benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Posted 10 years ago
Hi,
I would like to discuss my plan for interrail travelling. Four people from the Czech Republic, interrail global pass 10 days from 22, we start on July 1 and finish on July 22.
-Firstly, night train from Prague to Amsterdam. Night reservation. 3 nights in Amsterdam.
-Morning July 5 from Amsterdam to Brussel via Rotterdam (left luggage, walk through city). 1 night in Brussel.
-Afternoon July 6 from Brusel to Caen. 2 nights in Caen, trips through Normandy, Omaha beach.
-Morning July 8 from Caen to Pontorson Mont St. Michel (left luggage), in the evening transfer to Paris. 4 nights in Paris, trip to Versaille.
-Afternoon July 12 from Paris to Bordeaux. TGV, Abo forfeit 2e trick. 2 nights in Bordeaux, trips to the Atlantic ocean.
-Morning July 14 from Bordeaux to Marseille. TRN (don't know the cost of resevation). Maybe 1 night in Marseille, then transfer to another city in South France (Nice, Frejus, not decided yet). 4 nights, relaxing, swimming in the sea, trip to Monte Carlo and Cannes.
-Morning July 18 from Frejus to Milan. IC, another reservation (6€?). 1 night in Milan.
-Morning July 19 from Milan to Switzerland (probably Basel). Maybe reservation. 1 or 2 nights, transfer to Curych.
-Evening July 21 night train from Curych back to Prague. Night reservation.
I kindly ask you to check this trip, I have already checked the timetables of trains. We always want to sleep in hostel or flat using airbnb (does another webpage like this exist?), taking a tent with us is a little bit uncomfrotable. I have chosen these cities but if you tell me that there is nothing interesting to see, it is no problem to leave out some and add another.
Thank you for all replies, I really appreciate it! :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej! ;)
# Night trains to/from Prague should be ok as discussed on the other thread.
# Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Brussels as described here: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/amsterdam-brussels-train/[/u] In my personal opinion, Rotterdam is not that interesting and I would prefer a city in Belgium for a short stopover (Antwerpen would be on the way, but since distances in Belgium are short you could also go to Gent before heading for Bruxelles).
# Bruxelles - Caen as discussed on the other thread.
# Did you already check timings for your trip to Mont St Michel? I dont have my European Rail Timetable at hand but I can imagine that Caen - Pontorson might take some time-
# Paris - Bordeaux with TGV looks good.
# Bordeaux - Marseille. TRN on that route is a Intercités service with compulsory reservation with the same characteristcs as TGV reservations: 6€, limited availability.
# On the Cote d'Azur I would stay in or around Nice, as train connections Nice - Cannes/Monaco are much more frequent than from Frejus; also, if you do not have travel days left, tickets for local trips are much cheaper from Nice as the distances are shorter.
# Frejus - Milan: IC reservations for Italy are 3€, not compulsory but recommended, especially if you want to sit together as a group.
# Milan - Switzerland: I would recommend this route through the alps: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]
Bern and Luzern would be also very nice cities to visit; if you do not want to travel the suggested route above, the Gotthard route is really scenic as well; no reservation needed if you travel with local trains to the border stations at Domodossola (on the route to Brig - Bern - Basel) or Chiasso (on the route to Lugano - Lucerne - Basel/Zürich).
Flo 8)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Thank you for the reply!
-Yeah I am thinking about missing Rotterdam, you are not the first who tell me that there is nothing so awesome.. I will discuss it with my co-travelers. I have in mind Bruges as well and Haag, just a short stopover in the morning and in the evening continue to Brussel. Antwerpen look good.
-Timetable for trip to Mont St Michel is: Caen 7:09 - Pontorson St. Michel 9:13....all day there (maybe we will do it faster), the last connection Pontorson St. Michel 17:49 - Paris 22:05. Hopefully, we would use earlier train in order not to arrive in Paris in the night.
-Paris-Bordeaux... Do you recommend to buy reservations now online or buy them at the Paris station? I want to use Abo forfeit trick.
-Bordeaux-Marseille... Does the Abo forfeit trick work here? 6€ is not so much but 1,5€ is still lower (2 beers and it counts! :) )
-I will look up some accommodation on the Cote d'Azur, I thought that it could by cheaper in small town than big city, I will check it.
-Cote d'Azur-Milan.. Reservations at the French station or online?
-Milan-Switzerland.. Thank you for the link, it look very interesting!
Thank you! It seems I can buy the interrail tickets now :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Oh, Caen - Pontorson looks good indeed! :)
If you want to go with Abo Forfait, it is no problem to buy locally at a ticket machine - this can be done in Caen as well for instance. I just want to remind you that this normally works but there is no guarantee. ;)
Abo Forfait is also possible for Bordeaux - Marseille.
Reservation for the IC in Italy can be done online at trenitalia.com or bought locally at a station in France or even before departure at a ticket machine at Ventimiglia station.
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
All right, I would probably buy the reservations at the Caen station, I hope that there are the yellow machines and my payment card will work there :) If not, I believe that it is possible to buy the reservations at the counter, isn't it?
Do you have any experience how often happens that the train is fully booked? We travel at peak season, if I buy it in Caen, it would be 6 days in advance.
Reservation of Italian trains, is there any extra fee when doing it in France?
Many thanks!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Sorry, reservation for TGV is now 9€, not 6€.
Yeah, there will be yellow machines in Caen of course. ;)
My Austrian bank card (no credit card) works so yours should too. I assume it might be trickier to get the Abo Forfait at the counter since they might ask you to show your actual Forfait ticket and might not be content with an InterRail pass.
Unless you happen to travel on a day where holidays start or end you should be fine and even if so, there are plenty of trains from Paris to Bordeaux so 6 days should be ok.
In 2012 we booked an Abo Forfait reservation for Marseille - Paris on the day and this was also in July so normally you will be fine.
There is no extra fee when booking in France, maybe it is a bit more or less expensive but wont be dramatic. There are also connections available with reigonal trains only, have a look at a schedule planner. ;)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
I was also thinking about missing Bordeaux and travelling by night train from Paris to Hendaye, what would you recommend? I would save money for 1 night in hostel but I wouldn't travel by TGV (which could be an experience for me because I have never did it) :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Well...Bordeaux is a really nice city and you could also visit nearby Arcachon/Dune de Pyla or St Emilion. What were you going to do in Hendaye?
Going by TGV is nice, although on this route the high speed trip is only about one third of the trip (from Paris close to Tours). It's certainly an experience going at 300 km/h anyway so... :)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
All right, decided to go to Bordeaux!
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Hi,
I would like to discuss the route Milan - Zürich.
I have read the article [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u] and I am really amazed! It looks very beautiful but I don't know how to plan it. Can you give me a hand please?
First I thought that we would travel from Milan to Basel but to Zürich it looks more interesting. We start from Milan on July 19 and we have to be in Zürich on July 21, the night train from Zürich to Prague leaves at 19:42 and we cannot miss it :)
Thank you for your reply!
PS: Today I received the interrail tickets, what a fast delivery! 3 days, thanks
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You can travel from Milan to Zürich via the Bernina Route within one day and without paying anything extra: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/milan-to-zurich[/u]
Since you have time from 19 - 21 July you could also take a break somewhere along the route, for instance at Ospizio Bernina at 2250 metres where you can stay at Albergo Ospizio Bernina: [u]https://rail.cc/en/ospizio-bernina/albergo-ospizio-bernina/l1139[/u]
Even if you would decide to travel through to Zürich within one day I would recommend to make a break along the route, for instance in Alp Grüm and/or Ospizio Bernina and just enjoy the scenery.
There are trains from Milan to Tirano every two hours; from Tirano to Zürich there are connections every hour.
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Hey, staying in Albergo Ospizio Bernina looks great but how is it with weather there in July, snowy, sunny, rainy, ...? I have never been in Alps and I don't want to take a winter jacket to the eurotrip just because of one day :)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Finally, we decided just to stop and make the route Milan - Zurich in one day. Now I have to choose where to stop :) Or what would you recommend, the discussed route or the Gotthard line?
One another question please, how is it with buying tickets in France? We will need single tickets from Antibes to Nice and from Nice to Monte Carlo, it seems that it is not so expensive, and we don't have to buy it now and can buy it at the station, right?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Personally I would travel via the Bernina line if I had to choose one - and stop one hour in Alp Grüm and one hour in Ospizio Bernina.
Some pictures of the Gotthard route for comparison:
[u]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7331/9721703915_18121a1a16_o.jpg[/u]
[u]https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9904324456_b7a5580b87_o.jpg[/u]
[u]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7436/9904334254_befa7dc1c4_o.jpg[/u]
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Ok and how much time does it take to go hike from Alp Grüm to Ospizio Bernina? I suppose it will be up to the hill, we will have a backpack. But we wouldn't have to stop twice :)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
And I cannot find the connection from Milan to Tirano, is it still available from 6:20 every 2 hours every day??
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Milano to Tirano up to date here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/milan-to-tirano[/u]
Peter :)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Yes I can see this but I cannot find the same connection for example in timetable on interrail.eu, and even in another search engine. On lefrecce.it there are trains going every hour at ..:18 (so not ..:20 as on your website) and in Tirano they are at ..:10 (not ..:50), so I don't know what to believe, is the interrail ticket valid there?
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
I don't use the schedule planer you mention as there are not all connections included, like for example the one Milano to Tirano. The information at the link I gave you is the correct one, otherwise I would not forward you to it. :)
If you do not believe it, have a look at trenord.it , the company providing this route.
Interrail reported as valid.
Peter :)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Hey, it would be better if I do not mix Tirano and Torino :D My fault, sorry for that, thank you for explanation :)
Still there is the question (for Flow, I suppose) about the hiking from Alp Grüm to Ospizio Bernina, thanks in advance :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Calculate with 1h30 to 2h...which would translate to an arrival at least 2h later in Zürich. :)
The paths are well signposted and mostly follow the railway line.
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Ok and what do you thing with hiking there with backpack together with two girls with backpacks? :D
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You will be fine...just take your time, the path is not difficult at all and only a bit steep at the beginning until you reach Lago Bianco.
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
Hi, I am back in the Czech Republic, the Eurotrip was really amazing, we survived and enjoyed it! :) There were few problems with trains (i.e. cancelled train from Tournai to Lille, so we missed all the following trains to Caen and we had to take TGV to Paris - that was fine on the other hand :) But the reservation cost us 6€ (not 9€), and another problem with dellayed IC train from Bordeaux to Marseille, 2,5 hour retard, nothing pleasant). But overall it was really fine, some routes were unbelievable (such as Bernina route). Abo forfait trick worked fine in TGV train from Paris to Bordeaux, I asked conductor at the platform before boarding the train and she said that everything is without problem :)
So thank you very much for your help, I really appreciate it and I will recommend this website to everybody!
See you,
Martin
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej Martin,
thanks for your reply, nice to read that your trip went well and you enjoyed it! :)
Bummer that the train was cancelled...but good to hear that you could get a 6€ reservation (where did you get it - in Lille I suppose?) and also that the AF worked... ;)
Glad you liked Bernina as well, I am going there tomorrow :)
Flo 8)
benymartin
Traveller
20 comments
We bought the 6€ reservation in Tournai at the counter, I didn't asked why it is not 9€ :)
Enjoy Switzerland, it was one of the best places I have ever seen.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
OK thank you. :)