matoub
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 8 years ago
Hi, there! First post and first time for interrail this summer. Im going with my girlfriend, and none of us have been traveling across Europe before. We have not decided yet our final plan, but we're working on that.
First of all, we're have so many thoughts about what we will see and where we should go.
This is our plan so far
Krakow - Berlin - Paris - Rome - Ferrara - Venice - Split - Mostar - Sarajevo - Sofia - Istanbul
Is this route possible for 22 days? First of all, we're taking a couple of days in Krakow before our journey starts, so this doesn't count, and the same with Istanbul as well. Our biggest issue is - is this possible to do in 22 days? We do not just want to rush through places, but also experience them. Should we skip some places? Add something else instead of places i've listed up here? Ferrara can't be taken away. A friend of us is living there, and we want to visit that friend. And we're not planning to visit Sofia, more than we're thinking that this is the easiest way to get to Istanbul, or is Belgrade a better option than Sofia?
Cheers!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
In principle this should be doable in 22 days (excluding Krakow and Istanbul), however you have planned to cover quite long distances with sometimes not optimal train connections.
Regarding the best pass for your need I think you should go with either the 7 or 10 days in one month and combine it with regular tickets bought locally for some parts of the route (dont go with the 22 day continuous pass, you wont need it). I've written about the new passes in the blog: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/interrail-whats-new-in-2016/[/u]
Krakow - Berlin: You can do this with the once daily direct IC Bus of Deutsche Bahn but personally I would recommend to travel by train. It is quite a long trip any way (about 8 hours) - you could think about taking the night train to Prague, spend a few hours there before continuing to Berlin in the afternoon.
Berlin - Paris: Again, a very long journey. There is a night train three times per week, operated by Russian Railways which you could use. You get a small discount (~15%) with Interrail but it will be quite expensive. However you would not have to use a travel day of your pass for it (because you only receive a discount). If you prefer travelling during the day, take a ICE train to Frankfurt/Main, then a direct ICE/TGV to Paris (13€ reservation).
Paris - Rome: Once again a very long trip. The best option would be to take the night train from Paris to Nice (reservations via [ux]https://rail.shop/sncf/reservation[/ux]), then travel to Rome either along the mediterranean coast via Genova - La Spezia or go to Milan and then take a high speed train to Rome.
Rome - Ferrara: Frequent connections by high speed train to Bologna, then with local train to Ferrara available; plus a small number of direct trains.
Ferrara - Venice: Hourly local services. This would be one the trips that you could buy locally (~9€).
Venice - Split: Again one of the longer trips. Not possible within one day except you want to start at Venice at 0120 in the morning. IMO it would be better to make an intermediate stop at Zagreb, then continue to Split the following day.
Split - Mostar: No sensible rail connection (you would have to make a huge detour via Zagreb - Sarajevo), better go by direct bus (not included in Interrail).
Mostar - Sarajevo: Normally two trains per day. Have a look at the (German) blog: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/de/zug-von-zagreb-nach-sarajevo/[/u]
Sarajevo - Belgrade: No direct train available, only possible with a long detour via Zagreb, then night train to Belgrade. Instead, take a direct bus.
From Belgrade, continue to Sofia, or even better to Plovdiv. From Sofia and Plovdiv the night train to Istanbul runs, however it is currently replaced by a bus in Turkey: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/bucharest-sofia-istanbul-train/[/u] You can also take direct day or night buses from either Sofia or Plovdiv.
So, overall you will need at least the following travel days: 1) Krakow - Berlin, 2) Berlin - Paris, 3) Paris - Rome, 4) Rome - Ferrara, 5) Venice - Zagreb, 6) Zagreb - Split, 7) Belgrade - Sofia/Plovdiv.
Ferrara - Venice is just 9€ for a regional train (see above); Sofia/Plovdiv - Istanbul will be more convenient with a direct bus so you should be fine with a Interrail pass 7 days in one month. This should also give you enough time to spend in each city (if you have that much time overall).
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)
ardeeay
Traveller
99 comments
Hi
Just a quick comment. Plovdiv is a very worthwile stop, and a bit better IMHO than Sophia.
Richard