Austria to Portugal with our dog by train?

lavinia379
Traveller
0 comments

Posted 9 years ago

Hello there, awesome community. I just found this forum and am really happy to see that so many great travelers connect here.
I am planning to go to Portugal (Ericeira) this summer with my friend to work there for three months. We want to and have to bring our dog. So we don't want to fly since that is horrible for the dog and he is very shy when he's not with us anyways. Do you think this is possible by train? We're considering getting a car but are very nature-conscious and only I have a driver's licence..

But the Interrail Pass is very expensive and we just really want to get from one place to another. We have about 10 days for the journey - that is the day where we finish our work here to the day we have to start in Portugal. A short trip would be better of course because each night we have to stay somewhere makes the journey more expensive. Of course, we can't be on a train longer than about 7-8 hours without the dog being able to pee outside..

At the Interrail website it says that for a parent with one child, the child is free. Does that apply to a dog too? Yet, 264€ for the Global Pass to go (pretty stressed in 5 days) from A to B is a lot of money in my opinion.. And this is without seat reservations.
It's also really difficult to find out if a dog is allowed. In the ÖBB for example you can't bring a dog on an overnight train or you would have to book a whole room/Abteil.

So I would have to figure out the best way to go from Vienna to Lisboa and ask each train company per email how I could book the tickets with a dog..

Does anyone have information, advice or experience with something like this?

Or do you think, going by bus or car would be better anyway? Why is it so difficult to take a dog with you to travel.. he's comfortable on the road and just lies under the seat. There's discounts for children and everything, yet they need a seat for themselves, are likely to run around, spill food and drinks and be loud (no offence) and a dog that is clean and silent is a problem? .. :o :'(

Thank you for any kind of advice. :)