warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Posted 9 years ago
Hi, me and 3 friends are planning to go InterRailing during August 2015 (with a one month continuous pass), so it's a still a while off yet, but it's the first thing like this that any of us have done, so we're planning it well in advance.
Our desired trip at the minute is:
Prague-Vienna-Lake Bled-Plitvice Lakes/Zagreb-Dubrovnik-Budapest-Bratislava-Berlin-Amsterdam
The trickiest bit and the bit where I need help is from Lake Bled through to Budapest really (which I'll get into more below). Also after looking into it more we're thinking of starting in Vienna and moving Prague as we will have to go through it in between Bratislava and Berlin, but anyway, from what I can make out our journey would go something like this:
- Prague - Vienna seems fairly simple, a standard 4 hour or so train journey in the day?
- Vienna to Lake Bled would be via Ljubljana if I'm correct? Although I don't know if there's any train links between Ljubljana and Lake Bled? (although if this bit is a bus journey then that would be fine
- Lake Bled to Plitvice Lakes is where it starts getting tricky, and where help would be super appreciated. From what I can make out, we'd go back to Ljubljana and go from there to Zagreb, where we'd find somewhere to stay for two nights, and do a day trip to Plitvice Lakes in between this - if there's a better way to do this then I'd love to know (and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there is and I'm wrong).
- So then it would be onto Dubrovnik from Zagreb, which I believe would be best done by going to Split, then taking a bus from there? (again, if not, I'd love some help around this area of the trip)
- Then Dubrovnik to Budapest, the last trip of the hardest section for me to figure out. From what I can see we'd go from Dubrovnik to Split (I don't know if there is a train connecting these two places or not?), then from Split to Budapest which I believe would be a night train?
- Then Budapest to Bratislava which seems like one of the most straightforward trains of the journey.
- Bratislava to Berlin via Prague (is this the best way to do this section?)
- Then finish with again what seems like a pretty straightforward train from Berlin to Amsterdam.
Hopefully this all makes sense, and any help over whether this trip would work, and where the connections could be improved would be super appreciated!
I apologise for the length of this, but I also had a couple of other general questions:
- how early should be thinking about booking our flight out to Prague (or Vienna if we start there)?
- how early should we be making any reservations for hotels/hostels along the way (we will probably book a few before we go, especially in our first and last locations)?
Thanks for reading this if you have, and any help would be brilliant, cheers!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
There are no trains to Dubrovnik and Plitvice Lakes; you might think about looking for a flight to Croatia instead of Prague or Vienna and start your trip there; going from Dubrovnik to Split by bus and continue by bus from there to Plitvice and then Zagreb before you start your actual InterRail trip - you could then just buy a 10in22 ticket to cover the remaining trips which would be much cheaper overall.
If it runs again in 2015 and it fits your schedule you might also think about taking the coastal ferry from Dubrovnik to Split: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/dubrovnik-to-rijeka[/u]
You could take a train from Split to Zagreb, stay there and make a day trip to Plitvice from Zagreb by bus.
There are frequent trains to Lake Bled from Ljubljana; however there are two stations serving the town: Lesce Bled is on the main line from Ljubljana to Villach in Austria and is about 4km away from the actual town, there are buses from the station or you can walk; Bled Jezero is a small stop on the lake opposite the town on the line from Jesenice to Nova Gorica; if you are coming from Ljubljana it will be quicker to get off at Lesce Bled.
From Bled you can take a train back to Ljubljana from where you can take a direct train to Budapest: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/ljubljana-to-budapest[/u]
If you choose to go to Croatia first you could then go Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna (or the other way round) - Prague - Berlin - Amsterdam which are all straightforward routes where you do not have to make advance reservations. If you want to use a night train you could also go Ljubljana - Wien - Bratislava - Budapest - night train to Prague - Berlin - Amsterdam...there are many options. :)
This route should still leave you with 2 or 3 travel days on a 10in22 pass which you could use for extra day trips or if you want to include an extra city.
Hope this helps for a start; to support the free information and the forum on railcc, please be fair and buy your official Interrail pass via our railcc partner link: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Thank you! :)
Flo 8)
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Thanks a lot for the response, we'll have a discussion about where to start, and it may well be that Croatia is the best place for that then!
Is this page ([u]https://rail.cc/en/search-eurail-route[/u]) wrong then, since it says there quite a few train connections between Dubrovnik and other places (including Split)?
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
And I forgot to mention, this site has already helped me tremendously before even using the forum, so I'll be sure to purchase via the site :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
No problem. :)
You are looking at the site for Eurail btw, but you should check for InterRail instead (Eurail is for residents outside Europe); there are no rail connections to Dubrovnik, only buses and ferries, for instance to Split: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/dubrovnik-to-split[/u]
- Thanks! :D
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Well that was a stupid mistake to make haha, sorry to keep asking questions, but do you need if that's something we'd need to book in advance, especially because we'll be going in August? (and if so how? - I appreciate you probably don't know every detail about every connection so apologies if I'm asking a bit much here!)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
No worries, we run the forum to allow questions being answered. ;)
Regarding trains, you will be able to travel almost the whole route without reservations if you use day trains: Zagreb - Ljubljana - Bled - Vienna - Budapest - Bratislava - Prague - Berlin - Amsterdam: no reservations needed.
If you choose to go from Split to Zagreb during the day you would need a reservation which you have to buy locally; in case the trains would be full you can squeeze on one of the two night trains which are also know to attract many (backpacker) tourists in summer, no reservations needed for travel in regular seats.
There would be also a direct Split - Budapest night train thrice weekly in summer but you would need a reservation for this one as well and chances that you will get one locally at short notice are quite low (but you probably wont need this train anyway).
Regarding accomodation...this is always hard to predict, in my experience the best hostels often get booked rather early but you should not have troubles to find accomoation at short notice in most of these cities. In Croatia and also Budapest there are usually people waiting at stations renting private rooms. Budapest, Prague, Berlin have a multitude of hostels, just check on sites as [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux]
I would recommend to make early reservations for Amsterdam though as decent hostels are often fully booked there. Also look for cheap accomodation in Dubrovnik early.
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Do you know if the bus services in Croatia (so from Zagreb to Plitvice and Dubrovnik to Split for example) would require a reservation in advance? Or if it is even possible to buy them anywhere but locally?
Thanks a lot for all your help anyway, we're meeting in a few days time do some more planning, so I'll probably be back here soon with many more questions (and regularly right up until we go haha)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
For buses, just go to the bus station in each city and buy your ticket there at the office. It is possible to buy them at the office in advance but normally it is sufficient to buy them on the day of departure. If you get on the bus at smaller stops you can also buy the ticket from the driver but on your trip this wont be necessary - just go to the bus terminals in Dubrovnik and Zagreb (and Split, if needed) and buy your tickets there. Dont worry, there are plenty of buses available and you wont get stuck. ;)
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Ah excellent, thank you! I'll almost definitely be back here with more questions in a few days, but thanks for all the help so far :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Cheers :)
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Hi, so it's been a while since I posted in this thread, so much so that the site has changed an awful lot!
Anyway, we've progressed quite a lot with the booking of the trip; we are flying out to Dubrovnik on the 1st August, and we have accommodation booked there until the 5th August. We then also have accommodation booked on the 28th August in Amsterdam, and a flight home from there on the 30th, so it's just the middle (and main) section of the trip where some more guidance would be appreciated.
I'll probably go over some topics that were kind of already answered in the previous posts in the topic so sorry about that (especially if you reply again flow, but thanks for all your help so far!) but I think a refresh of my memory is needed anyway to be honest.
Now, our plan is very much the same as what we had in mind a few months ago: Dubrovnik - Split (or perhaps Zadar) - Zagreb/Plitvice Lakes - Lake Bled - Budapest - Bratislava - Vienna - Prague - Berlin - Amsterdam. From Budapest - Amsterdam it seems pretty simple with frequent and easy trains (which probably won't require an advance booking, am I right?). It's the Dubrovnik - Lake Bled part that, I have already asked about, but I am just seeking some clarification now that this trip is confirmed and we're seriously planning it.
So I know Dubrovnik - Split (if we choose Split over Zadar), will be a bus journey, which should be able to be booked locally maybe a day or so before our trip? Then after staying in Split for a few days, we're wondering whether to go to Zagreb and do a 'day trip' on a coach to Plitvice, or whether to spend a night or 2 nearPlitvice itself - would this be a lot trickier to manage do you think? As I don't really know the transport links in and out of Plitvice work.
Then for Lake Bled, is there really any places to stay do you know? I've searched Lake Bled in Hostelworld (which is where we've booked places for Dubrovnik and Amsterdam thus far) but nothing comes up. So would this be a case of getting a place to stay in Ljubljana for a few days and taking the train/bus into Lake Bled?
Sorry if I've repeated any questions, and thanks for any more help you can give!
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
[quote]Then for Lake Bled, is there really any places to stay do you know? I've searched Lake Bled in Hostelworld (which is where we've booked places for Dubrovnik and Amsterdam thus far) but nothing comes up. So would this be a case of getting a place to stay in Ljubljana for a few days and taking the train/bus into Lake Bled?[/quote]
Forgive my stupidity here, obviously by searching for 'Bled' I realised my mistake with this one!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi again!
Yeah, Dubrovnik - Split by bus wont be a problem, just buy your ticket locally from the bus terminal.
There should be buses Split - Plitvice - Zagreb so if you want to spend more time get one of these; but it would be no problem to visit Plitvice as a day trip by bus from Zagreb.
The remainder of the trip is actually quite simple; Zagreb - Bled is no problem, neither is Bled - Ljubljana - Budapest or any of the following trips. No reservations needed on any of the trains.
If you want to travel on a night train you could think of rearranging your trip: Bled - Vienna - Bratislava - Budapest - night train to Prague - Berlin - Amsterdam. :)
You can now book your Interrail ticket directly through our partner link with interrail.eu: [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] (dont forget to use this link before you book) - thank you! :)
Flo 8)
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Thanks a lot for all your help, getting a pretty clear idea of what the trip will be and what we need to do now! Would Dubrovnik - Zadar - Plitvice - Zagreb be as simple as with Split do you know? It seems as though it's going to be a straight choice between Zadar and Split and whilst I don't really know anything about either place as of yet, the sea organ alone is making Zadar super tempting to me.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Glad to help :)
Dubrovnik - Zadar would not be much of a problem; you may have to change buses in Split though. So you could try to spend a few hours in Split before heading to Zadar, I am sure it would be worth it.
Similarly, Zadar to Zagreb or Plitvice is no problem either.
warman42
Traveller
9 comments
Hi, I'm back again! But with probably the last question or so! So, our planned route is pretty much identical to what I proposed last time, except we're planning on stopping in Cologne in between Berlin and Amsterdam; I just wondered if this is a train that would need to be booked (either Berlin-Cologne or Cologne-Amsterdam) or if that's also fine just to use our interrail pass for?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hey!
Thanks for supporting! :)
This is fine - on both routes direct ICE services operate (Berlin - Cologne hourly, Cologne - Amsterdam about every two hours). No reservation needed. The Amsterdam services can be quite full at times so you might think about investing on the 4,50€ for a reservation.
Oh, and if you are in doubt of anything, just ask. Better safe than sorry. ;)
Flo 8)
Wouter
Traveller
102 comments
I can confirm that the Amsterdam service is quite full. Some days ago I went towards Amsterdam, arriving at 11 and I just had problems to find a seat. When I walked the full train I found just 1 seat.