Interrail 5 in 10: Amsterdam - Paris - Barcelona - Roma

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

For a 5in10 that's indeed quite a lot of things you want to do, but let's see how you could fit in all in those 10 days nicely.

Do you want to stay in Amsterdam overnight? Do you want to visit it for a few hours and then proceed to Paris?
An interesting option would be getting an EuropaSpezial ticket for the night train (Kobenhavn -) Hamburg - Amsterdam; I just checked, prices would start from 43€ (including the Lübeck - Hamburg part). You would then arrive in the late morning, could spend some hours in Amsterdam and then get to Paris for the night.

Amsterdam - Paris:

[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail/amsterdam-to-paris[/u]
Since you probably dont want to spend too much time on trains Thalys certainly is a good option despite it's high supplement. An other quite fast way of getting to Paris would be a free IC/FYRA train to Antwerpen, then a free IC train to Lille from where you could get a TGV to Paris (3/10€ supplement)

Paris - Latour de Carol: The earlier you book your reservation, the better; especially when traveling at the weekend. I wanted to take this train last summer and it was full some weeks in advance... If you can't get a ticket for that train, go with Corail Lunéa to Perpignan and then Villefranche - Latour de Carol (the other way round). From Latour de Carol continue with free RENFE Cercanias service to Barcelona. :!: Check schedules carefully in advance since you probably dont want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere (although this area is quite nice ;) ).

Barcelona - Nice - Roma:

You see, I'd vote for Nice if you want to make a stopover between Barcelona and Rome. ;) There's a nice hostel on top of a hill but you'd need a youth hostel card for it.
However, since you are on a quite tight schedule for your trip, maybe consider taking the [u]https://rail.cc/blog/barcelona-marseille-nice-train/[/u] night train Barcelona - Milano and then continue to Rome. I know it's rather expensive but you'd gain a lot of time for visiting Roma and you'd have to spend money on a hostel in Marseille/Nice anyway. ;)

Roma - Lübeck:

I'd recommend going via Switzerland to Basel and then with the CNL (EuropaSpezial at [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] ;) ) to Hamburg and then Lübeck.

Supplements: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train-type[/u]
Schedules: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-train-route[/u]


Hope this helps for now, please ask if you have further questions. :)
Oh, and thank you:
[quote]
I already know, that I will buy my pass via the railcc partner links :D )
[/quote] ;)


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hello Flo.
Thank you so much for this quick and detailed answer. I was really touched by the way you try to figure out things for me :D

I worked out a pretty detailed plan.
You can download it as a pdf right here: xxxxxxxxxx
It would be awesome if you could look over it. Especially for those two trains I marked with ??? since I'm not sure if those are right. A little info: The small times are alternative times in case we miss a train or just want to stay a little longer.

The part from Rome to Lübeck could probably be better. But we would like to see Venice as well. And so I figured out this route could be good. Or are there any other recommendations? Also, is there any cheaper way to get to Paris? Amsterdam was more an idea to save money. But 39€ for Lübeck - Amsterdam and 26€ for the Thalys is already a lot of money. Any ideas?

Once again, thank you a lot for your quick reply. I think InterRail is always an adventure, but the first time you really kind of need the help of experienced travellers. Thank you!

zenabi

Peter
Traveller
9337 comments

hi ...

[b]please place your schedules here ... no links to PDF or some files like that. it is better to discuss here so that everybody can read it.[/b] :)

I just copied it from your PDF:


[b]Lübeck[/b] dep: 0416 | RE / IC / ICE (Europa Spezial EUR 39)
[b]Amsterdam Centraal[/b] arr: 1102

[b]Amsterdam Centraal[/b] dep: 1354 / 1754 | IC
[b]Bruxelles Midi[/b] arr: 1643 / 2042

[b]Bruxelles Midi[/b] dep: 1715 / 2013 | THALYS supplement EUR 26
[b]Paris Nord[/b] arr: 1835 / 2135


* PARIS *


[b]Paris Austerlitz[/b] dep: 2156 | Corail Lunea
[b]Perpignan[/b] arr: 0720

[b]Perpignan[/b] dep 0747 | Regional Express
[b]Villefranche Vernet les Bains[/b] arr: 0836

[b]Villefranche Vernet les Bains[/b] dep: 0905 | Petit Train Jaune
[b]Latour de Carol[/b] arr: 1200

[b]Latour de Carol[/b] dep: 1230 / 1539
[b]Barcelona[/b] arr: 1637 / 1949


* BARCELONA *


[b]Barcelona Sants[/b] dep: 0753 | R
[b]Cerbere[/b] arr: 1035

[b]Cerbere[/b] dep: 1114 | TALGO de Jour EUR 6,50 ???
[b]Montpellier Saint-Roch[/b] arr: 1322


[b]Montpellier Sant-Roch[/b] dep: 1416 | TGV Genève – Mediterranean EUR 3 ???
[b]Nice Ville[/b] arr: 1833


* NICE *


[b]Nice Ville[/b] dep: 0753 | RE
[b]Ventimiglia[/b] arr: 0842

[b]Ventimiglia[/b] dep: 0858 | IC 3€
[b]Milano Centrale[/b] arr: 1255

[b]Milano Centrale[/b] dep: 1315 | EuroStar Italia 10€
[b]Roma Termini[/b] arr: 1645


* ROME *


[b]Roma Termini[/b] dep: 0745 | EuroStar Italia 10€
[b]Venezia Santa Lucia[/b] arr: 1133
[b]
Venezia Piazzale Roma[/b] dep: 1520 | ÖBB-Intercitybus ???
[b]Villach Hbf (Bussteige)[/b] arr: 1850

[b]Villach Hbf[/b] dep: 1916 | ÖBB-EC ??
[b]Salzbug Hbf[/b] arr: 2148


* SALZBURG *


[b]Salzburg Hbf[/b] dep: 0902 | ICE: EUR 19 (Europa Spezial)
[b]München Hbf[/b] arr: 1030

[b]München Hbf[/b] dep: 1104 | Regionalverkehr 37€ (schönes Wochenende)
[b]Lübeck Hbf[/b] arr: 0003


And as I copied now so much, I don't have time any more to answer questions to you schedule. :P

Peter :)

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi,

you're welcome. Nice idea to make this pdf summary but as Peter mentioned it's better to place them directly at the forum ;) ; first thing that I notice that you only have nine days planned for using your IR ticket...do you have to be back in Lübeck on 11.4 the latest? If not you could extend your trip for one extra day.

Amsterdam - Paris:

Amsterdam Centraal dep 1354
Antwerpen Centraal arr 1600
Antwerpen Centraal dep 1606
Lille Flandres arr 1756
Lille Flandres dep 1800 :arr: TGV, should be 10€ supplement as it's a friday evening; there's a TGV leaving Lille 30 minutes later as well if the connection time is too risky for you (if the train from Antwerpen is on time, you should be fine wit hthe 1800 departure though)
Paris Nord arr 1902

You'd save 16€ and lose just 30min time. :)

I think going via Amsterdam is probably the best way to leave Germany...or maybe have a look for EuropaSpezial tickets for the Berlin - Hannover - Paris night train.

- Corail Lunéa reclining seats sometimes are only 2€...I can recommend them, used them several times. :)
- Are you sure the Latour de Carol - Barcelona trip is by (replacement) bus? The train is supposed to be running again on the entire route...at least to my current knowledge.
- Barcelona - Nice: If you want to travel the fast way, use the Talgo on the entire route from Barcelona (dep 0845) to Montpellier (the 0753 Barcelona is an Estrella night train coming from Madrid); the Montpellier - Marseille train you mentioned is a Corail Téoz. However you can make this leg with free trains too:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/marseille-to-nice[/u]
- Nice - Roma: If you're not afraid of getting up early (which I think you arent since you plan to leave Lübeck at 4am... ;) ) you could save some money by doing the trip as follows:
Nice dep 0523
Ventimiglia arr 0612
Ventimiglia dep 0633 :arr: IC, 3€
Roma arr 1414
In addition the route mainly follows the mediterranean coast opposed to the modern high speed line with tunnels and noise barriers between Milano - Bologna - Firenze - Roma. ;) Unfortunately there is no good connection later in the day...you'd have to wait quite long in Genoa.
- Roma - Venezia: You could use a night train to save one hostel night as well as getting more time for visiting Venice...moreover you'd be able to save some money too compared to the Eurostar Italia.
- Venezia - Villach - Salzburg: IC Bus reservation is ~7€, the train from Villach up to Salzburg is free.


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Thank you guys so much. Sorry, Peter. You could have just told me and I would have copied it. That was really, really nice of you :)
Your advices are really good, Flo. I think I will adjust our plans according to them. Just the thing with Latour de Carol to Barcelona is a bit troubeling me. According to the Europe Schedule there is no direct train from Latour de Carol to Barcelona. The bus schedule I used was the one Peter posted a while ago. It is valid since May 2008, but I couldn't find a newer version (maybe because the renfe website is completely in Spanish :P ). Any more advice on this would be apprectiated :)

If any more questions are coming up during further organisation, I will ask you again. You guys are just great! Thanks!

Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

Hi!

According to both RENFE Cercanias website and my current Thomas Cook Timetable there is the following train operating that would suit your route perfectly: :)

Latour de Carol dep 1315
Barcelona Sants arr 1637

The bus schedule you have found probably was a replacement service when track renewal work was going on between Ripoll/Ribes and Puigcerda - the bus was running between Puigcerda and Ripoll/Ribes where you had to change to the regular train. But now trains are supposed to be running all the way up to Latour again.
The schedule planner isnt always good at connections in Spain and Portugal...alas!
Have fun on your trip!


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hey guys.
Two days until we take off :)
So just one question: Do we have to make any reservations for the trains from Amsterdam to Paris (two Intercities and one TGV - we decided to take the connection Flo proposed - Amsterdam-Antwerpen-Lille-Paris)? And if so, what do we need to make those? Do you need the ticket? Do you need the Travel Report?
Oh, I just noticed those where three questions ;)

Thanks folks,
we cannot wait! :)

Peter
Traveller
9337 comments

Hi.

You will have to buy a supplement only for the TGV, not for the IC trains.
This is available either in Amsterdam main station or already in Germany where you leave.
You do not have to show anything, just tell the staff at the ticket window that you are traveling on an InterRail pass.

Have fun, Peter :)

anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments

Hi Peter.
Thanks for the quick reply! Just one more question came up: Say, we buy supplement for the TGV leaving at 18 and we don't make it, because the train runs late. Can we use that same supplement for the next TGV as well?

Thanks, Simon

Peter
Traveller
9337 comments

No. :'(
You will need a new one. I am not sure if you will get the supplement refunded if one train before was in delay, as this are international connections with different train companies.
Peter :)