anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
Posted 14 years ago
Hello,
It's our first interail trip and we have many questions..
We are going to travel in August with a '10d within 22d pass'.
Our plan is the following:
Thessaloniki to Sofia, Sofia to Bucharest, Bucharest to Budapest, Budapest to Vienna, Vienna to Prague, Prague to Berlin, Berlin to Amsterdam..
Amsterdam to Athens (by plane)..
1. Will we have to pay extra tickets for our trip, except the interail pass? Because we have read in forum that some trains demand extra fees.
2. We are two and we plan to spend together 500 euro for 20 days (without the interail tickets and the accommodation)..Is it enough?
3. In Bucharest, Budapest and Prague they don't use the euro. What is the best way to exchange our money?Is ATM a good solution?We have a card for the National Bank of Greece, is it enough? We plan to book and pay for our accommodation from Greece in order to avoid searching for banks in each country. Is it a good idea?
4. What papers will we need for our trip?
5. What's the best time to book our tickets and rooms to avoid complement complement of passengers at trains?
Thanks for your time :D
Head
Traveller
101 comments
Hi,
1. Check country boards (Bulgaria, Romania and so on) in this forum to see how you can avoid supplements. [u]https://rail.cc/en/countries[/u]
2. Since your travel is partly in cheaper eastern Europe, you can get through with this budget. But you'll probably have to skip some museums/attractions. Usual techniks to save money include eating from supermarkets, travelling with night trains to save on accomodation costs, sometimes finding cheap hotels (they can sometimes be cheaper than hostels for two travellers).
3. Using ATMs is probably the best solution. Remember that banks can charge flat fares for transactions, in which case it's best to withdraw money only once or twice in each country - but check with your bank. Your card should be of international (Visa or MasterCard) payment system, not some national one. It also makes sense to order additional card, so you'll still have access to your account in case your first card gets lost somewhere.
4. Passports should be enough - I think Greeks don't need visas for Eastern Europe?
Robert_Antonio
Traveller
53 comments
You have to ask your bank, how many will charge you for cash withdraw in foreign ATMs. But many restaurants and hotels and almost all supermarkets in Prague accept euro. The cheapest exchange office in Prague is: exchange.cz/index_en.php
xrystel
Traveller
4 comments
Thank you very much for your answers :D !
I'd like to ask something more: I want to book a hotel in Prague (Central-Hotel-Tiepolo) and I'm confused about its rates, because at [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux] I saw that a double bed private ensuite,for example, costs about 17,5 euros per person per night, but when I visited Tiepolo's site I realized that it costs much more.Please check the links and let me know why that difference exists!
Thank you in advance..
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
I'd say the rates from the Hotel's website are correct (well, more or less it seems) - if you fill in one of the checkboxes at the [ux]https://rail.shop/hostelworld[/ux] site where it says numbers of guests you'll see that those prices are similar to those at the other website.
Cant tell you anything more precise though - maybe check with the hostel directly or search for another one. :)
Flo 8)
xrystel
Traveller
4 comments
Thank you Flow!I want to buy my interrail tickets from this site but I don't have a passport cause all I need for my trip is an id.Is it possible to book without a passport?(When I tried I had to write my passport's number) :os
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
An ID card should be OK as well...just enter the ID card number instead of the passport number. Maybe Peter can confirm that? ;)
Flo 8)
Peter
Traveller
9333 comments
Hi.
Like Flo said, an ID card is okay as well.
Peter :)
xrystel
Traveller
4 comments
Thank you!! :D
baobab
Traveller
128 comments
National Bank of Greece (Εθνική) has many departments around Balkans so you won't face expensive charges..
If you want to travel with your greek id better be sure it's a new one and has everything in latin too.. although if you still got time to the trip it's better to have a passport.. :)
Just in case ask your insurance for an european insurance card to avoid any bad incidents.
For your Balkan's itinerary ask for Balkan Flexi Pass it will save you money and you can use the Inter rail ticket wiser in Germany and the Netherlands.
Enjoy and take care :)