kaikaiying
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 8 years ago
Hey guys!
Im planning my first interrail trip with my cousin. We are looking for experienced people to comment on our route and give suggestions so we make make the right adjustments on our route. In 21 days we are planning to visit Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Venice, Milano, Rome. Do you guys this this is a good route or is it doable? We are not sure if we have to remove some of the cities from our route because it seems like we're gonna have to rush things. Also another question is how much money we will need in euros to complete this journey? Thanks:)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
I see in your profile that you are from Canada? What about your cousin? Keep in mind that Interrail is for Europeans only, travellers from outside Europe need Eurail: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-rules[/u]
Your route should be doable however it requires quite a lot of travelling, but you've already reckoned that. Personally, I'd not spend too much time in Bruxelles, Warsaw and Milan, also Venice could be done within one day (rather expensive place to stay).
Travelling overnight is possible from Lisbon to Madrid; Cerbere/Latour de Carol to Paris; Warsaw to Prague, Prague to Vienna, Vienna to Venice, Milano to Rome.
That's just some basic info for now.
We are official partners of interrail.eu (in case one of you needs Interrail) and several outlets for Eurail - please support us by buying your tickets through our affiliate links at [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] and [ux]https://rail.shop/eurail[/ux] - thank you! :)
Flo 8)
kaikaiying
Traveller
2 comments
Hey Flo,
Thanks for your advice! I actually have a Turkish passport and I am also a resident in Canada. My cousin just has a Turkish passport and lives in Istanbul. I checked the info from the link you sent me. We can both get an interrail pass so thanks about that I did not know about the difference between interrail and eurorail. I will make sure we both get our tickets from this website:)
We have decided to change the route after talking to some friends who has done interrail before. They said travelling such long distances would be tiring and consume a lot of time on the train trying to get to where we want to go. We just removed Portugal, Spain and Western France even though I really want to see there:(
Our new route will be:
I will go to Montreal to Istanbul and from Istanbul we will fly to Rome where we will start our journey.
3 Rome, 2 Venice, 2 Zagreb, 2 Budapest, 2 Vienna, 2 Prague, 2 Berlin, 4 Amsterdam, 1 Brussels, 2 Paris
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
OK - dont forget to get a PLUS account after your purchase: [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u]
IMO it wouldn't be a problem to still visit Portugal etc - did you make a list of those places which you would definitely want to see? I'm sure we could come up with a good route including at least Lisbon, Madrid/Barcelona and maybe some places in Western France (what places do you want to visit here?).
kaikaiying
Traveller
2 comments
Hi Flo,
Yes we basically picked all the cities we want to visit. We will leave out Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Lisbon and UK for next year. Your comments really helped me a LOT. Thanks for your help! I checked the ticket prices from the link you sent me and we get a discount on top of this?!? I love this website:)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Oh, that's nice to hear, thank you very much!
The current 15% discount is available until 31st March, for starting days until 16th May. :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/interrail-promo-2016/[/u]
You could check if changing the route: Venice - night train to Vienna - Zagreb - Budapest would make sense for you.
Amsterdam - Brussels: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/amsterdam-brussels-train/[/u]
ardeeay
Traveller
99 comments
Hi
I think that 10 or 12 cities in 21 days would be most achievable. As Flo suggests, have you thought about using night trains. This would avoid taking up too much of your daylight sight-seeing time travelling? You will not see as much of all the scenery but with longer summer evenings (and early mornings if you wake up in time) you can see quite a lot. You can save a bit on hotel/hostel rooms but of course will have the cost of making night train reservations if you want a sleeper compartment or couchette.
In 2013 and 2014, I used rail passes to spend a month in Europe using night trains and a very minimum of hotels. I enjoyed every minute of it.
The first time (2013) I used Eurail and Balkans Flexi passes to visit 28 capital cities (and a few others) in 41days. Hotels only at the “end of the line” in Dublin and Sarajevo.
In 2014 I planned to use all the DBahn City Night Line (CNL) routes, in 31 days and again avoiding hotels.
However some of the CNL routes have already been abandoned and I understand that they will all cease to run from December this year. However other options may appear.
If you decide to use night trains, my thoughts are:
(1) sleeping in seats on trains for three weeks would not be all that satisfactory. (I used sleepers with en suite toilet and shower when available - not a cheap option but very comfortable). You could consider at least couchettes to get some sleep (perhaps with you and your cousin sharing a 4-berth couchette compartment) 8) ;
(2) forget a logical geographical route and plan for the maximum distances/times available on night trains - you will zig-zag all over Europe but you will have enough time to rest :D ;
(3) you should be able to spend the whole of the daylight hours each day walking around each city but allow enough time for drinking coffee, sitting beside the river, and smelling the flowers :) - if you travel mainly by night trains you will not have the safe haven of a hotel or hostel to retire to;
(4) if you want to spend more than one day in certain cities you could shuttle back and forwards using night trains - for example Venice-Vienna, Vienna-Venice, then Venice-Rome via Kufstein, etc. This option will now be a bit more limited because of the removal of some CNL services. Try looking at pairings of cities served by night trains.
(5) leave as much of your gear in a locker at the railway station when you arrive. Travel light within each city, with a day pack only. In nearly every city you will depart in the evening from the same station;
(6) plan out a rough walking route in each city (as you are probably already doing) but don’t be too rigid - be prepared to be surprised and delighted by the unexpected; :o and
(7) don’t forget that for sleeper or couchette accommodation on night trains you will generally need to make reservations well in advance - it reduces the spontaneity but makes sure you will get into the new city well rested!
I hope your trip will be as enjoyable as mine were.
Safe travelling.
Richard :D