clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
Posted 8 years ago
Hi everyone.
I'm planning my first interrail with a friend and we''ll start in the last week of May for a total duration of 24-25 days.
The first part of our itinerary is pretty well established (possibly adding Amesterdam at the start) and we'll take 2 days in each city:
Berlin - Prague (possible stop in Dresden)
Prague - Krakow (night train)
Krakow - Wien (night train)
Wien - Budapest (possible stop in Bratislava)
This is where things get complicated for us.
We'd like to go to Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split) , possibly Bosnia (Mostar) and then Italy (Florence, Milan). We planned to go to the South of France but with Nice and Marseille hosting Euro 2016 games, we thought that is best to avoid that area in June.
Is it possible to go from Budapest to Sarajevo and then go up in Croatia? The only connection that I found on rail planner takes 27 hours and makes a change in Zagreb...
Our ideal route would be: Budapest - Sarajevo - Mostar - Dubrovnik - Split - Plitvice Lakes - Zagreb/Lujbjliana - Florence - Milan
We haven't bought our Interrail passes yet because, as we are not sure of our route, we are deciding between a 22 days countinuous and a 10 days in a month.
I would be grateful if you could help me with my doubts and possibly suggest alternatives.
Cheers.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
So the first part of your trip indeed looks fine.
Have a look for more details about Berlin - Prague here: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/berlin-prague-train/[/u] and Amsterdam - Berlin here [u]https://rail.cc/blog/amsterdam-berlin/[/u]
The only international train to Bosnia-Herzegowina currently is the day train Zagreb - Sarajevo; IMO there are only two options for you:
a) Budapest - Zagreb - Sarajevo - Mostar by train (currently there are construction works Sarajevo - Mostar and there is no exact info on when trains run again), then by bus to Dubrovnik - Split. From Split you could take a ferry to Ancona to avoid having to travel back to Zagreb - Ljubljana to get to Italy.
b) Budapest - Belgrade by train, then bus to Sarajevo - Mostar - Dubrovnik - Split, then train up to Zagreb - Ljubljana and onwards to Italy.
Regarding tickets, I would either consider the 10 or 15 in one month, 22continuous makes no sense for me.
Looking at your route, I currently count about ten travel days - if you think your route through it shouldnt be a problem to get by with the 10 in 1 month pass. Bus and ferry tickets have to be bought extra, as they are not included in Interrail.
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)
clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
Thanks Flo!
The cheapest ferry that I found was Split-Ancona for 40€/person (the site where I found mentioned that most of the price is taxes and fees...), which is a bit pricey.
What if we go first to Italy and then to Croatia?
The trip would look like:
Berlin-Prague-Krakow-Budapest-Wien-Milan-Florence-Ljubjana-Zagreb-Split(stop at Plitvice lakes)-Mostar-Dubrovnik (the reverse way is also na option)
Althought Wien and Milan are quite distant, I found a night train that we could use.
Does this option looks feasible or are we taking the long way around?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
If you are going to include Ljubljana (which I wasnt sure about in the beginning), you can of course skip the ferry and travel as you described. :) Either way is possible.
Definitely go for the Wien - Milan night train; or, if you have a bit more time on hand, take the night train from Wien towards Zürich and get off at Sargans, then travel this amazing route across the alps to Milan: [u]https://rail.cc/blog/zurich-milano-albula-bernina/[/u]
clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
I added Ljubljana because, if I take the train between Zagreb and Florence, it made sense to me to stop somewhere in the middle, like Ljubljana or Venice.
For now, the only places that I have to decide are the first and last cities, so I can buy the plane tickets to and from home. The in-between will be decided as we go (as I think one should do in this kind of trip) but is good to have some plan that we can go back to, and have some idea of what is feasible (or easier).
I was trying to buy our passes through your link (or clicking buy here) but it always cames back to the same page: [u]https://rail.cc/en[/u]
I deactivated my ad-blocker but with no success. Please let me know if this is only an issue to me.
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hey Robert.
Thank you for this hint! :)
I'm currently updating the rail.cc website to a new version - therefore I made a little mistake forwarding the link to the right place. Now you can use [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] to get to the new shop in partnership with interrail.eu
And in a few days, rail.cc is also new... :)
Have a great trip!
Pete :)
clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
When I'm buying the passes the starting date is asked.
The starting date should be the real date of my first train or can I choose p.e. June 12th (the pass would be valid until July 11th) and take my first train on June 15th?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
You dont have to use a train on the starting date of your pass. The starting date only determines the validity period of your pass (eg 12 June until 11 July as in your example), you can then freely choose travel dates while travelling and the first travel day does not have to be the first day of validity. :)
clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
Hi guys!
I've just bought our passes through [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux]
Thank you for your help.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Nice, thank you! Have a nice trip :)
clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
Hi again!
I have a new question.
If I use the option to travel to the border (or airport) does that trip count as a travel day(i have a flexi pass)?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Yes.
clayrobert
Traveller
6 comments
Hi guys!
I'm sharing my plan with you and hopefully I can get some more tips.
I tried to identify the trains and count the travel days (x).
Day 1-2: Amsterdam
Day 3: Amsterdam -> Berlin (IC 241 and ICE 645 - 17:01) (1)
Day 4-5: Berlin
Day 6: Berlin -> Prague (EC 171 - 06:58) (2)
Day 7: Prague -> Oświęcim/ Auschwitz (EN 443 - 23:09) (3)
Day 8: Oświęcim/ Auschwitz -> Krakow (R 43416 - 13:47) (3)
Day 9: Krakow
Day 10: Krakow -> Budapest (TLK 402 - 21:58) (4)
Day 11-12: Budapest
Day 13: Budapest -> Wien (RJ 162 - 06:55) (5)
Day 14: Wien -> Milan (EN 60235 - 19:23) (6)
Day 15: Milan -> Florence (FR 9559 - 20:20) (7)
Day 16: Florence
Day 17: Florence -> Villach (EN 234 - 22:14 and then EN 415 - 06:25 to Ljubljana) (8)
Day 18: Ljubljana -> Zagreb (EC 213 - 18:35) (8)
Day 19: Zagreb -> Split (NT 821 - 23:05) (9)
Day 20: Split
Day 21: Split
Day 22: Split -> Plitvice Lakes -> Zadar (Bus)
Day 23: Zadar
My main doubts are:
- the train between Amsterdam and Berlin (maybe I can use my additional travel day trying to use a night train);
- the trip between florence and ljubljana (easier to go through Villach or Nova Gorica?);
- get from split to plitvice lakes (is it easier to go from Split to Zadar first, and then take the bus to Plitvice there?).
Thanks!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Looks good. :)
If you want to travel overnight from Amsterdam to Berlin, using two travel days, enter Düsseldorf or Cologne as via stations on [ux]http://plan.rail.cc/[/ux]
However, as the Cologne - Berline CNL service arrives very early you might also think about continuing to Dresden, have a quick walk there and return to Berlin around midday.
Prague - Oswiecim/Krakow: You could think about travelling to Krakow, checking in at the hostel and leaving your stuff there before returning to Oswiecim. There are also plenty of day trips on offer including tranfer from Krakow.
Florence - Ljubljana: Also have a look at the night train from Florence to Trieste. However it leaves really late (arrives in Firenze Campo di Marte at 0144 and leaves at 0305) but if you dont want to get up so early to change in Villach it could be more convenient. From Trieste then take the old tramway to Villa Opicina, from where local trains to Sezana - Ljubljana run.
Or get of at Gorizia to cross the border to Nova Gorica (by bus or on foot).
There should be direct buses Split - Plitvice so I dont think it is necessary to get to Zadar first.