Amsterdam-Paris-Barcelona-Lisbon-Rome-Vienna-Istanbul

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

That's an impressive route! It is doable in 45 days, however from my own experience I can say that your motivation to do lots of sightseeing etc towards the end of such a long trip may decrease. ;) That leads me to answering your question 3.) at first:
:arr: For me the train travel part never gets boring or exhausting since it is the part of an InterRail trip where I can relax and do not have to think of nothing - unlike being in the cities where I'm never sure if I have seen everything I wanted and have to squeeze in as much as possible. When traveling from one city to another on the train the landscapes outside the window pass by and change, you can lay back, sleep, think of all the places you've been and where you are still going to etc... Hope you get my point. ;)
:arr: As I've already said, the route should be easily possible in 45 days; for night trains please look at the relevant country topics in the forum where you will find detailed information about very many of them. If you still have any specific questions after reading those night train topics please ask here. :)
As to your plans of visiting big cities longer than smaller ones: In general that's a sensible solution but sometimes you'll like a specific (small) town more than another - just be prepared for that and don't plan too far ahead to be still able to extend your stay in a city that you really like.
:arr: I like to travel especially in May and September; like you've said it gets quite hot in the southern parts of Europe in Summer (but also ie Paris in August is usually very hot), moreover it's peak season - meaning you will probably meet quite a lot of other travelers but also that it's advisable to get reservations a little bit earlier than usual since they may be full quicker. So if you have time in May, June or September traveling may be more convenient (and you'd still meet other travelers).
:arr: Couchsurfing certainly is a good idea to experience the certain atmosphere of a city better; also staying in the country is a good thing to get away from all the concrete big places. You already mentioned to of those places - Southern France (Provence, Cote d'Azur) and Tuscany - where you will certainly find nice places that are not as crowded as the big cities. You could also make a stop over in the Pyrenées: [u]https://rail.cc/en/petit-train-jaune-latour-de-carol/f1343[/u]

Hope that helps for the beginning. Don't forget: If you want the work here at the forum and website please buy youth ticket at [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] . Thanks. :)


Flo 8)

Head
Traveller
101 comments

1. The route is of course possible, why not? But Interrail passes are valid for 1 month maximum, so you may probably need a combination of 2 passes, one of which can be not global - say, Spain pass. It can modify your route a little.

2. The best time is a question. You can really meet more interrailers in summer, but it also means that trains and hotels and sights can get very crowded and accomodation more expensive, especially in meccas such as Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Istanbul, etc. I would rather prefer May-June-September, but it's up to you )

3. I don't think you can get tired of trains if you plan to spend up to 5 days in certain cities.

4. that's pretty possible, you can use your InterRail pass for such travel in and out of town, if you have enough travel days on the pass. You can as well find some cheaper hotel in the suburb or nearby town and use the train to get from there to the main city each day.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

[quote]The route is of course possible, why not? But Interrail passes are valid for 1 month maximum, so you may probably need a combination of 2 passes, [b]one of which can be not global[/b] - say, Spain pass.[/quote]

That would be new to me!?

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

it is no problem to have 2 x 1 month Global InterRail Passes for a 2 months travel in total.... :)

Head
Traveller
101 comments

Sorry, I didn't explain it correctly ) I mean that the second pass does not need to be global, though it of course can )

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Ahh...now that you mention it I understand. :)

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

:)

JaRaDa
Traveller
5 comments

Thank you for your answers! As it seems there is no problem with my plans. Great!

[quote]As to your plans of visiting big cities longer than smaller ones: In general that's a sensible solution but sometimes you'll like a specific (small) town more than another - just be prepared for that and don't plan too far ahead to be still able to extend your stay in a city that you really like.[/quote]

That leads me to another question: How is it possible to stay flexible (to meet other travellers and go with them a few days, or to stay in a city longer than planned) and still always find a place to sleep? I think especially in big cities I have to book my hostels, haven't I?

How many days is the 1 month-ticket valid? 1 real month, like September, or 30 days?

Thx,
Jan

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

The 1 month ticket is valid ie 30 August to 29 September.

You are right in peak season it's advisable to book a little ahead - but you usually will find a place to sleep even at short notice. In my experience Amsterdam and Paris and maybe Barcelona are the cities where you may have troubles with getting a good hostel at short notice.
Usually you should be fine doing your reservations for the hostel in the city you're going to at the hostel in the city you are currently staying. So you can decide ie on the 2nd day if you want to extend your stay in this city or proceed to the next one. And if you don't find a hostel for the next city but want to leave the place where you're at at the moment than you could make you way towards the next city but make a stopove somewhere along the route. :)
A good idea may also be to search for accomodation like couchsurfing or hospitality club - when staying at locals it's probably extend or shorten your stay.

JaRaDa
Traveller
5 comments

Thank you!

And one more question: When can I buy my tickets? I have read that The Inter Rail pass can be bought two months before the beginning of its validity. This is a pretty unclear expression.

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

If you want to support the work here at the forum and website you can buy your pass directly at [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] . ;)
There, you can order your pass up to 90 dates before the start of its validity; you can enter yourself on which date your IR pass should start. Delivery should be done in 48 hours if you plan to buy it at short notice.

JaRaDa
Traveller
5 comments

Hello again,

I will buy my ticket soon, but I'm not sure which ticket combination I should take.

The first option is to take one monthly ticket and one 22-days continuous ticket. I could do many one-day-trips to smaller cities. But this would be quite expensive, 708€.

The second option is a combination of two 10 days within 22 days and one 5 days within 10 days. This would be cheaper, 637€, and between one ticket has run out and before the next one is valid, I could put a few days, so I could stay some days at the city I am at that time. Of course I could do this in the first option, too, but only once. I could give myself more time, but I would have only 4 spontanious travel days left, so I couldn't be very spontanious.

How big is the desire to visit smaller cities spontaniously during such a trip? Which choice would you recommend me?

Thanks, jan

Peter
Traveller
9333 comments

Hi Jan.

I would do it like version 2.
But it really depends on you, what you want. :)

If you want to visit a smaller village spontaneously, you can also buy single train tickets (for short distances it is often cheap) in order to loose one of your travel days.
Peter :)