marioman182
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 8 years ago
Hi guys.
Just wrote a really indepth message that took so long, the site logged me out before I posted and I lost the whole thing :'(
Anyways.....
First time poster/cross country railer! I've spent a fair bit of time alone getting lost in various foerign cities and now feel as though it's time to do this on a larger scale! I'm just hoping that there are a few wise and experienced travellers about who are able to share some golden nuggets of info. I guess I'm essentially looking for confirmation as to whether a) this plan is OK and b) I'm an idiot (the two aren't mutually exclusive).
As a quick intro to my plans, looking at spending between 1st May - 12th June away (about 6 weeks). These dates are set in stone as I have a boatload of other commitments over the summer. My budget is between £1500 - £2000 (EU 1900 - 2500). I'm happy camping and cooking my own food (I prefer this), although I'll likely get a hostel a couple of nights to not freeze if this is what is advised.
Two important points that throw a mahoosive spanner in the works.
1)I need to be in Benidorm 19-22 May for a stag do (god help me)
2)Need to be in Barcelona 1-5 June for a music festival.
For my route I'm thinking...London (start) - Amsterdam - Hamburg - Copenhagen - Oslo - Stockholm (really want to hit Oslo and Stockholm). I then need to get from Stockholm (pretty remote) to Benidorm somehow :o . Will likely crash somewhere on the way down to help break up the journey. Any reccomendations? I have about 19 days to do this entire process - is this enough time?
Then I have between 22 May - 1 June to move about - need to finish in Barcelona. I'm thinking head into Switz for a few days, back into France (Montpellier) to crash with a friend and then go to Barcelona from there.
This leaves me 5/6 June - 12 June. I need to be back home for the 12th as I have a weeks drinking holiday booked with friends in England (home). Is it worth doing anything or should I just go back home and rest for a few days before partying again?
How does this plan all sound? It's pretty longwinded but this is the only thing I can think of that will kind of work.
All help and info is massivelly appreciated - thank very much for your time all, abd happy railing :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
Sorry to hear about the timeout... :os
Alright then...it wont be a problem to cover all your destinations until Benidorm.
To start, you could think about the Dutchflyer to get to the Netherlands: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/from-london-to-amsterdam-with-the-dutchflyer/[/u] Or since you are from Newcastle, maybe the DFDS ferry Newcastle - IJmuiden would be the smarter option.
Amsterdam - Hamburg is a bit awkward and requires some changes of trains but is not a problem. Hamburg - Copenhagen might be a bit annoying as the direct EC/ICE trains are chronically full (last year compulsory reservation was introduced during the summer months) but trains cannot be made longer due to restraints of the ferry running between DE and DK and cannot run more frequently due to lack of rolling stock...
Copenhagen - Oslo again is easy and requires a change in Gothenburg (which is worth staying over one night too). Currently there are border checks when going to Sweden which make the overall journey a bit longer but well...you gotta be alright.
Oslo - Stockholm is possible by direct high speed trains a few times each day (reservation required).
Stockholm - Malmö hourly high speed trains run (reservation required); normally these continue to Copenhagen every two hours but currently only a handful does so due to the border checks mentioned above.
Now, I'd calculate with 3 days Amsterdam, 2 days Hamburg, 2 days Copenhagen, 2 days Oslo, 3 days Stockholm which would total 12 days. This would leave you with one week to get to Benidorm. If you add one extra day for Gothenburg plus one extra day in case you get stuck somewhere you'd still have five days left which is easily enough.
I'd recommend heading to Hamburg again, then take the night train to Zurich. Now, as Switzerland is rather expensive, you may just rush through and head for France instead to stay overnight. Lyon would be a nice place to stay for one day and is easily reachable from Zurich without any reservations. You would even have enough time to include some fancy scenic lines in Switzerland on that day.
Another option would be to head for Chamonix to get a quick view of Mont Blanc (but I assume that accomodation wont be exactly cheap there - would have to check).
A really nice route in Switzerland would be [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u] but this would set you off your route a bit, unless you would head south afterwards and take the ferry from either Livorno or Civitavecchia to Barcelona.
So, if you would go to Lyon, you could reach Spain easily within one day without any extra reservations. Stay overnight either at the Cote Vermeille in France (between Perpignan and Cerbere, look for Collioure) or in Spain, say in Girona.
The following day, go to Barcelona and take a train to Alicante (reservation required). From there, you can take the local train to Benidorm (attention, Interrail is not valid there).
The whole thing (Copenhagen - Hamburg - night train to Zurich - Lyon - Perpignan/Girona - Barcelona - Alicante can easily be done in about 4 days, if you are in a hurry probably 3 as well.
On the other hand, as I know read your plans of staying at Montpellier after the stag do, you could really think about the option through Switzerland and Italy I suggested above to get to Barcelona, then go to Benidorm.
Afterwards, just go to France, visit your friend in Montpellier, take a trip with the Yellow Train [u]https://rail.cc/blog/little-yellow-train-video/[/u] maybe visit Carcassonne and/or Toulouse and go back to Barcelona for Primavera. ;)
For the remainder of time, I'd not plan too much...leave your way home open and make your way through France back home. To chill out, the Dune de Pyla at Arcachon is great but may be a bit off your route. Instead you could have a look around Normandy, maybe go to Le Treport?
Then back home by ferry Calais - Dover.
Regarding the tent...are you going to camp at Primavera? Lugging around a tent for full six weeks can be really annyoing...
Is your budget including the ticket and reservations?
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)
marioman182
Traveller
1 comments
Hi Flo
Thanks very much for the detailed response! It really is appreciated :)
I'll go over point by point I guess.
You mention that getting to and from Hamburg can be perhaps a bit troublesome. Is there a different route you would reccommend? I was using Hamburg as a means to get into Copenhagen really, moreso than because it's a place I would really like to visit. If you can think of anywhere that's worth visiting + is easier for travel, then I'm open to suggestions.
Copenhagen - Gothenburg - Oslo - Stockholm - Malmo sounds absolutely brilliant.
As I've been to Lyon multiple times (I have another friend there) and as the Zurich - Milan journey looks absolutely stunning (thanks for sharing the article), I will definitely go down the latter route. The ferry to Barce and paying to get to Benidorm shouldn't be too much of a problem.
The yellow train also looks beautiful. I think I'll probably go from Benidorm towards Latour de Carol and take the train that way. Then swing into Nice and get a train into Montpellier, dropping by Marseille probably (have another friend there) and stock up on copious amounts of pastis ;) . The guy in Montpellier is also coming to Primavera, so I guess I'll either drive down with him or meet him, leave/train and meet back up with him there (I feel as though driving is cheating!). (On a side note, Primavera is looking absolutely amazing !)
The big sand dune is actually something I'd like to see at some point, so I may as well swing by that way on the return trip. I like the idea of not hugely planning it out. I'll see where the vibe takes me I guess.
To answer the final questions - the budget was going to include the tickets and reservations, but I will have another £1000 I can dip into if you think I should budget a bit more. I'll also be buying a camera/rucksack/camping gear out of this extra £1000 though, so won't have the full amount. I was also originally planning on camping some nights to save the pennies/cents (we haven't sorted Primavera accomodation out yet....probably should soon!). Do you think hostelling/couchsurfing would be a better alternative? Does my budget allow for this?
I will also be sure to book my pass through the link provided :)
Really appreciate your time and help man. I've gone through a few of the articles you have written (they are really inspiring) so would just like to take a minute and thank you for your all your help (you seem very active on the forums). It really is appreciated! :D
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Thanks for the support - dont forget to upgrade to PLUS after your purchase: [u]https://rail.cc/en/plus[/u] ;)
Regarding Hamburg...you have to pass through here anyway. There is just sadly no direct train between Amsterdam and Hamburg and the direct night train between Amsterdam and Copenhagen has been withdrawn a few years ago... :(
Alright - you wont regret going through Switzerland. If you go by night train from Hamburg to Zurich you can continue as described in the link and reach Milan in the evening to stay overnight. If you want to afford it you can of course also stay in Switzerland. There is a cheapish hostel directly opposite Pontresina station, or stay at Ospizio Bernina. If you go with a tent, you can stay at Morteratsch Camping (it gets cold there even in summer!).
[u]https://rail.cc/en/morteratsch/camping-morteratsch/l136[/u]
It would be a good idea to go Benidorm - Barcelona - Latour de Carol and start with the Yellow Train from there (downhill). Starting from Latour you normally dont have troubles getting a seat even in peak season.
Marseille is of course nice too - have you been to Cote Bleue too? [u]https://rail.cc/blog/scenic-train-cote-bleue/[/u]
Yeah, driving would be cheating! :D
I know, Primavera looks amazing again, but I'll be in Amsterdam that weekend for Windmill Windup. :)
We're going to NOS Alive in Lisbon in July.
For the return trip - if you want to go to the Dune, it might be better to go Barcelona - Irun and then cross the border to France (instead of going via Toulouse).
Do you know yet which combination of passes you want to get?
When staying in hostels only you should definitely calculate with about 50€ per day to cover accomodation, food, the occasional beer, reservations etc...I'd look out for couchsurfing options - or take the tent with you. However, campsites are often quite far from the city centre, requiring lenghty walks to get there or using public transport (which isnt necessarily cheap) so I'd recommend to make some calculations using [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux] to get an impression of hostel prices.
Thanks man...if you have any comments on what to improve, just tell us. :)