anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Posted 15 years ago
I will be flying into Amsterdam and out of Barcelona 25 days later with a 10 in 22 days interrail ticket.
I hope to visit Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Ljubjlana, somewhere in Croatia on the coast, maybe Vienna, Florence and surrounding area (Siena Pisa etc) on the way.
Firstly, do people think this is achievable in the time? What would be the best route to take? How long should I spend in each place?
Would you suggest night or day train Amsterdam to Prague? I realise the former would involve 2 days used up but the latter a day travelling.
I may take the ferry from Italy to Spain rather than go through South of France.
Sorry for all the questions but all help would be appreciated.
afwellgate
Traveller
3 comments
I think it depends on you personally how long you spend in each place, I prefer to move on quite quickly (after one or two nights) and so I would probably find your itenary doable. However, you say you want to visit some of the area around Florence and maybe explore some of Spain? So maybe you need to think about where are your 'must see' places and then if you are running behind schedule you can miss out places?
The night train from Amsterdam to Prague leaves at 19:01 so it only takes up one travel day. Any direct night train that leaves after 19:00 you write down the following days date. Other night trains that are like this that you might want to take are Prague to Krakow, Krakow to Budapest. The Budapest to Split/Zadar train takes two travelling days as it leaves around 14:00 and gets to the Croatian coast the next morning.
In terms of a route you have two options:
Amsterdam - Prague - Krakow - Budapest - Ljubljana - Split/Zadar - Ferry to Ancona - Florence - Spain
Amsterdam - Prague - Krakow - Budapest - Split/Zadar - Ljubljana - Florence - Spain
I'd probably go for the first one as it will be quicker I think but you'll have to pay for the ferry (45 euros?). The problem with the Croatian rail system is that you have to go back to Zagreb before you can go anywhere and it takes ages! I'm not sure about the Italy to Spain bit as I've never done it, sorry!
It sounds like you'll want at least 4 days around Florence in which case you may have to miss somewhere else out, it depends on what you want to do really.
Hope I helped, Anna :P
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Many thanks for your help Anna.
Just a couple more questions for anyone that can help.
Would Split or Zadar be better for beaches etc ?
For the Florence area, is it best to base ourselves there and travel out and back to Sienna etc, or move around from place to place?
How long would it take to get from Florence or Pisa to Barcelona along the coast of France. Is there a good route to take avoiding supplements?
Thank you everyone in advance.
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Sorry for one last question.
I cannot seem to find a train from Ancona to Florence. Is this right?
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
just a short answer...
use the regional trains on this route to save the supplements for high-speed-trains. you won't loose a lot of time!
regional trains are running every hour with in most cases one or two changes. just use this website:
example:
[b]Ancona[/b] Dep: 11:35
[b]Faenza[/b] Arr: 13:40
[b]Faenza[/b] Dep: 14:20
[b]Firenze S.M.N.[/b] Arr: 16:11
Use a date of today - as the Italian summer time tables seems not to be online right now ... but should be soon - I hope so as a lot of people are asking about them. but that's a problem of the Italian national railway company.
Peter :)
afwellgate
Traveller
3 comments
The beaches around split are nice but you can get the ferry to islands from both Split or Zadar which have nicer beaches. I've never been to Zadar but near Split there is Hvar island which is really nice and Brac island has a beach called the Zlatni Rat which is beautiful, it sticks out into the sea like a finger, if you search on google images there are loads of pictures. Possibly the nicest beach I've ever been to but it got quite busy so best to go early in the morning.