respiko
Traveller
22 comments
Posted 15 years ago
Hi, i'm doing my first interrail this summer with my friends. But we haven't come up with a clear route to follow, can you please advice me a little?
I'm from Portugal, and the idea is to fly to Paris and hang there for a couple of days, take the train to Amsterdam, go north to Copenhagen, travel to the Balkans, boat to Italy, Marseille, Barcelona and get back home. We should buy the 10 travel days in 22. Do you think this route is possible in such short time? Haven't chose the places to visit in the middle of Copenhagen - Greece.
Have any suggestions? :)
Best regards.
Nuno.
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
Thats an awful lot for just 10 days travelling on trains - its probably possible (depends what you mean by the Balkans) but it is a lot of miles to cover in not a lot of time
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
Balkans -> just Greece.
i am not very aware of the existing trains routes that exist, so i'm not very sure if it is possible or not.
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
Ok you probably could do it, Copenhagen to athens is a bit of a mission, probably 2 if not 3 days on trains... and missing out on a lot of awesome stuff!
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
yeah, i know i'll probably have to cut out greece and just hang around in central europe. but the ideia of travelling on a boat to ancona or to bari during the night just seems delightful :P
what do you recommend between Copenhagen and Italy? (cutting out the balcans)
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
Berlin and Munich, Prague, Vienna, Somewhere in the Alps, Ljubljana.....
It depends what your looking for, Berlin for partying, Vienna for culture, Slovenia for natural beauty
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
so i have forgotten greece, but am still kinda stuck in choosing where to go between copenhagen and veneza.
we're not very interested in partying in discos and stuff. just looking for some natural beauty and nice environment. i've heard that prague and wien are a bit grey and not very interesting.
what do you say?
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
prague is a bit touristy now, vienna was the center of cultural civilisation for a while, so there is plenty of history etc, but it is a lot of museums etc, which may or not be your cup of tea. For natural beauty, I would head to the slovenia lakes (bled/bohinj) - they are stunning. Ljubljana is a nice little city to potter around in too. Venice is expensive, touristy and expensive (did i mention it wasnt cheap?) but it is an experience and somewhere that should be seen. It is an easy day trip from somewhere like Padua/Verona.
Copenhagen is really cool, colourful and laid back. You could spend hours shopping and eating and relaxing. It is a bit out of the way though. I would suggest going from amsterdam into slovenia (very nice CNL night train to Munich and then EC through to ljubljana), then up to the lakes and accross into italy. It make geographical sense and will give you a good balance of cities/countryside. Copenhagen wont go away, and will always be there for when you interrail again!
Simon
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
yeah, i guess you're right. i was looking at the CNL from copenhagen to berlin, but the trip would become very rushy. ah, so much to see and so little time : )
and yeah, museums are not my cup of tea, at least at this point of my life. i srlsy prefer long walks and interacting with people to absorb the essence of the country. ljubljana seems very nice. venice i'm counting on spending only one afternoon and then head up to rome.
how is munich, by the way? (seems i won't be able to avoid it :P )
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
good beer, good parks, good beer in parks, sausages...
and dachau is worth the visit if you have time, very sobering
you could also go night train to salzburg and spend some time in the alps
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
so, i have come with this base route. fly to paris -> night train to amsterdam -> night train to munich -> regional train to salzburg -> whtv train to ljubljana -> train to venice -> train to firenze -> train to rome -> train to marseille with a night stop at ventimiglia -> train to barcelona -> train to granada -> get home by whatever means we find :D
what do you think? it prolly wont be so linear, but as i'm travelling low-money i have to plan most of the things to not get surprised :)
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
looks good! have fun
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
hi again! i was looking for a train from amsterdam to munich on the 4th of august on the route planner, and i didn't get any result for the CNL. what's wrong? doesn't that line work in august?
the only routes available take like 12 hours or so :|
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
the summer timetable wont have been updated yet. I cant imagine that train not running
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
oh, i see. when do you think they will update? will all train schedules change?
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
most of them wont change at all, a few will change by a few minutes and there will be some extra services running. Tbh I thought they would all be up and online by now. At any rate they should be up by the end of may
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
hi again, dear interrailers.
during august i must make this trainroutes.
Paris -> Amsterdam. 2 august. thalys is fast but very expensive, i read about the other way taking IC's but i can't find it on route planner.
Amsterdam -> Munich for the day -> Salzburg arriving august 5th. is it possible to make this in 24 hours? the biggest problem is getting from amsterdam to munich.
i have more doubts due to reservation costs, but if you please can help me with these two it will be a big step.
regards,
nuno
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
Here [u]https://rail.cc/en/amsterdam-paris-train/f1472[/u] for the train times avoiding Thalys
There is a CNL night train Amsterdam-Munich, around €25 for a couchette
[u]https://rail.cc/en/amsterdam-munich-night-train/f3745[/u]
respiko
Traveller
22 comments
yeah sidude, i read about that thing of avoiding thalys, but i couldn't find it on route planner.
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
it might not come up on the route planner, cos its a bit of a roundabout route. If you look step by step you should be able to see all the trains
Mixed20
Traveller
13 comments
From Paris take the TGV to Lille Flanders then the IC train to Antwerp and then to IC to Amsterdam this is the best route.