clueless
Traveller
6 comments
Posted 9 years ago
Hello,
My boyfriend and I will be interrailing from Rome to Amsterdam, using the ten day pass. The ten days interrailing will begin the day we leave Rome, and end the day we arrive in Amsterdam. So we have (five days within) ten days of travelling in between.
We were hoping to visit the following places. I was wondering if anyone could help with forming a route?
- Start in Rome
- Ljubljana and Lake Bled
- Vienna
- Antwerp
- End in Amsterdam
Rome to Ljubljana/Lake Bled looks really difficult, but we really really want to see Lake Bled. Also, according to Deutsche Bahn, Vienna to Antwerp has 3 changes including a bus... will our pass allow us to take this bus?
When I look up a train route on Deutsche Bahn, can I definitely take all the trains listen with my interrail pass? If not, how do I know which trains I can and can't take with my pass?
As far as I know, I am required to make reservations. DeutscheBahn shows train journeys, but I don't see any way of making reservations? How do I reserve our place on the trains we wish to take?
As you can see, we've just picked places we'd like to visit, and gone from there. It may be that we have simply chosen a very difficult route. If so, I would be open to suggestions of different cities to visit between Rome and Amsterdam! Or, a different order in which to visit these places.
One last Q: is it always most sensible to take the most direct looking route from city to city? Or does it sometimes make more sense to 'go back on yourself', so to speak?
I've tried to do my research, but there is so much information online, it's all very confusing :|
Thank you so much in advance for any help you can offer! :)
A clueless but very keen interrailer
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Getting across the Italien <> Slovenian border is currently a bit cumbersome; in principle you have these options:
a) going from Venice to Gorizia by train, getting across town the the Slovenian part of the city to Nova Gorica and train again to Lake Bled or Ljubljana.
b) going from Venice to Trieste by train, taking the tramway to Villa Opicina, walking to the station and taking a train across the border to get to Lake Bled or Ljubljana.
However you could also think about taking the night train Rome - Vienna first; then travelling to Slovenia and then taking the night train to Munich or Zürich to continue to Antwerp from there.
I assume you have been shown the Düsseldorf - Antwerp IC Bus of Deutsche Bahn which is included in Interrail but requires a ~4,50€ seat reservation.
Personally I would prefer to go by train from Cologne to Brussels and change there to Antwerp.
You can travel the whole route without reservations (except for the night trains) but I would recommend to make a reservation for the Frecciargento high speed train from Rome to Venice (10€) as it is much faster as compared to regular regional or Intercity trains.
You should not encounter any railway on which Interrail is not valid on your route.
Regarding validity and reservations have a look here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/first-time-interrail[/u]
Your route is not particularly complicated and can be easily done with the 5in10 pass! ;)
We are official partners of interrail.eu - 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)
clueless
Traveller
6 comments
[quote]Hi!
Flo 8) [/quote]
Hello Flo, thank you so so much for your help! Of course I will buy our interrail tickets from this website :)
I think the easiest way is:
Roma Termini dep 19:04 -> Wien Hbf arr 08:41 (EN 234 EuroNight)
Wien Hbf dep 07:55 -> Ljubljana arr 14:08 (EC 151 Eurocity)
These are both night trains - how do I make a reservation?
Then I can visit Ljubljana, and take a short train from Ljubljana to Bled.
My problem now is getting from Bled to Antwerp. There are two stations at Lake Bled (Lesce-Bled and Bled Jezero) and several stations in Antwerp. I'm not sure how to search for trains to plan this journey... :|
Thanks again!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Thanks - please make sure to use the link [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] right before your booking :)
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u]
You can make reservations for the night train Rome - Vienna online or at a station as explained here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/rome-vienna-en-234/93[/u]
You do not need a reservation for the EC (Eurocity) Vienna - Ljubljana, just hop on the train. I recommend to sit on the left for best views on the Semmering mountain route (between Wiener Neustadt and Mürzzuschlag). You may also visit the Slovenian restaurant car. :)
You can find the two stations of Bled here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/bled/station/c[/u]
Lesce Bled is on the main line from Ljubljana to Austria while Bled Jezero is more close to the city centre but on the secondary line from Jesenice to Nova Gorica. If you are coming from Ljubljana get off the train at Lesce Bled and either walk to Bled or take a local bus.
To get to Antwerpen you can look for connections from both Lesce Bled or Bled Jezero - from the latter station you would always have to change at Jesenice and I would only recommend that if the connection is good.
In Antwerp, the central station is Antwerpen Centraal which itself is worth a visit: [u]https://rail.cc/en/antwerp/antwerp-central-railway-station-/l480[/u]
If you want you could get a regular ticket from Ljubljana to Bled (which would be just 5€) and use the fifth travel day for another extra stop on the way from Bled to Antwerp.
For instance you could take the night train to Zürich and then spend one day in Bern, or in France in Mulhouse, Strasbourg,... or go to Luxembourg...
clueless
Traveller
6 comments
[quote]Thanks - please make sure to use the link [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] right before your booking :)
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u]
You can make reservations for the night train Rome - Vienna online or at a station as explained here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/rome-vienna-en-234/93[/u]
You do not need a reservation for the EC (Eurocity) Vienna - Ljubljana, just hop on the train. I recommend to sit on the left for best views on the Semmering mountain route (between Wiener Neustadt and Mürzzuschlag). You may also visit the Slovenian restaurant car. :)
You can find the two stations of Bled here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/bled/station/c[/u]
Lesce Bled is on the main line from Ljubljana to Austria while Bled Jezero is more close to the city centre but on the secondary line from Jesenice to Nova Gorica. If you are coming from Ljubljana get off the train at Lesce Bled and either walk to Bled or take a local bus.
To get to Antwerpen you can look for connections from both Lesce Bled or Bled Jezero - from the latter station you would always have to change at Jesenice and I would only recommend that if the connection is good.
In Antwerp, the central station is Antwerpen Centraal which itself is worth a visit: [u]https://rail.cc/en/antwerp/antwerp-central-railway-station-/l480[/u]
If you want you could get a regular ticket from Ljubljana to Bled (which would be just 5€) and use the fifth travel day for another extra stop on the way from Bled to Antwerp.
For instance you could take the night train to Zürich and then spend one day in Bern, or in France in Mulhouse, Strasbourg,... or go to Luxembourg...[/quote]
Thanks again for your help. I have bought our tickets through your link :)
I'm worried about our last journey. We will need to get from Bled to either Antwerp or Amsterdam. But this is 18+ hours, with 3/4 changes! So I'm thinking we should stop off to visit another city along the way. According to DBahn, the only place we could stop along the way is Munich.. but we don't really want to visit Munich. Are there any other cities we could visit between Bled and Antwerp (or Amsterdam)?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Thank you for supporting! :) If you enter your purchase details at [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u] we will upgrade your account to PLUS.
So you bought the 5in10? How many days would you have left when you leave Bled for Amsterdam?
I would see two possible routes:
a) Night train to Zürich; travel to Amsterdam via Mulhouse - Strasbourg - Luxembourg - Bruxelles - Antwerp - Rotterdam or Luxembourg - Liège - Maastricht
b) Night train to Munich; travel to Amsterdam via Nürnberg/Stuttgart - Frankfurt - Köln
clueless
Traveller
6 comments
[quote]Thank you for supporting! :) If you enter your purchase details at [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u] we will upgrade your account to PLUS.
So you bought the 5in10? How many days would you have left when you leave Bled for Amsterdam?
I would see two possible routes:
a) Night train to Zürich; travel to Amsterdam via Mulhouse - Strasbourg - Luxembourg - Bruxelles - Antwerp - Rotterdam or Luxembourg - Liège - Maastricht
b) Night train to Munich; travel to Amsterdam via Nürnberg/Stuttgart - Frankfurt - Köln[/quote]
We have decided to travel from Bled to Cologne (to stay with a friend). Then take the quick ICE train from Cologne to Amsterdam.
This is the journey we plan to take:
Lesce Bled 00.36 to Munich 06.10 (EuroNight)
Munich 07.28 - Cologne 12.05
However, underneath this journey on DBahn website, I get this message:
[quote]runs daily, not 23. until 25. May 2015
Border crossing: Jesenice(Gr), Salzburg Hbf
Hint: Prolonged stop [/quote]
Do you have any idea what this means?
One last question 8) : I believe that two of our journeys (Rome to Vienna and Bled to Munich) require reservations. How early do I need to make these reservations, and where/how do I make them?
Thanks again so much for your help! I really was clueless, I couldn't have planned this without you :D
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Glad to help. Again the reminder to please enter your booking details at the link to get upgraded to PLUS:
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u]
[quote]runs daily, not 23. until 25. May 2015
Border crossing: Jesenice(Gr), Salzburg Hbf
Hint: Prolonged stop [/quote]
[/quote]
Prolonged shows up when there is a change of trains that takes 60 minutes or longer.
Rome - Vienna online as explained here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/rome-vienna-en-234/93[/u] or at a station
Bled - Munich: At a station during your trip
clueless
Traveller
6 comments
[quote]Glad to help. Again the reminder to please enter your booking details at the link to get upgraded to PLUS:
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u]
[quote]runs daily, not 23. until 25. May 2015
Border crossing: Jesenice(Gr), Salzburg Hbf
Hint: Prolonged stop [/quote]
[/quote]
Prolonged shows up when there is a change of trains that takes 60 minutes or longer.
Rome - Vienna online as explained here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/rome-vienna-en-234/93[/u] or at a station
Bled - Munich: At a station during your trip[/quote]
Thanks, I'll upgrade to Plus this evening.
So 'not 23. until 25. May 2015' does't mean anything?
How early should I make the reservations? I would like a bed/couchette (whichever is cheapest) - do these tend to get fully booked? Or is it generally fine to make a reservation at the station at short notice?
clueless
Traveller
6 comments
[quote]Glad to help. Again the reminder to please enter your booking details at the link to get upgraded to PLUS:[/quote]
Thanks, I'll upgrade to Plus this evening.
So 'not 23. until 25. May 2015' does't mean anything?
How early should I make the reservations? I would like a bed/couchette (whichever is cheapest) - do these tend to get fully booked? Or is it generally fine to make a reservation at the station at short notice?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
I'll answer as soon as you have upgraded to PLUS :)
clueless
Traveller
6 comments
[quote]I'll answer as soon as you have upgraded to PLUS :) [/quote]
I have tried twice, but I just get this message: 'You already have a PLUS profile. Thank you that you supported the railcc project with your purchase!' :'(
I don't have a PNR number on any of my confirmation emails, so maybe that's the problem?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hej!
Sorry for insisting on activating your PLUS membership - we rely on people not only asking here for help but also buying their tickets via our link. Thank you. :)
Regarding your questions:
runs daily, not 23 until 25 May 2015 means that this particular connection does indeed not run on 23 until 25 May 2015. However, there will be other ways of making this connection.
On what date do you want to travel - I can look up a connection if you want. Train travel in Germany can be tricky though during the next days - this Wednesday another strike starts which will severly affect train train in Germany.
It is always hard to predict if and when a night train will be fully booked. For instance, on the Rome - Vienna night train you could get reservations for all categories - seat, couchette or sleeper - for todays departure.
If you want, you can make a reservation online for this night train as explained here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-night-train/rome-vienna-en-234/93[/u]
For the other night train, make a reservation at a station during your trip.
Flo 8)