virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
Posted 9 years ago
Hi all, new to the forum and need some advice for first inter rail trip.
I will be travelling alone and have couple of spare weeks between Janaury 18th-Feb 2, so I'm looking at the 15 days continuous pass. After looking at the endless possibilities I have decided that I think I would give Scandanavia a crack as I haven't really been up there properly (except a visit to Denmark when I was 10), plus I know someone in Gothenburg I would like to visit along the way.
So I guess i'm really looking for some good advice on the following
1. Where should I start ? I was thinking Eurostar to Brussels then onto Hamburg and unto Copenhagen as quickly as possible.
2. Im thinking I need to focus on Sweden, Finland and Norway. After research the things that are most important to me are visiting my friend in Gothenburg, seeing something of Stockholm, the Northern Lights (had heard Abisko was the best place), riding the Flam Railway in Norway, riding with the husky dogs in Finland I believe and stay in an igloo. I would of liked to go to St Petersburg if possible but not essential on this particular trip.
3. Im unsure whether to plan any accommodation or go with the flow hence the continuous pass. I don't really want to stay anywhere for too long, maybe 1-2 days max, I have no problem with sleeping on the trains when possible to kill time but not all the time as I think I will need to refresh myself properly. Im conscious not to try and do too much as the time is relatively short, Im concerned that if I don't have some form of schedule though I may end up without anywhere to sleep which could then potentially mess the whole schedule up.
4. My budget overall I guess would be around £800 (includes cost of pass)
5. If anyone thinks I won't have the time to do all of this and I need to trim it back would it be best to eliminate Finland and focus on Sweden and Norway, could I pretty much do all of these things in those two countries ? I'm quite intrigued by Finland however and was looking at possibly going up from Helsinki (possibly on santa express overnight), then eventually going across to Abisko before moving south and into Norway before returning to UK.
6. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to wear at the outset and what to pack in a rucksack for this type of trip at this time of year ?
7. Is there likely to be any further travel costs other than the Eurostar to Brussels ?
8. Has anyone done anything similar and could recommend a route or schedule ?
Any advice on the above would be hugely appreciated
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi,
Regarding your trip: You should do pretty fine with a 10in22 pass; use the money you save on accomodation/food instead, Scandinavia is pricey enough.
1) Eurostar would be a good option; however if you can leave already on the 17th in the evening you might consider the Harwich - Hoek van Holland ferry instead: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/from-london-to-amsterdam-with-the-dutchflyer/[/u]
This would save you a few hours as the first Eurostar from London would arrive in Bruxelles only around noon, while the ferry arrives in Hoek around 7am which would easily allow you to get this connection to Copenhagen: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/amsterdam-to-copenhagen[/u]
2) You should be able to include all this in your trip; I cant give you precise tips on the Iglu/Husky thing though, maybe have a look around the Rovaniemi area, which would be easily accesible by train.
St Petersburg might be an option if you take a flight back home - since Russia is not included in InterRail I dont think it would make much sense to go there during the validity of your pass.
3) If you want to stay flexible (which is still possible with the 10in22 pass) you should draft a rough schedule that includes everything important you want to see with a few days to spare. That way you should be able to cope with any unforeseen issues. Depending on how you want to return you might also book accomodation in the first and last place you are going to visit in advance; for the remaining cities (except Absiko where it is advisable to book in advance as well), keep an eye on the booking sites you use (you can support railcc by booking through our affiliate links at [ux]https://rail.shop/bookingcom[/ux] [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux] and how many beds/rooms are still available. Since there are also alternative options such as AirBnB or Homestay available it should not be an issue to find accomodation, especially during that time of the year. I dont know about staying at an Iglu though, maybe it would be wise to book that in advance as well. :)
4) If you travel with the 10in22 this would leave you with about 500 GBP to spare for accomodation, food etc...around 30 GBP per day. This is not really much in my opinion but should work if you are ok with getting food form the supermarket, using a hostel kitchen etc...depends also on the accomodation you choose.
5) Finland is not that much of a problem to include in your trip; if you go up to Abisko in Sweden, you can travel quite easily to Finland via Lulea - Haparanda - Kemi as described here:
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/to-the-north-the-iron-ore-line-to-narvik/[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/blog/from-kemi-to-lulea-by-bus/[/u]
No extra costs with InterRail, in Kemi you have connecting train services to the north and south.
From Helsinki and Turku there are day and overnight ferries to Stockholm which offer discounts for InterRail travellers; if you have time left, I would recommend to take the day ferry from Turku to Stockholm which wil take you through a really amazing landscape (see pictures).
6) I dont really know but proper shoes/boots and enough warm clothing should be standard; I am going to Finland myself at the beginning of January so might give you some recommendations then. :)
7) You will have to pay extra for overnight trains in Sweden and Finland: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/finland/fi[/u] [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/sweden/se[/u] and for the ferry from Finland to Sweden as well as for the Flam Railway: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/the-flam-railway/[/u]
8) I would recommend the following route from Copenhagen: Göteborg - Oslo - Flam Railway - Oslo - Stockholm - night train to Abisko - travel to Finland (Rovaniemi?) via Lulea - Haparanda - Kemi; then night train to Helsinki - ferry from Helsinki or Turku to Stockholm - Copenhagen (you could skip Göteborg on the way from Göteborg to Oslo and go there when returning) and back to the UK.
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)
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
Thanks so much for the information, its really helped and your advice on the route gives me something useful now to work with. Also I can leave on the 17th so thanks for that :idea:
One thing I was going to mention is that the 10/22 pass is only around 30GBP cheaper than the 15DAY, would it not be worth the extra 30GBP for full flexibility and to cover any unforeseen circumstances ?
Also considering the fact I will have to pay for maybe 1 or 2 night trains plus the flam railway and ferry crossings, will the interrail pass still actually save me money on the rail fares if i purchased them as individual journeys once in Scandanavia.
Just to let you know this link appears to be broken - [u]https://rail.shop/stenaline[/u]
Would you advise seeing the northern lights at abisko or are they equally as visible somewhere else or in Finland. In Finland what places are you aware of that are definitely worth seeing as far as landscape/attractions are concerned ?
Thanks again, also for the ferry tip to Stockholm ...any further tips or advice from anyone else is appreciated too and I will of course I will buy my tickets via railcc once everything is mapped out.
PS: The trip is now a month away, how soon would you recommend I buy my pass and book any accommodation ?
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
[quote]Thanks so much for the information, its really helped and your advice on the route gives me something useful now to work with. Also I can leave on the 17th so thanks for that :idea:
[/quote]
PS: Would I buy my internal pass to start on the 17th if I take the route from Harwich ?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You are right, you might just want to go with the 15day pass - although the 10in22 should work for your route as well it wont leave you with any spare days so you probably feel more comfortable with full 15 travel days. :)
To compare with individual rail fares, have a look at the following links:
[ux]https://rail.shop/nsinternational[/ux] for Hoek/Amsterdam - Copenhagen; it could work out cheaper to split in two sections: Amsterdam - Hamburg and Hamburg - Copenhagen, for these two separate legs you can also check fares on [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux]
Copenhagen - Göteborg on [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/sj[/ux] or sj.se
Göteborg - Oslo and the trip to Flam on nsb.no
Oslo - Stockholm; Stockholm - Absiko and Abisko - Lulea on rail.shop/acprail/sj or sj.se
Lulea - Haparanda - Kemi (by bus) is about 25€
Trips within Finland on vr.fi
Ferries to Stockholm: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/finland/fi[/u] I recommend Viking Line which is really cheap in winter, 50% discount with InterRail results in a ~7€ ticket for the day ferry Turku - Stockholm
Stockholm (- Göteborg) - Copenhagen on rail.shop/acprail/sj or sj.se
The 15 day pass would result in costs of ~30€ per day which will be hard to beat with regular tickets IMO, especially when not bought well in advance.
Extra reservation costs with the exception of the Flam Railway will be rather low, especially if you travel in regular seats on the night trains (although I would recommend couchette or sleeper accomodation).
Thanks for the hint regarding the broken link, we will fix that. :)
I would recommend booking your pass/accomodation not later than one week before you go.
You can get a 30% discount with a InterRail pass on the Harwich ferry; I will inquire whether your pass has to be valid on the 17th then or if it would be sufficient to be valid from the 18th.
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
[quote]You are right, you might just want to go with the 15day pass - although the 10in22 should work for your route as well it wont leave you with any spare days so you probably feel more comfortable with full 15 travel days. :)
To compare with individual rail fares, have a look at the following links:
[ux]https://rail.shop/nsinternational[/ux] for Hoek/Amsterdam - Copenhagen; it could work out cheaper to split in two sections: Amsterdam - Hamburg and Hamburg - Copenhagen, for these two separate legs you can also check fares on [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux]
Copenhagen - Göteborg on [ux]https://rail.shop/acprail/sj[/ux] or sj.se
Göteborg - Oslo and the trip to Flam on nsb.no
Oslo - Stockholm; Stockholm - Absiko and Abisko - Lulea on rail.shop/acprail/sj or sj.se
Lulea - Haparanda - Kemi (by bus) is about 25€
Trips within Finland on vr.fi
Ferries to Stockholm: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-ferry/finland/fi[/u] I recommend Viking Line which is really cheap in winter, 50% discount with InterRail results in a ~7€ ticket for the day ferry Turku - Stockholm
Stockholm (- Göteborg) - Copenhagen on rail.shop/acprail/sj or sj.se
The 15 day pass would result in costs of ~30€ per day which will be hard to beat with regular tickets IMO, especially when not bought well in advance.
Extra reservation costs with the exception of the Flam Railway will be rather low, especially if you travel in regular seats on the night trains (although I would recommend couchette or sleeper accomodation).
Thanks for the hint regarding the broken link, we will fix that. :)
I would recommend booking your pass/accomodation not later than one week before you go.
You can get a 30% discount with a InterRail pass on the Harwich ferry; I will inquire whether your pass has to be valid on the 17th then or if it would be sufficient to be valid from the 18th.[/quote]
Thanks for all of that, I've spent the whole morning looking at all of this and from a lot of research it seems it may be best to base this trip on destination and other experiences and treat the northern lights as a bonus rather than the main reason for the trip. Abisko seems to give you the best chance of seeing them although nothing seems guaranteed (80% chance on a clear night from what i've read), presuming you get the clear night during your stay of course, although I've read that the weather can be very unpredictable so going to bed with a cloudy sky doesn't mean you wont see them.
To base everything on the northern lights it may mean possibly allowing for a 2 or 3 night stay which could become expensive in Abisko as the cheapest accommodation I've found in that area is 70GBP per night.
Good sightings seem to be possible in Norway, Sweden and Finland so I'm thinking of possibly changing the route to the following on destination and hoping that I get lucky rather than put all my eggs in one basket
Harwich - Amsterdam - Copenhagen - Gothenburg - Oslo - Bergen - Oslo - Tromso - Abisko - Rovaniemi - Turko - Stockholm - then somehow back to UK (would rather avoid flying if possible)
Do you think thats possible in 15 days ?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
[quote]
Harwich - Amsterdam - Copenhagen - Gothenburg - Oslo - Bergen - Oslo - Tromso - Abisko - Rovaniemi - Turko - Stockholm - then somehow back to UK (would rather avoid flying if possible)
Do you think thats possible in 15 days ?[/quote]
Seems a bit much to me; to get to Oslo by train and bus you have to calculate:
Oslo - Trondheim night train, continue to Fauske the following day and change there to bus to Narvik, arrival in the late evening.
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/oslo-to-trondheim[/u]
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/trondheim-to-narvik[/u]
The following day take a train to Tromso, travel time about 4h30.
Alternatively you can also travel Oslo - Trondheim during the day, then night train to Fauske, bus to Narvik, bus to Tromso.
Rough estimate:
1) Hoek - Amsterdam - Copenhagen
2) Copenhagen - Göteborg
3) Göteborg
4) Göteborg - Oslo
5) Oslo - Bergen
6) Bergen - night train to Oslo
7) Oslo - Trondheim - night train to Fauske
8) Fauske - bus to Narvik - bus to Tromso
9) Tromso
10) Tromso - bus to Narvik - train to Abisko
...
To cover Abisko, Rovaniemi, Helsinki and Stockholm in the remaining 5 days probably is a bit too ambitious:
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
Its the Tromso part thats going to throw it off track by the look of it.
Do I need to actually make reservations on any of these trains/ferrys, I've read some stuff on some blogs that travel has been refused without reservations even when trains have left empty, although I did hear that seemed to be mainly a French problem.
Also after looking into the Oslo - Bergen part there seems to be two potential routes, is it possible to do one going there / stay in bergen then come back on the other route. If your familiar with that which way round would you recommend.
I guess if i revise the itinerary then it will be Oslo to Abisko then onto Rovaniemi, although overall I'm unsure how much time to actually allow in any of these places. When you mention about leaving a couple of days to spare, do you mean plan it to be back after say 12 days. Thing is by doing it this way won't it be difficult to actually pre book anywhere as the schedule is taking into account getting back early when in reality I don't want to get back early (if you know what I mean)
Also should i start the pass from the 17th (the day I plan to leave Harwich), I'm guessing I will get a discount on the ferry to Hoek
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
The issue with InterRail reservations for French trains is a completely different story. ;)
Amsterdam - Copenhagen: No reservation needed
Copenhagen - Göteborg - Oslo: No reservation needed
Long distance trains within Norway: Officially reservation is compulsory however you can normally get on every train without a reservation if you ask the conductor beforehand - although this is no 100% guarantee.
In Sweden it depends on which trains you use; night trains and Snabbtag high speed trains have compulsory reservation.
In Finland you can travel without seat reservation but since regular tickets are normally sold including a reservation it is a recommended to get one when travelling longer distances.
There is only one train line from Oslo to Bergen: [u]http://www.bueker.net/trainspotting/map.php?file=maps/scandinavian-peninsulas-network/scandinavian-peninsulas.gif[/u]
If you skip Tromso it would be the best option to go Oslo - Stockholm - night train to Abisko.
Booking of accomodation and trains (if needed) should go hand in hand: that way you can plan with a say 12 day schedule and extend your stay and certain places as you like - that way you would book your accomodation and train to your next destination only at the city you are currently staying at (hope you can understand). :)
The alternative would be to plan with a more or less fixed 15 day schedule where you can book accomodation and trains already before leaving if wanted.
Regarding the ferry I am trying to get information regarding the discount as I have written above. ;)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
According to Stena Line you would be eligible for the InterRail discount for the night ferry leaving in the evening on the 17th even when the first day of validity of your InterRail pass is on the 18th. :)
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
Ok completely understand what you mean about planning one destination ahead of myself, good idea and best way for this adventure I think 8)
Ok so its all coming together, if anyone out there has any recommendations for destinations in Northern Sweden and Finland for the potential to see the Northern lights without succumbing to the pricey Abisko option then that would be great, however if Abisko is going to be my most realistic option then maybe I need to put more budget into that part.
If the potential to see them is the same anywhere between Abisko and Roveniemi then I can keep my options open, very keen to experience the husky dog rides and polar bear spotting wherever possible. I will research those options more closely as everything else upto and beyond that point seems more straight forward.
Thanks very much flow for all the info and the update on the discount for the stena line, looking forward to departure now o)
ps: is wifi and 4g generally available throughout Scandinavia, even in more remote places ?
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
ps: not sure about polar bears, i may have got that from an icelandic blog :?:
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Wifi coverage is pretty good across the whole of Scandinavia, at least in populated places but not necessarily on any small road in the wilderness - anyway I never had troubles getting by with the wifi provided at the accomodations I stayed at.
nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments
some other hints:
1.be aware that around that time daylight strat around 10/11 hr and ends by 15/16, if not even shorter further up north, When and where there will be those northern lights is also completely random and uncertain.
2. you are actually restricted when in SE to the only nitetrain STO-NOrrut (=northbound) and during Scandi holidaytimes (sometime in febr) this train is booked solid weeks advacne
3.as this is not really the time that people go just travelling and SE, or in fact the whole of Scandi has VERY high staffcost/wages, expect that many places are closed for the time or only open when prebooked-to cut on staff.
Going all that far by train is pretty boring, just either fly back-or in on a cheapo-miles cheaper as all that boat-train hassle. And for Russia you need a visa-which is far more expensive for Brits as for germans (tit for tat). For a small taste of what looks partly like Russia, ferry on over to Tallinn from HEL-fly back from there then.
virtualNsanity
Traveller
7 comments
[quote]some other hints:
1.be aware that around that time daylight strat around 10/11 hr and ends by 15/16, if not even shorter further up north, When and where there will be those northern lights is also completely random and uncertain.
2. you are actually restricted when in SE to the only nitetrain STO-NOrrut (=northbound) and during Scandi holidaytimes (sometime in febr) this train is booked solid weeks advacne
3.as this is not really the time that people go just travelling and SE, or in fact the whole of Scandi has VERY high staffcost/wages, expect that many places are closed for the time or only open when prebooked-to cut on staff.
Going all that far by train is pretty boring, just either fly back-or in on a cheapo-miles cheaper as all that boat-train hassle. And for Russia you need a visa-which is far more expensive for Brits as for germans (tit for tat). For a small taste of what looks partly like Russia, ferry on over to Tallinn from HEL-fly back from there then.[/quote]
thanks for these hints nltrainer.
i didn't realise the daylight hours were so short, I imagined a lot of the trip to be quite interesting viewing scenery from the train but I guess from what your saying a lot of the time is going to be dark.
plans now in chaos but glad you mentioned these things. I'm not really too keen to fly for any time, i just wanted a bit of an adventure really and saw the train movement as being a part of the trip seeing some different places along the way rather than soulless flying when you see nothing.
if anyone can recommend an alternative trip at this time of year maybe this will be best done another month when theres more daylight xo
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
I use this tool for daylight hours (of course it does not take into account elevations): suncalc.net
If you dont want to go up north, there are many many options in central or southern Europe! :)
You might want head towards eastern Europe: Prague - Krakow - Budapest - Wien; or go south to the mediterranean working your way along the coast from Marseille to Rome? Maybe also include a mountain railway in Switzerland: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u] or better [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]
ardeeay
Traveller
99 comments
Hi
You might also wish to look at the following for daylight, sunlight, sunrise, sunset etc etc in just about every significant town and city around the world:
[u]http://www.gaisma.com/en/[/u]
It may have the same limitations mentioned by Flo but it is tailored to each city specifically
Cheers
Richard