbanan and Iron Line were options made after reading the blog! I really enjou travelling by train and those seemed excellent trips to me, that why i included them.

I´m also not sure how to get from Lofoten to the Preikestolen and trolltunga, but those are a must see in this trip!
Do you have any suggestions? Among with some nice small villages in Norway?

I´ll consider the suggestion abou Cevennes to Nimes, seems really nice!

I have exactly 5 weeks to do this trip, even tough i have not decided how many days spend in each place(maybe someone can help me on this), do you think it´s doable? Maybe i can cut off Budapest, or Rome?

Thank you! If you have any other nice stops along this route don´t hesitate :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Well...you can do the trip to Switzerland at the beginning or at the end...it probably does not matter much and is just personal preference. ;)
You would not have to take the night train to Budapest of course, and could go Switzerland - Innsbruck and so on as well.

OK, good to see that the blog posts inspire other travellers to visit these places as well :)

Lofoten to Preikestolen... Well. I would go from Svolvaer or Moskenes by ferry to Bodo, then continue by train to Trondheim. I dont know the times of the Moskenes ferry right now but the Svolvaer ferry connects with the day train from Bodo to Trondheim, which takes you to quite stunning scenery again; then night train from Trondheim to Oslo (or, stay overnight in Trondheim if you find a cheap place to sleep and then day train to Oslo, beautiful scenery again).
From Oslo you could then head straight to Stavanger (day or night train, depending on how you came to Oslo) to visit Preikestolen from Stavanger.

Of course it would be great if you could include Oslo - Bergen railway and Flam Railway as well but again this is a question of time and money... Anyway it would make for a nice circular route: Oslo - Flam Railway - Bergen - bus/boat to Stavanger - trip to Preikestolen - Oslo - Copenhagen
Actually you could also look into the ferries from Stavanger and Kristiansand and even Oslo straight to Denmark.
Other places to go to in Norway could be Rauma Railway from Dombas to Andalsnes (and trip to Alesund by bus); Roros; on Lofoten I have been to Henningsvaer which was quite nice.

Personally I would not cut off Budapest or Rome, both are great cities! Anyway, as I think about you might actually be better off getting to Scandinavia rather quickly and doing Switzerland only at the end of your trip so that you have enough time in Norway/Sweden. I would try to return from Scandinavia about midway of the trip.

Rome 2 days
Innsbruck 1
Hallstatt 1
Vienna 2
Budapest 2
Prague 1
Berlin 2
Stockholm 2
Inlandsbana 1
Lofoten 2
Preikestolen 1
Bergen 1
Flam 1
Oslo 1
Copenhagen 1
Amsterdam 2
Bruges 1
Bruxelles 1
Zurich 2
Bernina 1

28 days already...without transfers included which might cost a few days in addition extra.

MarinaFbg
Traveller
62 comments

Night train to copenhagen would be ok for you, there are plenty of connections to Malmö from Copenhagen, will take you approx 5,5 hours.

You can take a ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen, or travel along the west coast of Sweden, which i of course would recommend :D 8)

Nunikas
Traveller
5 comments

Hello!

Now that the time is approaching i´m having my trip a bit more detailed in order to enjoy the most of it.
So i´m keeping more or less the initial route and adapted Flow´s recommendations :)

I´m cuting off Budapest and leave it for the next trip year including it in an Eastern Europe Interrail.

My main doubts(so far) are during my scandinavia trip. I´ll catch the night train Berlin-Malmo(trying to arrive in one of the three week days it operates.

So some questions:

1- The night train Berlin-Malmo, can i catch it from Berlin all the way to Stockholm?I mean, is it the same reservation?
2- After the Inlandsbanan route, arriving in Gallivare, recommendations for accomodation?
3- Best way to get from Gallivare to the Lofoten Islands?
4- Once in Lofoten, is Svolvaer the best place to stay and then walk around?
5- Wich is preferable, headin´to Bodo by ferry from Svolvaer or from Moskenes? Is the ferry included in the pass?
6- Bodo-Trondheim, is this route really worth during the day or maybe night train in order to gain some time?
7- How to go from Trondheim to Bergen? I see there´s no connections, do i have to go Oslo then Bergen?
8- Thinking of taking a ferry from Bergen to Flam, and then the Flam Railway to Myrdal and then Oslo, good option?

Another question regarding the 30 days pass:

I´ll arrive in Rome the July 19th to start my trip, and catch the night train Rome - Innsbruck, the next day, 20th July. I have a flight back to Portugal on the August 21th, but i might still have to take train this same day. So, will my pass end the 20th August, or since the first travel is going to be a night train(Rome-Innsbruck), the night train rules apply?

If it doesnt apply i was thinking in buy the ticket from Rome until some station that arrives after 00:00, and then start using the pass. Is this necessary?

For now, that´s all! :)

Thanks in advance :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hej!

1) The train runs only Berlin Hbf - Malmö C; you will need one reservation for the night train (29€) plus another for the Snabbtab high speed train to Stockholm (7€); depending on the day of the week you are travelling there might be a slower IC train available to Stockholm without compulsory reservation (or you could go via Göteborg) but since the night train nowadays takes so long already to Malmö due to the withdrawal of the night ferry between Sassnitz and Trelleborg I would recommend to take a Snabbtag train in order to not lose too much time.
2) I stayed once at the Campsite which is a short walk away from the station; they should also have huts available if you do not have a tent. Last year when I was travelling with Peter we stayed at B&B Gällivare which was totally ok and there should also be a hostel around.
3) Best and in fact only way if you are travelling by train:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/lulea-to-narvik[/u] (no reservation required)
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/narvik-to-svolvaer[/u]
You can wait for the bus at the station; if you need to do some quick shopping you could also quickly walk from the train station to the bus station where there is a shopping centre with supermarket.
4) Hmm...I\'ve been to Lofoten twice and only been to Svolvaer since both the bus connection from Narvik and the ferry connection to Bodo is good and usually you do not have too much time to spend during an InterRail trip.
Svolvaer is quite practical since there are plenty of shopping and accomodation options; you can also make a day trip by bus to Henningsvaer and get a nice first impression of Lofoten. If you want to invest more time you can think about stopping first at Svolvaer then continue to Moskenes...also have a look at the forum where you should find a topic about travel around Moskenes/A. Ferry and buses are not included.
5) Only depends on where you have been staying before. Keep in mind that the Svolvaer ferry leaves early during the week which means that you cant stay too far away from Svolvaer if you want to catch it; I dont know the Moskenes timings by heart, would have to check.
6) This again only depends on the connection from the ferry. For instance, on my first trip to Lofoten we left Svolvaer on a Sunday when the ferry departs in the afternoon and connects with the night train to Trondheim; last summer we left midweek when the ferry connects with the day train.
7) Yup, via Oslo. You can combine day+night or night+day train.
8) Yeah, good option, have a look for the Norway in a nutshell options which are available for this route (also at [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/nsb[/ux]). You could also time that trip so that you connect with the night train to Oslo in Myrdal.

If you want to take the Rome - Innsbruck night train on the evening of 20th July and you want to use InterRail for the complete trip, the first day of validity of your ticket would be 20th July, the last day would be 19th August then. Similarily, if the first day of validity (and you would cover Rome - Verona with a regular ticket) was 21st July, the last day would be 20th August - you could not use your IR ticket on 21st August in any way, so I would recommend to use your InterRail ticket from 20th July and get a single ticket for a possible trip on 21st August.


Flo 8)