backpack
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 15 years ago
We are two girls planning on going interrailing for three weeks from the end of July. So far, this is the route we have come up with:
Amsterdam - Brugges - Paris - Prague - Trieste - somewhere in Croatia, where we would like to spend about a week either sailing or some kind of island hopping with the ferries. We are hoping to do the interrail-part for two weeks, with the 5-in-10-days ticket, and then the week in Croatia.(We are flying into Amsterdam, and home from Croatia.)
Is this a good/doable route?
Any other suggestions for cities/places to go?
Does anyonw know if there is a night train from Paris to Prague?
Sooo thankful for all kinds of advice, tips and tricks ;)
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
Sounds like a good route
for the night train
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/paris-to-prague[/u]
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Amsterdam - Bruges: Frequent connections via Bruxelles and Gent; avoid expenisve Thalys between Amsterdam and Bruxelles, IC run every hour at almost the same journey time. No supplements to pay.
Bruges - Paris: Go via Kortrijk to Lille and take a TGV to Paris. Note that there's a 3/10€ supplement for the TGV. As an alternative you could go with slower trains via Lille and Aulnoye Almières where you wouldn't have to pay a supplement.
Paris - Praha:
If you want/need to save a travel day, there would be an alternative connection with a night train to Munich then continuing to Praha. Supplement for a seat in a compartment 3,50€.
Praha - Trieste:
There are only three connections possible within a single day, leaving Praha at 0042, 0557 or 0714. Several supplements are payable, note that you would have to go a certain distance (~30min) by bus or taxi between Slovenia and Italy.
From Trieste to Slovenia and Croatia there's no direct train connection; the only train crossing the border is a night train Venezia - Budapest, that you could catch in Monfalcone. But you would have to change trains at Zagreb where the train stops at 0418-0456.
As an alternative you could go by public transport to Villa Opicina, cross the border and jump on a slovenian train in Sezana the first town in Slovenia. From there you could go by train to Rijeka, Split etc.
However, you have to plan carefully if you only have five travel days and want to go all the way from Amsterdam to Croatia only with this ticket.
1) Amsterdam - Bruges
2) Bruges - Paris
3) Paris - Praha (by mentioned night train to Munich to save a travel day; or by day train)
4) Praha - Trieste
5) (Trieste -) Sezana - Rijeka/Split
If you want to travel more around in Croatia you might think about the InterRail one country pass Croatia (3 travel days within a month 45€); maybe if you don't travel much in Croatia it's cheaper to purchase tickets right there from HZ.
When going to Bruges you could make a stop in Antwerpen or Gent.
Are you going to stay at hostels or campsites?
backpack
Traveller
2 comments
Wow! Thank you, really really helpful reply :P
We should do some thinking as for how we are going to get from Trieste to Croatia then... I know the 5 day limit may be a day (or two?) short, but I've read that train travel in Eastern Europe is cheap, so if we have to buy normal tickets for the last stretch, when the Interrail pass is spent, that wouldn't be too bad - or what do you think? It probably will be cheaper than buying one of the other Interrail passes, I think. We plan on either joining a group tour on a sail boat in Croatia, or just using the ferries to get down/up the coast. But I think we might want, or need, to get out of Croatia in the end, to get a reasonably priced plane ticket home (Norway). So we'll look into the one country pass :)
We plan to stay mostly in hostels, but we're also thinking about couch surfing in at least one of the cities. It sounds like a fun and interesting way to get to know a place and culture, and it would be safer to do it on a trip when we are two girls travelling together ;)
Again, thank you so much for all the helpful information!
backpack
Traveller
2 comments
Okay, so now we need some more tips... We have booked our flight to Amsterdam, and will be arriving there late friday 24th of July. And we have also booked a one-week boat trip departing from Dubrovnik at 14:00 the 8th of August.
Sooo... What to do in between those two cities? As mentioned before, we really want to see Paris (and Brugge on the way, if it is worth it?) and Prague and Trieste. Trieste is our alternative to Venice, as we've read that most find it pricey, crowded and not worth it. Is that really true?
But we are having trouble getting to Dubrovnik in time. We will probably have to take a bus from Rijeka either in the evening 6th of August, or early in the morning 7th of August to be sure to make the boat from Dubrovnik.
Because of this we are now thinking of skipping Prague, as it is kind of a long way to go both from Paris and to Trieste/Rijeka. Would it be nice to just go through France and Italy, and then to Croatia? We can take a ferry from Ancona in Italy to Split, and then probably a bus to Dubrovnik from there...
Please help! As we need to be in Dubrovnik at a certain time, we have to plan at least the last couple of days, to make sure we make it! ;)
SiDUDe
Traveller
752 comments
Venice is pricey and crowded - but it is still venice. Definitly worth a trip, even if it is just a day trip from somewhere else in Italy.
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Brugge is nice too, however you could do it as a day trip on your journey from Amsterdam to Paris:
Amsterdam 0654 - Antwerpen 0900
Antwerpen 0906 - Gent 0955
Gent 1003 - Brugge 1027
Brugge 1634 - Kortrijk 1712
Kortrijk 1723 - Lille 1756
Lille 1830 - Paris 1932
There'd be only a 3/10€ TGV supplement payable.
I think you've got enough time to put Prague in your trip - definitely worth seeing! :) Buy doing Brugge in a singel day you would save a travel day and could do the following route wiith your 5in10 IR pass:
1) Amsterdam - Brugge - Paris x
2) Paris
3) Paris
4) Paris - Praha
5) Paris - Praha x
6) Praha
7) Praha - Trieste x
8) Trieste
9) Trieste - Venice - Trieste x
10) Trieste - Ancona x
:)