pollypocket
Traveller
1 comments
Posted 14 years ago
Me and my boyfriend are planning on going travelling in July. So far our route is as follows
Fly from Uk to Lisbon
Lisbon to Madrid on overnight train
Barcelona
Travel along coast into France (possibly calling at Montpellier, Marseilles, Nice, Cannes)
Onto Rome, day trip to Naples, Fly back from Rome!
This is our first time making this kind of trip and any advice would be much appreciated! Does anyone know roughly how long this type of Journey would take? and roughly how much we should budget for it? We are thinking of staying in a mixture of Hostels and Campsites to save money.
Any advice or ideas about things to see on the way would be really helpful?
Oh and I am also wondering about the benefits of an interrail ticket with this trip. Would it actually work out cheaper to get point-to-point tickets as I know you need to pay pretty much the same fare for the train from Lisbon to Madrid, and would supplements need to be made for the other trains? Any suggestions as to what kind of pass we would need? Thankyou! :D
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
I think for this route the 10in22 global pass should be the right choice. If you want to travel longer, then take the one month pass. I dont know how much time you have or want to spend but these two seem to be the logic options. However since you are flying to Lisbon and then getting home again by plane the 10in22 should be sufficient. :)
- Budget: I'd plan with 30-40 Euro per day, including accomodation, supplements for trains, eating, sight-seeing etc. Of course it is also possible to spend much less or more - it is depending on what standards you'd like to have while traveling. You can save a lot of money by cooking on your own for instance or mainly staying at campsites.
- Route:
:arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/lisbon-to-madrid[/u]
:arr: Madrid - Barcelona: frequent fast AVE trains; [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/spain/es[/u]
:arr: Barcelona - France
If you have time take an extra day for the Petit Train Jaune...it's definitely worth it! :)
[u]https://rail.cc/en/petit-train-jaune-latour-de-carol/f1343[/u]
Cant tell you anything about Montpellier but the other cities are very cool. Especially along the Cote d'Azur there are many pretty little villages where you could go. I'd recommend having a base in Nice or Cannes for a few days and making day trips to Grasse, Antibes, Monaco, St Jean, etcetc... But also around Marseille you'll find some nice places, Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Arles...and all of them are well connected by free TER trains.
:arr: France - Pisa: Very nice, scenic train ride along the mediterranean coast; when using fast trains (IC, EC, ES,...) pay attention to the supplements in Italy.
:arr: Pisa - Roma: Same as above. :)
Hope this helps for know - dont hesitate to ask further. And to support the work here at the website and forum, please buy your official InterRail ticket from [ux]https://rail.shop/interrail[/ux] , thank you. :)
EDIT: Concerning point-to-point tickets: For the Lisbon - Madrid sleeper the cheapest supplement is ~7€, I dont think you will find a regular fare this cheap. ;) The other part of the journey (except the 10€ for Madrid - Barcelona AVE) is entirely doable without further surcharges.
There might be cheap (online) fares available but for me, personally, it is not worth the hassle since I have to book them well far in advance (so I lose my flexibility) and with InterRail I only have to buy one ticket. Of course you might have to get some extra supplements but, like I've said, in your case you'd be fine with the two supplements for Lisboa - Madrid - Barcelona.
Flo 8)
pollypocket
Traveller
1 comments
Thanks! That all sounds great and very helpful. I just have a few more questions. Firstly, do the train journey's generally need to be booked in advance even if you have an interrail ticket? Roughly how long in advance should we make reservations? I was hoping for us to spend around 3 weeks in total but not too sure how much time we should give to each place? Any suggestions? :)
The places you have recommended sound great and I think using Nice or Cannes as a base is a cool idea. To get to the towns that you mentioned does this require a bus or train journey? I don't know anything about the Petit Train Jaune but it looks interesting.... could you tell me more? Is this a train that we would pick up from Perpignan?
Thanks for all the help! Starting to get very excited :D
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
hi ...
concerning reservations: book the journeys in advance which you are sure about it... for example the first night train you use or the last one at the end of your tour.
some you can book online: [u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation[/u]
I do it always this way: when I arrive in a city, I book (if needed) already the train to leave. not always, but sometimes. ;)
Peter :)
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
About the Petit Train Jaune: It's a narrow gauge railway up to the pyrennées with old unique rolling stock - in summer there even is an open-air carriage operating. When you come from Perpignan you have to go by regular train to Villefranche (which itself is a small nice fortified village) where you change for the Petit Train. It's a ~ 3 hours trips up to Latour de Carol, the first half the train works its way up through steep gorges and the second half it runs on a plateau with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains.
If you want to use this train plan one extra day - and just let me know if you are going, I could help you planning going there and then on to the Cote d'Azur.
All the cities along the Cote d'Azur I mentioned are very well connected by train - at least two connections per hour. :) There's a good hostel on a hill above Nice but you'll need a youth hostel card to be able to stay there...again, you'll find a picture of the view from the hostel's rooftop terrace in the calendar.
Difficult to say how much time to spend in the individual cities...personally I think one day is enough for Madrid (you could arrive in the morning from Lisboa and continue in the evening with a night train to Barcelona), skip Marseille to have enough time for the Cote d' Azur.